A new service dubbed as Vodafone Friends Circle has been announced by major Indian mobile service provider Vodafone for its customers. The advantage of this service would be that a group of people would be able to call each other at cheap rates.

The service that works for a group of five people with Vodafone connections is available to both pre paid and post paid customers. The customers, who will take up the service, will be able to call each other at 20 paisa per minute.

It was informed by the company that the interested customers of Vodafone can activate this service through an SMS sent across as FRIENDS to a toll free number 144.

On Friday, a low-cost home computing device was launched by the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Chennai-based IT solutions company Novatium, which could help the former achieve a target of 9 million broadband connections across the country in the next couple of years.

Chairman and Managing Director of BSNL Kuldeep Goyal informed at a press conference after the launch of “Nova netPC” on the BSNL’s network, “Affordability issues over buying a desktop PC or laptop would no longer stand in the way of broadband penetration, especially in rural areas.”

The Union Finance Ministry has asked the telecom department to double the floor price for 3G and wireless broadband spectrum. The move can further delay the 3G auction process scheduled for January 16.

The finance ministry has asked to submit fresh proposal to the Cabinet with the desired changes. Two anonymous executives of the telecom companies said that the move would make 3G services more expensive for the consumers. Telecom companies expressed reservations on the fresh move of 3G prices issue.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has made announcement about the launching of its ‘Interactive Personalised Television and Video Services’ (IPTV) services in Haryana.

In order to fulfill this initiative, State-run telecom operator (BSNL) has joined hands with Smart Digivision.

IPTV is a system delivering digital content services to subscribers using the Internet protocol over a broadband connection using closed network infrastructure.

The Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications has launched nationwide GSM services from December 31. The company is already operating almost all telecom circles with its CDMA services. The company would cover 11,000 towns and 3.40 lakh villages across the country by investing Rs. 10,000-crore in the field of mobile telephony. Reliance Communications has received spectrum to roll out GSM services in January this year and has set a record to launch services within a record low period.

State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), on Wednesday, announced the nation-wide launch of Interactive Personalized Television & Video Services (IPTV) for its customers.

Internet Protocol Tele Vision (IPTV) is a new revolution in the television history where service providers can utilize existing copper cable network to deliver high quality videos and sound using Internet Protocol.

With this launch, the company has enabled its customers to watch programmes according to their convenience from more than 140 TV channels.