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Trai releases pre-consultation paper on 2G spectrum allocation
NEW DELHI: Barely a day after the Supreme Court directed cancellation of 122 telecom licences held by eight parties through 2G and allowed them to return via an e-auction, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) released a Pre-consultation Paper on “Allocation of Spectrum in 2G band in 22 Service Areas by auction” on Friday.
Trai has sought comments from stakeholders to the paper for comments of the stakeholders by 15 February. The regulator has said that ‘keeping in view the time bound nature of exercise, no extension of time will be given.‘
The court had directed Trai to make fresh recommendations for grant of licence and allocation of spectrum in 2G band in 22 Service Areas by auction, as was done for allocation of spectrum in 3G band.
On the issue of grant of licences, Trai in its recommendation on “Spectrum Management and Licensing Framework” on 11 May 2010 recommended that all future licences should be ‘Unified Licences‘ and that spectrum be delinked from the licence.
“Draft Guidelines for Unified Licensing Regime” were also placed on Trai website www.trai.gov.in on 16 January 2012 for comments of the stakeholders.
On the issue of “Allocation of spectrum in 2G band in 22 Service Areas by auction”, stakeholders have been requested to send their comments/suggestions on the issues involved.
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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.
