Vodafone India has said a shift in the airwaves frequencies alloted to it to a higher band will put an additional cost burden of around Rs 10,000 crore on the company which will then be passed on to consumers, leading to tariff hike. "Vodafone estimates that apart from the write-off of existing investments, it will cost around Rs 10,000 crore to replace its 900MHz with an 18
Television viewers will soon get to choose a minimum of hundred Free to Air (FTA) channels at a maximum retail price of Rs 100, as per new tariff rules for Cable TV announced by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today. According to the regulatory framework for Digitalised Cable TV brought out by TRAI to safeguard consumers` interests, cable operators will have to manda
Representatives from four companies, whose licences have been cancelled by Supreme Court in February, today met Telecom Secretary R Chandrashekhar on issue of spectrum auction and expressed their concern over recommendations made by sector regulator Trai. According to sources, Telenor Group Executive Vice President and Uninor CEO SigveBrekke, along with representatives fr
Sectoral regulator Trai today launched its consumers complaint monitoring system (TCCMS) portal to help telecom subscribers get information on complaint redressal. "Called TCCMS (www.tccms.gov.in), the portal would facilitate telecom consumers in locating Consumer Care Number, General Information Number and contact details of the complaint centre and Appellate Authority of t
Law enforcement agencies need to quickly scale up capacity to fight cyber crime as dimensions of security problem increase manifold in the online space, Home Minister P Chidambaram said today. "We have taken numerous steps to protect the physical infrastructure...I think all that we have done to protect the infrastructure in the physical space seems to be a lighter task than
India has been ranked 69th in a World Economic Forum (WEF) report on the success of countries` overall efforts to use information communication technologies (ICT) to improve businesses, government functioning and impact on society, the government said today. "India is placed at an overall rank of 69. This is an aggregate of five indices namely readiness, environment, usage a
The Supreme Court today set up an expert panel to recommend within three months the procedure for telecom firms for properly identifying customers before issuing SIM cards to them so that they are not misused by anti-social elements. In view of divergent views of the government and telecom regulator TRAI on many issues including on maintaining database of the subscribers, a bench
Maharashtra and Karnataka topped the list of cyber crimes registered in 2010 with 246 cases and 176 cases respectively, Communications and IT Minister Kapil Sibal said. "With the increase in the proliferation of Information Technology and related services, there is a rise in number of cyber crimes and cyber security incidents. The trend in increase in cyber incidents is simi
TCS chief N Chandrasekaran from tomorrow will assume the office of chairman of Nasscom, the industry body of the country`s USD 100 billion Indian IT-BPO sector, sources said. He replaces Rajendra S Pawar, founder of NIIT, as the Chairman of Nasscom`s executive council for 2012-13. The TCS honcho was the vice-chairman of Nasscom`s executive council for the year 2011-12.
In order to weed out the problem of fake PAN cards and to ensure an accurate biometric data, the government has initiated a mammoth project to bring together both the Aadhar and the PAN databases. The Nandan Nilekani-led Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) issues the Aadhar number which is now being synchronised with the Permanent Account Number database maintained b
The Centre`s project of providing biometric identity cards to traditional fishermen as part of stepping up surveillance in coastal areas is almost complete in Goa. State Fisheries director Nandkumar Verlekar said around 10,000-odd fishermen living along the Goa shoreline will be given these cards, which contain all relevant information about them in a coded format.
For better management of pilgrims and pony vendors at the Mata Vaishnodevi shrine in Trikuta hills, a system based on smart-card and biometrics would soon be put in place. Municipal Committee Katra (MCK) has floated Request for Proposal (RFP) for Visitor-Pony management system for pilgrims at Vaishnodevi shrine to have a stricter control over vendors, for the benefit of devotees.
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is probing several complaints of misuse of personal data and duplication of cards while issuing `Aadhaar` numbers to individuals. "UIDAI has received six complaints regarding errors or complaints regarding use of address documents. Four were received on UIDAI helpline on May 7, 13, 23, 2011 and March 9, 2012 and two by ema
UK-based Datawind which had bagged a contract for supplying low-cost tablet `Aakash` to the government, today launched two such computing devices in the price range of Rs 3,000-4,000, considered to be amongst the cheapest in the market. Datawind, which had run into problems with the IIT Rajasthan and its sub-contractor Quad Electronics for the much-touted `Aakash` claimed that it has alr
The security of the country will not be compromised by issue of Aadhaar cards for the people, as this does not confer right of citizenship to anyone including illegal migrants, Rajya Sabha was informed today. "Aadhaar does not confer citizenship nor does it by itself confer right of citizenship for illegal migrants, which will be determined by the relevant statutory and implementing
The government today said as many as 3.86 crore Aadhaar letters are in the process of being dispatched while 6.46 lakh cards could not be delivered by the postal department due various reasons such as incomplete address. As on April 20, 2012 a total of 17 crore Aadhaar numbers had been generated and 10.44 crore have been dispatched, Minister of State for Planning Ashwani Kumar said in a
As many as 133 government websites fell prey to hackers in the first three months of 2012, Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot has said. "As per incidents reported to and tracked by the Indian Computer Emergency Response team (CERT), a total number of 92, 204, 248 government websites were hacked during the years 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively. 133 webs
Nasdaq-listed IT management software and solutions company CA Technologies is looking for acquisition targets all over the world including India, a top company official said today. CA Technologies CEO William E McCracken said the ideal company that they are looking for would be in the range of USD 10 million and USD 500 million. "We are constantly scouting for
The House of Representatives ignored Obama administration objections and approved legislation aimed at helping stop electronic attacks on critical US infrastructure and private companies. On a bipartisan vote of 248-168, the Republican-controlled House backed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, which would encourage companies and the federal government to s
Iran is busy acquiring the technical know-how to launch a potentially crippling cyber-attack on the United States and its allies, experts told a congressional hearing today, urging the US to step up its defensive measures. "Over the past three years, the Iranian regime has invested heavily in both defensive and offensive capabilities in cyberspace," said Ilan Berman, vi
