Court begins trial in 2G case

Trial commenced today in a Delhi court in the 2G spectrum allocation case in which former Telecom Minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi, corporate honchos and telecom firms are among the high-profile accused. Special CBI Judge O P Saini started recording statement of Anand Subramaniam, Assistant Vice President of Reliance Capital Ltd, as a prosecution witness....

Kingfisher Airlines seeks govt help, Jet Airways swings to loss--------------

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Jet Airways, India's top airline by market share, on Friday said it swung to a net loss, compared with a profit a year ago, hurt by rising fuel prices and a forex loss in the quarter.

For the quarter ended September, Jet Airways reported a net loss of 7.13 billion rupees for July-Sept, compared with 124 million rupees a year ago.

Total income rose to 32.93 billion rupees from 30.67 bilion. "Tough pricing environment, lean season impact and high fuel prices impacted the results," the carrier said in a statement....


Government may abolish roaming charges, plans nationwide number portability--------------

NEW DELHI: If the government has its way, it will soon be 'One Nation' as far as telecom is concerned - with roaming charges becoming a thing of the past and nationwide number portability being the order of the day. Besides, broadband speed will go up more than nine times in four years and consumers may get a voice on quality of services in case of disputes with operators.

There is also a move to cut costs for value-added services, such as text messages, as the government and the regulator prepare an "appropriate regulatory framework for delivery of VAS at affordable prices". Over the years, call charges have dropped from over Rs 30 a minute to around 60 paise now but mobile users have not benefited from competition when it comes to SMS.

While improving the overall quality of service is a key feature of the draft National Telecom Policy 2011, another focus is to shift towards greater convergence between telecom, IT, broadcast and electronics to upgrade the quality of life and make it an instrument of empowerment.