Month: November 2013

Aadhar Card / UIDAI Biometric Card Enrollment in India Touches 500Mn

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UIDAI Aadhar CardThe enrollment in the ambitious Indian Government’s Unique Identity Authority of India – UIDAI a.k.a Aadhar Card has touched 490Mn [little short of 500 Mn / 50 Cr] and is all set to reach the 600m targeted by Mar’14. As we have highlighted before, UID aims to lower fraud risks and its applications such as DBT help reduce government expenditure leakages; far outweighing its US$3bn cost.

The benefits of giving every Indian a unique identity (UID) through the biometrics based UID number which is almost impossible to duplicate. The US$3-3.5bn project has already seen 488m enrollments. The number is rising by about 25m/month with rising acceptance of the same across India. Multiple efficiency improving applications can be built on UID. Direct benefit transfer (DBT) is one of the most

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Escalate Complaint against Airtel, Reliance, Vodafone, Idea by Dialing 1037

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1037 Mobile Helpline for Telecom ComplaintsDespite best efforts from the Government to regulate the Telecommunication industry with prudent billing norms, Operators like Airtel, Reliance, Idea Cellular have resorted to malpractices with their very own customers such as unauthorized mobile balance deductions by activating Value Added Services the customer has not subscribed to. The TRAI and the DoT established Internet / Web Based Complaint Cells but didn’t take off due to poor reach of broadband & the internet.

A High level committee looking into this problem just a while ago has told us that they have circulated a notification to all

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Intel Mobile Chips Ready to Compete Qualcomm, MediaTek

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Intel Mobile CPUSWhereas Intel is ahead on transistor technology, it is still playing catch-up on mobile integration and network technologies. Intel at its analyst day is showing concrete measures of accelerating its mobile push around integration of baseband, application processor and connectivity, working to catch-up to Qualcomm and Mediatek with well-developed roadmaps of integrated solutions. Intel has engaged low cost tablet makers and targets 4x growth to 40mn+ units (15% share) and will ramp LTE more sharply in 2H14. Intel in mobile will have low impact on TSMC the next 2 years, as its integrated LTE baseband + AP will not be out until mid- 2015 and its low cost chip stays at TSMC through 4Q15.

Key challenge for Intel is catching up to a crowded

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Implications of 800 / 900 / 1800 MHz Spectrum Auction

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Spectrum Auction IndiaThe Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on telecom accepted Telecom Commission (TC) recommendations on reserve prices for 1800Mhz and 900Mhz band spectrum auctions. This would mean that pricing for 1800Mhz and 900Mhz spectrum would come down by ~27% and ~50%, respectively (vs. Mar-13 price)

Do Telecom Operators Have A strong in Case of Spectrum Renewal ?
Telecom minister stated that 900Mhz spectrum will not have reservations for any operator. We do not rule out the possibility of affected incumbent telcos opposing a potential 900 MHz auction, as they may believe that they have the right to extend

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The Complete List of SingTel’s Investment in Digital Life Startup Companies

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List of Companies SingTel Has Invested in Digital lifeIn our Previous Article we explained What SingTel’s Group Digital Life is all about and how it is chasing its dream to be a Smart Network Services Company. In this backdrop, the innovative Product Managers are exploring opportunities to be a part of Winning Applications and Services on the Telecom Networks. Our team have compiled the list of investments SingTel has made directly or through subsidiaries directly under its control in the following companies.

Shop Spot – Mobile shopping platform focused on Thai market at the moment. E commerce
Flocations – Online travel app/portal providing options based on traveller’s budgets E commerce
Bubble Motion Mobile social messaging business. Had more than 7mn users in 4 countries – (India, Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines – at the time of funding. Mobile messaging
Stream Media Allows mobile transactions without exiting a mobile app. It aggregates mobile payment platforms including Android Market Inapp, Billing, Amazon Payments,

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What is SingTel’s Group Digital Life About ?

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Singtel Digital Life - Core BusinessAsia Pacific Telecommunications giant which grew its business by investing substantial amount in companies like Airtel, Optus etc announced a new organization structure in March 2012 across product groups, rather than geographies, and also created a new business under Mr Allen Lew called Group Digital L!fe (GDL). Digital Life is one of the core Businesses Group.

This isn’t a well understood business and there is generally a broader skepticism. Consumers now look to their mobile devices for immersive content, entertainment and commerce. Group Digital L!fe is

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Lenovo to Sell Mobile with ASP of $300 which is 50% of SmartPhone Market

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Lenovo Upgrading its ASPShao Tao, VP of Lenovo Business Group in China spoke on their smartphone strategy. Lifting its product portfolio average into the $300 price band is a key step in lifting MIDH profits. This price band is ~50% of the country’s smartphone value per SINO research.

The price band is dominated by Samsung (>50%) and Apple (28%) with a 75-80% share. Lenovo believes its brand combined with quickening product development and manufacturing times from its Wuhan facility can refresh a richer and fuller product portfolio covering a wider birth of open distribution channels faster

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Airtel, Idea, Vodafone Lead Mobile Subscriber Addition in Oct

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Mobile Subscribers in IndiaThe Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the GSM operators lobby, reported net additions of 4.3mn to the GSM subscriber base in October 2013 vs 4.4mn in the previous month. Airtel, Vodafone and Idea added 1.5mn, 1.2mn and 1.1mn subscribers respectively, followed by Aircel (0.5mn additions) and Videocon (0.2mn). Uninor had a flat subscriber growth (MoM).

The incumbents again represented the bulk of the additions, in line with their recent performance. The three operators combined represented 88% of the additions in the previous six months amongst the operators represented by COAI. Bulk of Bharti’s additions came

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Will Reliance Jio Infocomm have its way in Spectrum Usage Charges ?

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Reliance Jio Infocomm SpectrumThe Telecom Commission recently deferred decision on Spectrum Usage Charges. TRAI had proposed a 3% overall SUC. Reliance Jio Infocomm aim (for the present) is to roll out a BWA 4G LTE service on its 2300MHz network. This spectrum (1x20MHz) was won in the 2010 auctions in which the conditions included 1% SUC on Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) from this spectrum. If TRAI’s recommendation of 3% flat SUC for all types of spectrum is accepted, RIL’s SUC would go up by 200bps.

Crucially, for ISPs, voice services into a PSTN network in India

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Why Reliance Jio Infocomm may Takeover / Merge with Reliance Communications ?

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Reliance Jio Infocomm Office65% Anil Ambani owned and Managed Reliance Communications is under Deep Trouble with debt levels continuing to be high (net debt to EBITDA of more than 5x) despite consistent free cash flow generation. The management has not shared any insights on asset monetization in the pipeline to reduce leverage. RCom has signed Tower Sharing and Inter-City Optical Network Sharing Deal with Reliance Jio Infocomm. In this backdrop, we analyze how Reliance Jio Infocomm will eventually takeover Reliance Communications.

In the Recent Past, RCom’s capex is a fraction of

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