TRAI to waive entry fee for voice mail services
New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has waived the entry fees voice mail/audiotex services, a benefit currently extended to Category C Internet Service Providers. The aspirant operators would have to however, furnish a performance bank guarantee of Rs 3 lakh.

TRAI has also recommended that there should be no revenue sharing for content services. It has suggested that the revenue sharing formula should be restricted to telecommunication carriage service providers or network operators and not from content application service providers such as voice mail/ audiotex. It has also suggested that existing practice of unlimited number of players in voice mail/ audiotex service should be continued.

Voice mail provides a public interface between originator and recipients of voice communications, especially when there is no immediate or convenient direct telecommunication service available between subscribers’ equipment. Voice mail service enables the subscriber to send a message to one or more recipients and to receive messages via a telecommunication network using a combination of store and forward, and store and retrieve techniques.
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GDP growth spurts to 6 per cent Q2, manufacturing slips
New Delhi: The Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) figures released on Friday show that India’s gross domestic product (GDP) has risen by 6 per cent during the second quarter (July-September) of the current financial year to Rs 265,392 crore at constant (1993-94) prices, from Rs 250,434 crore in for the same period in 1999-2000. GDP at factor cost at current prices is estimated at Rs 425,184 crore, up 11 per cent from Rs 383,143 crore in the second quarter of 1999-2000.

According to the CSO, spurt was led by construction, which saw rise of 8.7 per cent, followed by financial services, insurance, and real estate and business services, which grew at 8.5 per cent. The key indicators of the construction sector, namely, cement and steel registered growth rates of 2.6 per cent and 12.6 per cent, respectively, against the growth rates of 15.7 per cent and 12.6 per cent respectively in the same period last year.

Among other key sectors, mining and quarrying registered growth at 8.4 per cent, trade, hotels, transport and communication at 7.8 per cent, community, social and personal services at 7.1 per cent and the manufacturing at 5.9 per cent. Agriculture, forestry and fishing grew just 1 per cent, while the electricity, gas and water supply sector posted 3.9 per cent growth.

The growth rate in other key sectors are: minus 12.8 per cent for production of commercial vehicles, minus 3 per cent for cargo handled at major ports, 37.2 per cent for post and telecommunications, 16 per cent for aggregate bank deposits, 23.8 per cent for bank credits and 13.5 per cent for revenue expenditure.
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