Speaking to PTI, Vaishnaw said that the telecom reforms package cleared by the Cabinet is adequate for the survival of existing players, and will ensure robust competition in the sector. With more reforms, and more structural changes, that are in the pipeline, "more players should come", he added.
All Chinese nationals on the board of digital payments firm Paytm have been replaced by US and Indian citizens, while there is no change in existing shareholding, according to a regulatory filing of the company. Alipay representative Jing Xiandong, Ant Financial's Guoming Cheng, and Alibaba representatives Michael Yuen Jen Yao (US citizen) and Ting Hong Kenny Ho have ceased to be directors of the company, as per the regulatory document. According to a source, Paytm now has no Chinese national on its board.
'Today arrogance of power has gone to your head. Why are you losing the mandate? We are endorsing all rotten policies of the Congress which is not in our interest. Leakage in drops of water from a pitcher empties it. So is with the mandate'
The government has also demanded information on vulnerability exploited by attackers and modus operandi of the attack, and sought details of remedial measures taken by Twitter to mitigate the impact of the hacking incident.
The cyber intelligence firm said that the breach includes sensitive information such as email, phone, home address, qualification, work experience etc.
The proposal -- aimed at tackling issues related to anonymity of users in the fast-growing social media space -- has been mooted for the first time as part of the amendments likely to be made to the existing IT intermediary rules, the source said. Social media companies with more than 50 lakh users in India will be categorised as significant social media intermediaries. These companies will also have to comply with stricter obligations, including traceability of users, under the revised rules, the source said.
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have communicated to the telecom department that they will not pay AGR dues of Rs 88,624 crore, the deadline for which ended on Thursday, and will wait for the outcome of modification petition listed for hearing before the Supreme Court next week, according to official sources. Reliance Jio on Thursday paid Rs 195 crore to the telecom department to clear all adjusted gross revenue dues accounted till January 31, 2020, according to an official source.
When on October 24, the Supreme Court, on a petition moved by the government, ordered payment of past dues according to its new definition of AGR, the country's second-biggest carrier Vodafone-Idea Ltd warned of shut down if no relief is given. The total dues for the industry ran into a whopping Rs 1.47 lakh crore. For an industry that has come from 7-8 operators to just three private players and state-owned fourth operator, the warning by Vodafone-Idea sounded like a death knell.
'All three players in the market are haemorrhaging cash. Average consumer is consuming 12 gigabits (GB) at price points you don't see anywhere else.'
Mittal said that overall, he expected that by March 2018, the "dust will settle down" for the entire industry.
"All the products that we have announced -- Nokia 3310, Nokia 6, Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 -- will be available in the second quarter of this year in India. Average global selling price for Nokia 3310 is 49 euros," HMD Global Oy Chief Marketing Officer Pekka Rantala said.
Facebook is now attempting to make truce with telecom operators through its programme.
Airtel has pitched for a hike in mobile and data tariffs.
The device features a five-inch all-touch screen with BlackBerry 10.3.1 OS.
This move gives Airtel and Chinese major immense benefits.
The smartphones have 5.1-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED screen.
After a two year run-in with controversies, telecom sector now looks stable and seems back on its feet with initial investment proposal of over Rs 11,000 crore (Rs 110 billion) received in 2013.
Indian mobile phone users will have to pay more if the service providers are charged for spectrum, which was earlier given free to the operators, chairman of the country's largest telecom company Bharti Airtel Sunil Mittal has said.
Sibal said the government will have enough radio waves for all operators after it is released from the defence services as well as the cancellation of 122 2G new licences by the Supreme Court in the 2G spectrum allocation case.
"Look at the policies of world around, we are far less protectionist than any other country in the world. There is no question of India becoming protectionist," Indian Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said here on Monday.