India’s mobile phone market reaches an important milestone of 1 billion subscribers

The mobile subscriber base in India has crossed a billion mark for the first time, and reached 1003.49 million subscribers. India is second only to China to cross this major milestone in world of mobile phones. However, number of active wireless subscribers was marked to be 902.26 million at end of October 2015.
In the month of October, a total of 6.83 million mobile subscribers were added by the telcos. Out of the 1003.19 million mobile subscribers, 578.11 million were urban subscribers, while 425.38 million were rural subscribers. Wireline subscriber base continued to decline, and dropped to 25.85 million. During the month of October, 2015, 5.11 million subscribers submitted their requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP).

Operator-wise subscriber base (in millions)

1. Airtel – 237.97
2. Vodafone – 189.47
3. Idea – 167.28
4. Reliance Communications – 111.41
5. Aircel – 84.60
6. BSNL – 80.42
7. TATA – 60.84
8. Telenor – 48.71
9. MTS – 8.26
10. Videocon – 7.84
11. MTNL – 3.60

During the month of October 2015, Bharti Airtel added the maximum number of new subscribers (2.76 million) followed by Vodafone (adding 1.3 million), and Reliance Communication (adding 1 million). Both, BSNL and Idea, added 0.72 million, while Telenor added 0.93 million subscribers in the October of 2015. On the contrary, Tata lost over 1.17 million subscribers during the month.

The overall tele-density in India increased from 80.98 at the end of Sep-15 to 81.44 at the end of Oct-15. While urban tele-density marginally declined from 152.76 at the end of September 2015 to 152.58 by the end of October 2015. The rural tele-density increased from 48.66 at the end of September 2015 to 49.37 by the end of October 2015.

The broadband subscriber base increased from 120.88 million at the end of September 2015 to 125.22 million at the end of October 2015. Out of these 125.22 million broadband subscribers, 108.48 million were wireless broadband users. Bharti Airtel (29.03 million), Vodafone (24.48 million), Idea Cellular(20.28 million), BSNL (19.43 million) and Reliance communications Group (11.47 million) were the top five broadband service providers in the country.

How to Track a Cell Phone by its Number?

Since I wrote about Free Mobile Phone Tracking, I have been getting queries from a lot of users on “how to track a mobile phone by just having it’s number?” This can be either malicious or well intentioned. But before we go into the details about all those websites which claim to track cell phones by just inputing a number, I would like to discuss few things.

Ethics of Cell phone tracking

Tracking someone else’s phone constitutes a major invasion of privacy, no doubts about it. This is irrespective of your intention being good or bad. Think again if this is the only way out for you, before proceeding further.

Idea behind Tracking Cell Phones

Most cell phone tracking methods work on the premise that the cell phone often “pings” the nearest cell operator’s towers.
GPS-enabled cell phones don’t require cell towers, and may be located anywhere in the world by satellite triangulation in a similar manner. In some countries like US, cell companies are mandated to keep track of cell phones to an accuracy of 100 feet, so that help can be made available in case of emergency.

So far, so good. But is there a way to actually track or locate a mobile phone? Let us check the possible solutions-

Tracking Websites

So, what about all those free and paid websites claiming to track down any mobile phone on click of a button? The one’s where you just need to put in the cell phone number in order to track it? Can they really track a phone?

In simple words, the answer is a big NO. I am yet to come across a website which actually works as claimed. Sites like “Reverse Phone Detective” or “Track the number” never seem to provide accurate location information.

Google the Phone number

If you’re trying to figure out the general location of the owner of the number, as opposed to real time tracking, a good old fashioned Google search will probably do the trick. The person might have been un-paranoid (or unaware) enough to have it publicly posted on a social networking site, along with other potentially location-identifying information. Again, this is a small chance, and it won’t work in real time.

Cell Phone Hacks

Theoretically and logically speaking tracking a cell phone is quite possible. Experienced hackers won’t have any problems with any of this. It is perfectly possible to track a cell phone’s location – after all, the cell operators do it – even if you just know the number and have had no physical access to it, without the user having any indication of this happening. While this hasn’t reached epidemic levels, the possibility is there.

Cell Phone Tracking Software

The only guaranteed way to really track a cell phone is through some sort of installed software on the device itself. There are lots of free and paid solutions for smartphone like Apple iPhones (iPhone Tracking solutions) and Blackberries, and even for general phones like Nokia S60 based phones.

However, this generally requires physical access to the phone, and consent of the user, both of which might be difficult to get, and probably defeats the point of what you’re trying to do here.

So tracking a cell phone by just having its number is not practical, unless you are/hire an experienced hacker, which isn’t a good idea anyway.

Telecom department changes verification process of new mobile connections

All mobile service providers will now be following a new verification process of new mobile connections. The telecom department’s access service cell, which is a competent authority, has ordered all the mobile service providers to follow the alternative process to existing process issued for verification for new mobile connections.

The alternative process covers service providers having service authorisation licenses, including CMTS, UAS, and UL (AS). Under the new process, the entry of various fields in customer applications form (CAFF) should now be made electronically instead of manual writing. In addition, the photograph of the customer should now be taken at Point of Sale (PoS) itself and the same should be populated in the CAF instead of pasting the photo in the existing process.

Further, the scanned imaged of the Proof of identity (PoI) and Proof of Address (PoA) documents furnished by the customers should be embedded in the CAF.
TelecomTalk has reviewed the order letter, titled “Customer application form embedded with photograph and scanned images of Proof of identity (PoI) and Proof of Address (PoA)”. The letter also says that the copies of PoI and PoA documents submitted by customer should also be attached and maintained along with CAF as in the existing process.

“It shall be ensured that the scanned images of PoA and PoI/ photographs captured at PoS should not be stored at PoS terminal to avoid any misuse of the same,” the letter read.

Here are the Asus smartphones that will get the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update

Ever since Google released Android 6.0 Marshmallow, many manufacturers such as HTC, Motorola, Sony came up with their list of devices that will get the update. Following the trend, Asus has also announced the names of its smartphones that will get the latest Android 6.0 update.

Here are the Asus devices that will get the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update:

• PadFoneS (PF500KL)
• ZenFone 2 (ZE550ML/ZE551ML)
• ZenFone 2 Deluxe / Special Edition (ZE551ML)
• ZenFone 2 Laser (ZE500KG/ZE500KL/ZE550KL/ZE600KL/ZE601KL)
• ZenFone Selfie (ZD551KL)

Asus has not revealed whether it will add more devices to the list in the coming days. The model numbers of Asus phones mentioned above should be taken into account, as Asus has many variants of a single device, and it varies them by model numbers. The company needs to simplify its device naming. Moreover, the company has also not mentioned any launch timeline for the update roll out to the devices mentioned above. We hope Asus will come up with more information about the update timeline soon.

TTSL bucks the trend, says easing of spectrum cap will trigger unfair competition

Telecom services provider Tata Teleservices (TTSL) has said in a presentation to the Department of Telecom (DoT) that a relaxation of caps would lead to unfair competition in the industry, the Economic Times reported. However, telcos such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone have favoured the relaxation norms as it would facilitate the sharing and trading of airwaves.

Currently, a firm cannot hold over 25% of the total spectrum allocated across various bands in any circle and over 50% of the airwaves in a particular band being shared/traded.

“The reason for opposition could be that it will give companies such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone more leeway to buy or share spectrum with smaller players that are potential partners for Tata Teleservices,” the report said.

Recently, the Viom Networks stake sale has come as a big relief for Tata Teleservices, which has Rs 34,000 crore of debts on its books. Even though the company was first to start its services in wireless telephony, it has been one of the worst performing companies.

FreeCharge aims to strengthen online utility bill payment category; introduces gas bill payment services

Digital payments platform FreeCharge has launched gas bill payment (pipeline gas connection) service for customers on its website and Android app and has plans to add more new segments in the utility space.

The company also plans to introduce LPG cylinder refill payments on its platform in the coming months.

It has further added new billers to electricity bill payment services and also introduced landline bill payments as it aims to help customers transact online more actively and launch services that enable them to pay all their utility bills in a secure manner in less than 10 seconds.

Kunal Shah, Co-Founder and CEO, FreeCharge, said, “Since the time we have launched electricity bill payment services, the response has been really good and we expect similar response for gas and landline bill payment services. We also plan to introduce LPG cylinder refill payments on our platform in coming months in line with our major merchant’s plans.”c

With this new facility, a customer can pay his pipeline gas bills using FreeCharge Wallet, credit/ debit card, net banking. The company has associated with five major gas pipeline providers, including Mahanagar Gas Ltd, Indraprastha Gas, Gujarat Gas Company Limited, GSPC Gas Company Limited and Adani Gas.

Besides, FreeCharge has now partnered with 21 electricity boards, including BEST, BSES, NDPL and BESCOM among others. The services in the telecom bill segment has also been extended to landline bill payments and customers can pay Airtel and BSNL landline bills across the country along with MTNL in Delhi through FreeCharge.

Luma’s ‘Surround WiFi’ Technology Increases Coverage by Killing Dead Spots with Multiple Routers

It seems that these days routers are becoming cool again, thanks to efforts coming from Google and others. We’ve seen recently the OnHub router being announced and Torch, which is a smart WiFi router that protects your kids online. And today we’re talking about another useful one called Luma.

Luma is a new router which wants to give you easy-to-use wireless security, monitoring and device connections. Its unique feature is called “surround WiFi” which implies it makes use of multiple routers by increasing coverage throughout your home. Each added device requires no additional setup as the system updates and tunes the signals automatically in order to “always offer peak performance and speed.”

How the router works is pretty much similar to the Sonos WiFi speaker. The router also comes with “enterprise-grade” security and parental controls with device-level customization, so in this direction it’s very useful for parents, as well. The router comes with a smartphone app that allows you to easily control the entire activity happening in your network. You can block unwanted users, connect devices without a password or set website ratings for your children, add timers to control how long your kids stay online and even monitor user browsing.

Each Luma router comes with two dual-band radios on 2.4GHz and 5Ghz bands using 802.11ac Wave 2. By using multiple units, it creates a mesh WiFi network, which brings more speed and kills dead corners. You can see in the video below how the specific ‘surround WiFi’ technology works like.

If you are interested in this device, you will have to pay $249 for three devices ($99 per device) for the next 30 days, then climb to $199 per device and $499 for a three-pack. Pre-orders are already open and shipping will start in early 2016.

Why are telcos resorting to offering insurance cover?

After Telenor, Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL), which runs under the brand MTS, is all set to provide insurance cover to its data subscribers.

For the first time, with Telenor, a telecom operator has started offering life insurance to its new and existing customers, with covers from Rs 5,000 to Rs 50,000. SSTL has tied up with Oriental Insurance company to provide Rs 1 lakh accidental insurance cover to its new data subscribers.

So, the question is what’s exactly pushing some of the telcos to walk that extra mile or in another sense to dilute their DNA?

Industry experts believe that with the coming of over-the-top (OTTs) players, it is basically the fear of becoming irrelevant which is actually pushing telcos to look out for different revenue generating models.

It should be recollected here that few months back, the Reserve Bank of India had cleared payment bank licenses for some of the telecom operators, including Airtel, Vodafone and Idea.

All these indicate that as the telcos gear up for their data journey and face insurmountable threats from the OTTs it has become imperative for them to look out and chalk out some other strategies for their businesses.

Sanchit Vir Gogia, Chief Analyst and Group CEO, Greyhound Research, says, “As revenue generation areas are growing lesser for Indian telcos, there is a pressure to manage scalability. OTT services/apps such as WhatsApp/Skype are furthering shrinking revenue margins for Indian telcos, therefore there it is imperative to work on revenue generation models that are not limited to just voice and data services.”

The time is opportune as India witnesses the eCommerce/mCommerce wave – there is a paucity of secure payment channels and telcos must leverage this opportunity to create a secure transaction channels for the Indian masses, he adds.

Experts say that mobile operators, in this extremely competitive market, need to continuously explore ways in which they can not only expand customer base but also increase the so-called ‘stickiness’ of existing subscribers.

Assocham’s National Council on Telecommunications Chairman TV Ramachandran, however, says that “The branching of telcos into payment bank role or some insurance provider role is a very logical extension in their growth plans and not a dilution of their telecom interests.