China will require telecom operators to collect face scans when registering new phone users at offline outlets starting Sunday, according to the country's information technology authority, as Beijing continues to tighten cyberspace controls.

China will require telecom operators to collect face scans when registering new phone users at offline outlets starting Sunday, according to the country's information technology authority, as Beijing continues to tighten cyberspace controls. In September, China's industry and information technology ministry issued a notice on "safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of citizens online", which laid out rules for enforcing real-name registration. The notice said telecom operators should use "artificial intelligence and other technical means" to verify people's identities when they take a new phone number. A China Unicom customer service representative told AFP that the December 1 "portrait matching" requirement means customers registering for a new phone number may have to record themselves turning their head and blinking. "In next steps, our ministry will continue to...increase supervision and inspection...and strictly promote the management of real-name registration for phone users," said the September notice. Though the Chinese government has pushed for real-name registration for phone users since at least 2013 -- meaning ID cards are linked to new phone numbers -- the move to leverage AI comes as facial recognition technology gains traction across China where the tech is used for everything from supermarket checkouts to surveillance. Online, Chinese social media users reacted with a mix of support and worry over the December 1 facial verification notice, with some voicing concerns their biometric data could be leaked or sold. "This is a bit too much," wrote one user on Twitter-like Weibo, commenting under an article about the new rules. "Control, and then more control," posted another. While researchers have warned of the privacy risks associated with gathering facial recognition data, consumers have widely embraced the technology -- though China saw one of its first lawsuits on facial recognition last month. In early November, a Chinese professor filed a claim against a safari park in Hangzhou, eastern Zhejiang province for requiring face scans for entry, according to the local court. In addition to mobile users, Chinese social media site Weibo was forced to roll out real-name registration in 2012. Oversight of social media has ramped up in recent years as part of the Chinese government's push to "promote the healthy, orderly development of the Internet, protect state security and public interest".

China introduces mandatory face scans for phone users from today

India's Telecom Operators Will Hike Prices Very Soon

Gravitas: Your Phone calls and Mobile data will soon cost more...

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/reliance-jio-overtakes-bharti-airtel-to-become-number-2-operator-237066">Telecom operator Bharti Airtel Ltd</a> reported a worse-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday, as the company lost more customers and spent more to upgrade its 4G network during the quarter.

The company's net loss for the three months ended June 30 was 28.66 billion rupees ($415.00 million), compared to a profit of 973 million rupees a year ago. Revenue rose 4.7 per cent.

Analysts, on average, were expecting the company to report a loss of 10.17 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv data.

New Delhi-based Airtel said its monthly churn rate in mobile services business, a measure of the number of customers it lost, grew to 2.6 per cent for the quarter, compared with 2 per cent&nbsp;a year ago.

Government data showed last month Reliance Industries Ltd's telecom unit Jio pipped Airtel to become India's second-largest operator by subscribers as of May.

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel Ltd reported a worse-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday, as the company lost more customers and spent more to upgrade its 4G network during the quarter.

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel Ltd reported a worse-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday, as the company lost more customers and spent more to upgrade its 4G network during the quarter. The company's net loss for the three months ended June 30 was 28.66 billion rupees ($415.00 million), compared to a profit of 973 million rupees a year ago. Revenue rose 4.7 per cent. Analysts, on average, were expecting the company to report a loss of 10.17 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv data. New Delhi-based Airtel said its monthly churn rate in mobile services business, a measure of the number of customers it lost, grew to 2.6 per cent for the quarter, compared with 2 per cent a year ago. Government data showed last month Reliance Industries Ltd's telecom unit Jio pipped Airtel to become India's second-largest operator by subscribers as of May.

Bharti Airtel reports worse than expected June-quarter loss

Reliance Jio has filed a complaint with the telecom ministry alleging that incumbents Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea did not deposit requisite licence fee in March, which led to a potential loss of Rs 400 crore to the government.

The Mukesh Ambani-led firm alleged that Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, in utter violation of licence rules &quot;unilaterally, wilfully and intentionally paid the advance license fee for last quarter&quot; of 2016-17 on the basis of estimated adjusted gross revenue (AGR), which was much lower than &quot;the license stipulation to pay the license fee not less than the fee paid for the third quarter&quot;.

According to the complaint, Airtel paid around Rs 950 crore as the licence fee for January-March 2017. The amount, Jio alleges, was Rs 150 crore less than Rs 1,099.5 crore licence fee paid by Airtel for October-December 2017.

As per rules, a telecom operator is required to pay licence fee for January-March period based on expected revenue but it should not be less than the fee paid for the third quarter of the same fiscal.

Similarly, Jio said, Vodafone paid Rs 550 crore which was Rs 200 crore less as compared to Rs 746.8-crore licence fee it paid in the third quarter. Idea paid Rs 60 crore less fee than Rs 609.4 crore paid in the previous quarter, Reliance Jio alleged.

&quot;The said act of the incumbent telecom service providers (TSPs) has caused potential financial loss amounting to over Rs 400 crore to the government exchequer and in any event has caused a revenue shortfall of the said amount in financial year 2016-17,&quot; Jio alleged.

The COAI denied the allegation stating that there will be no loss to the government as AGR will be trued up to actual in the subsequent quarter.

&quot;These allegations are both mischievous and ironic, with no basis in fact, if what we&#39;re hearing from the media is true. COAI is not in receipt of any such communication,&quot; the association&#39;s Director General, Rajan S Mathews, said.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) had requested the Department of Telecom (DoT) to allow its member companies to pay the license fee for the fourth quarter on the basis of the estimated AGR instead of on the basis of&nbsp;estimated AGR for the period and actual license fee paid for the third quarter purportedly due to the financial conditions of the telecom operators.

Jio said the DoT &quot;did not rightfully accede&quot; to COAI&#39;s request but it has learnt that the department is now considering the COAI&#39;s request &quot;which is admittedly a gross violation of license conditions and any relief will tantamount to rewarding a party in breach&quot;.

The company said that cannot allow leniency for COAI and should &quot;not condone the wilful, deliberate and unilateral breach of license conditions as it would affect the level- playing field to be afforded to all licensees&quot;.

Demanding action against incumbent telecom operators in form of penalty up to Rs 50 crore per service area (there are 22 service areas in India), termination of licence as per rules, among others, Reliance Jio said it has paid the advance license fee fully in compliance with the conditions and does not agree with the views expressed by the COAI.

&quot;Any delay in taking action would set a very bad precedent, wherein licensees would unilaterally decide to breach license conditions and just inform the licensor about it,&quot; Jio said.

Mathews said the decline in revenue was never contemplated when setting the licence conditions and hence the request was in response to an unanticipated event not&nbsp;foreseen in the licence.

&quot;We have submitted our factual representation of what the industry is going through and a bare reading of that will adequately clarify that our members have categorically stated, even in their submission to DoT that they will confirm and pay the licence fee on or before April 15, 2017. With this, there is no loss to the government also as the licence fee will be paid on actual revenue,&quot; Mathews added.

(PTI)

Reliance Jio has filed a complaint with the telecom ministry alleging that incumbents Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea did not deposit requisite licence fee in March

Reliance Jio has filed a complaint with the telecom ministry alleging that incumbents Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea did not deposit requisite licence fee in March, which led to a potential loss of Rs 400 crore to the government. The Mukesh Ambani-led firm alleged that Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, in utter violation of licence rules "unilaterally, wilfully and intentionally paid the advance license fee for last quarter" of 2016-17 on the basis of estimated adjusted gross revenue (AGR), which was much lower than "the license stipulation to pay the license fee not less than the fee paid for the third quarter". According to the complaint, Airtel paid around Rs 950 crore as the licence fee for January-March 2017. The amount, Jio alleges, was Rs 150 crore less than Rs 1,099.5 crore licence fee paid by Airtel for October-December 2017. As per rules, a telecom operator is required to pay licence fee for January-March period based on expected revenue but it should not be less than the fee paid for the third quarter of the same fiscal. Similarly, Jio said, Vodafone paid Rs 550 crore which was Rs 200 crore less as compared to Rs 746.8-crore licence fee it paid in the third quarter. Idea paid Rs 60 crore less fee than Rs 609.4 crore paid in the previous quarter, Reliance Jio alleged. "The said act of the incumbent telecom service providers (TSPs) has caused potential financial loss amounting to over Rs 400 crore to the government exchequer and in any event has caused a revenue shortfall of the said amount in financial year 2016-17," Jio alleged. The COAI denied the allegation stating that there will be no loss to the government as AGR will be trued up to actual in the subsequent quarter. "These allegations are both mischievous and ironic, with no basis in fact, if what we're hearing from the media is true. COAI is not in receipt of any such communication," the association's Director General, Rajan S Mathews, said. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) had requested the Department of Telecom (DoT) to allow its member companies to pay the license fee for the fourth quarter on the basis of the estimated AGR instead of on the basis of estimated AGR for the period and actual license fee paid for the third quarter purportedly due to the financial conditions of the telecom operators. Jio said the DoT "did not rightfully accede" to COAI's request but it has learnt that the department is now considering the COAI's request "which is admittedly a gross violation of license conditions and any relief will tantamount to rewarding a party in breach". The company said that cannot allow leniency for COAI and should "not condone the wilful, deliberate and unilateral breach of license conditions as it would affect the level- playing field to be afforded to all licensees". Demanding action against incumbent telecom operators in form of penalty up to Rs 50 crore per service area (there are 22 service areas in India), termination of licence as per rules, among others, Reliance Jio said it has paid the advance license fee fully in compliance with the conditions and does not agree with the views expressed by the COAI. "Any delay in taking action would set a very bad precedent, wherein licensees would unilaterally decide to breach license conditions and just inform the licensor about it," Jio said. Mathews said the decline in revenue was never contemplated when setting the licence conditions and hence the request was in response to an unanticipated event not foreseen in the licence. "We have submitted our factual representation of what the industry is going through and a bare reading of that will adequately clarify that our members have categorically stated, even in their submission to DoT that they will confirm and pay the licence fee on or before April 15, 2017. With this, there is no loss to the government also as the licence fee will be paid on actual revenue," Mathews added. (PTI)

Airtel, Vodafone, Idea cause Rs 400 crore loss to Indian government: Reliance Jio

telecom-operators

Telecom Operators, News on Telecom Operators, stories on Telecom Operators, articles on Telecom Operators, Telecom Operators stories at Wion, Telecom Operators news, Telecom Operators latest news