New telcos are still kept in dark about the weather DoT, Department of Telecommunication is considering refund of the 2G spectrum money to new telecom operators who have not been able to commence their service.

It has been reported that option of exit is being discussed and debated by the Telecom commission, especially for the telecom operators who have not yet been able to roll out their services full fledged after being allotted the 2G spectrum.  The Telecom commission which is part of the Ministry of Telecommunication is the decision making authority in this issue. The government might likely to offer a refund for the money that these telecom operates paid for acquisition of the 2G spectrums in January 2008 once they surrendered the 2G spectrums back to the government. This was confirmed by a senior official in the Ministry who preferred to remain un named.

Swan Telecom is one of the new telecom operators in this growing sector who has approached DoT, Department of

Telecommunications with a request to surrender their spectrum and license and receive a refund of the entry fee that they had paid in 2008 for operations across the country.

The 2G spectrum was offered to several budding telecom companies in 2008 by the Indian Government. However given the current market dynamics and it has been noted that India has a higher number of telecom operators when compared to other countries and this has lead to intense competitions between these companies in terms of the lowest tariffs. The falling ARPUs are also a growing concern. All these issues have made it for new entrants to enter the already cluttered market and make a mark for themselves and hence they have stalled their roll out plans indefinitely.

Once all the feasible options are considered, the Telecom commission would take a decision on this burning issue at hand.

Yet another development in the automobile sector in India has seen Imperial Motors entering into a JV with an Italian firm Allevard Rejna Autosuspensions. Currently operating in the automotive tubing sector in India, the company has chosen to partner with the Italian firm which is a part of the Sogefi group. Sogefi group is a famous manufacturer of elastic automobile suspension elements.

The new joint venture company, Allevard-IAV Suspensions Pvt. Lt.d is all set to invest Rs 25 crore to set up a plant production facility in Pune and is an 51:49 joint venture.

In a press conference on Thursday, the Managing director of the Sogefi Group, Emanuele Bosica has commented that given the demand present in India for automobiles their main objective is to become one of the leading producers of suspension components in the country.  “This is our second JV in India, the first was with a Bangalore-based company two years ago” he added.

He also claimed that their innovative product would help reduce the car’s weight by 50 per cent. This would be the right arena for them to test these innovative suspension systems with composite content.

“We are carrying out the testing of the prototype in luxury cars in Europe. Once we get the nod from the manufacturer after the trial, we will be aim at mass production of the product by 2012. The overall weight reduction will improve the fuel efficiency and also reduce carbon emission,” said Bosio.

The Chairman of Imperial Auto Industries, Jagjit Singh has confirmed that initially they would start off by manufacturing torsion bar and stabilizer bar for the utility vehicles as well as passenger cars. “These two components form the most critical parts of suspension system,” he said.

Hero Honda, India’s largest two wheeler manufacturer has introduced a new variant of their most popular bike on Thursday. The new variant is named Super Splendor and will cost Rs 45,950 which is the ex showroom price in Delhi.

Anil Dua, Hero Honda Motors Senior Vice President for Marketing and sales stated “The 125cc segment has been stagnant or even declining in the past one year, but we believe that we can grow the market. Our own expectation is to grow our own sales by about 15-20 per cent in the 125cc segment”.

However, Mr. Anil Dua declined to comment on the details of the incremental sales expected by the company with the introduction of this new bike, Super Splendor. He refused to share the details of the specific number of units that the company expected to sell.

Accounting for almost 20 percent of the entire motorcycle market, the value of the 125 cc market is pegged at close to 75 lakh units per annum.

He also added that once the new variant of super Splendor was introduced, in the market Hero Honda Motors plans to eventually phase out the old Super Splendor model.

Mr. Dua also said “With consecutive months of four lakh-plus sales since the month of May, our sales are moving at all-time high levels. We are looking to build on this momentum with a slew of new launches leading up to the festive season”.

In august 2010, the leading two wheeler manufacturer riding high on the auto sales trend has reported an increase of 2.28 per cent in their sales with close to 4,24,617 units being sold in august 2010 when compared to 4,15,137 units sold in august previous year.

He also went on to add “We will have three models in the 125cc segment, which includes Super Splendor, Glamour and Glamour PGM-FI”.

The brand Splendor was first launched by Hero Honda in 1994 in the 100 cc bike segment. This bike went on to break world’s sales record and as per the company is one of the highest selling bikes in the world.  Its new variant super Splendor was introduced by the company after ten years in 2005. The new variant was introduced in the 125 cc segment and offers enhanced features for better fuel economy and Quantum Core engine.

Department of telecom today allocated the 3G spectrum to the Indian telecom players. Tata Teleservices has confirmed receiving spectrums in all its nine circles and the allocation was done as per earlier plans. The 3G suction that ended on 19th May finally saw a closer today with the allocation of three slots of spectrum per circle to seven operators.

The Cellular Mobile Telephony Service (CMTS) and the Universal access Service License (UASL) were modified by the DoT and thus allowing the operators to use the spectrum for the next twenty years starting 1st September 2010 onwards or till the end of their existing license whichever is earlier.

Bharti Airtel, Aircel and Reliance Communications have won spectrums in 13 circles, Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices, Vodafone Essar and S Tel in 11, 9 and 3 circles respectively.

The license fee has also been increased following amendments to the license agreements today. These spectrum charges were indicated in the initial invitations to the 3G auctions.

There are several roll out obligations that telecom operators will have to abide by. For Metro circlers within 5 years, close to 90 percent of the area would have to be covered. For Category A,B and C service areas, 15 per cent of the area to be covers should be Rural SDC, which are area that has close to 505 of rural population and 50 percent of the district headquarter areas should be covered. Expansion beyond 50 per cent is a choice that the operators can take.

A one year extension can be sought by the operators in case they are not able to meet their target of five years for the roll out plan. However they would have to pay an additional 2.5 percent of the successful bid amount and if beyond this, the operator does not meet their obligation, the spectrum would be withdrawn.

Other conditions that the operators have to abide by are that there would not be a possibility of merger of spectrum in case of a merger and acquisition of two or more licensees holding the 3G spectrum. The license holder has an option of surrendering the spectrum only after providing 30 days notice to each customer and 60 calendar day notice.