Libreville (Gabon), June 19 : India's Bharti Airtel will invest $125 million more in Gabon to develop the communications network in the central African country.

The company announced the investment on the sidelines of "The New York Forum Africa 2013" event here Wednesday.

Bharti will use the money to expand third-generation and fourth-generation telecommunications networks and on some social programmes in the country, Manoj Kohli, chief executive for international operations, said in a statement.

New Delhi, June 18 : To make browsing more affordable for its users, Vodafone India slashed data charges by 80 percent in three circles of Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh West and Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh from Tuesday.

The company said it will roll this out nationally in a phased manner.

The new rate would be applicable for all pre-paid and post-paid customers using 2G network. The rate cut from 10p/10KB to 2p/10KB will make internet access affordable for customers who use mobile internet in a limited way, it said.

New Delhi, June 17 : The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has reduced national roaming calls and SMS tariff ceilings from next month and said it would allow telecom service providers to offer national mobile roaming to subscribers for a fixed fee from the same date.

The ceiling tariffs prescribed by TRAI in 2007 were Rs. 1.40 per minute for outgoing calls and Rs. 2.40 per minute for outgoing STD calls while on national roaming. These ceilings have been reduced to Re. 1.00 per minute and Re. 1.50 per minute, respectively.

Commerce & Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Monday said his ministry strongly supported liberalisation of foreign direct policy (FDI) in the telecom and defence sectors.

Mr. Sharma also announced that his ministry would soon move the Union Cabinet for further liberalisation FDI policy for other sectors, which have strong potential for attracting foreign investments.

The Commerce & Industry Minister was speaking to reporters ahead of staring his 10-day visit to Helsinki, St Petersburg, Belfast and London, where he will try to convince more foreign investors to invest in India's retail sector.

New Delhi, June 17 : Telecom services provider Bharti Airtel Monday completed the allotment of 199.87 million new equity shares, representing 5 percent equity stake in the company, to Qatar Foundation Endowment, it said in a communication to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Bharti Airtel, which has operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, has issued the equity shares, with a face value of Rs. 5, at Rs. 340 each on a preferential basis for a total consideration of Rs. 6,796 crore.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India, has imposed a hefty fine of Rs 100 crore on Vodafone India for providing SLD (Subscriber Local Dialling) services in two regions where it was not allowed to offer the same.

Using SLD, mobile phone carriers can allows their roaming customers to use local networks and thus avoid paying roaming charges.

The Indian arm of Vodafone has been penalized for violating the norms in two circles, viz. Mumbai and Delhi, between 2003 and 2005.

The 163-year-old service of telegram will come to an abrupt end on July 15th, the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) confirmed on Wednesday.

R. K. Upadhyay, chairman & managing director of state-owned telecommunications giant, said that the telegram service was no more relevant as new technologies like mobile phones and emails had become ubiquitous.

Speaking on the topic, Mr. Upadhyay said, "The service is no more relevant because of new technologies. It was a loss-making business for us."

The Department of Telecom (DoT) is evaluation several pricing methods for the fixed priced allotment of spectrum after two rounds of spectrum auction failed to attract much interest in the telecom sector.

New Delhi, June 7 : India's Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, on a visit to Myanmar, Friday met the Southeast Asian nation's communications Minister U Myat Hein and enquired about the selection process for companies bidding for telecom contracts in the country.

During the meeting in capital Nay Pyi Taw, Sharma said the bids of shortlisted Indian companies may seriously be considered, keeping in mind the geographical contiguity and strategic interest of the two countries.

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the start an out-of-court, non-binding conciliation process with Vodafone Group in the high profile Rs. 11,000-crore tax dispute case, Finance Minister P Chidambaram announced.

The outcome of the conciliation process will, however, finally have to gain Parliament's approval.

Announcing the development, Mr. Chidambaram said, "We have just accepted a proposal for a non-binding conciliation. If the outcome is acceptable to the government then it will go Cabinet and thereafter to Parliament for approval."

New Delhi, June 3 : Mobile handset company Karbonn has tied up with Vodafone India to offer internet plans service to its customers, who will buy Karbonn's flagship devices - Karbonn Titanium S5 & Karbonn Smart A1ustomers A12, a company statement said here Monday.

Dayalu Ammal, the 82 year old wife of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi and mother of Kanimozhi, will now have to appear before a trial court in the 2G spectrum case as a witness after the court did not grant an exemption to her on medical grounds.

Dayalu Ammal is the mother of Kanimozhi, who is one of the accused, and she also held 60 per cent equity stake in Kalaignar TV that was involved in transferring a bribe of Rs 200 crore in the 2G spectrum case. Ammal was earlier exempted from appearing in the court on medical grounds in May, 2013.

New Delhi, May 31 : The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has approved the setting up of mobile towers in the Naxal-affected areas and the cabinet would take a final call on it, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal said here Friday.

"These mobile towers in the Naxal areas will help us provide to people who are residing over there with better security," Sibal said while launching 'e-Gov Appstore' here.

State-run telecom operator, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), which is the 5th largest player in terms of mobile phone subscribers in India, has said that it is aiming to regain its number one spot following its se 7 of network expansion.

It is believed that the Comptroller and Auditor General has said that the formation of cartels by telecom service providers in the country is the reason behind the failure of spectrum auctions in the country as the firms collectively decided to shun the auctions.

Vsevolod Rozanov, the head of Sistema Shyam Teleservices is set to step down from his top post at Russian telecom giant's Indian unit.

Rozanov has seen heading the company at a time when it has lost spectrum and faced closure in several telecom circles. The outgoing president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd (SSTL) said that if you can be successful in India, you can be successful anywhere pointing out the difficult market conditions in the country with regulatory controls and stiff competition.

New Delhi, May 27 : To curb the menace of unsolicited business calls, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has decided to disconnect the unauthorised telemarketers immediately and blacklist them for two years, an official document has said.

TRAI said it has taken a series of measures to regulate the telecom arena better. Among the steps it has taken -- and uploaded on its site Monday - to disconnect, after due investigation, all the telecom resources allotted to such unauthorised subscriber if there is a complaint of Unauthorised Commercial Communications (UCC). This provision comes into force with immediate effect.

Subscribers involved in unsolicited communication will now face the risk of being blacklisted for a period of two years, thanks to new directives issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

The telecom regulator on Friday asked phone operators to disconnect all telecom resources, including phone and internet connections, to those who send pesky calls and SMSes. To curb the menace of pesky calls and SMSes, the government has amended the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations 2013.

Idea Cellular, the telecom service unit of the Aditya Birla Group, has announced the launch of two more 3G smartphones namely, Idea ID 920 and Idea Aurus III aimed at different market segments in the Indian market.

Both the Idea ID 920 and Idea Aurus III come with dual-SIM support, will be powered by 1GHz processor as well as Google's Android platform. The company said that ID 920 is an entry level phone and is aimed at semi-urban markets while on the other hand, Aurus III comes with Android 4.1 OS and 4 inch TFT screen, 5MP primary camera as well as video calling facility.

Vodafone India is open to purchase spectrum from rival mobile phone companies to create a 3G network across the country, the network provider's managing director Marten Pieters said.

Currently, the Indian arm of the British network provider owns 3G airwaves in just 11 circles in the country, though it has roaming agreements with Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular to provide pan-India high-end data services.

But, the company has been restrained from adding new data subscribers in circles where it doesn't own 3G airwaves.