India regulator cuts domestic roaming rates
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s move to reduce domestic roaming rates will cut outgoing calling rates between regions, or circles, by 20 per cent and incoming rates by 40 per cent. SMS roaming rates will decline by 75 per cent.

The new limits set by the regulator, which go into effect on 1 May, however, will cut the revenue of country’s top three carriers, which account for the majority of roaming traffic, the Economic Times said.

Lenovo’s dual-brand lineup faces headwinds
Lenovo’s smartphone shipments in Q1 fell to eight-to-nine million units from 15 million in Q4, due to high inventories built up at the end of the year.

Despite a big push after it acquired Motorola Mobility from Google, DigiTimes reported that domestic sales in China have slowed this year after inventories in China rose in Q4 due to operators reducing their handset subsidies.

The company has been unable to improve the recognition of Lenovo brand in the domestic smartphone market and its two-brand lineup, with overlapping target markets and price ranges, has created competition between its own products, DigiTimes said.

Xiaomi plans local assembly in Indonesia
Fast-rising smartphone maker Xiaomi said it plans to assemble smartphones in Indonesia this year to comply with an expected local content law.

The country’s Communications and Information Ministry recently said it will require 4G handsets sold in Indonesia to have 40 per cent local content by 2017. But details of the regulation haven’t been confirmed.

Xiaomi, which said most components are imported from China, hasn’t named a local contract manufacturer, the Jakarta Post reported.

The Chinese vendor sold about 250,000 handsets Indonesia in Q4.

KT, Samsung partner to bid for $18B contract
South Korea’s second largest mobile operator KT is teaming up with Samsung to bid for a government contract to build a nationwide LTE public safety network worth an estimated KRW20 trillion ($18.3 billion) by 2017.

The alliance will be competing against Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia, SK Telecom, LG Uplus and Motorola.

The Korean government is expected to favour local companies, with Samsung to lobby senior government officials to win the deal, the Korea Times said.