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• Google Pixel 5G Variants Didn’t Debut in India Because of Hardware Cost
• How to Activate Airtel eSIM?
• BSNL Saving Up to Rs 10,000 Crore Annually, Still Not Profitable
• How to Invite Guests on Instagram Live Broadcast
• Huawei, ZTE to Miss Out on Further 4G Expansion and 5G Launch in India
• MTS Pilot 5G Network Provides Up To 1.5 Gbps Downloading/Uploading Speed
• Acer Nitro 5 India’s First Gaming Laptop to Sport NVIDIA RTX 3060
• Samsung Galaxy M12 With 6000mAh Battery Launched Under Rs 11,000 in India
• 5G: Will India Miss the Opportunity Yet Again
• Samsung Galaxy A52 and A72 Launch Expected at Galaxy Awesome Unpacked Event
• Government Delays BSNL and MTNL Merger Owing to Financial Reasons
• JioFiber Leads India’s Broadband Speeds in Q4 2020, Vi Tops Mobile Internet Speeds: Ookla

Google Pixel 5G Variants Didn’t Debut in India Because of Hardware Cost Posted: 11 Mar 2021 07:00 AM PST Google is looking to double down on its inventory for smartphones in India this year. Last year, Google brought the Pixel 4a to India and doubled its inventory. But this year, the global search engine giant is looking to double down further, a senior company executive confirmed. Adding to this, Google is also looking to move a portion of its manufacturing plants to India for both domestic and exports purposes. The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme will further attract Google to open manufacturing facilities in India like Apple and Samsung. But the company didn't introduce 5G variants of the Pixel devices in India citing 'hardware cost'. Google Looking at the Price Curve and Learning According to an ET Telecom report, Google is on the lookout for smartphones priced in the range of Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000. The company executive said that introducing the Pixel 4a at an aggressive price helped the company a lot. But Google didn't bring in 5G variants of Pixel devices (Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 5G) to India because of 'hardware cost'. The executive said that Qualcomm chipsets are expensive. Thus, bringing a smartphone with a 5G chipset would increase its overall cost. Since India doesn't have commercial 5G networks live at the moment and things look to be slow on the roll-out end, it doesn't make sense to launch high priced 5G smartphones. The Google executive confirmed that the company's focus will be on the 'price segments' in the Indian market. Google is bound to face very stiff competition in the Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 segment for smartphones. Companies such as Apple, Samsung, and OnePlus hold 90% of the Indian market in the concerned segment according to Counterpoint Research. Other companies such as Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo are still very new in this segment. The number of players has increased which means that Google will have to carefully look at its strategy before approaching the market with smartphones in the concerned range.

How to Activate Airtel eSIM? Posted: 11 Mar 2021 06:15 AM PST The second-largest telecom operator of India, Bharti Airtel, strives to offer the latest features and services to its users. The telecom giant is one of the two network providers in India that offers eSIM activation. If you are not aware, an eSIM is embedded in your mobile device itself and is activated by the telecom operator after verification of important documents. If you are an Airtel user and wish to active eSIM services for your account, follow the article to the end for a detailed guide regarding Airtel eSIM activation. Steps to Activate Airtel eSIM To activate Airtel eSIM on your device or convert your physical SIM card into an eSIM, send a text message ‘eSIM<>registered email id to 121’. If your email id is valid, Airtel will send an SMS from 121 to confirm the process. Reply back to the mail with '1' within 60 seconds to confirm the eSIM request. If your email id is invalid, Airtel will offer assistance and re-initiate the process of eSIM activation for users. Once you have confirmed the eSIM request, Airtel officials will ask for a telephonic conversation to take the final consent and provide information regarding the QR code. After all the confirmation and consent process, users will get an official QR code on their valid email id. Once users scan the QR code, the eSIM activation would take nearly 2 hours. However, if users have a physical SIM card inserted, they will be able to use the services during the activation period. Steps to Scan QR Code To scan the QR code received on the valid email address, open settings in your device and connect to a Wi-Fi network. Once you connect to a Wi-Fi network, click on the mobile network and navigate to the advance option. Under the advance settings, click on add carrier and scan the QR code. Once you have scanned the code, click on the download button and finish the process.

BSNL Saving Up to Rs 10,000 Crore Annually, Still Not Profitable Posted: 11 Mar 2021 05:21 AM PST Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) are not profitable even after saving a ton of money annually. BSNL saved up to Rs 10,000 crore annually. It brought down its annual expenditure from Rs 34,400 crores to Rs 24,687 crores mainly because of the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) scheme that became a part of the revival package. Even after saving all this money, the telco won't be profitable until 2023-24. According to a PTI report, the standing parliamentary panel on IT has noted that BSNL will be profitable from 2023-24. BSNL to be Provided 4G Spectrum by June-July this Year In one of its reports, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said that BSNL has turned EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation) positive for the first six months of this year. However, the committee believes that BSNL will only start noting profits in its books after two years. But even this prediction is subject to the 'realisation of revenue and cash flow' from the sale of land assets as per the revival package revealed by the government in 2019. The committee’s report also asked the DoT why has BSNL and MTNL not been allocated 4G spectrum. In reply to this, the telecom secretary, Anshu Prakash, said that BSNL floated the tender for acquiring 4G equipment in the past. But that tender had to be scrapped due to the telco being asked to procure equipment from the Indian operators only. BSNL has floated a fresh 4G tender which will accept 'proof of concept' submitted by the companies as a substitute for experience. Vaghela said that companies such as TCS, Sterlite, Tech Mahindra, and L&T have already purchased the concerned forms, and BSNL got around 1,600 queries on the pre-bid meeting; the telco will respond to it very soon. He further said that the telco would be allocated 4G spectrum by June-July this year.

How to Invite Guests on Instagram Live Broadcast Posted: 11 Mar 2021 04:41 AM PST Instagram is one of the beloved social media apps that is widely used by different age groups for sharing photos and videos. The Facebook-owned app offers multiple features to elevate the app experience for users and give them a hassle-free experience. One intriguing feature which Instagram offers to its users is sending an invitation to followers to join the live broadcast. Instagram will give you the option to invite up to 3 participants to join your live room. If you do not know how to add guests to your live broadcast, read the article till the end for a detailed guide regarding the feature. Steps to Send Invitation to Guests to Join Live Broadcast If you want to invite any of your followers or special guests to your live broadcast, you will have to go live. Navigate to the '+' sign and scroll to the live section. Once you start your live session, click on the video icon. After clicking, users will see the request button. Click on the request button and tap ‘send requests’ to invite them to join your live broadcast. You will be able to send an invitation to 3 participants. You can also invite guests by typing their username in the search bar. Once the user will accept the invitation, they will appear in the live broadcast. However, if the guests cancel the invitation by mistake, you will have to resend the invitation and follow the steps again. Steps to Join Live Broadcast on Instagram You can also join someone's live broadcast on Instagram. To send a request to join, tap on the down arrow, which is located next to the username at the top. Tap on the request to join option. If the user will accept the request, you will receive a notification that you are about to join the live room.

Huawei, ZTE to Miss Out on Further 4G Expansion and 5G Launch in India Posted: 11 Mar 2021 03:45 AM PST The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has said that Indian telecom operators can only source their network gear/equipment from trusted companies post-June 15, 2021. Any use of non-trusted products will require the licensee (telco) to obtain permission from the designated authority. This rule comes to light amidst all the ongoing tensions between India and China. The Indian government is worried about China meddling with the network infrastructure and database of the country. Thus Chinese vendors have been singled out as non-trusted sources for purchasing telecom gear/equipment from. Government Unhappy With the Telecom Operators According to a TOI report, the Indian government is a little unhappy with the telecom operators who have been getting their network gear from the Chinese companies despite being told to slow down all the business with the neighbouring nation. Last December, the government said that a list of all the 'untrusted' vendors for procuring telecom equipment from would be released. The National Cyber Security Coordinator is the designated body through which the government can impose restrictions on telcos to buy network gear from select vendors. However, it is worthy to note that the list won't affect any ongoing arrangements between the companies. But as soon as the arrangement comes to an end, the company won't be able to issue a fresh order or make a new deal with the 'untrusted' vendor. Chinese companies such as Huawei and ZTE have missed out on much meaningful business in India because of the same. However, Huawei recently announced its partnership with Bharti Airtel. Sunil Mittal led telco has backed Huawei at multiple turns, which makes it easy to assume the telco the government is disappointed with. With the new rule in place, Chinese vendors would lose out on the opportunity to provide telecom equipment for the fresh spectrum purchased by the telcos in the recent auctions worth Rs 78,000 crores.

MTS Pilot 5G Network Provides Up To 1.5 Gbps Downloading/Uploading Speed Posted: 11 Mar 2021 02:40 AM PST MTS is a leading telecom service provider based out of Russia. The company recently tested its 5G network with select users and provided them with a downloading/uploading speed of up to 1.5 Gbps. It is worth noting that this pilot 5G network is Russia's first multi-location 5G network available for subscribers. The pilot network covers the area of 14 high-footfall public spots in Moscow. The invited subscribers had 5G smartphones that could support the n79 band in the 4.4 GHz to 5 GHz frequency. Pilot to Help MTS Test Network Infrastructure Under Real-World Usage MTS said that this limited test will help the company's specialists in monitoring the network infrastructure and how it performed under real-world usage. The company termed this as a 'limited' launch and said that it would help in a broader rollout of the technology. Furthermore, MTS said that it would be inviting more users with compatible smartphones/devices for testing its 5G network in different areas such as AR/VR, Ultra-HD (UHD) videos, cloud gaming, and more. All the subscribers invited for the pilot will be handpicked by the company, and the confirmation for the same will be communicated by an SMS from MTS. MTS also had a subsidiary company in India providing wireless voice, messaging, broadband internet, and more services. In 2017, the company merged with Reliance Communications only to be wiped off the stiff competition in the Indian telecom market. However, 5G in India is still a distant future for now. It will at least take six months for the 5G spectrum auctions to occur, and then there is the need for testing. While major countries have all either rolled out 5G commercially or piloting 5G networks, India still sits talking about the use-cases of 5G. The government needs to fast-track the 5G process and ensure that India doesn't get behind other countries in the 5G race.

Acer Nitro 5 India’s First Gaming Laptop to Sport NVIDIA RTX 3060 Posted: 11 Mar 2021 01:00 AM PST Acer today launched the 'Nitro 5' gaming laptop in India yet again, but with a new and very powerful graphics card. The Acer Nitro 5 has become the first laptop in India to be powered by the NVIDIA RTX 3060 graphics card. If you are looking for a powerful gaming laptop under Rs 1 lakh, the Acer Nitro 5 with this graphic card might just bring your search to rest. Under the hood, the laptop is powered by the 10th generation Intel core processor for a strong gaming experience. Take a look at the complete specifications and the price of the Acer Nitro 5 ahead. Acer Nitro 5 Specifications The Acer Nitro 5 with NVIDIA RTX 3060 graphics card comes with a 15.6-inch full-HD IPS display that can support up to 144Hz refresh rate. The laptop is powered by the 10th generation Intel core processor to enable an immersive gaming experience for the users. With this processor’s help, users will be able to run AAA titles on the laptop quite comfortably. The laptop comes with an RBG-backlit keyboard and is upgradeable up to 32GB RAM for a lightning-quick experience. Further, the laptop is equipped with the CoolBoost technology of Acer, which helps keep the laptop's temperature down even during heavy gaming sessions. The Acer Nitro 5 comes with the DTS: X Ultra sound technology to enable a higher quality hearing experience for the users. It supports Wi-Fi 6 with 2×2 MU-MIMO and is equipped with Killer Ethernet E2600 for prioritising gameplay. Acer Nitro 5 Price The Acer Nitro 5 with NVIDIA RTX 3060 graphics card has launched for Rs 89,999. This is the base variant of the device that will come with 8GB of DDR4 RAM + 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD storage. The laptop will go on the first sale from today, i.e., March 11, 2021, and will be available on Amazon India and Acer India’s official website.

Samsung Galaxy M12 With 6000mAh Battery Launched Under Rs 11,000 in India Posted: 11 Mar 2021 12:09 AM PST Samsung has just revealed its latest offering for the Indian market – 'Samsung Galaxy M12'. It is an entry-level smartphone with a huge HD+ display powered by an Exynos chipset. The South Korean tech giant has paired the device with up to 6GB of RAM and given it a unique design at the rear. It comes with a huge battery of 6,000mAh that can deliver up to 58 hours of talk time when connected on a 4G network. Let's take a complete look at the specifications and price of the Samsung Galaxy M12. Samsung Galaxy M12 Specifications The Samsung Galaxy M12 comes with a 6.5-inch HD+ (720×1,600 pixels) TFT Infinity V-Display. It will run on One UI and come with dual-SIM (Nano) slots. The device is powered by the in-house Exynos 850 SoC coupled with up to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. Users can expand the internal storage up to 1TB with a microSD card. The Galaxy M12 dons a quad-camera setup at the rear where the primary sensor is a 48MP lens paired with a 5MP ultra-wide-angle sensor, 2MP macro sensor, and 2MP depth sensor. At the front, there is an 8MP sensor for video calling and selfies. It packs a large 6,000mAh battery for longer performance. The device comes with a fingerprint sensor mounted at the side for additional security. It can support 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, has a USB Type-C port, and comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack. It weighs 221 grams owing to the large battery and measures 164.0×75.9×9.7mm. Samsung Galaxy M12 Price The Samsung Galaxy M12 has launched in two variants in India. The first variant with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage is launched for Rs 10,000, and the second variant with 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage is launched for Rs 13,499. It will go on the first sale via Amazon, the official Samsung India website, and other retails partners of the company on March 18, 2021.

5G: Will India Miss the Opportunity Yet Again Posted: 10 Mar 2021 11:00 PM PST India is planning to roll out 5G commercially as fast as possible. But looking at the other nations which have already tested and launched 5G commercially, it looks like India is not in the kind of hurry we thought it would be. Top telcos of the country have said several times that their networks are 5G ready. Yet, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) hasn't availed spectrum for the telcos to initiate network tests. Even the recently held auctions didn't include 5G spectrum (3300 MHz – 3600 MHz). Looking at the way things are going, it feels like India will miss the opportunity to be a global leader with 5G just like it did with 2G, 3G, and 4G. Poor Planning and Execution the Reason Behind 5G Delay in India Last month, the parliamentary panel on IT led by Shashi Tharoor said that India hasn't even moved ahead of the starting stage with 5G when compared to other nations. The panel said that 'sufficient preparatory work' has not been executed to launch 5G networks in India. It is worth noting that the telcos had already submitted their proposals for conducting 5G trials in January 2020. Despite no major issues, DoT didn't avail the spectrum to the telcos so that they could initiate testing. When questioned about the same, DoT said that it would avail the 5G spectrum for testing soon, and the testbed for 5G should be ready by October 2021. The panel termed the DoT’s delays as 'disappointing', citing that the department hasn't learnt from its past mistakes. Exact dates for the commencement of the 5G tests are yet to come. Further, the 5G spectrum auctions are expected to take place after six months. If the government moves fast now and does everything according to the plan, 5G could launch in India in early 2022 or even late 2021, but that would be a very rare possibility. For 5G to launch soon in the country, the telcos will either have to skip the testing completely or conduct its trials as soon as possible.

Samsung Galaxy A52 and A72 Launch Expected at Galaxy Awesome Unpacked Event Posted: 10 Mar 2021 09:13 PM PST Samsung Galaxy A52 and Galaxy A72 smartphones are expected to launch at the ‘Galaxy Awesome Unpacked’ event on March 17. The event will kickstart at 8:30 PM IST. It is a global launch event and the India launch of two phones will happen later. The Galaxy A52 and A72 will arrive as successors to the popular Galaxy A51 and the Galaxy A71 smartphones. Both the phones are rumoured to come in 4G and 5G models. The 4G models could have Snapdragon 720G underneath, whereas the 5G models may arrive with Snapdragon 750G SoC. If Samsung decides to launch the 5G models in India, we could see the prices of devices going above Rs 30,000. That said, only 4G models of Galaxy A52 and A72 are expected to launch in India. Samsung Galaxy A72: Rumoured Specifications and Features Going by the rumours on the web, the Galaxy A72 is expected to flaunt a 6.7-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate. As noted, the Galaxy A72 4G could be powered by Snapdragon 720G chipset and the A72 5G will likely have Snapdragon 750G underneath. It might come in 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage variant. Cameras on the Galaxy A72 4G and 5G models may include a 64MP primary lens, 12MP ultra-wide-angle snapper and a couple of 5MP snapper. This phone might have a 32MP selfie shooter. Samsung is said to add a beefy 5000mAh battery to the Galaxy A72 along with 25W fast charging support. Samsung Galaxy A52: Rumoured Specifications and Features On the other hand, we have the Galaxy A52 4G and 5G which might share a lot of its spec-sheet with the Galaxy A72, like the chipsets and cameras. Towards the front, the Galaxy A52 is said to sport a 6.5-inch Full HD+ AMOLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate. Both the phones will run Android 11-based OneUI 3.1 out of the box. The Galaxy A52 4G and 5G models may have a 4500mAh battery underneath along with the same 25W fast charging support. As noted, the prices of the Galaxy A52 and A72 will be revealed next week at the launch event. Indian prices could hover around the Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000 price point.

Government Delays BSNL and MTNL Merger Owing to Financial Reasons Posted: 10 Mar 2021 07:59 PM PST The merger between state-run telcos BSNL and MTNL is delayed owing to financial reasons. Ravi Shankar Prasad, the minister of Electronics and Information Technology, said the decision has been taken considering several factors. As we already know, the financial situation of both BSNL and MTNL is not in a great position. MTNL, on the other hand, is riddled with high debt at the moment. The minister also said that the government is undertaking a close look at the service integration between BSNL and MTNL. To recall, the Union Cabinet approved the merger plan of BSNL and MTNL back in 2019, alongside providing a major revival plan to the former. BSNL and MTNL Merger Plan Deferred For Now In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government would undertake “close cooperation and service integration between BSNL and MTNL.” As of this writing, MTNL’s debt stands at around Rs 20,000 crore. This decision from the government will not surprise many because the telcos are struggling to compete in the industry. Private telecom operators are investing heavily in 4G services, but both BSNL and MTNL are still offering 3G services to the customers. At the end of 2019, the Union Cabinet approved a revival package to BSNL and gave the nod to merge two government-owned PSUs. The telcos benefited from this revival package as they were able to cut monthly employee wages with a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS). Overall, the revival plan of the telco was estimated to cost around Rs 70,000 crore. If everything goes as planned, MTNL will act as a subsidiary of BSNL post the merger, but the confirmation is here that the merger plan is deferred indefinitely. Both the telcos were also expected 4G spectrum from the DoT as part of this revival plan itself. In January this year, a six-member Group of Ministers (GoM) reportedly called the merger would not have a positive impact on any party. They said the merger wouldn’t be ‘beneficial’ or ‘feasible’ as the telcos are struggling to have positive cash flow.

JioFiber Leads India’s Broadband Speeds in Q4 2020, Vi Tops Mobile Internet Speeds: Ookla Posted: 10 Mar 2021 05:42 PM PST Ookla today released a new report highlighting India’s performance in the last quarter of 2020. The latest Q4 2020 report from Ookla says Reliance JioFiber achieved the highest average speeds on wired broadband, whereas Vodafone Idea is leading the mobile internet speeds chart. The network performance measuring firm also says India has seen strong internet speed increases during the whole of 2020. Indian telcos and broadband operators continue to invest in network upgradation and expansion, resulting in better and faster speeds. Furthermore, India has the best mean fixed broadband speeds among the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, whereas the Maldives leads the mobile internet speeds. Ookla Rates JioFiber as the Fastest Fixed Broadband Operator As per the Speedtest Consumer Sentiment data gathered by Ookla, JioFiber had the fastest mean download speed over fixed broadband among other top provides during Q4 2020. Jio also had the highest rating at 3.7 stars and the only positive Net Promoter Score (NPS). ACT Fibernet was second on the list, followed by Airtel Xstream Fiber and Excitel. Ookla says ACT Fibernet and Excitel had the same star rating, while the former had a higher NPS. Similar to what the Netflix ISP Speed Index report for February 2021 said, BSNL had the slowest mean download speed during the same period. Hathway had the lowest rating and the lowest NPS. The graph posted by Ookla shows JioFiber has mean download speed of around 80 Mbps, whereas ACT Fibernet achieved 75 Mbps speed. Vodafone Idea Achieved Around 15 Mbps Average Download Speed Moving onto the telecom side of things, Vodafone Idea achieved the fastest average mobile download speed during Q4 2020. Ookla also said that Vi increased its download speed performance lead over Airtel which was the leader in Q3 2020. The graph shows Vi achieved a mean download speed of over 15 Mbps. Airtel is second on the list with around 14 Mbps average speed. Jio ranked third with a 10 Mbps average speed. In Consumer Sentiment Ratings, Vi tied with Bharti Airtel, whereas Jio came in third place across all the three parameters- performance, ratings and NPS. Vi led Airtel and Jio on NPS, but none of the providers' scores were positive, indicating that customers were not likely to recommend any of the providers, added Ookla in its latest report. Ookla Compares Broadband and Mobile Data Speeds Across SAARC Countries The report also indicates the performance of broadband and telecom operators in SAARC countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka). India leads the wired broadband internet speeds but falls short in the mobile internet speeds section. Maldives, which already has 5G services, tops the mobile speeds category. The state of 5G in India is uncertain at the moment, but we will have more details in the coming months as the 5G spectrum auction inches closer.

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