Check CBSE class X results on mobile

Students who have appeared for their class X examination can get information about their result through IVR (interactive voice response) and SMS.

Every year during the month of May and June when the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) declares the results of class 10 and 12 examinations, parents and students spend anxious moments checking different websites for results.

These results are declared in phases according to the various regions of CBSE, i.e. Delhi, Guwahati, Allahabad, Chennai, Ajmer and Panchkula. Class XII results were released recently and those of class X are expected any time now.

Mobile TV services in India

MTNL has recently launched a new mobile TV service that will be available along with its already existing service. We compare this new offer with others in the industry.

State-run MTNL, which provides mobile services in Delhi and Mumbai, has launched a MobileTV service in partnership with DigiVive. The service, called NexGTv, offers over 50 live channels ranging from entertainment, reality, news, religious to popular regional channels.

"The new service will also offer video-on-demand content, including clips from mythological TV shows like Mahabharat; and Hindi movies in 15 minute capsule form, or mobisodes. This service is available for both 2G as well as 3G users with compatible handsets," DigiVive said in a press statement. 

BSNL, MTNL looking for 3000-crore subsidy

The state-run telecom majors BSNLand MTNL are desperately looking for 3000-crore aid from the government. DoT is likely to finalise the plan soon, 

The subsidy amount for BSNL will be given to support its operations, mainly wireline, in rural and far-flung areas from the universal service obligation fund (USOF), while MTNL will be given the support for its higher pension and other retirement payouts from the licence and spectrum fees which both the public sector undertakings (PSUs) give to the government, a senior DoT official told Business Standard.

DoT plans to finalise the subsidy plan for both the PSUs, who have been losing revenues as well as market share, by June or July this year. Moreover, the existing support to BSNL from USOF would end this year, which will have to be extended, the official added.

DoT to invite bids for National Wireless Broadband in June

KOLKATA: In June, the telecom department will invite bids from mobile phone companies, fixed-line operators and ISPs to kick off its countrywide wireless broadband push aimed at bridging the digital divide. However, the telecom department has decided to put up only one slot for bidding in each of the 22 circles. This means, only one private telecom player will be allowed to roll out a wireless broadband network in each telecom zone. The second slot has been reserved for state-owned BSNL. The project will be subsidised by the Universal Service Obligation Fund , or USOF. 

 "BSNL will be asked to match the L1 price quoted by the successful private sector bidder in each circle after we conclude the tendering exercise that is likely to start next month. The objective is to expand pan-India wireless broadband coverage by leveraging the existing passive infrastructure created for mobile telephony in rural and remote locations," said a senior official in the telecom department. "If no private telco bids in a particular circle, BSNL will be asked to go it alone there," added an official in the telecom department. 

 While potential bidders will be free to choose any appropriate technology platform, the telecom department is likely to give preference to companies that bagged 3G and BWA airwaves. 

 Since the rural wireless broadband rollout will be largely funded with subsidy from the USOF, the telecom department is about to finalise the specific subsidy component for all 22 circles based on the revenue potential and business viability of rolling out wireless broadband networks in each service area.

BSNL in talks with private operators for sharing tower infra

NEW DELHI: Telecom giant BSNL is negotiating with leading private operators to enter into tower sharing agreement, a move that would help the ailing PSU to turnaround.  "We are in talks with various service providers in order to make arrangement so that we can share our idle tower infrastructure with them and generate revenues in order to make our bottomline healthy," BSNL CMD R K Upadhyay said without naming any of the telecom service provider.  The telecom behemoth is suffering from financial losses due to huge labour wage cost and declining subscribers.  Upadhyay further said, "This (tower sharing pact) will take time as many decisions needs to be taken like rent issue and duration of rented towers. I expect this will be done within this fiscal year."  Sources in the know said that BSNL is in talks with Bharti airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications for this purpose.

Top Ten Telecom Companies in India

India is the fastest emerging mobile phone market in the world. To cater to this rising sector, many foreign telephone companies are coming here to make their presence felt in the cutthroat handset market. Additionally, telecom companies are also gearing up as the industry is generating large amount of investments for the country. In fact, the number of telephone subscriber base in India touched 671.69 million as on June 30, 2010 from 653.92 million in May 2010, says the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Our list of top 10 telecom companies in India

Bharti Airtel: A recent survey by Voice and Data (CyberMedia group journal) indicated that Bharti Airtel is India’s top mobile phone operator for the 2009-10 period with fiscal revenues of Rs. 38, 800 crore (Rs. 388 billion). Led by Sunil Bharti Mittal, the company is divided into 4 strategic business arms – mobile, telemedia, enterprise and digital TV.

BSNL: State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited reported a drop of 14% this year in revenue & posted a total of Rs. 30, 240 crore (Rs. 302.4 billion) as earnings. It secures top spot as the largest wireline service provider in the country with over 71.68 million subscribers. Since Feb 2010, BSNL earned Rs. 6 crore on its 2G connections and 9, 73, 378 for 3G connections.

Vodafone Essar: Vodafone Group, the Indian subsidiary of Vodafone Essar, recorded a profit boost of 13.7% and emerged as the third largest telecom player with revenue collections of Rs. 23, 200 crore (Rs. 232 billion). Since its unremarkable beginnings in 1994, the company has come a long way in spreading its services to over 106.34 million Indian users.

Reliance: Anil Ambani’s now rebranded ‘Reliance’ (better known as RCOM too) is India’s largest private sector information and communications company with a sizeable 100 million subscribers. The giant recently reported a negative growth of 3.5% with revenue of Rs. 22, 130 crore (Rs. 221.3 billion).

Idea Cellular: With revenue of Rs. 11, 390 crore (Rs. 113.9 billion), Idea Cellular, Aditya Birla Group’s flagship company maintains its spot as one of the leading service provider in the country. Headed by Kumar Mangalam Birla, Idea has around 67 million subscribers with a pan-India presence. It was also the first cellular service provider to offer General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) & Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) in India.

Tata Communications: Even though it’s placed on number 6 slot, the company holds leadership position in emerging markets. It reported total revenue of Rs. 11, 000 crore (Rs. 110 billion) last fiscal but analysts say that Tata’s potential for this year is huge. The Tata Global Network comprises of one of the most advanced and largest submarine cable networks, a Tier-1 IP network.

Tata Teleservices: The company operates under 5 brands – Tata Indicom (CDMA services), Tata DOCOMO (GSM services), Virgin Mobile, Tata Walky (for fixed wireless phones) and Tata Photon (for wireless mobile broadband access) & is one of the 96 companies of the Tata Group to have its network in 20 circles. With revenue of Rs. 6, 900 crore (Rs. 69 million), Tata Teleservices leads the Tata Group’s presence in the telecom sector.

Aircel: With the highest growth record of 37.2% in 2009-10, Aircel is a joint venture between Maxis Communications Berhad of Malaysia and Sindya Securities Investments Private Limited. Commencing operations in 1999, it became the leading mobile operator in Tamil Nadu, Assam and North Eastern provinces speedily.

MTNL: Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) has a customer base of 8.06 million in Delhi and Mumbai and the government holds a 56.25% stake in the company. Managed by Mr. Kuldip Singh (Chairman and MD), the company offers state-of-the art telephone services and has more than 9, 00, 000 GSM mobile connections.

TTML: Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Limited (TTML) earned revenues worth Rs. 2, 300 crore (Rs. 23 billion) helping it to preserve its place in this list. TTML leads its parent company Tata Group in the telecom circles of Maharashtra (Mumbai) & Goa. With 6 lakh subscribers today, it started operations in 1998 and now prides itself as the largest wireline base in Maharashtra among all private operators.

BSNL slaps Rs 2.6 cr penalty on Airtel for ‘misusing’ its network

Bhopal: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has slapped a Rs-2.6-crore-penalty on Bharti Airtel for 'misuing' its numbers before the mobile number portability (MNP) was launched on January 20 this year.

What is the issue

Before MNP became operational, Airtel is said to have transferred its calls to BSNL network as a result of which several of the state-owned telecom's subscribers began receiving calls from Airtel. These calls requested BSNL subscribers to switch to Airtel.

The issue was flagged off to the Telecom Department's Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring (TERM) Cell.

BSNL offers results of State Board Exams on SMS

Students of Tamil Nadu state board HSC and SSLC examnicatnion can now know their results through SMS on BSNL mobile. BSNL, Tamilnadu Circle has introduced this service to offer the results of TN State Board HSC & SSLC Examination 2011 to its GSM Mobile customers using SMS service. The Service will be available as soon as the results are declared by the Directorate of Government Examination, Tamilnadu. BSNL will charge Re 1 for outgoing SMS and Rs 2 for incoming SMS providing result information. Students just need to send their registration number to 53344 prefixed with the examination type.

BSNL GSM Mobile Customers interested to get the results of the above  examinations may send SMS as follows:-

To get Hr. Secondary (HSC) (Plus-2) Results:

HSC <space> Registration Number  to 53344

e.g.: HSC xxxxxx – where xxxxxx denotes the registration number.

To get SSLC (10th STD) Results:

For SSLC results:

SSLC <space> Registration Number to   53344

For Matriculation results

MAT <space> Registration Number to   53344

For Anglo Indian results

ANG <space> Registration Number to   53344

Airtel 3G plans

Airtel had five lakh 3G mobile subscribers within seven days of launching 3G services, that too from just five cities. What makes it click with users? Here is an analysis of Airtel's 3G tariff plans.

Bharti airtel had five lakh 3G mobile subscribers within seven days of launching third generation telephony services(3G), and that too in just five cities. Now it has over two million 3G subscribers (as of April 6) in 34 cities and towns across India including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Coimbatore, Mysore, Manipal, Udupi, Jaipur, Delhi NCR, Hubli, Patna, Hyderabad, Agra, Dehradun, Meerut and West Bengal.

What makes it click with users? Here is an analysis of the operator's 3G tariff plans:

Airtel has a range of tariff plans for 3G customers, starting with a Rs 11 plan which gives 10 MB of usage for a day. The plans go up to Rs 750 for 2 GB data over 30 days.

But the sad part is that there are no real unlimited plans to choose from. As an alternative, the teleco is offering a Rs 675 plan, in which you get 1.25 GB data at full 3G speed, consumable over 30 days. Once you have consumed that, your access speed will drop to 20 Kbps and you will be charged 1 paisa for every 100KB till you reach a bill of Rs 2,000.