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The Indian Express October 22,2020 The United States Department of Justice (DoJ)  sued Google on Tuesday , alleging that the company had abused its dominant position in a way that had harmed its competitors as well as customers. Eleven US states have joined the DoJ in the anti-trust lawsuit against Google “for unlawfully maintaining a monopoly in general search services and search advertising”. What is the lawsuit about? In his statement announcing the initiation of the lawsuit, Deputy Attorney General of the DoJ Jeffrey A Rosen said the main concerns are business practices that may have led to “massive concentrations of economic power” in a few companies such as Google. The lawsuit will focus on Google as it “is the gateway to the Internet and a search advertising behemoth”. “Google achieved some success in its early years, and no one begrudges that, but, as the antitrust complaint filed today explains, it has maintained its monopoly power through exclusionary practices ...

Moneycontrol October 21,2020 Reliance Jio and US-based Qualcomm will join hands to fast-track the deployment of 5G mobile internet based on homegrown technologies, putting India in an exclusive club of nations with the capability to offer superfast speeds of 1 gigabyte per second (Gbps) to users. The partnership builds on the commitment by Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, who announced in July that Jio was developing made-in-India 5G technology, giving the country control over coveted know-how that is the foundation of a digital economy. The two companies also announced that they achieved speeds of 1 Gbps on Jio’s 5G solution using a Qualcomm platform. For illustration, what this means is that it will be possible to download a typical movie with a file size of one gigabyte in just one second. The partnership also includes Radisys Corporation, a US subsidiary of Jio. With an indigenous network, India will not have to rely on equipment from Chinese companies such as Huawei and...

Moneycontrol October 21,2020 Sweden is banning Chinese tech companies Huawei and ZTE from building new high-speed wireless networks after a top security official called China one of the country's biggest threats. The Swedish telecom regulator said Tuesday that four wireless carriers bidding for frequencies in an upcoming spectrum auction for the new 5G networks must not use equipment from Huawei or ZTE. Wireless carriers that plan to use existing telecommunications infrastructure for 5G networks must also rip out any existing gear from Huawei or ZTE Wireless, the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority said. The agency said the conditions were based on assessments by the Swedish military and security service. Huawei said it was surprised and disappointed by the rules. Sweden is the latest country to prohibit Huawei from playing a role in building 5G networks and its decision is likely to add to tensions between the Chinese government and Western powers. U.S. officials have waged an inte...

Live Mint August 24, 2020 Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal on Monday hinted at an increase in mobile services prices in the next six months, saying that data at low rates is not sustainable for the telecom industry. He said that 16 GB data consumption a month for  ₹ 160 is a tragedy. "You either consume 1.6 GB of capacity per month either at this price point or you may prepare to pay a lot more. We are not wanting USD 50-60 like the US or Europe but certainly USD 2 for 16 GB a month is not sustainable," Mittal said at an event. Mittal also said that the average revenue per user (ARPU) is expected to cross  ₹ 200 in six months on digital content consumption. ARPU is the measure of revenue generated per user for a telco. "We need a  ₹ 300 ARPU in which you will still have lower end at  ₹ 100 a month with decent amount of data. But if your consumption is largely around watching TV, movies, entertainment and depriving other vital special services...

The Indian Express  August 18, 2020 THE DEPARTMENT OF Telecommunications (DoT) is set to direct all telecom operators to undertake an ‘information security audit’ of their networks and submit the report by October end. The objective of the audit, according to sources in the know of the development, is to specifically check for any ‘backdoor’ or ‘trap door’ vulnerabilities in the telecom networks, which can be exploited to extract information and pass on illegally to agencies around the world. A ‘backdoor’ or a ‘trap door’ is a bug installed in the telecom hardware which allows companies to listen in or collect data being shared on the network. “There have been reports that Chinese vendors have installed back doors and trap doors in telecom networks of other countries where they have worked on 4G and other older technologies. We just want to be doubly sure there are no such gaps in our networks,” State-owned telecom companies, BSNL and MTNL, have already been ask...

 Financial Express August 14, 2020 SC AGR hearing HIGHLIGHTS: The Supreme Court on Friday sought to make it clear that the telecom companies using spectrum must pay for it. The bench ordered Reliance Jio and Reliance Communications to share the details of the spectrum sharing agreement. SC AGR hearing HIGHLIGHTS:  The Supreme Court came down heavily on telecom companies on Friday, seeking to know who was using the spectrum. Justice Arun Mishra told Reliance Jio counsel that spectrum is government property, not private property and anybody using it is liable to pay. Justice Mishra told Jio’s counsel, KV Vishwanathan, that it will recover everything from him. “We will catch hold of you and recover the entire amount,” Justice Mishra said. Vishwanathan informed that he is sharing and not using it, also spectrum usage charges have been paid. The SC asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to clarify if a nod was given to Reliance Jio to use the spectrum. “It’s government pr...

 The Hindu August 13, 2020 Seeks comments from WTO members India has notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) its intention to make it mandatory for telecom products sold, imported or used in the country, including feedback device, transmission terminal equipment and broadband equipment, to be tested and certified by the Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC) under the Department of Telecommunications. “While the mandatory tests and certification of imported telecom equipment are primarily targeted at Chinese companies because of security concerns, they will apply to all imports. That’s why as per WTO rules India has to inform members prior to its implementation and seek comments,” an official told  BusinessLine . In three separate submissions made to the WTO Committee on Technical Barrier to Trade on the three identified items this week, India sought comments from WTO members on the mandatory certification regime within 30 days. Phased manner “The Mandatory Testing and Certifica...

 Moneycontrol August 13, 2020 China is extending an anti-dumping tariff on a fibre optic product made in India, the Ministry of Commerce said on August 13. The punitive tariff on single-mode optical fibre takes effect from August 14 and lasts for five years, with tariffs ranging between 7.4 percent and 30.6 percent depending on the specific Indian manufacturers, the ministry said. China previously slapped an anti-dumping tariff on the same Indian product for five years until mid-August of 2019 and then had a review of the case. Ref. https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/world/china-extends-anti-dumping-tariff-on-indian-fibre-optic-product-5693691.html

 The Economics Times August 14, 2020 The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Wednesday said it would take legal action against a company which had published an article allegedly detailing the security vulnerabilities in the Aarogya Setu app. The company, Security Brigade, was a part of a team engaged in the code review process of the app, MeitY said, adding they had made “various malicious, nefarious and unsubstantiated claims on security issues in Aarogya Setu app”. “They were given access as an internal review arrangement and have misused the information shared with them in that capacity. It is absolutely unethical of them to have resorted to this blatantly unprofessional activity,” the Ministry said in statement shared late night on Wednesday. Security Brigade, a UK based company, is a CERT-In empanelled agency which does cybersecurity audits. It had on its website published an article detailing alleged security vulnerabilities in Aarogya Setu app and how ...

 August 12, 2020 Economic Times Bengaluru | Kolkata: ByteDance has frozen hiring and reassigned some senior management roles in India amid people leaving or looking to exit the Chinese company following the ban on its TikTok and Helo apps, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. Some are said to be worried about any stigma that might get attached to working for a Chinese company, following border clashes. The company, which has 2,000 employees in India, is trying to hold on to staff amid discussions of a sale of TikTok with Microsoft and Twitter. It has even initiated a performance review cycle to portray a sense of stability to employees. No formal layoffs are taking place and the company has emphasised to employees, through internal communications, that the situation is stable, the people said. ByteDance didn’t respond to queries. “We’ve had at least five-six senior professionals from Bytedance reach out to us,” said Anuj Roy, managing partner at executive sea...

 Hindustan Times August 11, 2020 The submarine optical fibre from Chennai to Port Blair that promises fifth-generation (5G) connectivity, the latest in cellular wireless technology, to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands could be the first step for India to set up an alternative to China for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries to gain international connectivity, experts say. The project, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, promises a 2,300-km submarine optical fibre cable network that will connect the islands of Andaman and Nicobar Islands to Chennai. The submarine fibre network is estimated to cost Rs 1,224 crore and a bulk of the fibre being sourced from NEC Corporation Japan, which also provided technical assistance during the installation, said a department of telecommunications (DoT) official. According to experts, the move will open up a host of opportunities for India in the ASEAN region, where China provides a majority of the submarin...

Economics Times July 29, 2020        The government may consider lowering the base price of 5G spectrum to compensate telcos if they have to shell out more for buying non-Chinese equipment. Officials said the government was aware that keeping Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE away from India’s 5G market may push up network deployment costs and is thus open to reassessing the base prices suggested by the regulator to make it viable for operators. “Procurement procedures are being reworked, surveillance has become a global issue and companies such as Huawei and ZTE whose ownership is questionable are going to increasingly find it tough to get contracts,” one official told ET. In such a scenario, excluding Chinese vendors was “a natural progression or outcome of the concerns arising out of national security for countries,” the official said. Base rates too high Experts said the absence of Huawei and ZTE would leave Indian telcos ...

THE INDIAN EXPRESS JULY 25, 2020 “Build platforms, not products” has been the mantra for the last two decades. Amazon started by selling books but became a profitable behemoth by creating the e-commerce platform called Amazon Marketplace. The most valuable companies today are platforms for search, social interaction, advertising, insurance, travel, real estate, etc. Fundamentally, these platforms are technology layers that leverage the internet to bring together producers, resellers and consumers, reducing transaction costs by cutting out intermediaries. There may be multiple platforms in the game to start with, but due to network effects and the non-portability/lock-in, only a few come to dominate each space, concentrating market power in those hands. Eventually, the participants face exploitation. Uber has been accused of exploitation by its driver members; Amazon by sellers; Google, Facebook and Apple by app developers. These neo-intermediaries so position themselves tha...

Hindustan Times Dated : July 10, 2020 By Deeksha Bhardwaj The ministry of electronics and information technology (Meity) has sought details about their operations, data collection practices and locations of operational centres from the owners of short video sharing platform Tik Tok and 58 other applications, mostly of Chinese origin, that India banned last week, officials familiar with the development said. A questionnaire seeking the details was sent by the ministry to the parent companies of the apps on Wednesday so that more information can be collated as a follow-up to the ban, which came amid border tensions between India and China. “The emails have been sent to them so that we can collate and analyse more details about the operations of the applications,” a Meity official said on condition of anonymity. “This is a part of the process under the IT Act.” The government banned mobile applications such as TikTok, UC Browser and WeChat citing concerns that they were “preju...