The government will soon work on a plan to make electricity distribution grids 'smart', which may enable users to choose tariff plans and help distributors check power theft. The Power Ministry would shortly be setting up an 'India Smart Grid Task Force', to be chaired by Sam Pitroda, advisor to the Prime Minister on innovation.
Private GSM operators on Thursday got a reprieve from Supreme Court, which has stayed Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's notices asking them to refund excess charges levied from customers on calls made to the networks of PSU telecom firms.
The cess levied on top of the maximum 28 per cent tax rate on petrol vehicles with capacity to carry 10-13 persons has been reduced to 1 per cent and the same for diesel vehicles has been cut to 3 per cent.
Roaming will be cheaper by up to 23 per cent.
India is facing no risk of recession or stagflation as macroeconomic fundamentals of the economy are strong, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday. Replying to a debate on price rise in the Lok Sabha, she said the GST collection and Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) are indicating that the Indian economy is getting more robust. The GST collection rose 28 per cent to touch the second-highest level of Rs 1.49 lakh crore in July. GST, introduced in July 2017, touched a record high of Rs 1.68 lakh crore in April 2022.
Tata Teleservices Ltd on Wednesday launched a new product 'Don't Stop Mobile' across 20 circles allowing prepaid customers to make free outgoing calls for a period of two years to any Tata Indicom mobile or Tata Indicom fixed phone within the state.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu, who have not been on the same page over certain appointments, Tuesday said they will work with each other and fight the upcoming polls together, according to party MLAs.
His likable boy-next-door face and casual approach to public speaking have a unique appeal for the younger generation, but it stops there, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Others taxed at 5, 12, 18, 28%
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated the 6th India Mobile Congress at Pragati Maidan in Delhi and launched 5G services. The 5G telecom services seek to provide seamless coverage, high data rate, low latency and highly reliable communications system. The three major telecom operators of the country demonstrated one use case each in front of the prime minister to show the potential of 5G technology in India.
Insurance experts said since it may be difficult to set a tariff or fixed rates for Covid-19 treatment, an indicative rate chart has been proposed.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents her fourth Budget in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
'It is building the country's infrastructure, and delivering it very efficiently.'
All Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders are required to take a special permission from the central government if they want to be involved in any missionary, 'Tabligh' or journalistic activities in the country.
Airtel CEO said, the 5G ecosystem is yet to develop in India and the prices are very high. Telecom companies including Vodafone Idea (VI) and Reliance Jio have also said that the current prices are exorbitant.
Devoting an hour of his speech at the RIL's 42th annual general meeting, the billionaire industrialist said Jio was targeting 100 million users in a shortest possible time
If the apex court decides on a 15-year repayment tenure, it would pose a grave challenge for the debt ridden VIL.
In line with other cellular operators, BPL Mobile has also lowered STD rates to Rs 1.99 from the pre-IUC (inter-connect usage charges) of Rs 2.99 per 60-second pulse rate to landline and wireless in local loop phones.
'We are doing away with human interface in metering, billing, and collection.' 'That in itself will bring down losses by 50 to 60 per cent.'
Telecom player Bharti on Thursday said it would pass on the full benefits of the cut in Access Deficit Charge to its subscribers from February 1, when the new regime comes into effect.
The discount will be given on the base fare and charges like GST, reservation fee, superfast tariff and others will be levied separately.
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal on Wednesday said the telecom sector reforms approved by the Cabinet will ensure that the industry is able to invest fearlessly, and the company will respond to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to invest and accelerate the country's growth. Among a series of breathers for the stressed telecom sector, the Cabinet has approved the inclusion of revenues earned only from telecom services in the adjusted gross revenue (AGR), and the removal of penalty on dues to be paid to the government prospectively. Mittal congratulated and thanked the government for undertaking these seminal reforms to lift an industry that is at the core of his Digital India vision.
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.
Vodafone Idea MD and CEO Ravinder Takker told PTI that the company is gearing up to invest in the business and compete in the market.
Trump abruptly rejected the text of the consensus statement and bitterly insulted Canadian PM Trudeau.
While an official in the Commerce Department indicated a trade war was in the offing, till now the government has been in wait-and-watch mode.
Over the three-month period, Airtel's stock price has rallied from Rs 432 to Rs 540, while Vodafone Idea has risen from Rs 9.2 to Rs 11.8 per share.
The Aam Aadmi Party government has delivered on its big ticket poll promises made to Delhi, two weeks after forming the government.
India's telecom sector has been through dizzying peaks, troughs, policy U-turns, court battles, brutal competition, and daily controversies. India could go back to a private sector duopoly with just Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel surviving the mayhem. The third player, Vodafone Idea, could be history.
'While consumers have benefited tremendously from rock-bottom telecom tariffs, the telecom sector has been reeling under deep financial stress,' points out Rajan S Mathews, director general, Cellular Operators Association of India.
The AAP chief was accused by Dikshit's then political secretary Pawan Khera alleging remarks against Dikshit during power tariff hike protests in October 2012.
New norms issued as per the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines 2020 have mandated a cap on surge price, preventing aggregators from charging more than 1.5 times of the base fare.
The minister said revenue receipts for 2014-15 will be generated from auction of spectrum in 800MHz, 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands and from annual spectrum usage charges.
Moving from pricing control to a free market means stiff competition.
Call rates to be reduced by 35%, text charges by 80%.
In a country that is often focused on the ways in which it falls short, the start of a year is a good time to remind oneself of such positives, observes T N Ninan.
Rivals say the concessions would benefit AirAsia alone.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance released its manifesto for the February 20 Punjab polls on Saturday, promising a slew of sops for various sections, including 75 per cent reservation in all government jobs for youngsters from the state, an unemployment allowance, 35 per cent reservation for women in government jobs and massive infrastructure development.
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