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• Poco M3 in Massive Demand, Half Million Units Sold in 45 Days
• Cheaper OTT, DTH Set to Halt Cable TV Subscriptions in India
• Jio Cloud to Allow Users Play Seamlessly With Mobile and STBs
• 5G Will Accelerate Faster than 4G, Here’s Why
• FAU-G Can be Downloaded in Apple Devices Now
• Jio Set-Top Box Users Can Now Stream From Discovery+
• SMS Blocking to Start from April 1 as Per Trai Orders
• Amazon Fire TV 2021 With 3rd Generation Alexa Remote Launched in India
• Moto G100 Goes Official With Snapdragon 870 SoC: A Rebranded Moto Edge S
• Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G With Snapdragon SoC Sales to Begin in India on March 30
• BSNL and MTNL to Receive 5G Spectrum Administratively from the Government

Poco M3 in Massive Demand, Half Million Units Sold in 45 Days Posted: 26 Mar 2021 07:00 AM PDT Poco M3 has become a serious hit in the Indian market. According to a release from the company, the Poco M3 has seen sales of over half a million or five lakh units in just 45 days. We reported earlier that Poco sold over 1.5 lakh units of M3 on the first day of its sales. On top of that, over 3 million people had expressed their interest in buying the device during its first sale. Poco was declared as the third-largest online smartphone brand earlier this year. Because of such tremendous response, Poco has announced a special 'Yellow' sale for the occasion of Holi. As per the company's release, Poco's 'Yellow' avatar will go on sale again on March 29, 2021, via Flipkart. Poco M3 Specifications The Poco M3 launched with a 6.53-inch FHD+ display with the Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on top for protection. It runs on MIUI 12 based on Android 10 out of the box. The device is powered by the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 SoC coupled with up to 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB of UFS 2.2 internal storage. Users can expand the internal storage up to 512GB with the help of a microSD card. It has a triple-camera setup at the rear with a 48MP primary sensor, 2MP macro sensor, 2MP depth sensor and an 8MP selfie sensor at the front. The device packs a 6,000mAh battery with support for 18W fast-charging. Poco M3 Price The Poco M3 is retailing at Rs 10,999 for its 6GB+64GB variant and Rs 11,999 for its 6GB+128GB variant. It is currently available on Flipkart, and both variants of the device are in stock. There are SBI credit card offers as well, which will avail a 10% discount of up to Rs 1,000. The Poco M3 has seen strong sales, and one of the reasons could be coming paired with the Snapdragon SoC and decent storage options for such a less price.

Cheaper OTT, DTH Set to Halt Cable TV Subscriptions in India Posted: 26 Mar 2021 06:14 AM PDT The number of cable TV users in India continued to remain at 103 million in the 2020 financial year, Statista said in a report in early March. The company highlighted that the number of cable TV users in India already hit 103 million in the 2019 financial year having witnessed a dip in the previous years. In the 2017 financial year, Statista, a German company engaged in market and consumer data highlighted that the number of cable TV users in India were at low of 92 million. In comparison, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) in late January said that the total active user base of Direct-to-Home (DTH) operators in India hit 70.70 million in September, 2020. Cable TV Set to Lead, DTH to Gain Momentum Deepa Dhingra, telecom analyst at GlobalData told TelecomTalk that the cable TV will continue to be the leading pay TV platform in India "at least until 2024" even as DTH witnesses some momentum. "Cable TV will remain the leading pay TV platform, by subscriptions at least until 2024 although its share in the total pay TV accounts is expected to drop steadily," Dhingra said in an email response. "DTH on the other hand will gain momentum in its subscription share and will surpass cable TV as the pay TV platform with [the] highest subscription share in 2025." In September, 2020, GlobalData said that the pay TV market in India is estimated to "grow at a lethargic" compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 0.7% between 2020 to 2025. The data analytics company said that the revenue from the pay TV services will hit US$3.30 billion in 2025, up from US$3.19 billion in 2019. GlobalData said that the "lethargic" growth is "due to growing user substitution" to Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms. However, Dhingra said that the projections have now been revised with the company expecting the pay TV market to grow at 0.9% over the forecast period. Dhingra said that the earlier projections were based on the forecasts from the first quarter of 2020, while the updated figures were from the third quarter data. "Based on the Q3-2020 forecasts, the pay TV services revenue will recover in 2021 (albeit temporarily) with an estimated 2% growth before starting to slowdown once again in 2022 and continuing with its downward trend through 2025," Dhingra said. The GlobalData analyst said that the pay TV market in India will "continue to be fragmented" through the forecast period with "smaller, regional players having a substantial share." "Smaller regional players will have substantial market share due to their localized content, flexible service bundling, and competitive pricing strategies," Dhingra said. "These players have a better coverage in rural areas as well." In the past, several users living in gated community and society flats have told TelecomTalk that they have little to no choice in selecting a cable TV connection or an DTH operator. These users said that cable TV operators often have a "monopoly" in their apartment leaving them with no choice. While Dhingra said that GlobalData does not have "specific" data, the company believes such scenarios favor OTT platforms. "We do believe that such deals will accelerate the shift towards OTT platforms given the wide choice of services they offer to customers in terms of genres, language, pricing plans, multi-device accessibility," Dhingra said. Streaming Platforms Restricted to Urban Areas Meanwhile, DTH operators including Tata Sky and Airtel slashed the prices of their respective Android powered Set-Top Boxes (STB) such as Tata Sky Binge+ and Airtel Xstream. The smart STBs enable users to watch both linear TV as well as content from OTT platforms. "While we do agree that such OTT enabled STBs will help DTH operators to increase their subscription share, there is also a strong momentum in the adoption of standalone steaming gadgets like Fire TV among Indian households, more so importantly in urban areas," Dhingra said. It has to be noted that select streaming platforms such as Zee5, SonyLIV and SunNXT also enable users to watch live TV content. Further, the apps like Zee5 have also priced its annual packs at an affordable price as compared to its respective packs as available on DTH and cable TV. "OTT adoption has been on the rise but we do not foresee them completely replacing the traditional pay TV services in the Indian market at least over the forecast period," Dhingra said. "Also, since high-speed internet is mandatory for OTT services, they are most subscribed to in the urban and semi-urban areas, while rural and remote areas that lack high-speed internet connectivity continue to rely on traditional DTH and Cable TV services." Rohit Singh, a Port Blair resident told TelecomTalk that OTT apps despite being a "great platform" may "take years" for mass adoption unless it is bundled for free with a telecom plan. As compared to the mainland, Singh said that the users in Andaman and Nicobar pay high costs for the broadband services restricting users from switching over to OTT apps. "In Andaman, cable is widely used because of climatic conditions with heavy rains in July to October," Singh said. "Recently Tata sky has been trying [to] penetrate into the market with it so called dish service which is not readily accepted." Singh said that in Nicobar, d2h offers its services but that the "main issue is maintenance and service" as people are required to buy the dish and install it on their own as only Tata Sky has an office in the region. However, the Port Blair resident said that the users in the region have started using DTH services "during lockdown because of more clarity." Further, Singh said that the DTH operators provide more recharge options and that the services are a "cheaper solution" as compared to cable TV. "DTH has a big market but service and maintenance needs to be upmark since people here widely prefer service rather than quality," Singh said. The Port Blair resident said that the cable costs around Rs 695 in the region while the packs with "watchable channels" are priced at Rs 400. In comparison, Singh said that the users can get DTH connections at a 20% cheaper rate. Singh said that he uses both cable TV and a Tata Sky connection and that he prefers the latter due to it "being better always in terms of choice, price and quality."

Jio Cloud to Allow Users Play Seamlessly With Mobile and STBs Posted: 26 Mar 2021 04:00 AM PDT Just a few days back, we made a case on how 5G will transform the future of gaming forever, and looking at the recent comments from Jio; it just makes more sense. Cloud gaming will become very popular with the help of 5G, and Jio Cloud will be there to take advantage of that in India. GM and Lead Games Ecosystem of Jio Platforms, Akash Gupta, said Reliance Jio has plans of bringing Jio Cloud to enhance the gaming experience of users in India. Gupta revealed some key stats pertaining to user behaviour related to gaming with feature Jio devices. He said that the engagement time for users playing games on JioPhone devices grew from 22 minutes last year to 37 this year. Further, he said that cloud gaming is the future of online gaming. Jio Cloud to Launch After Roll Out of 5G Gupta said that the telco would be targeting to launch Jio Cloud right after it launches 5G networks commercially in India. It makes sense since, without 5G's power, cloud gaming will be rendered useless. He explained that with cloud gaming, users could play the same game on different devices such as smartphones, TVs, computers, and more devices. At present, most of the games that process and store data locally don't have the functionality to provide such an experience to the gamers. But with the power of 5G and cloud gaming, possibilities of such experiences become a reality. Gupta said that initially, Jio would be focusing on mobile and Set-Top Boxes (STBs) to integrate its Jio Cloud platform with. Later on, cloud gaming functionality can be expanded to other devices. The biggest worry that Gupta expressed for Jio Cloud was having the appropriate content. He expects developers to build content that's appropriate to be included in the Jio Cloud. Without quality content, Jio Cloud won't have any impact on the gaming market of India.

5G Will Accelerate Faster than 4G, Here’s Why Posted: 26 Mar 2021 03:00 AM PDT Many think that adoption of 5G will take as long as, or even longer than 4G. But that's not the case, and the statements made by Heidi Hemmer, VP of Verizon, will help you understand why. Further, according to the latest Ericsson Mobility Reports, 5G adoption has managed to beat the 4G adoption rate by a huge margin in 2020 despite it being a rough year for the whole world. So what's different with 5G, and why will it be adopted at a faster rate than 4G? One statement from senior VP of product management at Inseego, Adam Gould, that sums up the answer to this question is that 4G was limited to smartphone users, but 5G is for more than that. Volume Rollout of 5G to be a Challenge and Will Take Time Even though 5G has a better adoption rate than 4G, it will still take time for the governments and the operators to map out the perfect roll-out strategy globally. Rolling out any generation network in volume has had its challenges, and with 5G, it will be no different. However, Hiedi said, with the current generation equipment, once the operators can get the equipment in its place, further updates can be done via softwares. Thus, the initial phase of the 5G rollout will take its time, but after that, with the help of softwares, most network settings, upgrades, and more can be managed. Gould noted that 4G helped users bring their social network to life, but 5G will have a much wider application than that. With the help of high-bandwidth and low-latency networks, the role of the Internet of Things (IoT) products will increase rapidly throughout the globe. He said that businesses now prefer wireless networks for their operators and want to rely less on the cables. With 5G, all of this is possible. One of the reports from Ericsson on 5G suggests that by the end of 2026, there will be about 3.5 billion 5G subscriptions sold globally.

FAU-G Can be Downloaded in Apple Devices Now Posted: 26 Mar 2021 02:00 AM PDT The made in India gun game FAU-G is now available for Apple device users as well. It was initially launched in January with support for Android devices only. The developer, nCore Games, had assured that iOS users would soon be able to download the game too. After a wait of two months, iOS device users can finally download the game from the App Store. The game is not only limited to the App Store on iPhones. Users owning the iPod touch as well as iPads can download it on their devices. FAU-G Now Available in the App Store To download FAU-G on their devices, users will have to ensure that they are running at least iOS 10.0 (for iPhones and iPods touch) and iPadOS 10.0 (for iPads) on their devices. The download size of the game on the App Store is 643MB, notably more than in the Android (477MB). But that's obvious; iOS apps are, in general, heavier than Android apps. For the unaware, FAU-G is based on the India and China face-off that took place in the Galwan Valley of India. The game was announced shortly after PUBG Mobile was banned in India. Because of the timing, many assumed the app to be an alternative for the PUBG Mobile, but that is clearly not the case. FAU-G still hasn't received multiplayer modes and only works on the story mode with few basic moves from the game’s lead character. However, the developers have promised a multiplayer mode very soon. Users can also make in-app purchases with the game ranging from Rs 89 to Rs 3,599. Even though the PUBG Mobile lovers are disappointed with the game, the game still has managed to get more than 5 million downloads on the Google Play Store in such a short time. With the gateway unlocked for Apple devices as well, more downloads to the game in the short-future is only obvious.

Jio Set-Top Box Users Can Now Stream From Discovery+ Posted: 26 Mar 2021 01:07 AM PDT Jio Set-Top Box (STB) users can now stream content from Discovery+. The partnership between both platforms will enable users to stream world-class content from more than 40 genres. Users won't have to face any language barrier with the content since it will be available in Hindi, English, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, and Malayalam. For the unaware, the Jio STB is provided to the users when they purchase a JioFiber connection. With the addition of Discovery+ on the Jio STB, JioFiber users will be able to use their high-speed internet connection to stream from the vast library of Discovery Network's content. Discovery+ Available for Jio STB Any user going for the JioFiber plan of Rs 999 per month or more can get a free subscription of Discovery+ with his/her plan. It is worth noting that Discovery+ offers content more with an educational perspective rather than entertainment. However, it still has super entertaining and popular shows such as Man Vs Wild, The Island With Bear Grylls, shows dedicated to animals, motor vehicles, and more. There are also some documentaries from BBC on the platform that the users can stream if they have a premium subscription. While there are some free shows as well, most of the better-known shows come under the Premium subscription. A standalone subscription for the platform will cost users Rs 99 per month or Rs 299 annually. Users are exempt from paying this monthly or annual fee for the platform if they choose to get a JioFiber plan worth Rs 999 per month or more. The app is available for the users to download from the Jio Store App if they own a Jio STB. There is a plethora of content on the Discovery+ platform, with content divided into more than 60 sub-genres and multiple languages. There are other OTT benefits included with the plan as well if the users choose to go for a plan worth Rs 999 or more from JioFiber.

SMS Blocking to Start from April 1 as Per Trai Orders Posted: 26 Mar 2021 12:09 AM PDT The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has directed all the telcos to block the SMSes which don't comply with the new regulations starting April 1, 2021. For the unaware, the telecom regulator had earlier implemented the message scrubbing and blocking system on April 8, which resulted in a majority of SMSes containing important information such as OTPs and more getting blocked. To ensure that the end customers were not harmed, the regulator put a stay on the SMS regulations order and asked the institutions and businesses to register their SMS templates as soon as possible. Trai Orders Telcos to Start Blocking SMS from April 1 That Don't Meet Regulatory Norms According to an ET Telecom report, the regulator said that even after giving ample time to the businesses and institutions to register new SMS templates and comply with the regulations, most of them have been too lazy to do that. In view of this, Trai has asked telcos to scrub and block any SMS from April 1 that doesn't meet the regulatory norms. This is to ensure that the customers are not cheated and deprived of their regulatory rights. The telemarketers feel that this would be unfair and have warned that it will lead to a disruption in SMS services. Many institutions have argued that billions of SMSes are delivered daily and to comply with a template for each of them is very hard. The telemarketers have sought more time earlier, and they will need more time than this. Shivtel Communications has also taken up the order declared by the Trai to the Delhi High Court for putting a stop to it. Shivtel has argued that close to 1 lakh SMS templates come in every day; thus, it will be hard for them to register it on a one-time compliance basis. The response from Delhi Hight Court is yet to come.

Amazon Fire TV 2021 With 3rd Generation Alexa Remote Launched in India Posted: 25 Mar 2021 11:02 PM PDT The 3rd generation of Amazon Fire TV Alexa remote has been announced for the Indian market. The new generation Alexa remote comes with several updates aimed to enhance the user's experience. It has hotkeys for streaming giants such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Amazon Music. The new remote will be available for users purchasing the 3rd generation Amazon Fire TV Stick (2021) that is available for pre-order on Amazon India's website at the moment. Let's take a look at all the latest generation Alexa remote features for the Amazon Fire TV Stick 2021. Amazon Fire TV Stick 2021 and New Alexa Remote The remote’s overall design is the same as the previous generation; however, a new layout of buttons surely provide it with a fresh look. Adding to this, there are more buttons on the remote than there have ever been. The Alexa button comes with a fresh look donning an all-new blue colour. Most of the buttons from the old remote make their way back to the latest generation model. The 3rd generation Alexa remote is compatible with both the second generation and latest generation Fire TV Stick devices. If you want to buy the latest generation Amazon Fire TV Stick (2021) with the new Alexa remote, you can head to Amazon and pre-book it for Rs 3,999 right away. The latest generation Fire TV Stick comes with Dolby Atmos’s support for delivering an enhanced sound experience to the users. You can also buy the Fire TV Stick Lite if you want a cheaper variant of the product for Rs 2,999. It is worth noting that the Fire TV Stick 2021 won't support 4K UHD and HDR content. If you want a Smart Stick with support for such high resolution, your best bet would be the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K retailing for Rs 4,799 that launched way back in 2018.

Moto G100 Goes Official With Snapdragon 870 SoC: A Rebranded Moto Edge S Posted: 25 Mar 2021 10:09 PM PDT Motorola has launched yet another smartphone in its popular Moto G lineup. Dubbed as the Moto G100, it is the first smartphone in the Moto G series with a Snapdragon 8-series chipset. The Moto G100 is basically a rebranded Moto Edge S with Snapdragon 870 chipset. The Moto Edge S was launched six weeks ago as the world’s first phone with Snapdragon 870 SoC. Now, the company is bringing the same phone to global markets as Moto G100. Key specifications of the Moto G100 include a 90Hz Full HD+ display with HDR10 support, 8GB of RAM, 5000mAh battery and Android 11 software out of the box. Motorola is yet to confirm the India launch of the Moto G100; Considering the company’s aggressive launches in India, we are expecting the Moto G100 to reach the Asian sub-continent in the near future. Moto G100: Specifications and Features The Moto G100 comes in three colour options- Iridescent Sky, Iridescent Ocean and Slate Grey. The phone has a 6.7-inch screen with a Full HD+ resolution and 90Hz refresh rate. The display also has HDR10 support. It is amongst the first phones to feature Snapdragon 870 chipset which we recently saw on the likes of Redmi K40 5G, OnePlus 9R 5G and Motorola’s own Moto Edge S. The chipset is paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, and supports storage expansion via a microSD card. Motorola has added a quad-camera setup on the back featuring a 64MP primary lens, 16MP ultra-wide angle sensor that’s also capable of capturing macro shots, 2MP depth sensor and a Time of Flight (ToF) sensor. The Moto G100 features a dual selfie camera setup with 16MP wide primary shooter and an 8MP ultra-wide shooter. Connectivity options on the Moto G100 include 5G, 4G LTE, VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS and a USB Type-C port. The handset even has a dedicated Google Assistant button. This Android 11-laden device is backed by a 5000mAh battery. Motorola has thrown in support for 20W fast charging. The official listing of Moto G100 also highlights a new Samsung DeX-like feature called ‘Motorola Ready For.’ With this new feature, you can connect the Moto G100 to a monitor or television for extended usage. Moto G100: Pricing and Availability According to the information available, the Moto G100 is currently launched in Europe, the UK and a few markets in Latin America. The official Motorola website in the UK says the phone is arriving soon without any pricing. Android Central reports the price in the UK for Moto G100 will be £449.99 (approx. Rs 45,700). We can expect the Moto G100 to launch in India for around Rs 35,000.

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G With Snapdragon SoC Sales to Begin in India on March 30 Posted: 25 Mar 2021 08:56 PM PDT Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G is all set to launch in India next week. To recall, Samsung launched the 4G variant of Galaxy S20 FE in India last year with Exynos 990 chipset, but the company is bringing the 5G variant now. The Galaxy S20 FE 5G will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset. While Samsung is yet to confirm the presence of Snapdragon 865 SoC, tipster Mukul Sharma claims the 5G variant will indeed have the said chipset. For the unaware, Samsung launched the Galaxy S20 FE with Snapdragon 865 in several Western markets, but to save the costs, it brought the Exynos variant. The launch price of the Galaxy S20 FE 4G was Rs 49,999, but it is now selling for Rs 44,999. As we reported yesterday, the S20 FE 5G will retail for less than Rs 50,000 in the country. Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G: Specifications and Features The Galaxy S20 FE 5G will have identical specifications as the Galaxy S20 FE 4G, apart from the processor. Let’s have a rundown of the specifications of Galaxy S20 FE 4G. The phone flaunts a 6.5-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate and Corning Gorilla Glass protection. The 4G version was launched with Exynos 990 SoC; The upcoming 5G variant will have the Snapdragon 865 SoC. The S20 FE 4G rocks a triple camera system on the back with a 12MP primary lens, 12MP ultra-wide-angle lens and an 8MP telephoto lens with 3X optical zoom support. The handset has a 32MP selfie snapper. The phone is backed by a 4500mAh battery with 25W fast charging. Samsung already started rolling out the Android 11 update to the Galaxy S20 FE in India, so we can expect the 5G variant to run Android 11 out of the box. At the rumoured price of less than Rs 50,000, the Galaxy S20 FE will take on the newly launched OnePlus 9R. Right after the 5G variant’s launch, Samsung will slash the price of the 4G variant. We are expecting the 5G variant of S20 FE to retail for Rs 44,999, but the inclusion of 5G and Snapdragon 865 SoC means the phone could retail for Rs 49,999 with some launch offers. Samsung Mobile India on Twitter confirmed the device would be up for the first sale on March 30.

BSNL and MTNL to Receive 5G Spectrum Administratively from the Government Posted: 25 Mar 2021 06:38 PM PDT BSNL and MTNL will receive 5G spectrum from the government administratively, meaning the telcos will not be required to participate in the auction. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad informed this news to the Parliament. While there’s no update on when BSNL is planning to launch 4G services in the country, the government is talking about 5G services already. The Union Minister also said the allocation of 5G spectrum would be done on the same principle used for the allocation of 4G spectrum. In separate news, the Minister of State for Communications Sanjay Dhotre said to Lok Sabha that BSNL is planning to install one lakh 4G nodes in the coming months. BSNL 5G: When the Next Generation 5G Services Will Launch? In a written letter to Rajya Sabha, Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government approved the plan to allot the spectrum required for rolling out 5G and future services administratively. Having said that, we are still months away from the launch of 5G services in India. The Spectrum Auction 2021 completed earlier this month and the government is expected to auction 5G airwaves later this year. We are not sure how BSNL will approach the 5G rollout in India The government-owned PSU is widely expected to roll out 4G services by the end of this year, after which it will upgrade to 5G after receiving the required spectrum. In addition, BSNL would be last in the line to receive 5G spectrum from the government as private telcos will participate in the auction for acquiring spectrum in 5G bands. Furthermore, the minister also confirmed the allocation of Rs 24,084 crore for acquiring 4G airwaves in 2021-22. The funds will be used by the telco to roll out 4G services this year. Right now, BSNL is in the process of finalising the 4G tender. BSNL to Manage Mobile Services of MTNL from April 1 The government recently scrapped the merger between BSNL and MTNL. However, the Union Minister today informed Rajya Sabha that Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) would manage the mobile services of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) from April 1. For the unaware, MTNL has operations in two circles- Mumbai and Delhi, whereas BSNL is managing mobile services in 20 circles.

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