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.
RJio is targeting the existing base of high-value customers.
Total revenue came in at Rs 20,422 crore for the September quarter, which was 6.2 per cent lower than Rs 21,777 crore notched in the year-ago period.
Airtel Xstream will allow its subscribers to access live TV, video, music, news and sports on an over-the-top smart stick, interned-enabled set top box, and handheld devices.
The mobile user base is expected to grow to 815 million this year, from 755 million connections in 2013.
Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) CEO Ravinder Takkar did some plain speaking. In an analyst call after its quarterly results recently, Takkar said that the main stumbling block to raising fresh capital from investors is "pricing" - telecom tariffs, in other words. Nine months ago, the telecom company's board had cleared a proposal for raising Rs 25,000 crore from investors, after the promoters made it clear that they were not ready to pump in more money. But potential investors are concerned that without clarity on tariff hikes (there have been none for more than 18 months) they might just lose their money. The lack of visibility on raising tariffs has also impelled VIL to request the Department of Telecom (DoT) for a fresh reprieve by extending the two-year moratorium on paying its spectrum instalment of Rs 8,200 crore for another year till FY23.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported a 12 per cent rise in December quarter net profit on improving oil-to-chemical business, strong continued momentum in retail and steady telecom unit Jio.
Laying fibre to home is a cumbersome and a slow process as every building has to be physically wired.
The company is targeting 100 million subscribers in shortest possible time, RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani said
Despite the inherent attractiveness of the rural market for telecom operators various challenges still mar their entry.
Vodafone Idea, the country's third largest telecom operator, on Wednesday reported a staggering Rs 73,878 crore of net loss in fiscal ended March 2020 -- the highest ever by any Indian firm -- after it provisioned for Supreme Court-mandated statutory dues. The firm, which has to pay Rs 51,400 crore dues after the apex court ordered the non-telecom revenues to be included in calculating statutory dues, said the liability has "cast significant doubt on the company's ability to continue as a going concern".
India is today the second-largest telecom market in the world with over a billion customers and close to 600 million Internet users. New connections are available on the tap, calls are virtually free and it's hard to imagine anyone without a mobile phone today. Globally, there would be few parallels to this success story that truly democratised telephony and empowered a billion-plus people, observes Airtel's Sunil Bharti Mittal.
Analysts cautious on outlook, expect earnings to remain under pressure over medium term.
With at least seven more mobile service providers planning to launch operations in the Mumbai circle, following in the footsteps of GSM player Idea Cellular, the market is slated to become the country's most competitive and fierce telecom zone.
The wireless subscriber base has increased to 93.02 crore.
The Indian market is more in sync with mobile markets of advanced countries like the UK, Japan, and South Korea, where there are fewer players - three to four.
According to telcos and analysts, this is due to SIM consolidation happening after the minimum recharge plans were implemented by incumbents.
But, unlike its competitors, it did not have a comprehensive infrastructure back-end and required fresh investments.
Shrinking tariffs and falling handset costs have made Indian telecom subscribers the most pampered lot. Though it has resulted in a declining average revenue per user (ARPU) for service providers, they are not complaining as yet.
The average revenue per user, an indicator of revenues for telecom service providers, of GSM operators has declined, while that of CDMA operators is on the rise.
Jio's global partnerships took shape this year when Jio Platforms, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Reliance Jio which has invested in various digital platforms, was able to woo a bevy of marquee investors: Facebook, Google, Qualcomm, Intel, and a numerous PE funds.
It is boom time for the communications sector with India adding 200.8 lakh (20.08 million) wireless subscribers in the quarter ended December 2006, taking the gross telecom subscriber base to 18.9 crore (189.92 million).
The brand integration not only marks the completion of the largest telecom merger in the world, but will also set the company on its future journey to offer strong digital experiences to 1 billion Indians on its 4G network.
Agreement between Bharti Airtel and Loop Mobile, which offers mobile services in Mumbai, expired on October 31
The process of switching off the 3G network has already started with Kolkata in the recent-concluded June quarter. By September, the shutdown will be affected in 6-7 more circles and between December and March the entire 3G network would be shut down.
Three stockmarket experts give their best picks for the New Year.
Bharti may look at gaining market share pre-merger and benefit from a lower capex intensity
This is the last lot of payments that telcos will make towards deferred spectrum liabilities, as the Union Cabinet had late last year approved a two-year moratorium on such spectrum payment dues.
The consolidated revenue increased 20 per cent to Rs 8,422 cr
Country accounts for 38% of telco's global user base, 10% of total revenue
The mobile data revenue at Rs 2,324 cr registered a growth of 70 per cent
Across 10 prominent services, revenue to the government reduced by 20 per cent in the first year of GST compared to the last year of the service tax regime. This happened despite tax liability against these services growing by 50 per cent in one year.
Its plans, to cut tariffs by 40% or offer more data, comes bundled with 1 GB high speed data for 28 days with unlimited voice thrown in.
Bulk of these customers use 2G phones and are still focused on voice services and might prove useful for both Bharti Airtel and the Idea-Vodafone combine.
The call drop rate should not be more than 2 per cent and for worst affected cells it should not be more than 3 per cent.
Revenue jumped 54.5 per cent to Rs 156,291 crore.
The company has booked around 350 spots for the 2015 tournament.
Experts say going ahead data price will fall further due to competition
Telecom giant Bharti Airtel on Wednesday reported a 9.6 per cent fall in net profit at Rs 688.9 crore (Rs 6.88 billion) for the first quarter ended June 30, 2013.
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