Over the past few months the Indian wireless market entered into a new phase of severe price competition with many companies ushering in pay-per-second billing plans, compared to the earlier industry standard of charging per minute. The pricing war that began with introductory offers from Reliance Communication (RCOM) and Tata-DoCoMo in order to popularize their GSM services has now spiraled into a market share game, as the incumbents…

Although it has been six months since MTNL launched its 3G services in its two circles (Mumbai and Delhi) its 3G subscriber-base stands at a dismal 1,000, as compared to the other public sector teleco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) with a subscriber-base of 10,000 after launching the services in 70 cities. Private telecom operators are still waiting for the final approval from the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) auction to start rolling out networks....

The world's fastest growing telecom industry has been facing hurdles over the past year, as the political tussle over 3G auctions is still unresolved. The Ministry of Defense now wants to continue using the majority of spectrum available in the country. This has resulted in the possibility of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and MTNL being the only 3G service providers for the time being....