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• Vodafone Idea Ahead of Airtel, Jio in Upload Speeds: TRAI
• OnePlus Promises Faster and Stable Updates Post Merger With Oppo
• TRAI Extends Channel Selector Service by Adding Web Version
• 5G Rollout Announced by Slovenian Operator Telemach
• Reliance Jio Hints at the Future of Prepaid Plans
• Sun NXT Records Over 40% Increase in Monthly Active Users
• 2G Mobile Standard Isn’t Safe: Cybersecurity Researchers
• Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite, S7 FE Pricing Leaked Ahead of June 18 Launch
• Skylo Partners Up With Omnicomm to Help Companies Save Fuel
• Evident That Vodafone Idea Is Working on Network: Sanjay Malik
• Telefonica Picks Nokia, Ericsson for Development of 5G SA Radio Network
• Reliance Jio Facing Troubles With Low-Cost Smartphone
• BSNL 4G, Does India Need It?
• Huawei Wants to Make India’s Telecom Networks Safer
• Broadband Internet Browsing Is Captivating With These Tips and Features
• Xiaomi’s Latest Patents Showcase Company’s Ideas for the Future
• Vodafone Idea Offers More Data Than Jio and Airtel With These Plans

Vodafone Idea Ahead of Airtel, Jio in Upload Speeds: TRAI Posted: 16 Jun 2021 09:04 AM PDT Reliance Jio on Wednesday continued to maintain the leadership that it has held in terms of 4G speeds, with 20.7 megabits per second average download speeds, with Vodafone Idea topping the charts in terms of the upload speeds with 6.7 Mbps data speed in May, according to the latest data that has been published by the telecom regulator TRAI. The speeds for Reliance Jio’s 4G network had marginally risen but it was thrice as fast as that of Vodafone Idea, the second-best competitor which showed speeds of 6.3 Mbps In case you were wondering the total number of smartphones subscriptions in India stood at 810 million in the year 2020, with expectations of growth to a staggering 1.2 billion in the next five years. Coming back to the specifics of the report, Airtel had the lowest average speed of 4.7 Mbps as per the data that had been published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on June 8. What Do We Know About The Network Speeds Do note that download speeds can help consumers access content from the internet and upload speeds can help when it comes to sending or sharing content to other users. As per TRAI Vodafone Idea mustered up an average upload speed of 6.3 Mbps in the month of May. This was followed by Reliance Jio with an upload speed of 4.2 Mbps and Bharti Airtel 3.6 Mbps. Oddly, state-owned telecom operator BSNL rolled out 4G services in certain areas but the network speed was not revealed in the TRAI chart. In terms of how the speed was computed, the average speed was computed by the TRAI based on the data that it collects all across India via the MySpeed application, that too on a real-time basis. This news comes at a time when internet speeds are the new norm, considering how we are in the middle of the pandemic and the key use cases and jobs have moved online. From schooling to 9to5 jobs, all of these tasks are now moving online, so the good thing is that there are decent speeds being offered by some telcos, whilst others need to figure their networking out, as the speeds are becoming a key aspect of networking in 2021.

OnePlus Promises Faster and Stable Updates Post Merger With Oppo Posted: 16 Jun 2021 06:34 AM PDT Post years and years of speculating that the reason for OnePlus settling was the Oppofication of the company, it seems the evidence is now there to support this theory. In recent times, OnePlus, once known as a flagship killing brand has seemingly lost a step and, in doing so, been subject to many queries. In response to this, it has always mentioned that it was a separate entity. Recently, however, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau had taken on a much bigger role that involved the CEO working for both OnePlus and Oppo and, today, he finally revealed that he will be merging the two brands internally to ensure better efficiency and faster software updates, two aspects in which OnePlus remains decent, but no longer the leader. In a forum post released today, Pete Lau announced the plans for a New Journey for OnePlus that involved the integration of the teams that run OnePlus and Oppo. This process has begun earlier in the year when OnePlus and Oppo had merged their respective R&D teams, a decision that had many people thinking at the time. What Does Pete Lau Have to Say According to Lau though, it has seen positive results and now the remainder of the OnePlus organization will be integrated with fellow BBK owned company OnePlus. The brand and its channels will remain the same, but in the background, the resources used will be shared by the two, at least to some extent. This effectively hints at a turning point, and, as Pete states as OnePlus has begun growing its product portfolio, it will be able to give you, the user more choices than ever before. He further mentions that last year he had taken on some additional responsibilities to oversee product strategy for both OnePlus and Oppo. Since then, the company has integrated a number of its teams together with Oppo in order to streamline its operations and capitalize on additional shared resources. After seeing the positive impact of those changes, OnePlus has decided to further integrate the organization with Oppo. Interestingly, Pete Lau claims that this merger will allow for "faster and more stable software updates" when it comes to OnePlus devices. This is quite good, given how things have been going for OnePlus in terms of software over the past few years. Ending the post, Lau mentions that OnePlus will continue to launch its products, hosting its own events, and "engaging" with the community. Speaking to the company's fans, he also stated that the community is a "vital" part of OnePlus and it's "important" to share updates like these directly.

TRAI Extends Channel Selector Service by Adding Web Version Posted: 16 Jun 2021 06:21 AM PDT The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India or TRAI on Wednesday launched what can be said to be an extended version of its Channel Selector App, under the moniker of the TV Channel Selector, which is a new web portal created keeping the consumer and its needs in mind. In case you missed it, TRAI had announced a TV Channel Selector App back in 2020 with the intention to aid users to view and modify their TV subscription. The authority had mentioned at the time that the app would enable users to check their subscription and view the packs and bouquets offered by their service provider. To add to this, the Channel selector app would also allow the users to "check the real-time" status of their subscription request. TRAI had mentioned that the app would fetch the subscriber data from the service provider via an application programming interface (API) shared by the provider with the regulatory authority What Does the Service Have to Offer Today, the service launched has been put forth with the intention to provide users access to the service of the TV Channel Selector App, even if they do not own a smartphone. The portal will offer all the existing features of the application, the release claimed. Key features include the ability for subscribers to be able to check their own subscription, view all channels and bouquets that are provided by the DTH/Cable service provider, choose only the channels of interests and remove certain unnecessary or unwanted channels and get optimised solutions, for lower prices. Other accessibility features include the ability to add a channel in the available NCF (Network Capacity Fee), the ability to allow the user to modify existing subscriptions, the ability to check the real-time status of the subscription request and the option to download and print current subscription offerings as well as set requests for the subscriptions. Finally, the user will also be given the option to provide feedback regarding the service by clicking the Feedback option, present in the Issue/Feedback menu. The TRAI had notified providers about this regulatory framework back in March of 2017, with it having come into effect on December 29, 2018, approximately two and a half years ago.

5G Rollout Announced by Slovenian Operator Telemach Posted: 16 Jun 2021 04:40 AM PDT The fifth-generation mobile network popularly known as 5G is clearly the next big thing in the technology industry. It is no surprise that countries across the globe are commencing and completing their plans for 5G networks at the earliest. 5G is not just a revolutionary technology but also a driver of numerous other industries. Existing industries will make their business processes much more efficient with 5G networks, and new industries will bloom. In this regard, Telemach, a Slovenian operator, has recently announced that it is rolling out its 5G network. This comes after the telecom operator gained necessary frequencies through a national auction in April this year. Telemach Won 3.5 GHz Spectrum in Slovenia's Auction Telemach 5G network is the first true gigabit 5G system in the country as it uses a 3.5 GHz spectrum. Telemach will use these frequencies to offer wireless broadband, which will be available first to users in the centre of Ljubljana and the commercial district BTC. The nationwide wireless spectrum auction that happened in April witnessed offerings of various frequency bands for fifth-generation wireless technology by the country's regulator, the Agency for Communication Networks and Services (AKOS). The wireless spectrum was being sold for a combined EUR 164.2 million, which is around $199 million. Four bidders took part in the auction namely A1 Slovenija, Telekom Slovenije, Telemach and T-2. Telemach reportedly announced on Monday that it paid EUR 51.6 million ($62.56 million) for the 3.5 GHz frequency band. The operator further revealed its plans to invest EUR 100 million ($121.24 million) in its 4G and 5G mobile networks in the next few years. AKOS Released Spectrum in Different Frequencies Three Days Ago Slovenia's regulator AKOS released the spectrum in the 700 MHz, 1500 MHz, 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands just three days before Telemach announced its plans to launch the 5G network. Even though the testing of 5G technology by Telemach was completed a year ago, the operator launched the rollout of the new technology only after it acquired the necessary frequencies. Telemach is owned by a Dutch-based multiplay and media provider, United Group. It serves over 6,00,000 users in Slovenia. According to a report, United Group has plans to combine Telemach Slovenia and Telemach Croatia into a single business cluster that will be managed by Adrian Jezina, the CEO of Telemach Slovenia.

Reliance Jio Hints at the Future of Prepaid Plans Posted: 16 Jun 2021 04:21 AM PDT A lot has been happening in the telecom industry since the last month. Much recently, Jio announced its new prepaid plans that come with the kind of validity structure a lot of customers are looking for. If you are wondering if this is how all the future prepaid plans from the operators will look like, hold that thought right there. Even though Jio announced new prepaid plans with a favourable validity structure, the telco doesn't want to remove the 28, 56, and 84 days plans from the market. Jio has already made the request for the same with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). All of the above might sound a little confusing to some of you in regards to how does this hint at the future of the prepaid plans. TRAI Might Listen to Reliance Jio's Request It might be entirely possible that Reliance Jio's request may go down well with the sector regulator. TRAI might not interfere with the prepaid plans that come with kind of validities for now. There is a good reason behind this. Reliance Jio requested TRAI not to interfere with the prepaid plans and their validities because that would hurt the mobile tariff structures. It would completely shake the offerings of the telcos, and that might result in catastrophic pricing of the plans at the end of the day. This would agitate users instead of helping them. Jio instead asked the sector regulator to go ahead and ask each operator to offer at least one prepaid plan with the said validities – 30/60/90 days. This would allow the users to pick plans depending on their needs. Reliance Jio has come out with new plans to address the needs of the users who want prepaid plans with 30/60/90 days validity. But the telco doesn't want to change all of its prepaid plans to the same validity structure because that would result in a very big change in the tariff structures of the plans. Thus, the future of prepaid plans might be the same as it is right now. At least with the 4G plans, the telcos might introduce new plans with the preferred validities of the customers, but it is highly unlikely that they will go ahead and change the current tariff structure and the benefits of the plan.

Sun NXT Records Over 40% Increase in Monthly Active Users Posted: 16 Jun 2021 04:14 AM PDT Sun NXT, the over-the-top (OTT) platform run by Sun TV, will not enter into a "bidding game" as the management feels the platform can use "existing content and still deliver reasonable results." SL Narayanan, group CFO of Sun TV Network on Friday said that the company has "done a decent job instead of just frittering away resources on opportunities which are suboptimal." The group CFO of Sun TV said "it's very easy" for the company to enter into a "bidding game and have what's called the winner's curse." Sun NXT "Cherry Picking" Movies Until Normalcy Returns Sun TV, one of the largest broadcasters in India operating satellite TV channels across multiple Indian languages on Friday announced its fourth quarter results with the company recording 6% increase in revenues. The company said that the revenues for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, touched Rs 781.99 crores with Sun TV recording Rs 428.12 crores as subscription revenues in the quarter. In the previous year quarter, Sun TV said that its subscription revenues were at Rs 398.79 crores, translating to a 7% year-over-year (YoY) increase. Mahesh Kumar, managing director at Sun TV said in the earnings call that the streaming platform recorded a 40% to 50% increase in monthly active users (MAU) over the past six months. Further, the managing director at Sun TV also highlighted that the company released "three small time movies" directly on Sun NXT before releasing it on television. "That has been pretty much the very good factor for us, so that’s a model which probably we might also recreate over a period of time," Kumar said in the fourth quarter earnings call. Narayanan said that the Sun NXT platform is currently "riding on the content which has been created by Sun TV" but that the company is "creating web series originals." "It’s perhaps not the wisest thing to bid outrageous sums of money because we know some of our competitors who bought the rights exclusively for a streaming release have actually burnt their fingers," Narayanan said. Crucially, Narayanan said "its best" for the company to enter into the "bidding game" for acquiring streaming rights for Sun NXT "when a state of normalcy returns." However, the group CFO of Sun TV said that the company "in the meantime" would do "some cherry picking." In the past, Narayanan said that the company had "walked away" from the "bidding games" when Sun TV "found that the asking price was too much." "Every content investment has to answer certain basic financial criteria," Narayanan said. "It’s very easy to put some outrageous sums of money and win the bidding for satellite rights and streaming rights, but at the end of the day, if it doesn’t make any meaningful financial return, it’s money down the drain." Additionally, Narayanan said that the company is in talks with "very reputed international producers" and that the "whole industry is going to sit up and take notice" when Sun TV releases the shows. "We’re seeing that every time we put a new movie on Sun NXT, it drives up subscriptions immediately," Narayanan said. "At the current stage you know, all our focus is on movies, but we are in dialogue with a lot of potential producers for web series originals." Motilal Oswal Financial Services, an Indian diversified financial services firm on Saturday said in a report that the Sun NXT subscriptions is likely to increase in the current financial year. "However, the most concerning factor is the delayed OTT investment – besides monetizing the existing library, the company has not made any material inroads in the space," Motilal Oswal said in its report. "We see the delayed investment in OTT as a key risk that could dilute its competitive position." Sun Direct "Cannot Randomly Increase Price" of Its Packs Similar sentiments were also shared by ICICI Direct, a financial product distributor on Saturday, with the firm highlighting that the investment in Sun NXT "needs to pick up" for the platform "to remain competitive." "There had been disconnect and delays in intent vs. execution on digital several times," Dolat Capital, a financial firm engaged in the trading markets on Saturday, said in its report. "Delivery on digital would be critical." Meanwhile, Narayanan said that the company is set to witness "double digit growth" in subscription revenues in the current financial year with Kumar highlighting that the growth is largely aided by the digitalisation of users. Kumar also said that the company has witnessed "some very decent growth" in the Direct-to-Home (DTH) numbers in the southern regions of the country. Crucially, Kumar said that the increase in the prices of the Sun Direct packs is due to the "normal growth" and that the DTH provider is "governed by the regulatory framework." "So, we just cannot randomly increase [the] price," Kumar said.

2G Mobile Standard Isn’t Safe: Cybersecurity Researchers Posted: 16 Jun 2021 03:26 AM PDT According to a report by cybersecurity researchers based out of Europe, the 2G mobile standard of connectivity isn't safe. In fact, the report highlights that the standard hasn't been safe for the past 20 years or 2 decades. Many attackers might have been interfering with the data traffic for years now. As per an Associated Press report, cybersecurity researchers in Europe found a flaw in one of the encryption algorithm used by phones. The researchers said that this flaw affects all the phones that use the 2G or GPRS mobile data standard for connectivity. Using 2G Phones Isn't Safe While most of the countries have adopted the 4G and 5G standards of connectivity completely, there are still developing nations that use the 2G mobile standard for staying connected. As per the researchers, the vulnerability found in the GEA-1 algorithm can't be an accident. Instead, the flaw might have been planted carefully and deliberately so that the law enforcement agencies can have a 'backdoor' and also comply with the laws that restricted the export of strong encryption tools. The co-author of the paper said that it is very highly unlikely that this was an accident. The co-author said the possibility of the flaw in the algorithm planted by mistake is as likely as someone getting six digits of the German lottery system right, that too twice. It is a very big claim made by the co-author, Christof Beierle of the Ruhr University Bochum in Germany. This shows that using a 2G phone today isn't safe since not only the law-enforcement agencies, governments but also hackers can eavesdrop on your personal information. What's worth noting here is that the GEA-1 algorithm was supposed to be phased out of smartphones as early as 2013. But this is 2021, and the researchers said that they found the presence of the algorithm in current iOS and Android devices. The researchers said that the smartphone manufacturers and standards organisations have been notified of the fact and asked to fix the issue as soon as possible. This is a strong revelation by the cybersecurity research group. This shows that governments around the world and hackers can get information out of your personal life very easily.

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite, S7 FE Pricing Leaked Ahead of June 18 Launch Posted: 16 Jun 2021 02:44 AM PDT Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S series has become increasingly popular, with the series being the only true Android tablet series that is subject to decent sales, given the overall lack of demand for Android tablets, considering how most users opt to go for Apple’s iPad, which offers great performance and multiple form factors based on screen size and aspect ratio, coupled with varied pricing, Now, it has been revealed that Samsung is getting ready to introduce two new tablets in the country, with the company having confirmed the existence of the Galaxy Tab S7 FE in India. The Tab A7 Lite will accompany the S-series tablet as part of the June 18 launch event that is scheduled. Both tablets will go on sale starting June 23. Ahead of the launch, however, some key details have been leaked, courtesy of 91Mobiles, who have claimed that the Tab S7 FE will launch in India in two different storage variants. The base variant of the tablet with 4GB of RAM will be priced under Rs 50,000 in India. What Do We Know About Samsung’s Tab S7 FE and A7 Lite As mentioned above, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE, alongside the Tab A7 Lite will launch in India on June 18. Prior to the official launch, the pricing of the two tabs has leaked. As per a new report by 91Mobiles, the Tab A7 Lite will come in a single variant, with possibly  4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage for just Rs 14,999. The tablet will also come with storage expansion courtesy of a microSD slot. The report further states that the Tab S7 FE will be launched in two different configurations, with the base 4+64GB variant priced at Rs 46,999 and the higher 6+128GB variant of the Tab S7 FE scheduled to launch for Rs 50,999. In terms of sales support, both devices will be available to purchase via Samsung Store, Amazon and the certified offline stores. The company has further confirmed that both devices will go on sale starting June 23. The Tab S7 FE is expected to feature a massive  10,090 mAh battery and make use of a Snapdragon 750G SoC. Other features include a 12.4-inch TFT LCD and  S Pen support. The S7 FE will run Android 11 out of the box, with One UI 3.0 on top. The tablet will weigh 608 grams and offer connectivity features like 5G, 4G Volte, Bluetooth 5.0 and USB Type-C based charging. In contrast, the A7 Lite will be an affordable tablet sporting an 8.7-inch HD+ display with a decently sized 5,100 mAh battery.

Skylo Partners Up With Omnicomm to Help Companies Save Fuel Posted: 16 Jun 2021 01:40 AM PDT Skylo just announced that it has partnered up with Omnicomm to provide companies with a complete fuel management Internet-of-Things (IoT) solution. Skylo specialises in providing end-to-end narrowband IoT solutions connecting machines and sensor's data via satellite, while Omnicomm has been in the market since 1998, helping businesses with fuel and fleet management. Both the companies have combined their resources to help large and small businesses in monitoring the fuel that their fleet is consuming in real-time. Skylo and Omnicomm's Full Stack Solution Can Help Companies Avoid Fuel Theft As mentioned above, the companies have come together and are offering an integrated fuel management IoT solution that will oversee real-time fuel usage by fleets. The customers can take this solution and easily deploy it for gaining access to the actionable insights, real-time, and historical data of the fuel usage by fleets. The full-stack solution developed in partnership by both companies will further allow businesses to avoid fuel theft. Fuel is an expensive commodity, and that is why monitoring its usage and avoiding thefts will help businesses in cutting down on costs. In recent times, the cost of fuel has increased further. The solution of Skylo and Omnicomm can be very helpful for businesses who want to optimise their fuel consumption by tracking where it is getting wasted. Omnicomm is a very experienced company in deploying fuel level sensors. As mentioned above, it has been in the market since 1998 and has helped a lot of businesses with understanding their fuel consumption. By partnering up with Skylo, Omnicomm can now expand the range of services offered by its products even further. Skylo, on the other hand, allows businesses to take immediate and appropriate action by accessing real-time data for improving operations. Skylo helps businesses that are very reliant on machines to run their daily operations. The sensors developed by Omnicomm are said to be very accurate in reading data and offering insights to businesses. Both large and small scale businesses can leverage the solution developed by the companies and decrease their fuel costs which will further help them in improving overall profits.

Evident That Vodafone Idea Is Working on Network: Sanjay Malik Posted: 16 Jun 2021 12:22 AM PDT Vodafone Idea (Vi), the third-largest telecom operator in India, has been struggling to stay afloat for quite some time now. One of the biggest hurdles for Vodafone Idea right now is raising capital. Because of its bad performance in the financial books over the last few quarters, investors are worried about giving their money to the telco. However, things can be really good for the telco very soon. Vi has been recognised by Ookla as the network service provider offering the fastest downloading speeds to the users for the last 3 consecutive quarters PAN-India. The telco's work has also been noted by Sanjay Malik, Senior Vice President of Nokia India. Nokia Has Significant Market Share With Vodafone Idea Speaking to ET Telecom, Malik said that Nokia is continuing to work with Vodafone Idea in terms of delivery, orders, and deployment. The Finnish telecom vendor has a significant market share in India with Vodafone Idea. Malik said that Nokia would continue with its market share with Vi. Then Malik said that Vodafone Idea is not too behind the other operators in terms of network performance. This statement from Malik is very true. Vi doesn't have a bad network. The telco has been investing a lot in its network capacity, thus improving downloading speeds for the users. But there is one thing where Vi still gets beaten by other private operators, and that is network coverage. For users who live in a strong coverage zone of Vi's network and don't need to step out of that area, they can comfortably use the services of the company. But for users who travel more and don't live in the coverage area of Vi's network would have to rely on the services of Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. We have said this before; Vi needs to work on its network coverage. If the telco can deploy new sites and increase coverage, it would soon present a tough battle to Jio and Airtel with its impressive offerings. Malik believes that Vi has been working on its network and the performance of the telco shows that much. It would good for Vi if it could increase network coverage rapidly because that is what it needs right now.

Telefonica Picks Nokia, Ericsson for Development of 5G SA Radio Network Posted: 16 Jun 2021 12:10 AM PDT The renowned Spanish telecom operator, Telefonica, has rolled out its 5G Standalone (SA) radio networks contract to Ericsson and Nokia. The decision was announced by Telefonica last week, and both the vendors were given equal importance. As reported by RCR Wireless, Telefonica will use its 22,000 base stations across Spain and 100 MHz of spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band to transition from 5G NSA to 5G SA. Not only this but, Telefonica intends to use the frequencies it strives to bid for in next month's 700 MHz band auction. Telefonica is Yet to Pick Vendors for Deployment of 5G Core Network Earlier, Telefonica had tied strings with Ericsson and Nokia for the deployment of 2G, 3G and 4G networks across the country. Amongst the list of vendors, Huawei was completely excluded from the 5G SA contracts due to rising privacy concerns. Even though Huawei denied all the allegations, the Chinese vendor had to face backlash in the Telefonica 5G SA contracts. Since the operator has locked Ericsson and Nokia for the 5G SA transition, the next step would be hunting down vendors for the deployment of its 5G core network. To date, no vendors have been given the contract by Telefonica for the 5G core network. Telefonica 5G Network Currently Reaches 1,253 Towns and Cities Across Spain Telefonica has constantly been scaling its 5G network across Spain to offer the benefits of the next-generation technology to its subscribers. In a recent release, the telco stated that its 5G network extends to 1,253 towns and cities across Spain. Not only this, but the telco has installed more than 4,300 nodes that offer coverage to more than 37 million people across Spain. Tracing back the growth of the 5G rollout, the telco launched the network service back in September 2020 and committed to deploying 5G in 921 towns and cities. Currently, Telefonica's 5G network combines the deployment of 5G NSA and Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS). The 5G service by Telefonica in Spain is being offered through the spectrum in the 3.5 GHz and 1.8-2.1 GHz bands.

Reliance Jio Facing Troubles With Low-Cost Smartphone Posted: 15 Jun 2021 11:19 PM PDT Reliance Jio and Google had announced their partnership last year to come out with a new low-cost smartphone in India. The smartphone would have catered to the needs of the Indian market, which wants the best of technology but is also price sensitive. A report from Bloomberg suggests that Jio is facing troubles with the manufacturing and production of its low-cost smartphone. The primary reason behind that is the issues in the supply chain. Supply Chain Issues Increase Cost of Manufacturing for Reliance Jio As per the publication, Reliance Jio had initially thought of making hundreds of millions with its low-cost smartphone in partnership with Google. But the target figure has now been brought down to a fraction of the earlier envisioned numbers. This is because of the supply chain issues. The cost of the materials and core parts of the smartphone have shot up. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the slowdown in production of parts and travel restrictions, the company isn't able to meet the production volume it thought it would. This is resulting in increased costs of making the smartphone. A person aware of the matter told Bloomberg that the prices of the display have shot up by 40% and the microprocessor that goes into the smartphone battery now costs 9 cents instead of the earlier 5 cents. Further, the shipping costs for the components have also increased. Before the pandemic, shipping a 20-foot container cost $800 from China to India. But now, the same costs $3,600. Google and Reliance Jio Have Cultural Differences Google and Reliance Jio have very different methods of approaching issues and planning for products. This has become evident with the cultural differences surfacing between the companies recently. Jio believes in the top to down model while Google believes in more of self-direction. While Google likes to plan things months in advance, Jio works almost instantly, making late-night calls. This might force Jio to delay the launch of the smartphones or launch it for a price that it didn't want to. Fans of Reliance Jio are waiting for the low-cost smartphone that it is planning to launch in India, but things are not looking good since there is nothing Jio can do about the supply chain issues.

BSNL 4G, Does India Need It? Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:52 PM PDT Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has been facing a lot of problems in rolling out 4G networks PAN-India. The telco might have had live 4G networks in several cities of India by now if its initial tender wasn't interfered with. It doesn’t have the money nor the resources to roll out 4G networks right away. However, there’s one thing that needs to be answered, does India need BSNL's 4G? The answer depends on multiple factors. BSNL 4G Networks Will Help in Offloading Traffic From Jio and Airtel’s 4G Networks If the telco's 4G networks can be rolled out in time across the country and they can provide solid coverage and downloading/uploading speeds to the users, it can be a serious moneymaker for the company. If BSNL 4G networks would have been live already, it would have helped with a better 4G experience for the Indians since they wouldn't need to primarily depend on Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel's 4G network for data and calling needs. The most important thing to figure out here is if BSNL is able to roll out 4G networks in India by early 2023, would it be profitable for the country. The answer would totally depend on the kind of reach 5G networks would have had by then. The cost of the 5G plans and further the demand and the existing 4G use cases at that point in time would tell if BSNL might make money from 4G or not. BSNL's 4G Plans Can be Winner BSNL is known for providing very economical prepaid plans. With a good 4G network coverage throughout India, the telco can attract multiple new users and also retain its old customers. Once 4G comes, BSNL can even start planning for the 5G rollout, but it would require that its 4G is successful. At this point, the more the delays that are caused in the rollout of BSNL's 4G, the more it is going to hurt the chances of the telco's 4G seeing success.

Huawei Wants to Make India’s Telecom Networks Safer Posted: 15 Jun 2021 09:55 PM PDT Chinese telecom gear makers have faced a setback in terms of expansion and operations due to the rising privacy and security concerns. However, all the entities, including Huawei, have slashed the privacy allegations. To address the rise in new cybersecurity risks with an increase in the adoption of digital interface, Chinese gear maker Huawei has opened the Global Cyber Security and Privacy Protection Transparency Centre. As per a report from PTI, Huawei also summoned telecom regulators, customers and partners from India to ingress its global cybersecurity centre and jointly work to enhance network security. Huawei to Improve Network Security Across the Industry David Li, CEO of Huawei India, said the newly developed cybersecurity and privacy protection transparency centre is a result of Huawei's regular engagement, collaborated research and innovation with its customers, partners, regulators and standard organisations worldwide. He further said that the centre is specially crafted to support shareholders from around the world by showcasing solutions, sharing experiences and facilitating communications. With the best tools, testing environments and experts, the centre will be able to set new bars in network security. To add more, Li welcomed all the regulators, customers and partners from India to evaluate and jointly work for improvisation of product and network security services across the industry. Several Governments Have Banned Huawei from 5G Rollout Huawei is one of the major Chinese gear vendors that has been under the radar because of privacy concerns. The United States has made the road difficult for Huawei by banning it from its 5G rollout plans. Not only this, but the US is asking its allies to drop Chinese vendors from the 5G rollout plans and protect their network expansion. Even though Huawei has denied all the allegations, the entity faced backlash from various parts of the world. Several governments have already barred Huawei from taking part in the 5G rollout. To counter the restrictions, Huawei has called for an open inspection of the system based on global standards. Also, Huawei is ready to share the source code of the telecom gears. Jumping back to last week, Ken Hu, who is the Huawei rotating Chairman, stated that governments, standard organisations and technology providers need to work closely to curate understanding of cybersecurity challenges.

Broadband Internet Browsing Is Captivating With These Tips and Features Posted: 15 Jun 2021 09:30 PM PDT We all love our broadband internet connection dearly. We spend time on the internet every single day for a number of things like communication, entertainment and even learning. Internet brings the entire world to our fingertips, and it raises curiosity to learn and makes life easier for us. There is so much that the internet can do that it is impossible for us to keep track. A number of tips and tricks can be used while we browse through our broadband internet connection that makes the overall experience even more exciting. Google's Reverse Image Search Feature Lets You Search an Image Google has been the most common and preferred search engine for broadband internet users all over the world. While it is commonly known how google search works, that is, by typing related keywords, you can also use google search to look for information regarding a particular image. Google's Reverse Image Search feature allows users to search images instead of searching for text-based keywords. On uploading an image on the search engine, Google will show you information on that image and show you related images. Switching Tabs Without Using Your Mouse Since we use our broadband internet for browsing different sites at the same time, we often have multiple tabs open on our browser. Switching between these tabs can seem like an effort if we have to use the mouse and move the cursor to different tabs. You can switch tabs in your browser by holding the Ctrl and Tab keys together on your keyboard. Clearing Your Browsing History Saves You from Target Advertising We use our browser to visit different websites. These websites send cookies to our device that helps the website find our habits, likes and preferences. Websites use this information to target us with appropriate advertisements. Cookies keep getting stored in our system and reduce the speed of our browser as a result. Cookies form a part of your browsing history which also includes any passwords entered, any data saved and the sites you visited. Deleting your browsing history ensures that your browser runs smoothly and you stay away from targeted advertisements. Creating Bookmarks Helps You Save Websites You Visit Regularly The bookmarks feature in a browser helps you save websites in case you want to visit them in future. We visit numerous websites on a daily basis, and we might find something on a website that we want to save or use in the future; we can bookmark that website and keep coming back to it as and when needed. Bookmarks are also an important feature for saving websites that we visit regularly.

Xiaomi’s Latest Patents Showcase Company’s Ideas for the Future Posted: 15 Jun 2021 08:00 PM PDT Xiaomi has never been shy when it comes to providing unique models and designs, from the Mi Mix series to the unique designs of the flagship series from the company. The company has also been focused on providing newer products and making advancements in each and every aspect of the device. Now, it has been revealed, via a spotting by LetsGoDigital, that Xiaomi has filed documentation in regards to three new smartphones design, a couple of which might be worth your attention. The first of these designs intend to imagine a future flagship device capable of taking the fight to the best of the bests. The handset will supposedly try to employ the services of a camera module that is similar to the Galaxy S21 series of devices. The camera module will also occupy a major portion of the rear, complete with four different sensors. Of these cameras, the primary one will protrude from the camera module, which might indicate towards it being a 108MP sensor or more. In contrast, the other two middle snappers seem identical, with the bottom lens being present in a rectangular housing, which probably means that the camera has a periscope sensor. The device’s edges are also revealed, and the USB Type-C port can also be spotted to the bottom right of the device, with a microphone close by. What Do the Other Designs Hint At The second of these designs make use of an oval camera module that consists of two large sensors as well as three secondary or additional camera sensors.  It is unclear as to whether these are three cameras or two sensors and a flash. Regardless, this design also includes a vertical line that runs alongside the camera module, which might be an element in sync with a unique design. The third of these designs is a rather subtle one, making use of a large camera on the top and two sensors with additional use cases in the bottom of the handset. In terms of what we can expect from Xiaomi’s future phones, we have seen patents in the past that show ideas from rotating under-display cameras to speaker-phone ideas. However, there is a minor chance of these ideas making their way to the consumer market, but a couple of these new patents could make their way into the market, especially considering how the first one might be indicative of what the market will look like in a year or two. It is unclear though as to whether Xiaomi will make use of any of these designs in its models, as these are just patents at this point of time; however, considering how bold Xiaomi is, we could see some interesting choices in the next few months, if not the next few years.

Vodafone Idea Offers More Data Than Jio and Airtel With These Plans Posted: 15 Jun 2021 06:31 PM PDT If you require more data after purchasing a 1.5GB or 2GB daily data plan and you have to purchase multiple data vouchers in regular intervals, it is not the right prepaid plan for you. This is because you need a prepaid plan that can offer more data on a daily and doesn't also exceed the cost too much. This will help you consume more data without worrying about purchasing data vouchers. Vodafone Idea (Vi) offers three prepaid plans that can suit your data requirements comfortably. Vodafone Idea Three Prepaid Plans That Can Suit Your Data Needs Vodafone Idea (Vi) offers three prepaid plans that cost Rs 299, Rs 449, and Rs 699 each. The speciality of these three plans is that they come with 4GB daily fair-usage-policy (FUP) data. On top of that, all of these plans come with Vi's special offers, including 'Binge All Night' and 'Weekend Data Rollover', which means users won't have to worry about consuming more data at night. Further, users won't even need to worry about consuming more data at the weekends since they can utilise the leftover data from the week. The benefits of all the three above mentioned plans are the same. The only difference between them is the kind of validity they carry. All the above-mentioned plans come with truly unlimited voice calling to any network within the country along with 100 SMS/day. Further, users also get a free over-the-top (OTT) benefit of Vi Movies & TV Classic, through which they can gain access to multiple TV shows and movies. The Rs 299 plan comes with a validity of 28 days, while the Rs 449 and Rs 699 plans come with 56 and 84 days of validity. It is worth noting that these plans were initially supposed to offer users 2GB of daily data. But with the double data offer, now these plans offer users 4GB of daily data for the entire validity of the plan. Thus with the Rs 299 plan, users will get 112GB of data; with the Rs 449 plan, users will get 224GB of data, and with the 84 days plan, users will get 336GB of data. This is excluding all the bonus data that the users of the telco will get between 12 AM to 6 AM under the 'Binge All Night' offer. None of the other private telecom operators offers such a plan to their users. The maximum FUP data plans from Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel come with 3GB daily data. So Vodafone Idea is your best bet if you want a prepaid plan that offers more data and a seamless internet experience to the users. You won't even have to worry about data speeds since Vi offers impressive downloading and uploading speeds to the users.

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