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The Chinese smartphone manufacturer Tecno has launched a new device Tecno Spark 8C. The newly launched device is the latest addition to the Tecno Spark 8 series of the company. The brand is known for its smartphone options in the affordable category. Tecno Spark 8C comes with some highlight features such as TS stereo sound, a waterdrop-style display notch, and NFC support. The device will be available for purchase in four colour options and mentioned below are the specification and price details of the handset....

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents India’s top three telecom operators (Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea), has asked the regulator to avail millimetre wave bands for the 5G auctions. COAI director general S.P Kochhar wrote a letter to Anshu Prakash, secretary of Department of Telecommunications (DoT), requesting the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to “earmark” and include millimetre wave bands in the 5G auctions. According to an ET Telecom report, the industry body has also asked for confirmations about the quantum of spectrum available and its base price for the 5G auctions....

The numbers are in from the analysts about the telecom industry’s growth and subscriber addition along with revenue in recent times, and it appears that the telecom companies have not been able to beat the lockdown. Despite the talk of heavy data usage for work from home and online classes, it seems that the telecom companies, including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea, will see lukewarm responses in terms of subscriber addition and revenues both....

A lot of things happened in the technology, telecom and other sectors today. The day began with BSNL’s Rs 199 postpaid plan revision and it ended with Google rolling out a new Android TV home screen update with Discover tab. Realme also launched its much-awaited Realme X7 series in India at a starting price of Rs 19,999. At the same time, we exclusively reported that Vi is soon going to phase out the 3G network in Kerala....

Telegram, the messaging app that promises to focus on speed and security on Friday introduced the video calling facility on the platform. The company with over 400 million users on its platform said that the video calls on Telegram supports picture-in-picture mode, similar to other video content on the platform. Telegram said that the picture-in-picture mode enables users to “scroll through chats and multitask while maintaining eye contact.” The company said that the “alpha version” of the video calling facility is currently enabled on both Android and iOS....

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Chairman, Ram Sewak Sharma recently said that for promoting the growth of the telecom companies in India, GST rates should be slashed from the current 18% to 5%. Trai has requested from DoT (Department of Telecommunications) for the same to be implemented by looking at the telecom industry as an integral part of the economy of the country. If the tax rates are reduced, telecom companies will get a huge relief on their financial burden....

Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea Suggest Higher Floor Tariff Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have asked Trai to set up floor tariff at Rs 30 and Rs 35 per GB as it will revive the telco giants and ensure their viability in the market. However, the numbers suggested by the telcos are more detailed. Whereas, Reliance Jio suggested that floor price must be set at Rs 20 per GB, which will sustain the investments in the telecom industry....

Issue Rooted in Predatory Pricing Regulation of Trai Back in December, the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal had dismissed its regulation which mandated the telecom companies to submit details about segmented offers, ET Telecom reported. Although Trai has come up with a valid justification for its direction and has cited that it allows it “to call for details of any segmented offer about which it may have received complaints,” or to assess whether “such offers are truly non-discriminatory”....

Points of Consultation in Trai’s Paper Back in 2017, Helpful Foundation had also represented Trai regarding various set-top boxes being smuggled from India to neighbouring countries and it was noted that these STBs were issued in the name of Indian citizens with their ID proof. In the letter to Trai, the I&B ministry had also stated some safeguards for stopping the smuggling of DTH equipment illegally to neighbouring countries. In its letter to Trai, the ministry has noted some safeguards in details which can be undertaken for putting a hold on illegal smuggling of DTH STBs....

Tata Sky Shares Concerns of Security Firstly, looking at the Tata Sky’s response to the Trai consultation paper on this matter, the DTH operator has shared that the new interoperable STB should be able to retain the best features of the Set-Top Box which are currently available in the market while offering the interoperability feature. Not only this, but security is also one of the major concerns related to this technology....

D2h Brings 4 NCF Slabs for Primary Connection Users D2h, which is now fully owned by Dish TV India, has finally implemented NTO 2.0. The DTH operator has declared new NCF on its platform and it is pretty much similar to that of Airtel Digital TV and Tata Sky. Unlike other operators, D2h is giving four NCF slabs to the primary connection holders. The first one is- up to 200 channels will be provided in the base slab of Rs 130 (excluding taxes), 201-210 channels at Rs 140, 211-220 channels at Rs 150 and more than 221 channels at Rs 160 NCF....

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Wednesday announced a TV Channel Selector App that aids users to view and modify their TV subscription. The authority said that the app enables users to check their subscription and view the packs and bouquets offered by their service provider. Additionally, the Channel selector app would enable the users to “check real time” status of the user’s subscription request. Trai said that the app fetches the subscriber data from the service provider through application programming interface (API) shared by the provider with Trai....

Truecaller Unveils Call Reason Feature on Android The company said that its platform had earlier solved the question of ‘who’ as it enabled the users to identify the calls and now with its latest addition, it is solving the ‘Why.’ “We’ve been seeing tweets and messages from you telling us that you wanted to know why people were calling. It’s clearly a great idea, so we made it happen,” the company said in a blog post....

With the introduction of the Truke BTG X1 Gaming Earbuds in India, Truke broadens its BTG TWS line-up. Indian company Truke is well-known for its accessories. The company mainly offers inexpensive smartwatches and wireless earphones. The 40ms low-latency gaming mode on the BTG X1 is one of the device’s standout features; it promises to lessen audio lag when playing games and viewing movies on OTT apps. Additionally, these earbuds offer “Open-to-pair” technology, which enables you to pair them with a previously connected device by just opening the charging case’s top without taking them out of the case....

During the pandemic, people were restricted to their homes, with social interaction dropping to a bare minimum. Amidst these troubled times, applications like Clubhouse seemed to provide a platform for strangers to talk about interesting topics, without requiring too much of the internet. Twitter seemed to have taken note of the success being enjoyed by Clubhouse and released its own take on the same, dubbed Twitter Spaces, where Twitter users can drop their opinions or views on the topics selected by the host....

One of the biggest social media platforms, Twitter is now testing a new feature which will allow users to send out voice tweets. But the only thing is that this feature is going to be rolled out for iOS users initially. Twitter has rolled out some major updates in the last few weeks and now it is coming out with another. Right now, the voice tweet feature is still in the testing phase and is expected to come out soon....

Hathway Unlimited Data Broadband Plan The first plan that we are featuring in the list is the Hathway Rs 349 broadband plan which comes from Hathway. This plan is actually good for subscribers who want to consume and stream a lot of content over their network as the plan will offer 50 Mbps speed. The name of the plan has also been given likewise as the Lifelong Binge Offer. This plan will be available in Hyderabad, and it will only set back the subscribers by Rs 349 per month....

Users of UPI will now be able to get access to UPI Lite which is all set to debut as an on-device wallet option for users on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). The UPI Lite will enable small-value transactions in offline mode. The member banks of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) were informed about the launch of the UPI Lite by the latter. UPI Lite is basically going to be the corporation’s answer to mobile wallets including Paytm and MobiKwik....

The National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), the trusted telecom cell has granted the US-based telecom software provider Mavenir a “trusted source” approval. The report comes in from sources that suggest that the Pardeep Kohli-headed firm that predominantly offers open radio access networks (OpenRAN) to telecom carriers has received the approval. No comments were made from the software company at this point. More on the “Trusted Source” Approval A person close to the unfolding of events stated that Mavenir has recently received approval from the trusted telecom cell of the NSCS that will help the company to closely work with the telecom operators in India....

If you are looking for one bill payment for the whole family, the telecom companies offer family postpaid plans that might suit your needs. Postpaid plans offered by telcos in India offer different benefits at different price ranges. Understandably, the high-end packs offer the real deal – from a higher number of connections to access to OTT platforms. Mentioned below are the top-end family postpaid plans offered by Vi, Airtel, Jio and BSNL along with the pack details....