New Delhi, September 11
The telecom regulator TRAI today disallowed the operators for additional revenue share on roaming calls, both national and international.

In its analysis and decision on admissibility of revenue share between visiting network and terminating network for roaming calls, the TRAI in a statement said as per the prevailing Internet Usage Charge (IUC) Regulation, uniform termination charge at Rs 0.30 per minute is applicable for all types of calls.

The prescribed termination charge is cost based, independent of the network from where the call is originating/ terminating and also independent of the tariff charged by the operators. One of the operators with significant market share conveyed its scheme for additional revenue share over and above the prescribed termination charge for terminating the roaming calls in its network, the TRAI said.

It also sought commercial agreement with other operators on reciprocal basis. To deliberate upon the issue in a consultative manner, following its established practice, the TRAI undertook a comprehensive consultation process.

In the consultation paper, the main issue raised was that in case of roaming calls whether terminating network service provider should get a revenue share from the visiting network service provider or it should get only the termination charges as prescribed by the regulator.

Having considered the opinion of various stakeholders contained in their written submissions, the TRAI reiterated that there was no justification for a revenue sharing arrangement among operators in respect of roaming calls (national and international).

The regulator has also noted that the goal is to achieve seamless national roaming without any extra burden on the consumers. Prescribing any additional amount for terminating such calls may defeat this objective.

Meanwhile, telecom operators gearing up to offer third generation mobile services will have to pay for separate spectrum.

A senior Department of Telecom official said whether there would be a separate service licence to offer 3G services or not would be decided once the DoT went through TRAI proposals on 3G. But 3G services would carry a spectrum (wireless) charge, he added.

Earlier, for similar services (like 2G and 2.5G), operators did not have to pay separate spectrum charges as these services were offered on the same voice telephony spectrum, however, 3G services need different band of spectrum, the official said.

New Delhi, September 11
Decks have been cleared for Reliance-ADA Group headed by Anil Ambani to enter the direct- to-home (DTH) service, with the government giving in-principle approval.

Sources said the letter of intent (LoI) for the group’s foray into DTH was given today to Blue Sky Magic, a company of the Reliance-ADA group.

When contacted, a Reliance Communications spokesperson declined to comment.

In the LoI, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry is understood to have asked the company to complete formalities, including the bank guarantee and licence fee.

Sources indicated that ADAG would complete the formalities by next month. The entry of the the group is expected to spice up the DTH market with already four players, including the latest entrants Tata Sky, a joint venture of Tata and Star, vying for a portion of the market.

Doordarshan and Essel Group promoted Dish TV have already established their presence. — PTI

New Delhi, September 11
State-owned ONGC Videsh, the overseas investment arm of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), has signed production-sharing contracts for two offshore oil exploration blocks in the northwest coast of Cuba, where it already holds stakes in six exploration blocks.

The production-sharing contract for the two blocks was signed on September 9 in Havana by ONGC Videsh Managing Director R.S. Butola with the national oil company Cuba Petroleum.

ONGC Videsh is the seventh company to explore for oil offshore in Cuba. The industry was partially opened to foreign investment in June 1999 to cut on imports of oil after years of power blackouts and fuel shortages.

Unlike the case of the six exploration blocks 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 36 and part of Block 35 in which ONGC Videsh farmed in with Spain’s Repsol-YPF last year to take 30 per cent stake, in the two new blocks 34 and 35 covering 4,300 sq km the Indian company will be holding 100 per cent stake and would handle the operations alone.

“We bid for the two blocks through open acreage system after evaluating the data bought two years back. We had focused on two-three blocks and after negotiating the production-sharing agreement which took some time, we finally signed the contract with the Cuban national oil company,” said a company official.

Under the contract, ONGC Videsh is committed to three-stage investment that is expected to see initial investment of around $50 million in seismic data gathering and drilling for exploration, the official said.

Ahead of commencing work, ONGC Videsh would soon be setting up a branch office in Havana.

The two blocks awarded to ONGC Videsh are among 16 blocks awarded by Cuba for exploration to 16 companies at a time when the US has been voicing concerns about the environment impact of exploration activities in Cuba’s Gulf waters.

Meanwhile, official sources said ONGC Videsh and its partners Repsol-YPF and Norway’s Norsk Hydro in the six exploration blocks would be drilling an exploratory well before year-end.

While Repsol-YPF holds 40 per cent stake in the six blocks and is the operator, Norsk Hydro of Norway holds 30 per cent stake and ONGC Videsh the remaining 30 per cent. Three years ago Repsol found indications of good quality oil in one of the exploratory well drilled.

The two new blocks are just below the other blocks and closest to the northwest coast where heavy crude is pumped from onshore.

New Delhi, September 11
Both India and Britain must work towards restarting the Doha round of negotiations. Failing that, the EU and India could consider a free trade agreement (FTA), said Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, UK, George Osborne, at a session on “Seizing opportunities of the new global economy”, organised by CII.

This FTA could be a deal with the EU to open its markets in a way similar to everything but arms initiative that has allowed the poorest small countries access to EU markets, he said.

Increased trade in services was another area, said Mr Osborne, both sides could address. This could be assisted by mutually recognising professional qualifications. Other issues included the double taxation treaty to ensure that the British investments in India and Indian investments in Britain were taxed fairly.

Both countries needed to strengthen their links in education. Most Indian academic links were with Germany, France and the US. Britain was missing out and that had to change.

Meanwhile, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath reiterated the need for correcting structural flaws in the world agriculture trade arising out of trade distorting subsidies given by the developed countries and said the development content of the Doha Round must not be diluted.

During the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said official sources, India and Brazil would try to work out a common strategy for the WTO talks. 

Kolkata, September 11
The Union Information Minister, Mr Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, today warned the CPM against forcible eviction of landowners at Singhur and Hooghly for providing agricultural land to Tata Motors. He demanded some alternative land should be allotted to the company for their industrial project at Singur.

Mr DasMunshi was addressing a rally organised by the Congress near Singhur against the Left Front’s decision for transferring agricultural land to the Tatas and Indonesia’s Selim Group of Industries. Mr Adhir Chowdhury, MP, Mr Subarata Mukherjee, Mr Abdul Mannan and other leaders were present at the rally.

At a separate meeting at Purulia, the Defence Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, also criticised the state government’s decision to evict the poor agriculturalists.

At Writers Buildings, the state Industries Minister, Mr Nirupam Sen, expressed dissatisfaction that the Congress, the TMC and other parties had been unnecessarily politicising the issue of land transfer to the two companies.

He feared that the Tatas might shifted their proposed project to some other state. He appealed to leaders of all political parties to come to a negotiating table with the government in amicably settling the impasse.

Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee at a massive rally on Sunday at Singur gave a call to the poor farmers and the landless labourers to make massive resistance against their evictions. She warned the CPM of dire consequences if there was any forcible eviction of the poor landowners from Singur and other places for providing agricultural land to industries.

Ms Banerjee suggested that the Tatas could be given 1,200 acres near Dankuki Coal Complex, which was acquired for a fruit processing plant in 1995, but the land was still lying unused.

Meanwhile, Mr Dasmunhsi suggested the state government should make a proposal to Tata Motors for providing alternative land in Hooghly district. 

New Delhi, September 11
Riding high on the increasing demand for five-star accommodation in the country, Unison Hotels has chalked out Rs 2,000- crore capex, which will see it setting up eight hotels in the next five years, Unison Hotels Ltd Managing Director Umesh Saraf said.

The investment would be made in two phases in which the company, promoter of ‘The Grand’ in New Delhi, would invest Rs 1,000 crore in the first phase.

“In the first phase we will set up five-star hotels in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai. We have recently acquired land in Hyderabad, where we would build a 225-room five- star accommodation and a separate service apartment block with about 175 apartments,” Mr Saraf said.

Mr Saraf said the company would invest the remaining sum of Rs 1,000 crore in the second phase of expansion under which it would have footprints in cities like Pune, Kolkata and Chandigarh, among others. — PTI

Noida, September 11
NFL celebrated its 33rd foundation day here today.

Chairman-cum-Managing Director G.S. Mangat said, “Our main project is to convert feedstock from fuel oil to natural gas/liquefied natural gas (LNG) at our three plants in Panipat, Bathinda and Nangal within next three years. This will not only reduce the cost of production of urea but also reduce the subsidy component borne by the government.”

“This project is being implemented at a cost of Rs 1,500 crore and will be completed within three years. The proposed cost will be met from internal sources to the tune of Rs 500 crore and the balance through a loan of Rs 1,000 crore from financial institutions and the Central Government. Gail and Reliance are expected to lay gas pipelines for supply of gas to the plants,” Mr Mangat said.

New Delhi, September 11
Cisco Systems has tied up with the IIT, Roorkee, for research on mobile agent technology. Cisco will set up the networking infrastructure to facilitate research and development on ‘mobile agents’ in the wide area network (WAN) and wireless environment, thereby enabling research in the area of mobile security in the delivery of mobile agents, said Cisco Systems (India and SAARC) Senior Vice-President Enterprise Jangoo Dalal.

“Cisco’s networking infrastructure and its expertise in networking and security will allow us to extend the scope of our research and develop mobile agent technology and deliver its benefits beyond the LAN environment,” the IIT-Roorkee Professor of Computing and Head ISC, Dr Kumkum Garg, said.

New Delhi, September 11
India’s external debt has risen to $125.2 billion as on March 31 compared to $123.2 billion in the previous fiscal.

The increase in external debt was $2 billion during 2005-06 compared to $11.6 billion a year ago, said an official statement issued by the Finance Ministry today.

The lower level of accumulation of external debt in 2005-06 was attributed mainly to the redemption of $5.5 billion India Millennium Deposits by the SBI in December, 2005. Surging exports and increased capital inflows had helped in slowing down India’s debt accumulation in recent years, the ministry said.

India’s external debt comprises 15.8 per cent of the gross domestic product, sharply down from 38.7 per cent in 1991-92, when the country faced a balance of payment crisis and was bailed out by the IMF.