DoT panel suggests Rs 3,646 crore/Mhz price for CDMA band

Also, the price suggested by an internal panel of Department of Telecom (DoT) is almost equivalent to that of premium 900 Mhz band, which is considered more efficient than other GSM frequency bands.
   
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) last month recommended a base price of Rs 3,104 crore per megahertz, which was already 15 per higher than the price that the regulator suggested in February this year.
   
"The DoT committee has agreed to the view of TRAI that rise in demand of data services and projected subscribers growth cannot be ignored. The committee has applied a factor of 0.8 on TRAI suggested value that gives reserve price of Rs 3,646 crore per Mhz on pan-India basis," an official source said.
   
The views of the committee are likely to be placed before the inter-ministerial panel Telecom Commission, which is scheduled to meet on December 8.
   
The government has proposed to auction CDMA spectrum in 11 service areas of Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, UP East, Assam, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh.
   
The reserve price recommended by Telecom Commission will be placed before Cabinet for final decision, sources said.
   
The CDMA spectrum auction are proposed to held in February along with auction of spectrum in 900 Mhz and 1800 Mhz bands. DoT also wants to auction spectrum in 2100 Mhz that are currently being used for 3G services.
   
Government expects to garner a minimum of Rs 9,533 crore from 800 Mhz (CDMA), 900 Mhz and 1800 Mhz. As DoT's internal estimates, government can get another Rs 5,000 crore from auction of 3G spectrum.
   
The base price for these spectrum bands is yet to be finalised for the upcoming auction in February.

Source: Current News and Tech News

Misfit Wearables raises USD 40 million from Xiaomi, other Chinese firms

Misfit, which claims to make the biggest-selling activity and sleep tracker in China, said on Tuesday it has raised new financing from Xiaomi, e-commerce company JD.com Inc, and venture-capital firms GGV Capital and Shunwei.
             
GGV partner Hans Tung will join Misfit's board of directors. Shunwei partner Tuck Koh will become a board observer. Both are Xiaomi investors.
             
Misfit, best known for its activity tracker Shine, is the latest startup to gravitate toward Xiaomi, which has been seeking to build a hardware ecosystem that extends beyond its smartphones and into wearable technology and home appliances.
             
Xiaomi has built ties with a litany of Chinese gadget makers through investments or strategic partnerships. But the deal with Misfit would be the first instance of the company investing in a U.S.-based wearables company as it pursues its ambition of becoming a global brand like Apple Inc.
             
The relatively small size of the investment could reflect the wariness with which Chinese companies approach U.S. acquisitions.
             
From Alibaba Group Holding Ltd to Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, many of the largest Chinese tech companies have expressed caution about provoking already simmering anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States through flashy deals, though Lenovo Group Ltd has been successful in carrying out multi-billion-dollar buyouts.
             
Three-year-old Xiaomi has become one of the world's largest smartphone manufacturers by dint of cheaper but critically acclaimed devices modeled on those of Apple. It now sports the $13 "Mi" wristband, while Chief Executive Lei Jun has promised a full lineup of wearables.
             
The Misfit investment comes just a few months before Apple's smartwatch is expected to hit the Chinese market. The wearable graced the cover of Vogue China last month, a move regarded as highly strategic given the growing purchasing power of female luxury consumers in China.
             
Led by Chief Executive Sonny Vu, Misfit is based in Daly City, California, but has a data science team in Vietnam. Its early investor and advisor John Sculley is Apple's former chief executive officer.
             
A Xiaomi spokeswoman declined comment. JD.com, GGV Capital and Shunwei could not be reached for comment.

Source: News and Tech News 

Celkon launches Windows smartphone at Rs 4,979

Murali Retineni, executive director of Celkon Mobiles, said 'Win 400', the first Windows phone from Celkon's stable, runs on Windows Phone 8.1 operating system (OS).

"Our plan is to bring more smartphones on the Windows platform. The next in line will be a 5-inch Windows phone, which is currently in the testing stage," Retineni announced in a press conference.

Celkon currently holds a 4 percent share in the Indian smartphones market and is aiming at taking this to between 7 percent and 8 percent by March 2015, he added.

Rajiv Ahlawat, director (mobility), Microsoft India said 'Win 400' would be their most affordable offering. "We would like to develop a larger portfolio of Windows phones in association with Celkon," he said.

Ahlawat said Microsoft is aiming to develop with its partners an ecosystem in India which would place it in a much bigger position in the next six to 12 months.

The new handset features a 4-inch high-definition display, powered by 1.2-gigahertz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 chip set and backed by a 1,500-mAh lithium ion battery. It sports a 5-mega pixel rear camera with LED flash and a 1.3-mega pixel front-facing camera.

Source: News and Tech News

Festive season propels Indian smartphone market

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), the overall mobile market stood at 72.5 million units in Q3 2014, registering a 15 percent quarter-on-quarter growth and a 9 percent year-on-year growth.

"With 44 million units shipped in CY 2013 and the current market scenario hinting at 80 million plus shipments in CY 2014, we have a big chunk of end-user market which is awaiting refresh. To add to this, new initiatives on the 4G front are expected to be rolled out, which should spark up demand in the smartphone market in CY 2015," said Karan Thakkar, senior market analyst, IDC India.

However, phablets are hitting a stagnancy which has been one of the key reasons for consumers opting for smartphones, the IDC said.

"With 6 percent of the overall smartphone market, phablets are observed to be hitting a plateau. Smartphones are seen as the sweet spot for consumer preference. However, consumers need larger screen sizes to enjoy media content and with the 4G rollout expected in CY 2015, we expect the phablets segment to pick up again," said Kiran Kumar, research manager, client devices, IDC India.

Interestingly, Micromax is fast crawling up to challenge Samsung, the market leader. Market share for Micromax stood at 20 percent in Q3, up by two percent from the previous quarter while Samsung's market share is 24 percent.

The Q3 results reveal the second consecutive quarter of over 80 percent year-on-year shipment growth for smartphones, reflecting robust end-user demand for the category in the devices market in India.

The share of smartphones in the overall mobile phone market stood at 32 percent in Q3 2014, which is a considerable increase over 19 percent in the same period a year ago.

According to the Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped a total of 23.3 million smartphones in Q3 2014 compared to 12.8 million units in the same period of CY 2013.

Source: News and Tech News