As the curtains fall on another year, Rediff.com brings you all the action from the sports field that defined 2019.
More companies with unconventional business models to get into messy legal hassles in India.
Government's resolution on the contentious issue of spectrum usage fee seems to have found favour with telecom operators with none of them withdrawing their application from airways auction on the last day on Monday.
GSM operators (excluding Reliance Telecom) in the country added 6.3 million subscribers in August, taking the total number of users to 225.6 million. In July, the total GSM subscriber base in the country was 219.30 million.
The department of telecom (DoT) on Friday announced a set of rules for granting telecom licences and allocating spectrum that is likely to impact GSM-technology service providers like Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar, among others.
'The BJP has shown signs lately of returning to its trader mindset.' 'Several strong emotions get meshed in this: Nationalism, protectionism, mercantilism, and arrogance,' points out Shekhar Gupta.
Communications Minister A Raja on Monday told Parliament that there was no "contractual agreement" between government and telecom operators to allot spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz, a move that could hurt GSM players like Bharti, Vodafone and Idea Cellular. Raja also ruled out auctioning of spectrum saying this was not feasible based on previous experiences, especially in 1993 when operators were not able to fulfill their roll out obligations.
Half a dozen names are doing the rounds as replacement for Cyrus Mistry as the chairman of the Tata Group.
Cellular operators' body COAI had, last year, alleged that the new entrant Reliance Jio was attempting to acquire customers by offering connection loaded with freebies, in the guise of a trial launch.
Telecom watchdog sought the regulator's intervention on the price hike by Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea and alleged that the three telcos have formed a cartel and increased local call charges by 20 per cent.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Taking the government head on, four GSM mobile operators -- Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and Spice -- have decided to "unitedly" approach the Delhi High Court against telecom tribunal TDSAT's interim order not to stay the spectrum allocation process.
A lot of hype has been generated ahead of the launch of iPhone, which would be available at Rs 31,000 a piece for the 8Gb memory model and Rs 36,100 for 16GB from the stroke of midnight on Thursday. Leading service providers Vodafone-Essar and Bharti Airtel, who have been accepting bookings from customers, have said the response has been extremely good.
Takeover deals involving Indian companies were valued at a total of $8.3bn and numbered 153 in the first 10 weeks of this year, second only in non-Japan Asia to China, with $11.5bn deals numbering 372, according to figures from Thomson Financial. Even as the global credit crunch has damped the appetite among US groups for deals, cash-rich Indian groups have been able to continue their hunt.
Says cap breached on account of Singh, Ghosh stakes.
Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and Association of Unified Telcom Service Providers of India (AUSPI) have opposed the proposal to compensate consumers.
Lakshmi Mittal and Arun Sarin, two India-born entrepreneurs, have figured out in UK's Power 100 list.
Mumbai has fastest 4G speed, Ahmedabad most consistent, says wireless coverage mapping firm OpenSignal
With the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) refusing to reserve 900-MHz spectrum for incumbent telcos, asking them to vacate the quantity held and win back through bidding, GSM operators, led by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), have decided to propose a compromise formula.
Despite low tariffs, voice usage is not growing.
The launch of services by Jio in September 2016 had disrupted the whole telecom sector, with operators matching low rates to maintain competitive edge
GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt and Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin will also keynote the Indian Institute of Technology 2007 Global Alumni Conference titled 'Transforming the World through Technology' in California next month.
The interconnection charge has been reduced.
Star Plus has signed up telecom major Airtel as the presenting sponsor for the Shah Rukh Khan-anchored Kya Aap Panchvi Pass Se Tez Hai. According to sources, the deal has been struck at Rs 40 crore. The Airtel deal follows on the heels of its competitor Vodafone signing up as the presenting sponsor for the Indian Premier League on Sony TV.
The Unified Licence for all 22 Service Areas across India will make the company the first telecom operator in the country to get pan India Unified Licence, the company said in a statement.
The government has signed Bippas with 72 nations.
Gold, forex assets, IT sector, pharma. Devangshu Datta explains why each of these is a good hedge against market shocks at this time.
What we want from spectrum allocation is access to broadband networks at prices that will result in productivity gains.
The Ruias, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group, Hindujas and Vodafone are all believed to have put in their bids.
The Indian market is driven by prepaid connections, which accounted for over 84 per cent in 2006. It is expected to reach 93 per cent by 2011.
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Reliance, Birla Group, Airtel eye small finance banks.
Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin, who engineered the acquisition of Hutch-Essar in India, has accused unsuccessful rival bidders of trying to derail the deal and sought transparency from Indian regulators in M&A approvals.
Revenues of Airtel and Idea have been hit by falling realisation and analysts said margins would be affected by higher costs.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
The Supreme Court recently quashed a rule that mandated telecom operators to compensate consumers.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Price of put option to be assessed for future sale.
The pack is available for Rs 1,495 for existing users and Rs 1,494 for new users, and effectively brings down 4G data rates to Rs 50 per GB
Investing in special situations can help you tap opportunities that arise during adverse conditions, advises Joydeep Sen.
The stake, which is valued at Rs 8,200 crore at the company's current market capitalisation, will be sold by one of the group companies of Bharti Enterprises.
