Jio Remains the Only Factor in Indian Telecom for My Interest!

I am writing on telecom stuffs since 2008, and that time I found the interest in it because I was a student with limited pocket money. I was an active member of Forumz.in (founded by Gabu, and now the forum is out of internet) and there I met Tarun PK with similar interest. Tarun was that time already running a small portal called Telecomtalk.info with negligible reader base.

I joined on the Team Telecomtalk in 2009 - perfect timing for Indian telecom as many new companies were started to invest money in this sector, thanks to A. Raja, the then telecom minister who sold airwaves to new companies at a cheap price. The new entrants were Swan Telecom, backed by Etisalat (Cheers); Shiva Group, backed by Batelco (S Tel); Videocon Telecom; Sistema Shyam Teleservices; Unitech, partnered with Telenor, Loop Telecom, Tata Tele's GSM venture with NTT Docomo.

Anyway we know what happened later - in February 2012 Supreme Court cancelled the most of the licenses and few stayed in the battlefield.

Idea Plans for 4G-LTE in 8 Circles Initially, Pre-Booking offer of FREE 1GB

Idea Cellular, country's leading 2G & 3G GSM mobile service provider is serious to bring 4G to its customers. Initially Idea will launch 4G in 8 circles - Andra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Orissa, Kerala, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh & Chattisgarh.

You can pre-register on Idea's website: http://www.ideacellular.com/new-offers/idea-4g-coming-soon and can grab 1GB 4G data.

CDMA Sunset - Across the Globe CDMA Networks Shutting Down

​

As technology grows, old ones become obsolete and new ones are welcomed. Same is happening with CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access). The death of CDMA was filed a long ago in 2008 when Qualcomm, the company behind CDMA stopped R&D on UMB - the next of CDMA family favoring LTE as future.

LTE2100 - The New Trend in Global LTE Rollouts

Globally LTE deployments going on in the fastest way and the new trend is LTE2100 (FDD). The trend is something major that GSA, the Global mobile Suppliers Association, published its first status report about the development of LTE in 2.1 GHz, known as 3GPP band 1.

Common deployment trend at present: 
LTE FDD : 1800, 800, 2600 and 2100 MHz
LTE TDD : 2300, 3500 MHz

The reason behind the interest in LTE2100:

Airtel Has Launched Both LTE-TD and LTE-FDD Networks in the Country

As Reliance Jio's 4G launch is due on December this year, Airtel is all its boots working to expand its 4G coverage. Unless you missed the point Airtel has rolled out services in certain circles where Airtel does not have 2.3GiHz spectrum like Andra Pradesh, Tamilnadu and Chennai, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa and North East. However in 2014 and 2015 Airtel has acquired tech neutral 1.8GiHz spectrum in these circles. 

So let me point down the possibilities of Airtel's 4G network in these circles. 

1. Airtel deployed LTE-FDD on 1.8GiHz band. (From the beginning of 2015 Airtel's LTE-FDD launch was on radar, first they partnered with Nokia Networks and then there was news that Airtel is running trials in Chennai with NN)

2. Airtel can use Aircel or Reliance Jio's LTE-TDD network in these circles under ICRA. The scope of this point is very little as Aircel's 4G is still on beta testing mode and only available in Chennai; and Jio's 4G network yet to be launched for mass use. 

So definitely Airtel has launched its own FDD-LTE network in these 5 circles (Andra Pradesh, Tamilnadu and Chennai, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa and North East) and may be in other circles where Airtel already has presence with LTE-TD network as a supplementation. 

Please check this table, hopefully you can understand the Airtel's 4G circles in a better way. 

** Airtel now has 2.3GiHz spectrum in 9 circles. In 2010 they won in 4 circles, got another 4 by acquiring Qualcomm's venture in India and recently bought Augere India's single circle of Madhya Pradesh & Chattisgarh. 

** FDD-NB stands for Narrow Band FDD roll out in circles where Airtel has less than 5MHz of spectrum on 1.8GiHz band.

** Airtel becomes the first operator in the country to roll out LTE-TD network (in Kolkata, in April 2012), first operator to roll out LTE-FDD commercially and the first operator to own both types of LTE networks in the country. 

Reliance Jio's Jionet Free WiFi Review [Shyambazar]

Jio is now present all over the Kolkata - you can see their OFC covers in the roads, can find Jio's 4G signal live and can enjoy Jionet Wifi in many locations across Kolkata. 

Recently I found that Jionet is live near Shyambazar also. So I jumped into the free WiFi to test as well as for my usual browsing and downloading. 

Now connecting to Jionet is easy, start your WiFi/WLAN on your device, you will see Jionet live and just connect and log in. Logging in Jionet is easy - open your browser, try to open any webpage and it will be redirected to Jionet log in page. There you type your mobile no, Jio will send a OTP as text message and verify it on the log in page and you're in. 

Speedtest.net app: 

Speedtest.net requires no introduction and no speed test is not complete without this famous site's testing. So let me start with Speedtest.net app.

Reliance Jio 4G LTE Network Trials Going On: Signal Live Across Kolkata

MTS Backed, Vodafone Branded EvDO Data Card Services Netcruise Killed Off

We just lost another CDMA brand from India – Vodafone Netcruise. It was actually EvDO Rev A based data services provided over USB data cards. Vodafone and MTS India (SSTL) entered into a partnership in July 2011 by which SSTL’s EVDO products are to be sold under Vodafone brand.

That time deal was perfect for both – Vodafone was weighing profit from 3G, and had 3G presence in just 9 circles, while MTS was a pan India CDMA player with better EVDO services. And that time Vodafone has better brand value to sell relatively new player SSTL’s high speed data cards to corporates.

However time changed a lot – MTS is now present in just 9 circles but MTS dongles (MBlaze) grabbed a significant market share, while Vodafone launched 3G on pan India basis, thanks to ICRA. If you can remember MTS or Vodafone never published any separate data for Netcruise or promoted this brand. There was no TVC of this brand, nor it has any twitter handle. Only some retail stores like TheMobileStore, Spice Hotspot etc sold these. There was little success of this brand, and lately almost no activity.

MTS has recently been pushing its RevB (downlink upto 9.8Mbps) services under MBlaze Ultra. They bring own smartphones, Wifi enabled USB dongles and Wifi Hubs to promote its own branded services.

So it is inevitable that they would parted from the brand sharing agreement. Netcruise’s website netcruise.in is now redirecting to MTS India’s website.

Earlier Tata Docomo also killed Virgin brand – all Virgin Mobile customers are now under Tata Docomo brand. Aircel’s pseudo-MVNO services – Blyk and Simpossible are in limbo. So only pseudo-MVNO brand still surviving is Talk24 (TTSL-Future Group venture). It's not only surviving but doing quite well - they launched their own self care app too. Download T24 Mobile App | Give missed call to 8655188888 to get the link.

This story first posted on Telecomtalk.info

India's Worldphone Yet to Come!

A Worldphone or globalphone is considered to support most available network across the globe.

In India there are several technologies are being offered over different spectrum bands. Here goes the list:

GSM/EDGE (2G) - 900 MHz
GSM/EDGE (2G) - 1800 MHz

CDMA 1x/Rev0/RevA/RevB - 800MHz

HSPA (3G) - 2100 MHz
HSPA (3G) - 900 MHz

LTE-TD (4G) - 2300MHz
LTE-FDD (4G) - 1800MHz
LTE-FDD (4G) - 800MHz


What we are missing here:

LTE over 700MHz
LTE over AWS band (1700MHz-2000MHz)
LTE on 2600MHz
CDMA over 450MHz
CDMA over 800MHz
TDMA (as in China)

At present I guess no device support such long list of networks over such extended bands. 

Reliance Jio - Latest Stories ( August 2015 )

Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecommunication arm of Reliance Industries is all set to begin commercial operations by December 2015. Though we are yet to know the official launch date there are some updates regarding Reliance Jio's progress towards the commercial roll out. 

Cheap 4G Smartphones under ReConnect Branding

Before Jio's data services come to market, as early as by middle of September this year RIL will launch LTE-TD handsets (Android smartphones, mostly) for everyone - from Rs 5000 to Rs 25000 price bracket. It will have it's own branding - ReConnect, which is already rolled out as Reliance Digital stores are selling such smartphones and tablets (made by OEM). Jio has tested devices (dongles, WiFi Hub, smartphones, tablets and others) from 28 OEMs. It is expected that Jio's ReConnect smartphones will have both LTE-TD (2300MHz) and LTE-FDD (1800MHz and 800MHz) support. I am not sure these smartphones would support 2G CDMA or GSM network, however expect VoLTE in-built. Jio will rely heavily on its existing Reliance Digital platform to reach masses. 

Verizon Aggressively Backing for VoLTE before Winding up Traditional Voice

American telecom giant Verizon is working hard to make Voice over LTE (VoLTE) a default feature for its all customers. Presently worldwide carriers are shutting down 2G networks to make room for LTE deployments. Verizon is also walking to it – the company has plans to phase out its entire CDMA network by 2021. But before that they need to have a robust 4G network running.

Now Verizon’s VoLTE feature is an opt-in feature where customers need to select this feature on their VoLTE enabled smartphones. David Small, executive vice president of wireless operations at Verizon Wireless informed that more than 4 million customers are using this feature, which will be the default voice option to all customers in due course.

Verizon has launched VoLTE as Advanced Calling 1.0 - the initial version of VoLTE. Currently they have 25 smartphones supporting VoLTE. 

CDMA Logs

This article is a backup article for any future interest. At present India has no active CDMA service. I had this document long time in my PC, and found in 2019. However I am sharing it as anyone might be interested in CDMA history in India. 

CDMA Data (1X/EVDO) via RUIM in Kolkata

Devices Used: Micromax C114, Samsung SCH-F219, ZTE AC2766

	Voice (Mobile+ FWP)	1X Data card	EVDO Data card	Notes [regarding Internet via RUIM enabled devices (BREW is not considered)]
Reliance	Reliance Mobile (CDMA) Reliance Hello (FWP)	Reliance Netconnect	Reliance Netconnect+	Gives total freedom, you can use one RUIM in mobile or modem to access internet with same data plan.
Tata Tele	Tata Docomo  (CDMA)/Tata Indicom Tata Walky (FWP)	Photon Whiz	Photon+ Photon Max (Rev B)	OMH RUIM is costly. Internet access is blocked on most OMH RUIM. Refer to main report.
	Virgin Mobile (CDMA)	Virgin vLink	Virgin vFlash	Mobile services are closed, no data services on mobile via RUIM. Limited availability of data dongles too. This brand is phasing out.
Sistema Shyam Teleservices	MTS Mobile	MTS MBrowse	MTS MBlaze MBlaze Ultra (Rev B+)	RUIM based data plans offers EVDO on mobiles only, on modem it is restricted to 1X only.
			Vodafone NetCruise	Vodafone-MTS tie up. Started as pilot project in selected cities. No mobile services as Vodafone CDMA.
BSNL	BSNL Mobile CDMA	BSNL 1X	BSNL EVDO	BSNL has wide 1x coverage as BSNL WLL is mostly based on CDMA 1x. Mobile services on CDMA with 10 digit mobile services started lately.
MTNL	Garuda	MTNL 1X		Available in Delhi and Mumbai. No EVDO, but cheapest 1X data at Rs 75/month.
QTL (earlier HFCL Infotel)	Ping Mobile Connect FWP			No data services. Available in Punjab and Chandigarh. Currently shut down, no new mobile connection but entered in brand sharing agreements with Videocon GSM Mobile Services. Connect CDMA FWP/WLL started in 2000. And Ping Mobile came in field in 2007.

In Kolkata Reliance, Tata, MTS and BSNL have CDMA services.

Objectives

• To find out Unified Plans [total freedom on RUIM – one ruim, many devices, single data plan]
• Availability of  high speed EVDO network at my area
• Comparison of data networks based upon impressions. 

CDMA Modem Unlockers

AC-2766 mts evdo modem suceesfully unlocked

1. Open CDMA WORKSHOP V-2.7

2. select com port of modem and connect

3. read info to check that connected sucessfully or not

4. go to security tab

5. put spc code 000000(by default spc of 2746 old ver,2766 nd 8720 is six time 0) and send spc u got a message (spc is correct phone unlocked).

6. go to others tab in ruim config section select ruim if avail then write - (u got message sucess)

7. MAIN- MODE- RESET   [NOT REQUIRED]

8. open Zte AC2647 unlocker 

9. select com 

10. click on write

11. put spc 000000 then ok. u got message (write min limit sucess).

12.   if got error msg (write min limit failed)

13. reconnect modem and try again.

14. For ZTE AC8720 Use option 7 to 11.

This method works with AC8720, AC2766, AC2746 old version

old ver 2746 have Qsc6085 cpu and new one have Mdm6085 cpu. 

http://forum.gsmhosting.com/vbb/f128/zte-ac2746-old-ver-ac2766-ac8720-full-process-unlock-1393715/

Huawei EC325 Data Modem Unlock ....

This device comes locked by the operator and cannot be used on other operators. There is a way we can unlock this device. Download the Flasher for HUAWEI data card. This software will erase the EPROM of the device and install an earlier version of the Firmware ( version 25.07.016). This software is tested. I have successfully flashed my HUAWEI data card and it is now working on any CDMA network. 

DRIVER- http://www.ziddu.com/download/3222990/DriversHUAWEIEC325.zip.html

UPDATER- http://www.ziddu.com/download/3223009/FLASHUPDATERHUAWEIEC325.zip.html

New MTS DATA EC306 ORIGINAL FIRMWARE & DASHBOARD UPGRADE 

 MTS EC306.rar - 4shared.com - online file sharing and storage - download (http://www.4shared.com/file/GvKqR3LT/MTS_EC306.html)

Samsung F219

copy this dll in C:\Program Files\Samsung Electronics\SamsungPST\Models

 F219 DLL (http://www.4shared.com/file/KijAmX4g/SamsungPST_F219_For_India_1000.html?)

CDMA EV-DO MODEMS

Huawei     |  ZTE   |  Anydata   |  Olive   |   Micromax   |   Haier   |   Epivalley

This post is actually made to backup my CDMA research, which does not hold any importance in present scenario. We are now on 4G !!

BiswaBangla Net - Another free WiFi Zone at Kolkata

Last week I had an visit at Charnock Hospital, near Haldiram- VIP Road. One of close person was operated for TURP, and as schedule was after 10pm, I reached there around 11:40pm. While waiting outside the OT Complex, I found that there is a open WiFi network around. 

I can't remember when WiFi on the strech of Biswa Bangla Sarani was announced (probably in the winter of 2014-15), however after trying Tata Docomo, Ozone and RJio's WiFi I once found it's a free internet (for 30minutes, though) zone (of Kolkata) I got interested to check that out. 

** In June 2014 HIDCO announced this WiFi services across the 10.5 Km stretched Major Arterial Road connecting Airport to Saltlake sector V. The road is also announced as green corridor where no billboard is allowed. There is a plan to extend Wifi services on another 6 Km to Chigrighata crossing on EM Bypass. In January 2015 the services become open for public use. **

'BiswaBanglaNet' is the name of Wifi network, detected by my phone. It's an open network - but to access internet you need to log in (web log in).

• It offers 30 min of free usage
• User registration is same as Ozone/Tata Docomo/Jionet - you give your mobile no, receive a text from DZ-BBSNET with username (your mobile no) and password. On the log in page, you can the see counter of 30 minutes.

LTE Stories in Africa & Indonesia Suggest Reliance Jio’s Success in Data-Starved India

Reliance Jio is all ready with guns and bullets as the commercial operations will go live by December this year. While everyone concerned believe that Jio will disrupt the market causing existing players to bleed, let’s take a look at how Jio’s data- only model can work in India.

Though Jio has been in the limelight of technology media from the very first, we were actually given information by Jio only as much as they wanted us to know. Still there is no update about Jio’s voice policy – is it VOLTE or VoIP or a fall back to Reliance Communications’ 2G network?

Jio wants to be more than just a data service provider; rather they have pushed their fiber plan to reach millions of Indians’ homes. They have laid some, borrowed from others and have become a part of international submarine cable (Bay of Bengal Gateway).

Without voice or being a ‘dumb pipe’ model is nothing new. Rather, before LTE went mainstream, there were some WIMAX players who relied upon data- only model. Some succeeded, some did not – but everyone moved to LTE eventually.

Let us take a look at how LTE has changed the scenario in Africa and Indonesia.

In Africa, there has been a recent surge in telecom investment, and a lot is coming in the form of LTE deployment. There are several players who earlier rolled out WiMAX, and are now offering LTE.

A List of Africa’s data- only LTE operators:

List of Government Medical Colleges in West Bengal

This is the list of Govt. Medical Colleges in WB, affiliated by WB University of Health Sciences (WBUHS). 

They all offer MBBS courses, not sure about nursing courses, medical technology courses or post MBBS PG/diploma courses. MBBS admissions are based on NEET-UG ranks and counselling. 

Medical College, Kolkata 1835

N.R.S. Medical College and Hospital 1873

R.G.Kar Medical College and Hospital 1886

Calcutta National Medical College 1948

IPGMER and SSKM Hospital 1707

------------------------------------------------------

Burdwan Medical College 1910

Bankura Sammelani Medical College 1922

North Bengal Medical College 1968

------------------------------------------------------

Medinipur Medical College 2004

------------------------------------------------------

College of Medicine and JNM Hospital 2010

College of Medicine and Sagore Dutta Hospital 2011

Malda Medical College 2011

------------------------------------------------------

Raiganj Government Medical College and Hospital 2018

Rampurhat Government Medical College 2018

Diamond Harbour Government Medical College 2019

Maharaja Jitendra Narayan Medical College (Coochbihar) 2019

Deben Mahata Government Medical College (or Purulia Govt. Medical College) 2020

------------------------------------------------------

Announced Medical Colleges: 

Prafulla Chandra Sen Govt. Medical College (Arambagh), 2022

Tamralipto Govt. Medical College (Tamluk) 2022

Barasat Govt. Medical College 2022

Jhargram Govt. Medical College 2022

Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Govt. Medical College (Uluberia) 2022

Jalpaiguri Govt. Medical College 2022

Total 23 government medical colleges in West Bengal. 

The post has been updated on 12.07.2022

Fentanyl Citrate : Product Information

For the use of a Registered Medical Practitioner or a Hospital or Laboratory only.

Fentanyl is a synthetic phenethylpiperidine derivative drug is commercially available for parenteral use as the citrate salt.

Clinical Pharmacology:

Fendrop is a narcotic analgesic. It is short-acting after single doses, but has a relatively long elimination half-life because of rapid redistribution in the body. Fendrop is usually given intravenously and is used particularly in anaesthesia. A dose of 100 mcg (in 2 ml) is approximately equivaient in analgesic activity to 10 mg of morphine or 75 mg of meperidine. The principal actions of therapeutic value are analgesia and sedation. Large doses may produce apnea.

SingTel et al to Disconnect 2G by 2017: My Take

With the massive growth on 4G-LTE platform, operators across the globe are planning for a opt-out from old technology based services. As per GSA report, there are 635 million LTE subscription worldwide in the Q1 of 2015 - that is equivalent to an impressive 151.4% annual growth.

On 15th June, 2015 Singtel, M1 and StarHub - the three mobile carriers of Singapore jointly announced that they will stop offering 2G services w.e.f April 1, 2017. Presently only 2.5 mobile users in Singapore use 2G services. The carriers told that 2G spectrum will be refarmed for more data friendly 3G & 4G services. They will offer smooth transition for 2G to 3G/4G.

Singapore can do that as there 4G coverage is near to 100%, thanks to the compact geographical area of the country. Not only that operators need more 1800MHz for robust LTE coverage.

Hospice in End Stage Diseases (+ Kosish Cocktail)

Few days back I saw a ovarian Ca (with hepatitis B - HbsAg positive) patient in a private hospital, where I am attached as medical officer. The malignancy is end stage, and associated with metastasis and pain. She is a regular admission in that set up, mostly when pain is increased or she is having shortness of breath due to huge ascitis & pleural effusion. We drain her ascitic & pleural fluid and send her home back, just to wait she would return to the nursing home. 

In any of her admission, her daughter & son-in-law asked the consultant that they are arranging a doctor outside to see her. On this doctor's visiting day, I was not present as that was my off day. 

OZONE CONNECT APP REVIEW

Incorporated in 2007, Ozone Networks is one of the early entrants of public WiFi business in India. Currently Ozone has around 6500 public WiFi hotspots commercially available across the country. 

At present Ozone is offering its WiFi services in a 'try free before use' model - you connect to Ozone WiFi and then share your mobile no., an authentication password will be sent to your mobile no. Log in with these credentials and you can enjoy first 30 minutes of internet free of cost. Post 30 minutes you have to pay - buy different plans available from Ozone. 

However to make sure this log in procedure trouble free, Ozone has launched an App - Ozone Connect is available on Android only, but Windows and Apple iOS platform will get their native app very soon. Ozone Networks expects that with this app usage on their WiFi network will rise in a huge range. 

So let's start how is this app for seamless connecting to Ozone WiFi networks. Before you start reading, have a look into my review of Ozone's free public WiFi. 

What is 404-999 3G Network Live Across India?

At a point you may find that 404-999 is a 3G network live at your area while you are manually setting the network. There is no name of this network. Many thought about it's existing cellular operators testing 3G/UMTS over 900MHz. 

Vodafone OFC [PIC]

As seen in Kalyani, West Bengal

Reliance Jio OFC (RJIL OFC) [PIC]

As seen at Barrackpore, near my home.

A Brief Intro to Airtel Platinum 3G

Airtel, country's largest mobile operator has launched 'PLATINUM 3G' services in Kolkata on April 9, 2015. That's third 3G900 commercial launch in India after Airtel did in Mumbai (March 13, 2015) and Idea did in Delhi (March 24, 2015).

Airtel Platinum 3G - Homepage

Alliance Broadband - Useful Stuffs

Alliance Broadband is the best broadband service provider in the metro area of Kolkata. Being the best one for home broadband segment, it offers unlimited usage on most plans, with night speed upgrade and peering for download boost. It has fewer downtime compared to BSNL.

In this post I am sharing few useful info for Alliance Broadband.

Log in page

#1 : http://10.254.254.11/0/up/ [not working]
#2 : http://10.254.254.15/0/up/  [working at Barrackpore]
#3 : http://10.254.254.19/0/up/  [working at Paikpara/Belgachia]
#4 : http://10.254.254.60/0/up/  [working at Khardah]


New Logo of Alliance Broadband
seen in September 2018

If you check your IP address while on Alliance BB connection, the ISP may not be shown as Alliance, rather I found it has several alias like Tamanna Communication Pvt, G C Link Pvt, Premier Broadband Services, Baishakhi Special, Asia Pacific Network Information Center, Golden Touch International, Sristi Sanchar Webnet.

If you go deeper, hostname could be found as Alliance Broadband. 

This post is maintained mainly for my personal interests.

O-zone WiFi : Aims to Reach Indians with WiFi

Delhi headquater-ed Ozone WiFi is an ISP of India with ISP cat A license. Ozone was founded by Sanjeev Bobby Sarin in 2007. Unlike other ISPs, Ozone is unique in a way that it offers internet services over WiFi. Anybody who have WiFi enabled devices can access internet over Ozone WiFi. Presently Ozone is the largest public WiFi service provider in the country.

In April 2011, Ozone was in talks with several mobile operators - Vodafone, Airtel, Aircel and Idea for data offload to its WiFi network. The deal did not happen.

In January 2012, Google partnered with Ozone to promote Google+. When a person is on Ozone Wifi he would have free unlimited access on Google+ and access to Youtube (specific videos free for 10 min/day). The deal worked for 90 days.

Data Focused MTS India to Loose Battle on Smartphone Field

In a very interesting move Russian Govt & Sistema promoted MTS India, country's sole CDMA based mobile voice & data service provider has decided to stay away from upcoming spectrum auction citing the reason of too high baseprice of 800 MHz airwave. 

Globally most popular LTE bands are 1800 & 800 Mhz. In Europe GSM is predominant over CDMA, it makes LTE-FDD roll out favorable on mostly vacant 800 Mhz band. There, in general mostly used bands are 900Mhz for 2G and 2100Mhz for 3G. As there are fewer operators (MNO) and less population there, their requirements did not expanded much to 1800Mhz, the vacant 1800Mhz band is also used for LTE FDD roll out. 

In India situation is different - hence govt. sold 2300Mhz band for broadband wireless access, which is again unpaired - suitable for LTE TDD. Globally LTE-TD is gaining traction in countries like China, India, Brazil, Russia, Australia, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka. And in some countries operators are deploying LTE-TD as an enhancement to existing LTE-FDD networks. 

In India GSM players, more specifically incumbents are looking for 800Mhz band as E-GSM spectrum. The reason is simple: They can put pressure on CDMA operators with less spectrum for CDMA or future LTE deployment , as well as can deploy LTE-FDD on 800Mhz which can offer wide coverage compared to LTE1800 & LTE2300. Indian players with unified 1800Mhz band are planning for LTE-FDD roll out; the list includes Vodafone, Idea, Videocon and Uninor. State owned players BSNL & MTNL, wallowed by the poor finances want to skip the 4G party. 

Now let's back to MTS India. Being jolted by 3G players MTS who always talks about data, had rolled out its Rev B phase II network, branded as 3GPLUS or MBlaze Ultra. With good promotion of its WiFi Hotspots It makes good customer base on data front, even taps GSM smartphone & WiFi tablet users. To promote their Wifi products they've started campaigning with a catchy name 'HomeSpot' to reach even home users - to compete against wired home brodband service providers.

But MTS misses one spot in the data business - smartphones. Unlike Reliance & TATA Docomo, they never launch good specs, popular brands and open CDMA smartphones which sports latest Android version. They have their own smartphone series - MTag and Blaze series, these are mostly by Chinese OEMs like Huawei, ZTE, Coolpad or rebranded Micromax, Lava. Specification wise these phones are not at par with HTC, Motorola, Nokia or Samsung. MTS even is not allowing MEID registration on foreign imported smartphones - that's so disappointing! At the same time Reliance & Tata Docomo allows and Reliance has more loyal CDMA users. 

Issues with MTS Smartphone Strategy

1. Made by Chinese OEMs or rebranded 
2. Hardware is not upto the mark
3. Android version is old, the UI is not good enough.
4. No chance of getting Android updates in future.
5. Poor battery life, partly due to Andoid OS, partly due to poor R&D smartphones.
6. The CDMA ruim slot is locked with MTS
7. You can't be part of 3rd party development because of non popular Android phones.
8. Operating system choice is only one - Android. MTS has no Windows phone in its sleeve.
9. They don't allow MEID registration on imported non-sim smartphones. 
10. The regular data plans are in line of Airtel & Vodafone. Reliance & Tata has cheaper CDMA data plans for smartphone users (less than Rs 100 for 1GB data). On 3G Reliance, Tata, Aircel and Idea (in few circles) are offering more pocket friendly plans. 
11. They don't endorse open market smartphones from HTC or even ZTE. While both Reliance & Tata are offering these. 

One thing is for sure MTS is underestimating Indian customers. They thought if pricing barrier of smartphones can be broken, they can be a part of data evolution in the country in a true way.

Airtel, Vodafone and Idea - 3G Map of India (2015)

In the recently ended auction, only Airtel, Vodafone and Idea (the so-called incumbents or infamous A-Vo-Id group) have spent money to grab more 3G spectrum. Well the 3G spectrum term is wrong, it's 2100MHz band, generally to be used for 3G/UMTS/WCDMA/HSPA/HSPA+ services. 

Aircel, Reliance Communications or Tata Teleservices/Tata Docomo did not acquire any new pie for 3G. Even Reliance Jio skipped 3G spectrum. 

Airtel 3G Map

Idea 3G Map

Vodafone 3G Map

Reliance Jio - 2300/1800/800MHz Spectrum Map

Reliance Jio : 1800MHz band in 18 circles. 

Videocon Telecom : 1800Mhz band in 7 circles.

Reliance Jio : 2300MHz band in all 22 circles 

Reliance Jio : 800MHz band in 10 circles [2015]

Tata Tele to Axe Down Virgin Mobile Brand

India's Tata Teleservices, a subsidiary of Indian of Tata docomo who offer GSM & CDMA voice & data services under primary brand name of Tata Docomo, with partnership from Japan's NTT Docomo is going to kill unnecessary sub-brand - Virgin Mobile.

Today I received a text message from TD-DOCOMO which says: Virgin Mobile is now Tata Docomo.

Webpage Redirected to VAS Activation Page: Idea Cellular

Few days back, I was browsing internet on my smartphone on Dolphin Browser. I tried to open http://djmaza.info/ and it got redirected to some shitty VAS page. (see below)

If you touch on YES, you will be deducted Rs 45 for 15 days. I was lucky that I was using Idea 3G that time with zero main balance.

Ozone WiFi Review

Public Wifi is getting traction in India. Several companies are investing money to make money from Public Wifi services. Among them Tata Teleservices and Ozone WiFi is have prominent background.

Random Approach: Airtel 4G Wifi vs Tata Photon Max Wifi vs MTS Mblaze Ultra Wifi

On my way from CITY CENTER 1 to Bidhannagar railway station to Shovabazar metro station (Auto route), I have collected available Wifi networks details. This random approach is based on that details.

WiFi Based ISP at Barrackpore

Location : Barrackpore

SPEEDNET - open wifi network.

5 such networks found - PANPARA, WIRELESS PARA, SECTOR 1, SECTOR 3 (equipment company is Ubiquiti Networks), RUIYA (by Routerboard.com).
* Earlier all of them were detected as 'Meghbela Broadband'

DIGINET 5G - one network, euipment from Ubiquiti.

WISHNET wifi (at Atindra Cinema?) - single network. Once found, later it's not found.

** Though these are open, here authentication is done with your device's MAC address. So unless you're subscribed to them you can't connect to these networks.

** Recently people found 'Jionet' Wifi network (secured). It's Reliance Jio's Wifi service.

Reliance Jio's WiFi Services Got Live in Kolkata

Kolkata - country's first city to have mobile services, was also privileged to see country's first 4G/LTE network. And recently we have seen Reliance Jio has rolled out its Wifi services, Jionet in Kolkata. State government of West Bengal headed by tmc supremo & chief minister pushed this pilot launch (details later) like a part of their governmental announcement as 'India's first Wifi city'.

The launch event was held at the Park Street, just near to Park Street Metro station as a public event on February 5, 2015. In that event Mr. Tarun Jhunjhunwala, eastern head of RJIL was present on behalf of RJIL.

Kolkata got free WiFi. Who is the company behind it? Is it a government project?

Reliance Jio Infocomm is the company behind free WiFi in Kolkata. It's not a government project, but government is claiming the credit as they allowed RJIL to lay OFC across the state.

So it's basically Jio's Wifi services. Why is this private company offering free WiFi?

Jio clarifies the fact that it's a pilot project and that's why it's free for time being. Also they are allowed to monitor and create database based on users' activity on their WiFi services as the terms and conditions read.

Kolkata is the India's first WiFi city - is it true? 

No, it's not true. This tag is actually done for political ground by tmc people. Jio's Wifi services was first live in Ahmedabad on February 26, 2014. Later Jio expanded its pilot project in other cities of Gujarat - Baroda/Vadadara and Surat. 


What's the brand name of Jio's Wi-Fi services?

It's Jionet.

Jio's recently launched WiFi service is a 4G product - is it true? 

Jionet is not a 4G product. It's served over 2.5MHz unlicensed spectrum, with a strong backhaul of Jio's OFC network. It's not LTE also. 

Does Jio has a helpline phone number or email id to contact? 

Jio Helpline: 1800 103 8877 

Jio Care: jio.care@ril.com

Jio WiFi Launch at Park Street, Kolkata

Bengali Newspaper Advertisement

Will be updated.

!DEA 3G Review at Kolkata

really?, Not really.

Thought 3G-ICRA is yet under discussion, A-Vo-Id group is launching 3G over circles where they have no 3G spectrum. Thus !DEA 3G was launched in Kolkata.

I took a SIM, popped  it on my mobile after 4-7 days after documentation. 

After doing the first 3G recharge (Rs 123 - 1GB, 30 days) the network automatically chooses 'Vodafone 3G Roaming'. On manual selection it detects as IDEA 3G; on network name on front screen it's "Vodafone IN | !dea".

Will Reliance Close Down CDMA Business?

For more than 1 year, RIMWEB guys (r-cdma as well as cdma fanboys) started a topic on its forum that Rcom's cdma network is crumbling. Many reported that issues of poor network signals on R-cdma (including voice over 1x & data over EvDO). Many expressed the view that Rcom is winding up their cdma operations. At the same time Rcom is also shutting down many of their stores.

So all it lead me to think about merger of Rcom & Rjio. As Rjio has almost 0% market share, their merger is always legal, though merged entity has to return some of spectrum on 1800 Mhz band. And in the upcoming spectrum auction Rjio will pay to retain 800Mhz band.