In a regular series, Mobile World Live‘s Asia Editor Joseph Waring provides a regional roundup of news snippets:

GSM operators call for reallocation of 800MHz band
The Cellular Operators Association of India has called on the government to reconfigure the 800MHz band used for CDMA services as (EGSM) 900MHz spectrum to more efficiently use the spectrum and increase revenue from the upcoming auction.

The group said the move would allow the full value of the spectrum to be realised and wouldn’t impact the country’s three CDMA operators that use the 800MHz band – Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices and Sistema – because they could continue to provide services with the re-allocated frequency, the Economic Times reported.

TD-LTE connections near 100M
Global TD-LTE connections will reach nearly 100 million this year, with China accounting for 82 per cent of the total, according to DigiTimes Research. Japan accounts for almost 7 per cent.

TD-LTE connections at the end of the year will represent over a fifth of all LTE connections. FDD-LTE networks make up 87 per cent of LTE networks worldwide.

The research firm said in Q3 Asia accounted for more than 95 per cent of global TD-LTE users (China Mobile alone has more than 50 million).

Philippines warns ISPs against misleading promos
The Philippine’s Department of Justice (DOJ) has warned telecoms operators not to mislead customers by offering ‘unlimited internet’ plans that actually have data caps and throttle service.

The DOJ said in a statement that ISPs’ fair use policies are “inconsistent” with the Consumer Act, which penalises misleading trade practices and advertisements. It said “’unlimited’ means unlimited”.

ISPs face fines of up to PHP20,000 ($450) and imprisonment of between three months and two years, or both, the Inquirer said.

Acer aims for top 5 spot in Taiwan
Taiwan’s Acer aims to double smartphone sales in Taiwan next year and has set its target on being in the top five. It is now ranked 15th. The firm expects to sell 100,000 smartphones locally this year, which is a 67 per cent increase from 2013.

The company has released four smartphones in Taiwan this year and will increase that next year. It is targeting the TWD5,000-7,000 ($165-225) market, DigiTimes reported.

Acer has launched its second octa-core smartphone locally – the Jade S, which is a 5-inch model running Android.

CAT to drop operator-assisted services
CAT Telecom will cut two loss-making operator-assisted international voice services by next April. CAT 100 and CAT Thailand Direct have had combined operating losses of THB30 million ($911,000) a year since 2012.

Customers now make international calls directly via mobiles, an executive said. The CAT 100 service had just 500 minutes of use last year while CAT Thailand Direct had about 10,000 minutes.