Reliance Industries (RIL's) annual report released on Sunday highlighted the company's focus on new energy solutions, with chairman and managing director (MD) Mukesh Ambani stating that the age of fossil fuels will not continue much longer. RIL has sought shareholders' approval to give Ambani another five-year term as MD till 2029 at nil salary. The recently demerged Jio Financial Services, which "will leverage the prowess of digital and retail businesses", was expected to be listed soon.
The Department of Telecom on Tuesday approved applications of telecom companies -- Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and MTNL -- for conducting 5G trials but none of them will be using technologies of Chinese entities. The list of telecom gear makers approved for trials include Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, C-DOT and Reliance Jio's indigenously developed technologies.
The Department of Telecommunications (DOT) on Wednesday received over Rs 17,873 crore from companies towards 5G spectrum dues. Nearly half the amount (Rs 8312.4 crore) was paid by Bharti Airtel, which made advance payments for four years to free up cash for future investments. Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea paid Rs 7,864 crore and Rs 1,680 crore, respectively.
The merits and demerits of the telcos' 5G strategy however is clearly dependent on the financial muscle of players, reports Surajeet Das Gupta.
As many as 2,000 chips are annually designed in India by semi-conductor and fabless companies, Intel India managing director Prakash Mallya said in a conversation with Business Standard. Mallya was reiterating the importance of India in the semi-conductor sweepstakes. "As much as 90 per cent of the semi-conductor companies have a design footprint in India.
The government is planning to roll out 5G testbed in early January to enable small and medium enterprises and other industry players to test their solutions on a working platform, a top Department of Telecom official said on Thursday. For the promotion of 5G indigenous technology, DoT in March 2018, had approved a multi-institute collaborative project to set up an indigenous 5G Test Bed at a total cost of Rs 224 crore. A testbed consists of a specific environment including hardware, software, operating system, and network configuration to test a product or service.
Given the security dilemma prevailing between India and China, India should curb the operation of Chinese telecom companies in India, asserts Dr Rup Narayan Das.
The government is engaged in talks with telecom firms for a launch of commercial 5G services in some cities by Independence Day and has assured them that spectrum auction will take place in April-May, providing them a three to four-month window for the rollout. A top executive of a leading telecom gear company said the deadline was feasible in some cases. "It can be achieved in some cities as it will take us 4-6 weeks to deploy a network, once the equipment or components have reached India.
Based on industry estimates, telecom companies, including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea and BSNL, are expected to invest over $10 billion on buying 5G telecom equipment in the next five years as they transition from non-standalone networks to standalone 5G networks.
With the spectrum auction now delayed till at least next May, the expected 5G orders for telecom equipment have not been sealed, the companies point out. Surajeet Das Gupta reports.
Most Indian IT firms work as system integrators for Huawei and though the exposure is very less as of now, the potential is more due to 5G roll out. As pressure to keep the Chinese firm out of the 5G network grows, other global firms, including Japan's NEC, South Korea's Samsung, Finland's Nokia and Sweden's Ericssion are increasing their investments to grab more market share in the telecom sector.
The Tata group's tryst with mobile services, with either CDMA or GSM technology, did not really fly, forcing it to close operations and write off losses. Now the group is back in the big game, this time straddling the telecom equipment, network and technology space in India as well as the global market. To this end, it is leveraging the opportunities that flow from 5G technology through open radio access network, or O-RAN. Recently, the Tata Sons' subsidiary Panatone Finvest acquired 43.3 per cent in Bengaluru-based telecom equipment manufacturer Tejas Network for Rs 1,850 crore and announced it would buy another 26 per cent of the voting capital through an open offer.
With India rolling out 5G services, can telcos get the sizeable 350-400 million 2G customers to upgrade to 4G, or even better -- but very improbably -- straight to 5G?
Just a few weeks ago, Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw did some tough talking with the senior managers of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, the ailing state-owned telecom service provider. The message was clear: They had to perform, quit by taking the voluntary retirement package or be compulsorily retired from service. The terse message from an otherwise polite and soft-spoken minister came just days after he announced a second and bigger package of Rs 1.64 trillion as part of a four-year turnaround plan for BSNL.
Consumers can expect a 5G launch in the country soon. Telecom companies (telcos) say if auctions take place on time - the target is July - they would be able to offer some services in a few cities by the end of this year and a full roll-out from 2023. But the question is: will 5G turn the tables for telcos financially? Will average revenue per user (ARPU) improve? Will mobile consumers upgrade to 5G quickly and pay more? Will the expanded functions that 5G enables drum up sufficient revenues? In simple terms, will telcos make more money?
Reliance is leveraging the technological change of building a virtualised 5G network which would see the current hardware-dependent networks shift to software-centric platforms.
It has invested $2 billion and spent $200 million on its R&D centre in Bengaluru, the largest such centre outside China where some core technologies are under development.
The Big Two telecom companies have accelerated their moves towards this next-gen technology, though they have chosen very different routes to getting there.
Just to promote govt's policy of Make in India, BSNL said, it cannot afford to procure sub-standard equipment from inexperienced companies, not having proven technology. BSNL complained that when competitors were procuring world-class 4G equipment from experienced vendors, why should BSNL be compelled to procure locally.
Mobile radio listeners have a new channel for entertainment through visual radio with four companies -- Hutch, Radio Mirchi, Nokia and HP -- announced on Tuesday the rolling out of this service in the country.
Several factors have held India back. One is DoT policy somersaults and lack of clarity on whether to or not to ban Chinese gear makers.
Discovery Networks Asia, a division of real-world entertainment company Discovery Communications and Nokia are reinventing the concept of filmmaking by providing mobile phone users access to knowledge and technology of a new genre - mobile filmmaking
BSNL can go ahead with its over Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) GSM expansion plan as Motorola withdraws its application challenging the former's tender process in the Delhi High Court.
Close on the heels of striking 3 major outsourcing deals with Ericsson, IBM and Nokia totalling over $1400 million, Bharti Tele Ventures on Thursday awarded another $50 million contract to Siemens to build and manage AirTel networks in 3 circles.
HCL Technologies on Monday said its founder Shiv Nadar will take on the role of Chairman Emeritus and Strategic Advisor to the company's board. Nadar, chief strategy officer and managing director of the company, on completing 76 years of age, has tendered his resignation as the MD as well as the Director with effect from close of business hours on July 19, according to a regulatory filing. "In order to continue to benefit from his vast knowledge, experience, and wisdom in an advisory role, the Board of Directors in its meeting held today, after considering the recommendations of the Nomination & Remuneration Committee, has approved the appointment of Shri Shiv Nadar as the 'Chairman Emeritus and Strategic Advisor to the Board' for a term of five years with effect from July 20, 2021," it added.
The inititiave will see the partners collaborate on developing lower-cost, higher-quality smartphones and deploying Internet access in underserved communities.
The announcement quells fears among some telcos that Chinese players might be banned from participating in 5G trials and roll outs.
It plans to offer 4G data with voice at rates 15-25 per cent lower than those of its competitors just as it has done with its TV sets. Many say it might be a recipe for disaster.
Huawei came under a cloud after allegations that the firm's electronic and telecom devices helped China spy on US corporations and agencies.
Apple's screen is still smaller than its main rivals.
The company has said the funds raised will be used to invest in product development and expansion of its fast-growing mobile business.
The Rs 8,000-cr deal is expected to be finalised early next month.
The 35,000 square foot facility would increase Capgemini's BPO's total capacity in India to over 4,500 seats, the company said.
The man: Manoj Kohli, the affable CEO of Bharti Airtel's international business. The challenge: Replicate Bharti's low-cost operational model so successful in India across 16 diverse African countries, including Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Congo.
The move comes against the backdrop of the US and some of its allies banning the purchase of Chinese telecom gear over security concerns and pressuring other countries to follow suit.
Business-focused applications contribute 27 per cent to the total downloads in India and are the third-most popular apps downloaded.
Mojostreet.com, a city-based startup, officially launched its location-based mobile game today. Christened Mojostreet, the product is a free-to-download real world game, friend finder, city guide, social network and loyalty rewards -- all rolled into one app for smartphones like BlackBerry, Nokia, iPhone and Android devices.
