The above report provides an update on the growth trends for the telecom services for the period October-December 2005. It presents a broad perspective on the Telecom Services to serve as a reference document for various stakeholders, research agencies and analysts as an update over the previous reports. Due to the Unified Access Service Regime, the details under mobile services combine both GSM & CDMA. The Fixed Service details also include WLL (F) and Village Public Telephones (VPT). The said report also covers the performance of Cable TV, DTH & Radio Broadband services. The information for this report has been collected from various telecom operators and service providers. TRAI collects performance-oriented data from various service providers on a quarterly basis to monitor the growth trend in the sector and to decide upon pro-active and suo motto measures to fuel the growth of the telecom services in the country. The data provided in this report is purely provisional and subject to change. TRAI regularly conducts review of its data collection programme to ensure that its processes remains appropriate/relevant in the rapidly growing telecom sector and are consistent with changing regulatory framework. Pl. check it out for more details.

During March 2006, the subscriber growth has been recorded 3.9 million, the highest subscriber additions since inception of service. The cumulative All India GSM subscriber base has now grown to 69.06 million in March 2006, up from 65.18 million in February 2006, a growth of 5.95% during this period. The above document gives you citywise/circlewise/metrowise/operatorwise cellular subscriber statistics for the month of March 2006.

In exercise of the powers conferred upon it under Section 36 read with para (i) of clause (b), sub-section (1) of Section 11 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Service Providers (Maintenance of Books of Accounts and Other Documents) Rules, 2002 and the order/notification issued thereunder, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India makes the Regulation called “The Reporting System on Accounting Separation (Forth Amendment) Regulation, 2006 (4 of 2006)” dated March 27, 2006. The said regulation shall come into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. The Regulation shall apply to every service provider. Pl. click for more details.

In exercise of the powers conferred upon it under sub-section (2) and Paragraphs (ii), (iii) and (iv) of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 11 read with section 36 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 and the Notification No.39 (S.O. No. 44(E) and 45 (E) dated 09/01/2004) issued from file No. 13-1/2004-Restg by the Central Government under clause (d) of sub-section (1) of section 11 and proviso to clause (k) of sub section (1) of Section 2 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, makes the Order called “The Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services (Second) Tariff (Fifth Amendment) Order 2006, (4 of 2006)”. dated March 24, 2006. The said Order shall apply throughout the territory of India and shall come into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette

In exercise of the powers conferred upon it under sub-section (2) of section 11 read with section 11(1)(b)(i) of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) further amends the Telecommunication Tariff Order, 1999 as under namely “The Telecommunication Tariff (Forty third Amendment) Order, 2006” (3 of 2006) dated March 21, 2006. The said order shall come into force from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.

In exercise of the powers conferred upon it under section 36 read with paragraphs (i) & (v) of clause (b) and clause (d) of sub section (1) of section 11 of TRAI Act 1997, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India makes the regulation called “Quality of Service (Code of Practice for Metering and Billing Accuracy) Regulation 2006” dated March 21, 2006. The said regulation shall be applicable to all the Basic Service Providers, Unified Access Service Providers and Cellular Mobile Telephone Service Providers, including Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited. The regulation shall come into effect from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.

The GSM industry added 3.2 million subscribers in the month of February 2006 and crossed the 65 million mark to touch 65.2 million subscribers. The GSM mobile industry continues to hold 77% of the total mobile market in India and accounts for 74% of the new additions, that is, 3 out of every 4 new mobile subscribers are opting for GSM. The above document gives the citywise, circlewise, operatorwise cellular statistics for the month of February 2006.

The above document is a Consultation Note on some issues relating to broadcasting and cable services dated March 21, 2006. The consultation note seeks to address the issues arising out of the implementation of Interconnect Regulations. The said note is in two Sections. Section I deals with the background of the issue; and Section II deals with the issues involved.