Bharti Airtel Planning to Introduce 4G VoLTE Enabled Affordable Smartphone to Boost ARPU.

According to a new report spotted online, Sunil Bharti Mittal led telco, Bharti Airtel might be on to new plans to convert its already existing 2G subscriber base into 4G subscribers with the help of a new 4G smartphone. This move is similar and in line to what Reliance Jio did in its bid to increase the number of subscribers. To recall, Reliance Jio had launched a very affordably priced JioPhone, a feature phone with 4G connectivity which appealed to a lot of buyers out there. However, Airtel will be taking a different path and won’t introduce a feature phone but instead will be introducing an affordably priced smartphone. Also, to recall, this would not be the first time that Airtel introduces a cheaply priced smartphone. Last year, the private telecom operator had partnered up with Karbonn to launch the A40 smartphone priced at Rs 1,399 which is as affordable as the JioPhone. Bharti Airtel 4G Smartphone Price According to a Financial Express report, a senior Bharti Airtel officer informed that the company is in talks with many manufacturers to come up with a 4G VoLTE compatible handset. However, there is going to be a substantial difference between the way of Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, since unlike Reliance Jio which offers subsidies to its manufacturers, Airtel won’t be doing the same. Instead, the telecom operator will be offering cashbacks to lower the price of its 4G enabled smartphone. As per the new report, we can expect the smartphone to be priced around the Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500 price tag. However, combined with the cashback which Airtel will offer with its smartphone, the handset’s effective price is expected to remain in the sub Rs 2,000 range, making it similar in pricing to the last year’s device. More information is not available at the time of writing. However, it is pretty clear that this new smartphone by Airtel will cover pretty essential functions and will not ship any fancy hardware or design. To have a hint about how Airtel’s cashback scheme would work, it is better to take a look at the cashback scheme of the previous Airtel device. Last time around, Airtel had priced its phone at Rs 2,899 and to redeem the cashback, the buyer had to make recharges of Rs 169 for 36 months. A cashback worth Rs 500 was guaranteed to the buyers after 18 months, and another of Rs 1,000 was guaranteed after successful recharges for 36 months, thus totalling the cashback benefits to Rs 1,500. Airtel’s Aim Behind Introducing New 4G Smartphone As of late, Bharti Airtel’s sole focus has been about improving its average revenue per user (ARPU), a key industry parameter among the telecom operator. On the other hand, Reliance Jio is the only telecom operator in the country to boast of a massive 4G VoLTE network at its disposal. Bogged down by the intense tariff war which was kickstarted by the Mukesh Ambani led telco two years ago, Airtel had to climb its way back into the competition. Soon after the tariff war, the wave of consolidation left only three major players in the field, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea. As per the trend spotted by the operator, and the number of smartphone users growing from 2% to 4%, there is no confusion that the telco wants to capitalise on the opportunity. As per the company statement, it wishes to transition its 100 million 2G subscriber base to 4G thus bumping up its ARPU by Rs 30-40 a month. Also, in a similar move, the telecom operator introduced a minimum recharge of Rs 35 for all of its low-end 2G subscribers. Right now, Airtel has approximately 25-30% of its network on the VoLTE bands; the operator plans to take the number up to 50% by next year.

Heaviest ISRO Satellite GSAT-11 Successfully Launched From French Guiana

India’s heaviest satellite GSAT-11, that will help boost broadband services in the country, was successfully launched by an Arianespace rocket from the French Guiana in the early hours of today.Blasting off from the Ariane Launch Complex in Kourou, a French territory located along the northeastern coast of South America at 02:07 am (IST), the Ariane-5 vehicle injected the GSAT-11 into the orbit in a flawless flight lasting about 33 minutes. The launch was broadcast live on Doordarshan.”…..the heaviest, largest and most powerful satellite ever built by India is successfully launched by Ariane-5 today,” Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K Sivan said soon after the launch. Stating that GSAT-11 is going to be the “richest space asset” for India, he said “the satellite has 38 spot beams as well as eight sub beams, which would cover the entire country, including the remote places … it is going to provide something like 16 GBPS data link services to the country.” GSAT-11 is the third in a series of four satellites aimed at achieving the government’s ambitious target to provide high data connectivity of 100 GBPS in the country under the Digital India Mission, Mr Sivan added. Weighing about 5,854 kg, GSAT-11 is the “heaviest” satellite built by the ISRO. GSAT-11 is a next generation “high throughput” communication satellite configured around ISRO’s I-6K Bus, and its designed lifetime is more than 15 years. The satellite will be initially placed in the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit and later, raised to the Geostationary Orbit by firing the on-board Liquid Apogee Motor. The GSAT-11 is the fore-runner in a series of advanced communications satellites with multi-spot beam antenna coverage over Indian mainland and islands, the ISRO said. The satellite will play a vital role in providing broadband services across the country and also be a platform to demonstrate new generation applications, it said. GSAT-11 was initially planned for launch on May 25 but was rescheduled with the ISRO citing the need for additional technical checks and recalling it. According to the space agency, GSAT-11 would provide high data connectivity to users across India, broadband connectivity to gram panchayats under the BharathNet project and support high data rate applications for enterprise network and consumer broadband applications. The Ariane-5 vehicle (Flight VA246) also carried GEO-KOMPSAT-2A for the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), along with GSAT-11. The 3,507.20 kg GEO-KOMPSAT-2A is designed to conduct meteorological and space weather monitoring missions. Since the launch of India’s APPLE experimental satellite on Ariane Flight L03 in 1981, it has orbited 22 satellites under contracts with the Indian space agency, Arianespace said, adding that two more satellites, GSAT-31 and GSAT-30, were in the order book. idrw.org .Read more at India No 1 Defence News Website http://idrw.org/heaviest-isro-satellite-gsat-11-successfully-launched-from-french-guiana/ .

रजनीकांत-अक्षय की 'Robot 2.0' का बॉक्स ऑफिस पर भूचाल, दूसरे दिन कमाए इतने करोड़

रजनीकांत (Rajinikanth) की फिल्म '2.0 (2 Point 0)' का बॉक्स ऑफिस (Box Office) पर कामयाबी का सफर जारी है. रजनीकांत (Rajinikanth) और अक्षय कुमार (Akshay Kumar) की '2.0 (Enthiran 2.0)' के हिंदी वर्जन ने पहले दिन बॉक्स ऑफिस (Box Office Collection Day 1) पर 20.25 करोड़ रु. का कारोबार किया था जबकि फिल्म के सभी भाषाओं के संस्करणों की ग्रॉस कमाई लगभग 100 करोड़ रु. बताई जा रही है. इस तरह रजनीकांत (Rajinikanth) की फिल्म ने पहले दिन इस करिश्माई आंकड़े को छुआ. '2.0' के दूसरे दिन के बॉक्स ऑफिस कलेक्शन (Box Office Collection Day 2) भी आने शुरू हो गए हैं. रजनीकांत (Rajinikanth) का करिश्मा बरकरारा है और '2.0' के डायरेक्टर शंकर (Shankar) ने जिस तरह से टेक्नोलॉजी का छौंक लगाया है, वह दर्शकों को पसंद भी आ रहा है.

'Resident Evil 2' and 'PUBG Mobile' Are Teaming Up

In a random turn of events, Resident Evil 2 and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds mobile title are teaming up for a special collaboration. Though specifics aren't known quite yet, the PUBG Mobile Twitter page tweeted some exciting things on the way: Zombies infiltrating the Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner game isn't new for the franchise, but perhaps this collaboration will bring even more than just the undead. With the official Suicide Squad skins having been available for a limited-time, maybe this means battle royale players can don that familiar look of Leon Kennedy. What could be is all speculation at this point, the full reveal won't be coming until a little later. One thing is for sure though, there is a lot of excitement regarding the upcoming Resident Evil 2 remake and the team behind PUBG need to step up their game a little bit. With Fortnite now over 200 million active users and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's own take on the battle royale genre, interest in the game that first blew this genre up in popularity is continuously waning. Even with the announcement that it is finally making its way over onto the PlayStation 4, some feel it's too little too late with so many other options out there. It will be interesting to see what comes out of this new collaboration and how the players take to it. Hopefully if it goes well, the PUBG crew will do even more desired mashups in the future - not unlike how Fortnite did with The Avengers: Infinity War and now, Wreck-It-Ralph.

China Sends Stern Message to Pakistan With Map Depicting PoK as Part of India For First Time

China’s state-run CGTN Television excluded Pak-occupied Kashmir (PoK) from Pakistan’s map for the first time ever while it reported on last Friday’s terror attack on its consulate in Karachi. As it is highly unlikely that a state-run television would ever defy Beijing, sources said that it was a move by China to signal to Pakistan its strong displeasure to Pakistan for its failure to protect its citizens. It is not known if this was a deliberate move by China, but according to the Times of India, the CGTN uses fixed templates for maps and production staff are not allowed to tinker with them. So the decision to use a different map to report on the consulate attack must have come from higher authorities. Beijing often uses state-run media as test balloons to consider reactions before considering policy changes in the domestic and international spheres, and excluding PoK from Pakistan was another such move to gauge Pakistani response. Islamabad has not yet reacted to the broadcast. The timing of the move also assumes significance as it comes just two weeks ahead of the joint drill to be conducted by India and China’s militaries on December 10. Observers, however, warned that this one-off deviation from the norm should not be seen as a change in China’s official policy, the TOI said. Excluding PoK from Pakistan on the map could also have implications for the China-Pakistan Economic-Corridor (CPEC), against which New Delhi has often voiced strong reservations as it passes through PoK and violates India’s sovereignty. The CPEC is the most important connectivity link under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China had invested heavily in infrastructure projects in PoK. Officially released maps in China have never before shown PoK as part of India. Maps are a sensitive issue in China and hence books or magazines showing maps that differ from Beijing’s official view are often blocked.