As part of its efforts to fight terrorism and also as a result of lobbying by Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and other handset makers, India is moving to block sales of cheap copy-cat Chinese mobile phones and accessories.

According to Indian Cellular Association (ICA) — the lobby group representing major handset makers in the country — some of the phones that come from China have fake batteries that can blow up on users. Moreover, some of these device ship without the so called “international mobile equipment identity” number, which allows handsets to be traced to prevent their use by terrorists.

According to analyst estimates, 40% of Chinese replica aka “whitebox handset” shipments are exported, with India becoming their biggest overseas market. The ICA estimates that about 1-1.5 million handsets imported to India each month are cheap replicas produced by small shops in southern China…

[Via: FT]

The loud-talker burning through “anytime minutes” in the seat next to you. The inconsiderate gossip queen flapping away at their cellphone in a doctor’s office. That seriously ill-equipped motorists attempting to juggle a cellphone and a hamburger - driving is a secondary priority. If you live anywhere near civilization, you’re probably all too familiar with these types of rude cellphone users. And, it’s damn annoying! Human nature drives us to reach out and connect with those we care about, but that doesn’t make it okay to annoy everyone in the immediate vicinity.

It should be a telling sign that one of our posts about a portable mobile phone jammer is consistently ranked among the most-viewed posts on IntoMobile. In fact, portable cellphone jammers are commonly available these days. The cellphone “problem” is so bad that cellphones have been banned in New York City schools. Even the White House Press Corps. sees its share of rude mobile phone talkers.

How appropriate

The problem is rooted in the seeming lack of “mobile etiquette,” a lack of awareness  and consideration for how your cellphone habits might disrupt those around you. You might be surprised to know that there are some loose “rules” floating around out there. InfoWorld posted the “Ten commandments of cellphone etiquette” back in 2007. Cnet Australia followed up later in 2007 with their own “Mind your mobile phone manners.” And that’s just to name a couple. With all the various mobile etiquette “rules” already in place, the challenge lies in creating awareness for continued “socio-mobile misconduct.”

How do we create that awareness? How do you get people to take the issue seriously? You put people on blast and let them know that behaviors “x,” “y” and “z” are not socially acceptable! Take the user-driven testimonial blog Mob Peeve, for example. The idea behind the website is to call people out on their “annoying mobile behaviors.” People tend to avoid face-to-face confrontations, but in the online world, the gloves come off. Mob Peeve invites peeved citizens of humanity to “out social “pests” and create a sense of retaliation” by posting pictures and videos of offensive socio-mobile behaviors. And, when your own built-up angst for rude cellphone users gets stale, you can check out Mob Peeve’s blog for some good times!

Everyone has the right to talk on their cellphones. But, it’s important to remember that your mobile conversation might be annoying your neighbor. With enough momentum, Mob Peeve could help change the way we all view our mobile habits. Head on over to Mob Peeve and help change the world!

Mob Peeve

After they’ve missed the opportunity to acquire TeliaSonera, France Telecom is looking elsewhere for growth. Since it keeps growing like crazy, India is logical choice and it’s right there where the French company wants to put its money.

Apparently, they are in talks with Malaysia’s Maxis which owns 74% of India’s Aircel. The idea is to pay anywhere between $1.4 and $2 billion to get a stake in India’s operator. According to The Economic Times, with its 19.6 million users and operations in 13 of India’s 22 service areas, Aircel is worth $7-$8 billion.

For the record, Aircel has recently outlined a $5 billion expansion program over the next three years, and I guess here’s the opportunity France Telecom is eyeing.

In the meantime, Maxis shareholder, Saudi Telecom is also looking to increase its holding in the firm from 25% to 35%.

We’ll see where this goes…

[Via: CellularNews]

Three China’s mobile operators — China Mobile (NYSE: CHL), China Telecom and China Unicom — have announced measures to deal with the inter-network spam messages. According to the agreement reached, a single mobile phone number will be able to send up to 200 messages per hour or 1,000 per day. During the holidays, these numbers will go up to 500 per hour, and 2,000 per day.

SMS spam in China consists of real estate offers, ads for English lessons, fake tax receipts and other frauds. In recent years, SMS spam has grown quickly making it usual for customers to receive dozens of messages per day day…

[Via: Yahoo]

AT&T (NYSE: T) is joining Cricket, Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and U.S. Cellular to offer its mobile service in Chicago Subways. As a result of allowing the carrier to do so on the red and blue line subways, the city’s transit authority (CTA) expects to earn a minimum of $3.1 million over the life of the contract.

Installation and testing of AT&T’s equipment will take place over the next several months, after which the service is set to start operating later in the year.

As a reminder, CTA installed a new technology to enhance the existing two-way radio system in 2005. This improved system laid the groundwork for the agency to generate additional revenue by leasing its infrastructure to the carriers throughout the 11.4 mile subway system.

[Via: CellularNews]

China wants to brings its home grown 3G standard outside of the country and has set a target to take 20% of the overseas 3G subscriber market by 2020. This is according to plans which were revealed in a long-term development plan for mobile communication, drafted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

The news comes just days after two Taiwanese networks, Chunghwa Telecom and Far EasTone, expressed an interest in testing the TD-SCDMA standard on their networks.

Li Shihe, an advisor to major TD-SCDMA developer, Datang Mobile, said that MIIT also wants TD-SCDMA to gain more than 50% share of the domestic 3G market, meaning that they are relying on the largest operator in the country which uses this technology - China Mobile (NYSE: CHL).

He also noted that in order for TD-SCDMA to expand globally, they’ll have to push the technology to the emerging markets, as Europe and the Americas are too far down the route with WCDMA and CDMA networks. In that sense, Mr. Shine expects that Chinese banks provide financial support to vendors selling TD-SCDMA infrastructure and handsets to overseas networks.

There’s no doubt China is a powerful country, but I’m not sure how this will fly considering that the West is going LTE. We’ll certainly watch carefully…

[Via: CellularNews]

In an effort to boost the uptake of WiMAX in Japan, Intel’s venture arm, Intel Capital, has invested $43 million in the country’s WiMAX operator - UQ Communications. UQ Communications will use the funding to continue the nationwide expansion of the WiMAX service in Japan, with the commitment to provide WiMAX coverage to 90% of the country by 2012.

Intel on its end is offering the WiMAX/Wi-Fi Link 5150 embedded module supporting both WiFi and WiMAX, which is used in some Toshiba (OTCPK: TOSBF), Panasonic (NYSE: PC) and Onkyo notebooks. The laptops, as well as other products, are scheduled to debut next month in Japan to coincide with the UQ Communications rollout, scheduled for July 1st.

For the record, UQ Communications recently launched trial service of its UQ WiMAX in Tokyo’s 23 wards, Yokohama and Kawasaki, and Tokyo’s International Airport’s - Haneda.

[Via: CellularNews]

In an effort to build-out 3G network, Chinese mobile operators plan to spend as much as one trillion yuan ($146.4 billion) during the next three years.

According to chairman of the China Association of Communication Enterprises (CACE), Liu Liqing, 400 billion yuan will be allocated for construction of the infrastructure and the remaining 600 billion will be used for the purchase of CPE (customer premise equipment) products.

Mr. Liu made this remark during the two-day telecommunications forum in Taipei on June 3, and added that Taiwanese companies are likely to benefit from China 3G projects. Moreover, he talked about plans of some Chinese operators (China Mobile (NYSE: CHL)?) to establish a TD-SCDMA lab in Taiwan in cooperation with local companies.

On a similar note, China Unicom expects its subscriber base to increase by 30 million this year, while China Telecom is aiming at a little bit lower 15-20 million number.

[Via: DigiTimes]

What happens when you combine Tata Teleservices with NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM)? Well, it’s obvious, at least now - Tata DoCoMo. And that’s exactly the new name of the GSM operator owned by Tata Group and partly (26%) by the Japanese leading mobile operator.

The new brand along with the new website was developed by the Business and Technology Cooperation Committee that DOCOMO and TTSL have jointly established, and it symbolizes “the two companies’ strong partnership.”

Tata is already one of the leading operators in India’s ever-growing mobile market, and plans to further expand to southern parts of the country this month and gradually nationwide.

[Via: Engadget Mobile]

India’s mobile market keeps growing like crazy. Just recently the second most populated country in the world has passed the 400 million mark for mobile phone subscribers, despite the fact that growth slowed from the record breaking figures earlier in the year.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) stated that a total of 11.90 million wireless subscribers (GSM, CDMA and WLL) have been added during April, making the total number of mobile subscribers reach 403.66 million. Needless to say, it’s an impressive figure!

And here’s the run-down of mobile operators by subscriber base:

[Via: CellularNews]