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• Vodafone Idea Stock Gains on Tuesday Supported by Positive Developments
• BSNL Rs 749 Broadband Plan Better than Airtel’s 100 Mbps Plan
• Satcom: Jio, Airtel Entry Doesn’t Mean Low Prices
• 5G Band That Every Smartphone Needs to Support
• Airtel, Jio, Vi Prepaid Plans Offering Best Value
• Airtel or ACT – The Better 40 Mbps Broadband Plan
• Samsung Galaxy F23 5G Live Images Leaked Just Before the Launch
• Google Pixel 6a Specifications Revealed Via Geekbench Listing
• Vivo X Fold – First Foldable Smartphone From Vivo Renders Surface
• DD India Now Available on Yupp TV as Prasar Bharti Signs MoU
• Realme C35 Budget Smartphone Arrives in India With Flagship Triple Cameras
• Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card All Benefits Listed in Simple Points
• ACT Upgrades Broadband Plans for No Additional Cost
• O-RAN to Help Telcos Reduce Ownership Cost of Networks: Saankhya Labs, Preetham Uthaiah

Vodafone Idea Stock Gains on Tuesday Supported by Positive Developments Posted: 07 Mar 2022 10:13 PM PST Vodafone Idea (Vi), listed as Idea on the stock exchanges, is gaining in the early trade session on Tuesday. At the time of writing, Vi's stock is trading (at the time of writing) at Rs 9.80, which is 2.62%, up from the previous close price of Rs 9.55. The third-largest telco's shares opened at Rs 9.65 and touched a high of Rs 10.05. In the last few days, multiple developments around Vi getting investments from promoters and external investors, as well as bank guarantees from the government, have come up. The telco's board has already approved the money-raising exercise, and a special shareholders meeting has been scheduled for March 26, 2022, for the same. Motilal Oswal Gives Vodafone Idea a Neutral Rating Many analysts said that the funds that would come from the promoters wouldn't be adequate for the company. However, at the same time, Vi is also trying to get back around Rs 15,000 crore worth of bank guarantees (BGs) from the government. If the telco is further able to raise another Rs 10,000 crore from the outside investors excluding Rs 4500 crore from the promoters, it will come in sort of a stable position. Motilal Oswal has rated the telco Neutral for now. All that the telco needs to do right now is match its capex levels with that of Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. Along with that, Vi needs surplus amounts of money to be able to participate in a decent capacity in the 5G spectrum auctions. The 5G spectrum auctions aren't too far now as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is working on submitting the recommendations to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) within the deadline of March-end. This can mean that the 5G spectrum auctions can take place during the month of May or June 2022. In another two to three months, the telcos can come out with commercial live 5G networks. It will be interesting to see how things pan out for Vodafone Idea in the coming months.

BSNL Rs 749 Broadband Plan Better than Airtel’s 100 Mbps Plan Posted: 07 Mar 2022 09:00 PM PST Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is offering a 100 Mbps plan just like Airtel, but for Rs 50 lesser. While it is not a big difference, something is always better than nothing. BSNL's 100 Mbps plan isn't only more affordable but also offers over-the-top (OTT) benefits that Airtel's plan doesn't. It is worth noting that BSNL offers two 100 Mbps broadband plans, and we are only talking about the Rs 749 plan here. There's a Rs 799 plan as well, which is very identical to the plan offered by Bharti Airtel. Anyway, let's check out the benefits of the 100 Mbps plans we are talking about and see why BSNL's plan is better. BSNL Bharat Fiber Rs 749 Plan With 100 Mbps Internet Speed Compared to Airtel's Rs 799 Plan The Rs 749 broadband plan from BSNL Bharat Fibre comes with 100 Mbps internet speed and offers users 1TB or 1000GB of internet data. Post consumption of 1000GB data, the internet speed drops to 5 Mbps. Airtel's 100 Mbps plan, which comes for Rs 799, offers 3.3TB of internet data to the users. Airtel's plan here offers way more data to the users. However, a thing worth noting here is that 1TB of data is also more than sufficient for most of the households in India. Moving on, Airtel doesn't offer any additional OTT benefits with its 100 Mbps plan. However, BSNL offers subscriptions to multiple OTT platforms, including SonlyLIV Premium, YuppTV Live, ZEE5 Premium, and more. Further, BSNL promises a discount of up to Rs 500 (90%) on the first month's bill. Note that both the companies also offer a free fixed-line voice calling connection with their 100 Mbps plans. Also, the prices mentioned above don't include 18% GST, which will be chargeable when the final bill arrives. Airtel's plan is not bad, to be honest, but the Rs 749 plan from BSNL is a better deal with OTT benefits included.

Satcom: Jio, Airtel Entry Doesn’t Mean Low Prices Posted: 07 Mar 2022 08:15 PM PST Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are going to battle it out in the satellite communications (satcom) market in the near future. Both the telcos are already tussling over the spectrum auctions where Jio says that everyone who wants spectrum for offering communication services should get it from the auctions. However, Airtel is of the view that satcom companies don't require spectrum the way terrestrial network service providers do and hence following the global practice, India should also "allocate" the spectrum strategically to the satcom companies. The interest of both the companies in the satcom sector has many people excited thinking that Jio will do with satellite broadband what it did with 4G. However, that's unrealistic and most likely not going to happen. Satcom an Expensive Affair for Everyone, Including Jio and Airtel Satcom is an expensive affair because the kind of investments it requires is immense. Internationally, people are paying over $100 a month on average for satellite broadband services. But to get a connection in the first place, consumers will have to spend a hefty sum. Back in December 2021, Sanjay Bhargava, former head of Starlink India, had shared that the probable cost for a Starlink connection with a basic internet plan for an Indian user would come around Rs 1,58,000 for the first year. Bhargava said that the monthly cost of the Starlink plan would come around $100 (approximately Rs 7500) for an Indian user. Even Jio and Airtel can't bring it much down to the levels of 4G. While satcom services will be expensive, they will have a demand in areas where territorial networks can't reach. If more players such as SpaceX owned Starlink, Amazon's Kuiper and more enter the market aggressively, it can contribute to the prices going down. Regardless of the price going down, it will never be down enough to be compared directly with 4G or even home fiber broadband plans. Thus, for normal users, 4G networks and fiber broadband are the best bet if they want to use the internet and stay connected to the world.

5G Band That Every Smartphone Needs to Support Posted: 07 Mar 2022 06:55 PM PST A lot of people now own 5G smartphones in India. Almost every new device in the midrange or premium segment is a 5G smartphone only. Only the budget segment is witnessing the entry of new 4G devices such as the recently launched Poco M4 Pro 4G. But Poco had launched this device with a 5G chipset too. So the demand and supply of 5G smartphones is growing together. A lot of people are worried about whether their smartphone supports enough 5G bands or not. This is because if the telecom operators choose to rollout 5G in a spectrum band that a certain user's smartphone doesn't support, he/she won't be able to experience 5G despite owning a 5G smartphone. But the truth is, your smartphone doesn't need to support every 5G band there is, but only the right ones. So which is the right 5G band? Find it out by reading ahead. 5G Band Which Telecom Operators Are Going to Heavily Use Most of the telcos are going to utilise the spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band that is why see if the smartphone that you are purchasing supports the N78 band or not. If it does, then there's no problem at all. Lower sub-1 GHz frequencies will be used for providing coverage, but they can't deliver very high speeds. However, the 3.5 GHz frequencies will be decent for providing coverage as well as offering great speeds to the users. 5G bands in the premium frequency range which is the mmWave (millimetre wavelength) aren't going to be used heavily as they can be disturbed quite easily and would require the kind of investment that the telcos would fret over. Most of the smartphones that launch in the Indian market support the N78 band if they are a 5G device. If you were wondering whether this is the right time to purchase a 5G smartphone, the answer is, it depends on your needs and what you expect out of your device and the mobile network.

Airtel, Jio, Vi Prepaid Plans Offering Best Value Posted: 07 Mar 2022 05:33 PM PST A majority of users while choosing their prepaid plans look for offers that provide value for their money. Long-term plans are one of the most popular plans as these plans offer the best value for money as it ensures data and voice calling benefits for a larger period of time. Even though telcos offer multiple long-term plans, one of the most common plans are the prepaid plans with 84 days validity. Mentioned below are all the prepaid plans with 84 days validity provided by the three major telcos – Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea. Reliance Jio's Prepaid Plans The first plan on the list offered by India's leading telecom operator is a 1.5GB/day plan. Jio offers 1.5GB data per day for a validity period of 84 days at Rs 666. The plan offers unlimited voice calls and 100 SMS/day along with access to a few Jio applications such as Jio Cinema, Jio TV and more. Jio also provides two 2GB/day long-term plans. The telco offers a plan at Rs 719 that provides 2GB data per day with unlimited voice calls and 100 SMS/day for 84 days. This plan as well comes with access to Jio applications. On the other hand, Rs 1,066 plan from the telco offers the same benefits but also comes with access to the Disney+ Hotstar OTT platform and provides an additional 5GB of data. In addition to this, Jio also offers a high data benefit daily data prepaid plan. The telco offers a Rs 1,199 plan which offers 3GB data per day for a validity period of 84 days. The prepaid plan as well offers unlimited voice calls and 100 SMS/day along with access to a few Jio applications such as Jio Cinema, Jio TV and more. Bharti Airtel – 84 Days Plans As far as Airtel is considered, the telco offers only a few prepaid plans with 84 days validity. The first plan on the list is a 1.5GB/day plan. Airtel offers a prepaid plan at a price tag of Rs 719 that offers 1.5GB/day for a validity period of 84 days. The plan offers unlimited voice calling and 100 SMS/day and comes with a free trial of mobile edition Amazon Prime Video along with a few other benefits such as Wynk music. In comparison, Jio offers 2GB/day at the same price tag. Next on the list is actually a 2GB/day prepaid plan from Airtel. The telco provides 2GB data per day for a validity period of 84 days at the price tag of Rs 839. The prepaid plan as well offers unlimited voice calls and 100 SMS/day along with access to a free trial of mobile edition Amazon Prime Video along with a few other benefits. Last on the list isn't actually a daily data prepaid plan. Airtel offers a prepaid plan at a price tag of Rs 455 that offers cumulative data of 6GB for a validity period of 84 days along with truly unlimited voice calls and 100 SMS/day. This plan as well comes with access to a free trial of mobile edition Amazon Prime Video along with a few other benefits such as Wynk music. Plans from Vodafone Idea Vodafone Idea or Vi offers almost identical prepaid plans as Airtel when it comes to packs with 84 days validity. Vi offers a prepaid plan at a price tag of Rs 719 that offers 1.5GB/day for a validity period of 84 days. The plan offers unlimited voice calling and 100 SMS/day and comes with a few additional benefits. Next on the list is again an identical plan offered by the telco as Airtel. Vi provides 2GB data per day for a validity period of 84 days at the price tag of Rs 839. The prepaid plan as well offers unlimited voice calls and 100 SMS/day along with some added benefits. Just as Airtel, Vi as well provides a prepaid plan with 84 days validity that isn't a daily data pack but has a slight price variation in comparison to the other telco. Vi offers a prepaid plan at a price tag of Rs 459 that offers cumulative data of 6GB for a validity period of 84 days along with truly unlimited voice calls and 100 SMS/day. Vi also offers some added benefits with the mentioned plans such as the "Binge All Night" benefit with which users can binge through the internet with no limits during the time period of 12 midnight to 6 am. Additionally, Vi offers a "Weekend Roll Over" feature using which users can carry forward the unused daily data from Monday-Friday to Saturday and Sunday. Apart from this, Vi also offers up to 2GB of additional backup data every month along with access to Vi Movies and TV.

Airtel or ACT – The Better 40 Mbps Broadband Plan Posted: 07 Mar 2022 08:07 AM PST When it comes to broadband plans, a majority of users tend to look for affordable plans with better internet speeds. While service providers like Jio or BSNL offer the cheapest broadband plans, their base plans provide comparatively lesser connectivity speed options. On the other hand, Airtel and ACT both offer 40 Mbps base broadband plans with different price tags. At first, it may seem like Airtel clearly has an edge over ACT when it comes to pricing but there is a twist. Mentioned below is a comparison between 40 Mbps broadband plans offered by Airtel and ACT to find out which ISP offers the better option. Airtel Broadband Airtel is one of the most popular brands when it comes to the list of ISPs in India. Airtel with its Xstream Fiber connection offers one of the fastest broadband connections and the entry-level pack from the ISP is the 'Basic' pack which provides 40 Mbps of internet speed at a monthly cost of Rs 499 exclusive of taxes. Users get 3.3TB or 3300GB of monthly fair-usage-policy (FUP) data with this plan. Airtel also provides 'Airtel Thanks Benefits' with its broadband plans which in this case includes a subscription to Wynk Music and Shaw Academy. The entry-level plan from Airtel offers a little higher speed at a little higher price tag than others but provides higher connectivity speed as well. ACT's Affordable Offer The Internet Service Provider based in Bengaluru provides a 40 Mbps unlimited data plan called 'ACT Basic.' The plan usually costs Rs 549 for a month, but the ISP is providing a unique offer for its customers, wherein the 'ACT Basic' plan is available for a price of Rs 470 per month for a duration of 6 months. In addition to this, the FUP data limit levied on the broadband plans is 500GB post which the internet works at speed of 512 Kbps. The entry-level plan from ACT is suitable for users who are looking to invest in the long-term as it costs slightly less than that of Airtel with the same connectivity speed if opted for six months. To conclude, if you're looking to upgrade your base plan in the foreseeable future, Airtel is the way to go as it costs less than ACT on a monthly basis, whereas you can end up saving some money with ACT's 40 Mbps plan if you get it for six months.

Samsung Galaxy F23 5G Live Images Leaked Just Before the Launch Posted: 07 Mar 2022 07:15 AM PST Samsung is gearing up for the launch of a new smartphone as a part of its Galaxy F series in India. The budget smartphone Galaxy F23 is all set to be launched in the country tomorrow which is March 8. There have been a lot of rumours going around the device giving a fair idea about the specifications that will come along. Although a new render has surfaced over the web, providing us with better intel on the look of the Samsung Galaxy F23 smartphone. Let's take a look. New Design Details for Galaxy F23 5G The images were shared by a Twitter user just a day before the device is officially launched. The images shared on the platform show both the front and rear sides of the Galaxy F23 providing the complete design details. The front of the device features a water-drop notch along with slim bezels running around the edges. On the back, the device features a vertical camera module housing a triple camera setup along with an LED flash. The device can be seen in a light blue colour shade in the shared image. Expected Specifications for Galaxy F23 5G As far as the specifications go, Samsung Galaxy F23 5G will arrive with a 50MP primary sensor at the back. Speculations suggest that the device will feature a triple camera setup at the back which will include an 8MP ultra-wide lens and a 2MP tertiary sensor along with the primary camera. Talking about the display of the device, Galaxy F23 5G is expected to offer Full HD+ resolution along with 120Hz refresh rate support. Even though the report doesn't confirm the exact display size of the device, rumours suggest that the smartphone will have a 6.4-inch display screen. The device will also feature a waterdrop notch at the top and a side-mounted fingerprint scanner as well. Samsung Galaxy F23 5G is expected to be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 750G chipset paired up with 6GB and 8GB of RAM. The report also hints at 128GB onboard storage available on the device. Moreover, the handset is expected to feature a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Google Pixel 6a Specifications Revealed Via Geekbench Listing Posted: 07 Mar 2022 06:24 AM PST Google is expected to launch its Google Pixel 6a smartphone pretty soon as a successor to its Google Pixel 5a device. The much-awaited smartphone from the company has now been spotted at Geekbench benchmarking site revealing multiple specification details of the device. The previous mention of the device was in a colouring book sent to Pixel Superfans in January. The new report informs about the processor, RAM, and operating system expected on the upcoming smartphone. Let's find out more. Specification Details for Google Pixel 6a The report comes in from known publication MySmartPrice which suggests the spotting of the Google Pixel 6a smartphone on the Geekbench listing. The report informs that Pixel 6a will be powered by Google’s own Tensor GS101 chipset. The processor comes with two high-performance Arm Cortex-X1 cores running at 2.80 GHz, two performance Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 2.25 GHz and our Cortex-A55 efficiency cores operating at 1.8 GHz. The listing informs that Google Pixel 6a will feature 6GB RAM. The Geekbench listing further informs that Google Pixel 6a runs on Android 12 out of the box. As far as the performance of the device is considered, the smartphone was able to score 1,050 points in the single-core tests and 2,883 points in multicore tests at Geekbench which falls in line with the scores of Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. The listing has the smartphone under the codename "bluejay" which interestingly enough was spotted on a US carrier’s backend inventory system alongside the Google Pixel Watch earlier this month. Google hasn't officially revealed any intel on the device as of now, although a recent report suggests that the smartphone will be available in Black, Green, and White colour options and will feature up to 128GB of internal storage. In addition to this, it is also rumoured that the smartphone could feature a 12.2MP Sony IMX363 sensor in its dual rear camera setup. Previous Renders of the device have shown that Google Pixel 6a could have a hole-punch cut-out for the selfie camera and a dual-rear camera setup. Moreover, tipster Max Jambor in a report said that the Google Pixel 6a launch is expected to be held in May 2022 and the upcoming smartphone could be released during Google I/O 2022.

Vivo X Fold – First Foldable Smartphone From Vivo Renders Surface Posted: 07 Mar 2022 05:23 AM PST The reports of Vivo launching its first foldable smartphone in China in 2022 have been circling around for a while. The first foldable device from the Chinese smartphone manufacturer could be Vivo X Fold. Even though the brand hasn't confirmed any official date for the launch, speculations suggest that the smartphone could arrive in March itself or the next month. Now in a new development, the design schematic of the Vivo foldable smartphone has been leaked. The leak has been shared by the known tipster Digital Chat Station which shows a design render for the upcoming Vivo X Fold smartphone. Let's take a look at the design details of the smartphone along with the expected specs. Design Details for Vivo X Fold The design schematics revealed by the tipster inform that the Vivo X Fold has a hole-punch cut out at the top centre of the cover screen. Moreover, the right edge of the phone has a curved edge to offer a more immersive viewing experience. However, the design details for the inner display of the device haven't been revealed. It is anticipated that the device could come with a hole punch cut out at the top right half of the foldable display. Talking about the rear side, Vivo X Fold is likely to feature a rectangular module that will house a quadruple-camera setup. The renders show that there are four large cutouts and one of them could possibly be a periscope camera. Other cameras onboard are expected to be a primary camera along with an ultra-wide and a portrait or telephoto shooter. Rumoured Specs for Vivo X Fold Vivo X Fold is expected to feature a 6.5-inch FHD+ OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The internal display is expected to be 8-inches with a QHD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. The smartphone is expected to be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen1. The camera setup at the back is anticipated to feature a 50MP main camera and a 48MP ultrawide camera. It will also feature an 8MP periscope lens with 5x zoom and a 12MP portrait camera with 2x zoom.

DD India Now Available on Yupp TV as Prasar Bharti Signs MoU Posted: 07 Mar 2022 04:07 AM PST India's public broadcaster, Prasar Bharti, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with 'Yupp TV', which is an over-the-top (OTT) platform in order to expand the global reach of the DD India channel. Prasar Bharti is an anonymous statutory body that comprises Doordarshan Television Network and All India Radio, which were earlier media units of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. With the signing of this MoU, Prasar Bharti intends to put forth India's perspective on various international developments on global platforms and to showcase India's culture and values to the world. DD India Now Easily Accessible The latest development will result in DD National now being available on the OTT platform of Yupp TV in countries of the USA, UK, Europe, the Middle East as well as Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. DD India is Prasar Bharti's international channel and is India's window to the world. DD India includes multiple programmes which showcase India's perspective on issues and developments, whether it is domestic or worldwide. DD India connects India and the Indian diaspora spread across the world as it is available in more than 190 countries. What sets DD India apart and has truly established the channel as a global influencer on India related issues is its sharp analysis & commentary, along with thought-provoking views and opinions and cutting-edge visual presentation. The examples include one of the most popular shows called "Bio-Quest", which is based on in-depth analysis and research. The show centred around the pandemic deals with questions such as what caused the pandemic or what are its origins, as well as vaccine development and other scientific discoveries related to COVID 19. Other shows that bring in high viewership include India Ideas, World Today, Indian Diplomacy, DD Dialogue, News Night and more. YuppTV, on the other hand, is an OTT content provider for South Asian content, including live television and films with recording and storage features. Yupp TV allows users to watch live TV anytime, anywhere in the world and has made Indian TV channels easily and cost-effectively available across the globe. Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati and Yupp TV Founder and CEO Uday Reddy signed the content hosting agreement.

Realme C35 Budget Smartphone Arrives in India With Flagship Triple Cameras Posted: 07 Mar 2022 02:56 AM PST The Chinese smartphone manufacturer Realme has launched its budget smartphone Realme C35 in India which had been rumoured for a while now. The device comes in as a successor for the Realme C25 launched in April 2021. The smartphone has been launched in two storage variants and comes with promising features such as triple rear cameras, an octa-core processor and more. Realme C35 will compete against the likes of the Redmi 10 Prime, Moto E40, and the Samsung Galaxy M12 in the Indian market. Let's find out more. Specifications for Realme C35 Realme C35 has been launched with a 6.6-inch full-HD+ (1,080×2,408pixels) display with a 90.7% screen-to-body ratio. The smartphone is powered by an octa-core Unisoc T616 SoC which has been common in most of the budget smartphones arriving lately. The chipset is coupled with up to 4GB of LPDDR4X RAM as standard and features up to 128GB of onboard UFS 2.2 storage. The internal storage on the device can be expanded via a microSD card up to 256GB. Talking about the camera unit, Realme C35 features a triple rear camera setup headlined by a 50MP primary sensor along with a 2MP macro shooter and a monochrome sensor. The front of the device features an 8MP Sony IMX355 selfie camera. The smartphone operates on Android 11 with Realme UI R Edition on top. The smartphone packs a 5000mAh battery and connectivity options include 4G LTE, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS/ A-GPS, USB Type-C, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The device comes with an accelerometer, ambient light, magnetometer, and proximity sensor. The handset has been equipped with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor as well. Realme C35 Price Realme C35 has been launched in India at a price tag of Rs 11,999 for the base 4GB RAM + 64GB internal storage. The newly launched device also comes with a 4GB + 128GB model that is priced at Rs. 12,999. Colour options on the Realme C35 include Glowing Black and Glowing Green. The smartphone will be available for purchase starting at 12 noon on March 12 via Flipkart, Realme.com and offline retail stores.

Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card All Benefits Listed in Simple Points Posted: 07 Mar 2022 01:43 AM PST Bharti Airtel, the second-largest telecom operator and Axis Bank, a leading banking institution have together launched a co-branded credit card for the Indian market. The name of the new card is 'Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card' and it comes with exclusive benefits for the 340 million customers of Bharti Airtel. There will be a plethora of benefits associated with this card such as Buy Now Pay Later offerings, pre-approved instant loans, and more. Mentioned below are all the benefits that you will get from the Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card. Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card Benefits These are the benefits that Airtel Axis Bank Credit card customers will get. a) 25% cashback on any Airtel DTH or Mobile recharge, Airtel Xstream Fiber or Airtel Black payments. b) 10% cashback on spending with the following merchants — Zomato, Swiggy, and BigBasket. c) 10% cashback on Electricity/Water bill/Gas payments via Airtel Thanks app. d) 1% cashback on all the other spends. e) Amazon e-voucher worth Rs 500 on card activation within 30 days of issuance. How Can Apply and How to Apply? All the eligible customers can apply for the Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card through the Airtel Thanks app. Further, to extend the partnership, Axis Bank will be leveraging Bharti Airtel's suite of digital services such as Airtel IQ which spans video, streaming, voice, virtual contact center solutions and call masking services or enhancing digital capabilities. Further, a joint release said that both the companies will also be collaborating across Data Center and Cloud services in the future. This should prove to be a meaningful partnership for both Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank as both the companies will get to expand their customer base through this move. Bharti Airtel is the only telecom operator right now to offer a co-branded credit card to its customers. Customers who are not affiliated with Airtel won't be able to get this card from the company.

ACT Upgrades Broadband Plans for No Additional Cost Posted: 07 Mar 2022 01:07 AM PST ACT Fibernet, a leading fiber internet service provider (ISP) in the country, has upgraded its broadband plans for no additional cost to the users. In a statement, the company said that these upgraded plans are meant to foster greater connectivity, stronger access, and superior speed for its people living in Chennai. Note that these upgraded plans are only available in Chennai. Regardless, it is worth looking at what Chennai users are going to get from ACT now. ACT Broadband Plans Which Were Recently Upgraded ACT offers a total of seven broadband plans to the users living in Chennai. Out of these seven plans, the company has upgraded six plans for the users. The first plan to receive the upgrade is the ACT Basic which comes for Rs 820 and offers 75 Mbps of speed. After the upgrade, the speed benefit has been upgraded to 100 Mbps for the same plan. You can see the rest of the plans in the below table. Note that none of the plans got a bump in the data benefits. All of the broadband plans except ACT Giga are going to see their speeds going higher. This is definitely a positive surprise for customers of the ISP living in Chennai. Note that the prices mentioned here don't include 18% tax. The final bill that you will receive from the company will be 18% more than what is mentioned in the table above. None of the existing subscribers have to pay anything extra for the additional speed. The company also offers additional benefits with its broadband plans to the users. All of the internet plans except the 400 Mbps and 1000 Mbps plans from ACT come with 3.3TB of monthly fair-usage-policy (FUP) data, while the 400 Mbps and 1000 Mbps plans come with 5TB of monthly data. To get a new connection from ACT in Chennai, you can reach out to the company's customer care team.

O-RAN to Help Telcos Reduce Ownership Cost of Networks: Saankhya Labs, Preetham Uthaiah Posted: 07 Mar 2022 12:08 AM PST MWC 2022 was a very successful exhibition. It was good to see a large number of exhibitors and visitors coming together after two years of the pandemic. The major takeaway from the exhibition is the fact that many mobile network operators across the globe are looking to adopt Open RAN solutions for their networks, said Preetham Uthaiah, EVP – Marketing and Strategy, Saankhya Labs. Q1. You participated at Mobile World Congress 2022 – Barcelona; what products did you showcase at the event? We showcased our next-gen wireless communication products and solutions, including: ORAN 7.2x compliant single-band and dual-band 5G remote radio units (RU) RAN-Wiser Hardware Agnostic Portable RAN Framework (PRF) Broadcast Radio Head (BRH) Android Mobile Phone (MarkOne model) with built-in digital broadcast receiver SoC Prithvi 3.0 from Saankhya Labs, which supports the latest ATSC3.0 standard Satellite communication terminal – Navdoot 2-way MSS terminal for real-time tracking and 2-way communication with fishing vessels in the deep sea. Q2. Please elaborate more on RANwiser; how does it disaggregate the DU hardware and software? Unlike the traditional Radio Access Networks (RAN), the Open RAN based 5G RANs are horizontally disaggregated by splitting the base station into Remote Radio Units (RU) and Distributed Units (DU). The RU ecosystem is diverse, with a large number of players, but there are limited DU hardware vendors. The reason for the limited DU vendor ecosystem is because the DU software is very closely tied to the underlying hardware implementation resulting in a "lock-in" between hardware and software vendor. RANWiser is a portable RAN framework (PRF) that enables the DU software to be hardware agnostic and portable across multiple hardware platforms seamlessly, thus allowing DU software to be truly Open in the real sense. RANWiser provides a software framework for RAN workloads that is integrated into a Telco cloud infrastructure software. It provides a framework to build hardware-independent DU software by providing a uniform model for the hardware underneath and lowers the barrier to building portable RAN software. RANWiser gives tremendous benefits to the all-stakeholder of Open RAN, which includes the network operators, DU software vendors, and DU hardware vendors. It lowers the operational cost and increases the flexibility of the DU deployment. Q3. How does it help Mobile Network Operators to deploy Open RAN Solutions? What are the benefits? A Truly Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) will allow the Mobile Network Operator the flexibility to use any vendor's hardware or software. Traditional mobile networks are normally built using a single vendor RAN equipment, thus reducing the flexibility of the operator to better control cost and optimise their networks. The purpose of the Open RAN solution is to minimise the monopoly of a few large RAN equipment vendors and thus bring in new agile and innovative players into the ecosystem. The cloudification of RAN enabled via Open RAN solutions enable 5G networks to handle sophisticated applications which require more computing power. These cloud and cloud-native technologies will not only reduce costs but also reduce operational complexity and accelerate time-to-market for new services. The Open RAN Solutions reduce the capex and opex for deploying the network. This results in reducing the total cost of ownership of the network. Q4. Can you please elaborate on 5G Remote Radio Units and how is it transforming the communication landscape? Saankhya’s multi-carrier, macro cell O-RAN 7.2x compliant 5G Remote Radio Units (RU) enable mobile network operators to service wider areas and provide high-speed, low-latency communication. The Radio Units support a wide portfolio of bands and multiple antenna configurations. Saankhya's family of RUs include Single Band, Multi-Band and Massive MIMO Radio Units. They are compatible with both 5G and LTE technology. They have a small footprint design to meet local regulations on weight and volume and high power efficiency to reduce operational costs. The software in the radios can be maintained remotely. They have higher throughput and coverage via hybrid beamforming. This increases network efficiency and reduces Capex and Opex, thus reducing the total cost of ownership of the network. Q5. How much bandwidth does Saankhya's ORAN Radios support and how does it operate? The bandwidth requirements vary across various bands that are allocated for 5G. Saankhya's current generation of the low band (sub-Giga Hz) and mid-band Open RAN Radios support bandwidth up to 100 MHz with both FDD and TDD configurations. The next generation of higher band Radio will support up to 400 MHz bandwidth in future. They can operate in Stand Alone (SA) or Non-Stand Alone (NSA) mode. Q6. What are your major takeaways from MWC 2022, and how do you see the future of 5G in India? MWC 2022 was a very successful exhibition. It was good to see a large number of exhibitors and visitors coming together after two years of the pandemic. The major takeaway from the exhibition is the fact that many mobile network operators across the globe are looking to adopt Open RAN solutions for their networks. This has opened the door for many smaller vendors with niche products and solutions. Hence, in this year's MWC, there were a lot of discussions around collaboration with multiple chip vendors, equipment vendors and software vendors to bring compelling Open RAN solutions to the world. There were several announcements of such collaboration as well. 5G in India is set to take off this year. The government has already announced its intention to auction the spectrum. Once that is done, all operators will start launching their 5G services. Many ecosystem players, including Saankhya Labs, are already building Open RAN based 5G solutions here in India. And there is tremendous involvement by the government and non-governmental agencies as well. We could also see a great interest in Enterprise 5G solutions.

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