Applications
3G auction to be completed by early April
NEW DELHI: The much-awaited 3G auction is to start on 9 April and the BWA auctions will be held two days after the close of the 3G auction.
The notice for inviting auctions will be issued on 25 February and these will close on 19 March.
Details of ownership of the applicants will be published on 26 March and the pre-qualification of bidders will be decided on 30 March.
The mock auctions will be held on 5 and 6 April.
Earlier, Parliament had been informed that the response of domestic telecom service providers was reasonably good, and foreign companies had not been specifically invited for the pre-bid conference on 16 November 2009 relating to prospective 3G and BWA spectrum auction participants.
It was clarified that the Notice Inviting Application (NIA) will address all the concerns expressed during the pre-bid conference.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had in October 2009 issued a Consultation Paper on “Overall Spectrum Management and review of license terms and conditions”. The issues raised in the consultation paper for deliberation include spectrum requirement & availability, licensing issues, merger & acquisition issues, spectrum trading, spectrum sharing, perpetuity of licences, uniform licence fee, spectrum assignment, spectrum pricing and structure for spectrum management.
The Government earned Rs 34.55 billion from spectrum fee during 2008-09 and about Rs 9.17 billion in the first quarter of 2009-10.
Spectrum fee is charged as a percentage of the Adjusted Gross Revenue of the telecom service providers and is regulated by the Trai.
Detailed guidelines for 3G spectrum were issued on 1 August 2008 and some amendments were brought in on 11 September the same year.
At present, only the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) and the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) have permission to provide 3G services in the country.
While MTNL and BSNL will not take part in the auction for 3G services in the telecom sector, they will pay the matching price of successful bidders.
While MTNL provides the service in Mumbai and Delhi, BSNL provides the services in 100 cities. One spectrum of 5 MHz has been provided to MTNL in Mumbai and Delhi and BSNL in the 20 service areas.
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
