Trai recommends reduction in VSAT licence fee
New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, (Trai) has submitted its recommendations on VSAT operators to the department of telecommunications. VSAT networks are a convenient replacement for terrestrial circuits for private data networking and use satellite for providing dedicated telecom links between two sites.

In the recommendations made, the Trai has suggested the reduction of the licence fee paid by VSAT operators by up to 80 per cent. Leading VSAT operators in the country include HCL Comnet, Hughes, Max, Bharti, Telstra, Shyam Essel and HFCL.

At present, the VSAT operators have to pay a licence fee of Rs 50,000 per annum per VSAT. Under the three-tier license fee system recommended by Trai, for operators who have less than 500 VSATs in their network, the annual licence fee per VSAT will be Rs 20,000 with a minimum amount of Rs 30 lakh per annum.

For 501 to 1,000 VSAT network, the licence fee will be Rs 15,000 per VSAT with a minimum of Rs 100 lakh per annum. Operators with more than 1,000 VSATs will have to pay Rs 10,000 per annum with a minimum of Rs 150 lakh per annum.

The recommendations also specify that new operators will have to pay an entry fee of Rs 30 lakh, which will be utilised for the prescribed VSAT licence fee as the rollout takes place. At present, there is no entry fee for operating VSAT services.

Trai has also clarified that there will be no licence fee for ‘receive-only’ terminals. At present, the policy is not clear on this issue.
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Citibank launches CitiAlert
Mumbai: Citibank, the aggressive multinational bank, launched its CitiAlert service, which is an Internet and mobile phone-based service designed to provide customers information conveniently - wherever and whenever they want it.

The completely personalised service provides customers with the latest information on their accounts, with a certain degree of timeliness and the reach. The bank claims that the service empowers the customer to take informed decisions through relevant money alerts such as when an event occurs: when salary is credited to customers' account or when credit card bills are due.

It also offers continuously updated information on withdrawals and account-balances. This service has the technological capability to reach the customer anywhere in the country at any frequency.

"CitiAlert", which is being rolled out globally, is a first-of-its-kind service to be offered in India. It's India launch closely follows a successful international debut in Singapore recently.

The customer need not have a WAP-enabled or high-end phone. The technology powering "CitiAlert" involves a triggering mechanism and the routing of short message service (SMS) alerts through multiple-mobile carriers. The wireless service that makes the messaging service possible has been provided by iSolv India - a wireless technology venture backed by iNestor India Venture Fund.
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