News Roundup: Reliance : mGovernance, 3G Auction Update, Sistema [and more]

Reliance has bagged contract to setup mGovernance infrastructure in Mumbai, Maharashtra circle and Kerala circle.

RCOM would build infrastructure for mGovernance, which help give 24×7 provide real time police information, updates on land records and civil services through voice, GPRS, Bluetooth, SMS and 3G technologies. RCOM will team with local value added services (VAS) partners to implement the projects and connect various government departments on the mobile data platform. [source]

3G Auction

The deed is not done yet. Government has decided to limit 3G auction to only 3 players – fourth slot goes to MTNL(Delhi/Mumbai) and BSNL (rest of India).

As we mentioned earlier, the decision to restrict the auction is the result of reluctance from Ministry of Defence to vacate the designated spectrum (air waves) for commercial use. The decision will result in a loss of Rs. 5K crores.[source].

Will this result in delay? Lets wait for the next update from government.

Russia Federal Agency acquires stake in Sistema Shyam

Russia Federal Agency will acquire 19.8% stake in the joint venture Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd (SSTL) between Sistema of Russia and the Shyam Group of India for $676 million (Rs 3,150 crore).

The Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL) shareholders have approved the issue of fresh shares to the Russian Federation and the Indian shareholders.

The Extra Ordinary General Body meeting (EGM) of SSTL held on Thursday, approved the issue and allotment, on a preferential basis, of 66.27 crore shares to Russian Federal Agency for State Property management of the Russian Federation at Rs 49.31 per share. [source]

Other news:

• Lindsay Lohan claims to “save” 40 children in five hours after landing in India and immediately deletes her tweet
• Number of Mobile Devices Accessing the Internet Expected to Surpass One Billion by 2013, According to IDC
• Opera introduces new, cross-platform UI framework
• @Nimbuzz Loves @Twitter!
• 50% Fewer 3G Sites Required With Quintel Operator Sharing