Earlier, TRAI had said that the spectrum pricing will only raise the tariff by up to four paise per minute. The regulator had calculated the tariff on pan-India basis.
The country is divided into 22 telecom circles. Generally, boundary of a circle coincides with that of a state. There are two exceptions — Mumbai is a separate telecom circle and the North East states also form a single circle.
In the 2010 auction of 3G spectrum, the combined price of spectrum in Delhi and Mumbai accounted for about 40% of the total pan-India price. The two metros account for only about 2% of India’s population and 7.8% of the total subscriber base.
Similarly, in 2001 auction, the two metros accounted for about 23% of the total spectrum price.
If spectrum pricing impact on tariff is calculated circle-wise, then tariff for telecom services in the two metros should have been many times more than that in category ‘B’ circles. However, this is not the case.
“If tariff is calculated circle-wise, then it would present a distorted picture of impact of pricing on tariff,” said a former TRAI member.
The average tariff fell from about Rs. 1 per minute to about 45 paise per minute when the new entrants launched services in 2008.
“Telecom commission wants circle-wise impact of pricing on tariff so that a new scenario may emerge where there may be a case for reducing reserve price,” said a source familiar with the developments.
The prices will also impact the licences for the metros that come up for renewal in 2014.
Nokia Lumia 610 can't install Angry Birds, Skype and more - Crave
Nokia and Microsoft have run into problems with the new Nokia Lumia 610. While trying to avoid the fragmentation issues faced by Android, Windows Phone has properly shot itself in the foot -- with a catapult and an Angry Bird.
The budget Lumia 610 is the first phone powered by Microsoft's Windows Phone software to arrive with just 256MB of RAM -- and it turns out many Windows Phone apps just won't work on the phone. That includes Angry Birds, the smash-hit game from Nokia's fellow Finns Rovio, and, even worse, Skype -- which is owned by Microsoft. As snafus go, this one is pretty delicious.
Other games that won't install on the Lumia 610 include PES 2012, Plants vs Zombies and Assassin's Creed, offering an error message when you try to download them.
So how did this happen? Originally, Microsoft set exacting standards for the hardware of any phone that wanted to run Windows Phone software, to ensure a high-quality experience. That avoided the fragmentation issues faced by Android -- because Google's software is entirely open, Android phones come in all shapes and sizes, and so apps have to be tested across a bewildering range of screen sizes, processor speeds and even different versions of Android itself.
But as Windows Phone makes up just a fraction of smart phone sales, Microsoft lowered the minimum standards for phones powered by Windows Phone, to allow for cheaper mobiles to entice new customers. Sadly, it appears that in the process Microsoft has walked right into the exact same problem as Android -- and with only a handful of devices on the market rather than thousands.
Still, it's likely to be a temporary problem. Fans of flinging fowl will be glad to hear a version of Angry Birds is on its way for the 610 and other Windows Phones with low memory. Apps continue to work fine on the higher-end likes of the Nokia Lumia 800 and Lumia 900.
Are you tempted by Windows Phone at a lower price? How much of a cock-up is this for Windows Phone? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
Microsoft Should Not Buy Nokia - PC Magazine
The headline of this column is for the benefit of both Nokia and Microsoft. Nokia, as I've explained before, should abandon the Windows platform and move to Android ASAP. That's the way I see things from Nokia's perspective. From Microsoft's perspective, I'd say, "Why buy the cow when the milk is free?" Microsoft essentially owns Nokia now.
At least, that is what some financial writers seem to think. Rocco Pendola of TheStreet.com writes:
For all intents and purposes, Microsoft can have its way with Nokia. The Fins were smart to give themselves, unconditionally, to the Americans from the Pacific Northwest. While I understand the two companies have an agreement in place that governs their partnership, everybody, including Nokia, knows who dominates this relationship.
So why would Microsoft want to buy Nokia with this sort of thing in place? Well, harkening back to the free milk from the cow, perhaps someone should consider the fact that the cow is starving to death and nobody seems to give a crap. If Microsoft is going to buy the company, is it going to buy it at a bankruptcy auction? What is it waiting for?
As an aside, I would like to mention that nobody has ever benefited from a partnership with Microsoft. Maybe one of my readers can help me out, but I cannot find any examples. Even IBM lost out when it was working with Microsoft. FrontPage, one of the first webpage editors, was decimated after Microsoft bought it. A common theme, it seems. The only thing that thrives at Microsoft is Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office.
So exactly how would Nokia benefit from a Microsoft buyout? The cultural differences are enough to sink Nokia. I sure do not see such a deal bringing down Microsoft. You can imagine all the work that would go into such a massive deal: Continuing with a huge push for more sales of the Windows Phone, eventual failure, the shuttering of Nokia. Then Microsoft would say, "Oh well. We tried. It was Nokia's fault the Windows Phone died. It was a bad idea to buy Nokia."
Meanwhile, Finland loses Nokia.
This is all inevitable if the Fins do not do something to stop it. The country could apparently, on its own, stop the Russian army, but it cannot stop Microsoft.
It's actually not too late for Nokia to turn things around. Surely it has to be noticing all the attention that the Samsung Galaxy S III is getting. It sees the Samsung Galaxy Note is hot. It must be aware that the HTC One X is all over the news. What do these phones have in common? They run Android.
I have a Nokia 800. It's gorgeous—beautiful lines, a great screen, and responsive. How would this phone be if it ran Android, rather than requiring me to run Zune software to grab a simple photo and move it to my machine?
The product differentiator for Nokia products was never the Symbian or any other OS. In fact, that was the drawback. The reason people liked Nokia was because of the hardware. Apparently, it has never figured that out and now, it is facing extinction.
You can Follow John C. Dvorak on Twitter @therealdvorak.
More John C. Dvorak:
• Microsoft Should Not Buy Nokia
• Egan's Twitter Book is a Fail Whale
• Ebook Pricing War Wages On
• Get Ready for Multiple Monitors
• Can Anonymous Be Stopped?
• more
No comments:
Post a Comment