Tejas Patel

Anil Ambani led Reliance Communications Friday reported 61% fall in its net profit at $37.69 million for Q3 of the FY2012 against $97.27 million in the same quarter of the previous financial year.

United Kingdom-based telecom major Vodafone Friday announced that Analjit Singh will be appointed as non-executive Chairman of its India operations.

The decision by The Supreme Court of India to cancel 122 2G spectrum licenses has impacted foreign players who have considerable stake in those Indian telcos impacted by the decision.

United Kingdom-based Vodafone Group, the world’s second largest mobile phone operator, reported that revenues from its India operations grew 6.3% year-over-year from $1.5 billion to $1.6 billion for its third fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31.

Nokia on Wednesday announced planned changes at its smartphone manufacturing factories in Komarom (Hungary – 2300 jobs), Reynosa (Mexico – 700 jobs) and Salo (Finland – 1000 jobs), thereby impacting 4000 jobs by the end of 2012.

Bharti Airtel reported a 22% decline in its consolidated net profit to $206.6 million in Q3 (October-December) of the FY12 due to 3G roll-out costs and higher interest costs.

A new study, released by a bipartisan policy and political network of technology CEOs that promotes the growth of the innovation economy, shows that there are now roughly 466,000 jobs in the “App Economy” in the US, up from zero in 2007.

TRAI Chairman Dr J S Sarma stated that some of the recent developments have indicated there is perhaps a need to review the policy of forbearance in telecom tariffs.

The Rural Cellular Association has expressed concern that Federal Communication Commission’s recent announcement of Mobility Fund Phase I procedures will reward large carriers like AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless.

While the real impact of the Supreme Court of India’s 2G case verdict will be felt in the months to come, initial media reports suggest that around 10,000 jobs in the telecom sector are likely to be impacted due to the court order.

The Indian banking sector should be able to absorb loan-losses stemming from the cancellation of second-generation mobile licenses without materially impairing credit quality, though annual profits will still take a hit, according to Fitch Ratings.

The $39 billion US private line services market is expected to show modest 2.3% annual growth over the next five years, says a market analysis study from Insight Research.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Friday released a pre-consultation paper on ‘Allocation of Spectrum in 2G band in 22 Service Areas by auction’ following the Supreme Court of India’s order cancelling 122 2G licenses.

Amidst all the talk of an impending rise in telecom tariffs in the last week, Thursday’s verdict of the Supreme Court of India in the 2G case has further strengthened that possibility.

The Supreme Court of India on Thursday cancelled 122 2G spectrum licenses controversially handed out by former Telecom Minister A Raja.

Beijing Telecom, a subsidiary of China Telecom, may launch CDMA version of iPhone 4S by the end of February or at the beginning of March, according to a statement issued by the company.

India’s Tata Communications, together with nine global service providers, announced the launch of the Global Meeting Alliance™, an open ecosystem of leading telecom providers that have aligned to interconnect their respective business video communities.

The company established its India presence to cater to the Indian mobile user with technology to help overcome and disregard usage barriers and unfamiliarity of the mobile phone, it said in a statement.

Twenty-four US Senators from across the country recently wrote to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging it to address the problem of dropped, incomplete and poor quality phone calls to rural America.

The latest figures reveal that the total wireless (GSM, CMDA and FWP) subscriber base in the country has increased from 884.37 million in November 2011 to 893.84 million at the end of December 2011.

Ruckus Wireless, a US-based global Wi-Fi technology company, Friday announced the opening of a new R&D centre in Bangalore, India.

The draft National Telecom Policy 2011 has proposed incentivizing telecom service providers for using indigenous products.

Verizon has expanded its global enterprise network platform, enabling multinational corporations to take advantage of Verizon’s Private IP service in six additional African countries, and Bahrain and Qatar in the Middle East.

The Indian consumers will have to be prepared for higher tariffs if the government goes ahead with the proposal to charge extra 2G spectrum held by telecom companies, says Bharti Airtel’s Sunil Mittal.

Tata Communications’ consolidated gross revenues were at $719.7 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2011 as against $673.7 million in the same quarter last year, according to the company’s results for FY2012.