Loop Mobile India
Encyclopedia
Loop Mobile usually referred to as LOOP is a mobile phone
service provider
in India
. It offers both prepaid and postpaid
GSM cellular phone coverage in Assam
, Kolkata
, North East, Mumbai
, Madhya Pradesh
, Haryana
, Orissa
, Punjab, Rajasthan
after receiving a license to operate across 21 telecom circles by DoT.
been established in 1994 and currently operates in Bombay, with over 3 million subscribers. However, BPL Mobile was renamed to Loop Mobile in March 2009, following the expiry of its brand-use agreement with the TPG Nambiar-owned BPL Group
. Having consistently met and exceeded TRAI benchmarks, is now ISO 9001:2008 certified. Loop Mobile has had several firsts to its credit in the Value-added service
(VAS) space which are technologically state-of-art and yet customer friendly.
, GPRS
and Caller Ring Tunes. Other VAS
include Reply-All, Roaming on Prepaid
, Intelligent network
, General Packet Radio Service
(GPRS), Multimedia Messaging Service
(MMS), Missed Call Alert
, Caller Ring Tune
, Mobile Tracker
, Doctor-on-Call, "1 paise per sec‟ prepaid plan, Karaoke Messaging among others. Apart from Mumbai, it is among the new mobile services companies to be awarded licenses to operate across 21 circles by DoT. Loop Mobile uses the latest NGIP (Next Generation Internet Protocol) and EDGE
(Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) technology.
During the year 2010, Loop Mobile had invested about as a part of its Phase I capex plan for a major network upgrade. As a part of the expansion, 1,200 new cell sites were added in Mumbai, making its network one of the strongest in the city. The next generation Software-defined radio
(SDR), were installed for the first-of-its-kind GSM deployment across any metro in India . The SDR-based next-generation IP (NGIP) network upgrade is environment-friendly which will considerably reduce carbon foothold. This up-gradation instantly added network quality, crystal clear voice clarity and high-speed data.
Totalling to 3,150,308 or 0.53% (Approx.) of the total mobile connections in India
.
, Airtel, BSNL, Idea
, Tata DoCoMo
, MTNL, MTS, Reliance Communications
, Uninor
, Videocon and Vodafone
.
for being a beneficiary of the 2G scam
allegedly perpetrated by former telecommunications minister A. Raja
. The Enforcement Directorate fined a sum of on Loop Mobile and Loop Telecom for alleged foreign exchange violations. Loop Telecom is a subsidiary of Loop Mobile, owned by the Santa Group of Khaitans, having family ties with the Ruias of Essar Group
. Firm for alleged violation of foreign exchange laws to the tune of about Rs 384 crore in connection with the 2G scam. Loop was issued notices for not intimating the RBI after receiving the money through FDI entities. The second violation committed by them was regarding not issuing shares within specified time period.
On 18 August, 2011, Loop mobile along with Bharti Airtel
, Idea Cellular
, Reliance Communications
and Vodafone
was issued notices by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI) for violation of Mobile number portability
(MNP) Regulations. According to TRAI, they had received complains from customers regarding wrong rejection of porting requests by telecom operators and also 10 been charged for a message for requesting porting code through number 1900.
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
service provider
Service provider
A service provider is an entity that provides services to other entities. Usually, this refers to a business that provides subscription or web service to other businesses or individuals. Examples of these services include Internet access, Mobile phone operators, and web application hosting...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It offers both prepaid and postpaid
Postpaid
Post Paid: A model of cellular service whereby the customer is charged for usage in the prior month , and hence does not feature any limitations on volume of service used...
GSM cellular phone coverage in Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
, Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, North East, Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
, Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
, Orissa
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
, Punjab, Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
after receiving a license to operate across 21 telecom circles by DoT.
History
BPL Mobile Communications is the country’s oldest mobile telecom service providerMobile network operator
A mobile network operator , also known as mobile phone operator , carrier service provider , wireless service provider, wireless carrier, or cellular company, or mobile network carrier is a telephone company that provides services for mobile phone subscribers.One essential...
been established in 1994 and currently operates in Bombay, with over 3 million subscribers. However, BPL Mobile was renamed to Loop Mobile in March 2009, following the expiry of its brand-use agreement with the TPG Nambiar-owned BPL Group
BPL group
British Physical Laboratories Group is an Indian electronics company that deals with consumer appliances , home entertainment products and health care devices.-History:...
. Having consistently met and exceeded TRAI benchmarks, is now ISO 9001:2008 certified. Loop Mobile has had several firsts to its credit in the Value-added service
Value-added service
A value-added service is popular as a telecommunications industry term for non-core services, or in short, all services beyond standard voice calls and fax transmissions. However, it can be used in any service industry, for services available at little or no cost, to promote their primary business...
(VAS) space which are technologically state-of-art and yet customer friendly.
Technology
Being the country's oldest telecom service provider, Loop Mobile is the first operator in the country to offer services like MMSMultimedia Messaging Service
Multimedia Messaging Service, or MMS, is a standard way to send messages that include multimedia content to and from mobile phones. It extends the core SMS capability that allowed exchange of text messages only up to 160 characters in length.The most popular use is to send photographs from...
, GPRS
General Packet Radio Service
General packet radio service is a packet oriented mobile data service on the 2G and 3G cellular communication system's global system for mobile communications . GPRS was originally standardized by European Telecommunications Standards Institute in response to the earlier CDPD and i-mode...
and Caller Ring Tunes. Other VAS
Value-added service
A value-added service is popular as a telecommunications industry term for non-core services, or in short, all services beyond standard voice calls and fax transmissions. However, it can be used in any service industry, for services available at little or no cost, to promote their primary business...
include Reply-All, Roaming on Prepaid
Roaming
In wireless telecommunications, roaming is a general term referring to the extension of connectivity service in a location that is different from the home location where the service was registered. Roaming ensures that the wireless device is kept connected to the network, without losing the...
, Intelligent network
Intelligent network
The Intelligent Network , is the standard network architecture specified in the . It is intended for fixed as well as mobile telecom networks...
, General Packet Radio Service
General Packet Radio Service
General packet radio service is a packet oriented mobile data service on the 2G and 3G cellular communication system's global system for mobile communications . GPRS was originally standardized by European Telecommunications Standards Institute in response to the earlier CDPD and i-mode...
(GPRS), Multimedia Messaging Service
Multimedia Messaging Service
Multimedia Messaging Service, or MMS, is a standard way to send messages that include multimedia content to and from mobile phones. It extends the core SMS capability that allowed exchange of text messages only up to 160 characters in length.The most popular use is to send photographs from...
(MMS), Missed Call Alert
Missed call
A missed call is a telephone call that is not answered by its intended recipient prior to the termination of ringing on the recipient's end. The ringing may be terminated by the caller simply by hanging up the receiver of a landline phone, or pressing the appropriate button on a mobile phone, or if...
, Caller Ring Tune
Ringback tone
A ringback tone is an audible indication that is heard on the telephone line by the caller while the phone they are calling is being rung. It is normally a repeated tone, designed to assure the calling party that the called party's line is ringing, although the ring-back tone may be out of sync...
, Mobile Tracker
Mobile phone tracking
Mobile phone tracking refers to the attaining of the current position of a mobile phone, stationary or moving. Localization may occur either via multilateration of radio signals between radio towers of the network and the phone, or simply via GPS...
, Doctor-on-Call, "1 paise per sec‟ prepaid plan, Karaoke Messaging among others. Apart from Mumbai, it is among the new mobile services companies to be awarded licenses to operate across 21 circles by DoT. Loop Mobile uses the latest NGIP (Next Generation Internet Protocol) and EDGE
Edge
- Aviation :* Leading edge, a line connecting the forward-most points of a wing's profile* Trailing edge, the rear edge of the wing* Zivko Edge 540, an aerobatic aircraft- Mathematics, science and technology :...
(Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) technology.
During the year 2010, Loop Mobile had invested about as a part of its Phase I capex plan for a major network upgrade. As a part of the expansion, 1,200 new cell sites were added in Mumbai, making its network one of the strongest in the city. The next generation Software-defined radio
Software-defined radio
A software-defined radio system, or SDR, is a radio communication system where components that have been typically implemented in hardware are instead implemented by means of software on a personal computer or embedded computing devices...
(SDR), were installed for the first-of-its-kind GSM deployment across any metro in India . The SDR-based next-generation IP (NGIP) network upgrade is environment-friendly which will considerably reduce carbon foothold. This up-gradation instantly added network quality, crystal clear voice clarity and high-speed data.
Subscriber base
Loop Mobile's subscriber base as at the end of July 2011 is as follows:-- MumbaiMumbaiMumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
- 3,160,263 - HaryanaHaryanaHaryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
- 95 - KolkataKolkataKolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
- 1,344 - Madhya PradeshMadhya PradeshMadhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
- 100 - OrissaOrissaOrissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
- 592 - Punjab - 125
- RajasthanRajasthanRājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
- 243 - Northeast India - 20
- AssamAssamAssam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
- 97
Totalling to 3,150,308 or 0.53% (Approx.) of the total mobile connections in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Competitors
Loop Mobile competes with several other mobile operators throughout their circles. They are AircelAircel
Aircel group is a mobile phone service provider in India. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout India. The Aircel group is a joint venture between Maxis Communications Berhad of Malaysia and Sindya Securities & Investments Private Limited, whose current...
, Airtel, BSNL, Idea
Idea cellular
Idea Cellular, usually referred to as Idea, is an Indian wireless telecom company based in Mumbai, India. Idea is the 3rd largest mobile services operator in India, in revenue terms, and recorded of over 98.4 million customers as of August 2011....
, Tata DoCoMo
Tata DoCoMo
TATA DoCoMo, referred to as DoCoMo , is a Tata Teleservices Limited owned cellular service provider on the GSM and CDMA platform-arising out of the Tata Group's strategic joint venture with Japanese telecom giant NTT Docomo in November 2008...
, MTNL, MTS, Reliance Communications
Reliance Communications
Reliance Communications Ltd. is an Indian broadband and telecommunications company headquartered in Navi Mumbai, India. RCOM is the world's 16th largest mobile phone operator with over 144 million subscribers. Established on 2004, a subsidiary of the Reliance Group...
, Uninor
Uninor
Uninor is a mobile operator in India. The company holds Unified Access Service licences to offer mobile telephony services in each of India’s 22 telecom circles, and has received spectrum to roll out services in 21 of these...
, Videocon and Vodafone
Vodafone Essar
Vodafone Essar, formerly Hutchison Essar, is a cellular operator in India that covers 23 telecom circles in India. It is based in Mumbai. On July 2011, Vodafone Group agreed terms for the buy-out of its partner Essar from its Indian mobile phone business. The UK firm paid $5.46 billion to its...
.
Controversy
Loop Telecom was probed by CBICentral Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...
for being a beneficiary of the 2G scam
2G spectrum scam
The 2G spectrum scandal involved officials in the government of India illegally undercharging mobile telephony companies for frequency allocation licenses, which they would use to create 2G subscriptions for cell phones...
allegedly perpetrated by former telecommunications minister A. Raja
A. Raja
Andimuthu Raja is an Indian politician from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam political party. He was a member of the 15th Lok Sabha representing the Nilgiris constituency of Tamil Nadu....
. The Enforcement Directorate fined a sum of on Loop Mobile and Loop Telecom for alleged foreign exchange violations. Loop Telecom is a subsidiary of Loop Mobile, owned by the Santa Group of Khaitans, having family ties with the Ruias of Essar Group
Essar Group
The Essar Group is a multinational conglomerate corporation in the sectors of Steel, Energy, Power, Communications, Shipping Ports & Logistics as well as Construction head quartered at Mumbai, India...
. Firm for alleged violation of foreign exchange laws to the tune of about Rs 384 crore in connection with the 2G scam. Loop was issued notices for not intimating the RBI after receiving the money through FDI entities. The second violation committed by them was regarding not issuing shares within specified time period.
On 18 August, 2011, Loop mobile along with Bharti Airtel
Bharti Airtel
Bharti Airtel Limited , commonly known as Airtel, is an Indian telecommunications company that operates in 20 countries across South Asia, Africa and the Channel Islands. It operates a GSM network in all countries, providing 2G or 3G services depending upon the country of operation...
, Idea Cellular
Idea cellular
Idea Cellular, usually referred to as Idea, is an Indian wireless telecom company based in Mumbai, India. Idea is the 3rd largest mobile services operator in India, in revenue terms, and recorded of over 98.4 million customers as of August 2011....
, Reliance Communications
Reliance Communications
Reliance Communications Ltd. is an Indian broadband and telecommunications company headquartered in Navi Mumbai, India. RCOM is the world's 16th largest mobile phone operator with over 144 million subscribers. Established on 2004, a subsidiary of the Reliance Group...
and Vodafone
Vodafone Essar
Vodafone Essar, formerly Hutchison Essar, is a cellular operator in India that covers 23 telecom circles in India. It is based in Mumbai. On July 2011, Vodafone Group agreed terms for the buy-out of its partner Essar from its Indian mobile phone business. The UK firm paid $5.46 billion to its...
was issued notices by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI) for violation of Mobile number portability
Mobile number portability
Mobile number portability enables mobile telephone users to retain their mobile telephone numbers when changing from one mobile network operator to another.- General overview :MNP is implemented in different ways across the globe...
(MNP) Regulations. According to TRAI, they had received complains from customers regarding wrong rejection of porting requests by telecom operators and also 10 been charged for a message for requesting porting code through number 1900.