According to rating agency Fitch, India can in the long run support five-six profitable telecom operators.
Gains in IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech, TCS, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, ITC, JSW Steel and Tata Steel helped the barometer scale a fresh high. Axis Bank fell the most by 1.26 per cent, M&M by 0.99 per cent and Hindustan Unilever by 0.67 per cent. Maruti, Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank and Infosys also declined.
Disappointing quarterly earnings numbers and revenue forecast from IT services company Wipro also weighed on investor sentiments. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 247.78 points or 0.38 per cent to settle at 65,629.24 points. During the day, it plunged 533.52 points or 0.80 per cent to 65,343.50 points.
Bharti Airtel reported a 47 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated revenues at Rs 15,215 crore (Rs 152.15 billion) in the September quarter.
But, unlike its competitors, it did not have a comprehensive infrastructure back-end and required fresh investments.
The Supreme Court on Friday declined the request of Vodafone and Bharti Airtel to extend their licences along with spectrum for 10 more years.
Airtel is offering three packs: the Breakfree plan for Rs 999 for free data usage quota of six GB (giga bytes), the Breakfree Max plan worth Rs 1,399 with free data usage of nine GB, and the Breakfree Ultra plan worth Rs 1,999 allowing free data usage of up to 18 GB.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Friday expressed concern over the manner in which penalties are being imposed for different violations of licence terms and conditions, and said operators have collectively paid over Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) so far to the government as fines.
It challenged the Delhi High Court's order giving its nod to the Centre's decision holding the 3G roaming pact of the telecom major as illegal.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Wednesday reported a 29 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 512 crore (Rs 5.12 billion) for the quarter ended September 30, 2013, mainly on account of increase in finance cost and forex losses due to rupee depreciation.
For Vittal, who will take over from the current CEO, Sanjay Kapoor, in March, reversing the telco's shrinking revenues and market share will be among the first of the challenges.
While a group of officials believed a case against the two telecom companies was made out as they were only beneficiaries of the laid down policy, another team of officials involved in decision-making differed, official sources said on Monday.
The government on Tuesday said it has not received any application for 2G spectrum auction except that of Sistema Shyam Teleservices that will bid for CDMA spectrum.
On the back of this, leading GSM incumbent Bharti Airtel's shares opened on a bullish note and then gained further ground and touched an early high of Rs 334.55 on the BSE, higher by 8.96 per cent from its previous closing price.
The call failure rate, Jio said, has been worsening rapidly in the last few days, while augmentation of interconnection capacity is still awaited
Among the Sensex firms, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies, Larsen & Toubro, ITC, Sun Pharma, NTPC and Titan were the major gainers. Nestle, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel were the laggards.
Bharti hopes to make Airtel the country's most-admired brand by 2010. Has it done enough to rise above the clutter?
Total network minutes rise 5% q-o-q but revenue per minute down 1.9%
Sunil Mittal will become executive chairman.
Watching movies on direct-to-home has become cheaper, with two major DTH operators, Airtel DTH and Big TV, slashing pay-per-view (PPV) prices of premiere (new) movies. While Airtel DTH has reduced prices of paid movie services by 33 per cent, Big TV has cut prices by around 50 per cent.
A presentation by the CBI to a Joint Parliamentary Committee last week said the decision led to a loss of Rs 508 crore to the exchequer.
VoIP services include communications applications such as Skype, Line and Viber
Titan surged 2.98 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, ITC, JSW Steel, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services and Maruti. Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank were among the laggards.
ITC was the biggest loser from the Sensex pack, sliding 2.04 per cent, followed by Power Grid, Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro, Nestle, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance and JSW Steel. On the other hand, Titan, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra and Bharti Airtel were the gainers.
UltraTech Cement was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 2.43 per cent, followed by NTPC, Tata Motors, Infosys, Power Grid, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, Maruti, Wipro and SBI were the major gainers. In contrast, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance and JSW Steel were the major laggards.
Telecom major Bharti Televentures on Tuesday announced batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar as its new brand ambassador besides unveiling a brand campaign -- Express Yourself -- for its mobile service brand AirTel.
The MTN Group, the largest mobile operator in sub-Saharan Africa, might seek a 'non-compete agreement' with Bharti Airtel, India's largest private telecom company, to bar it from entering the 21-odd markets in which the Johannesburg-listed company operates, banking sources said.
With cellular telephony fast expanding, Samsung on Friday said it has tied up with India's largest cellular operator AirTel for bundling of handsets in all circles.
Among the Sensex firms, UltraTech Cement, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, Tata Consultancy Services, Larsen & Toubro, Kotak Mahindra Bank and State Bank of India were the major gainers. In contrast, Tata Motors, Maruti, Axis Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, ITC, NTPC, Tata Steel and Bajaj Finserv were the major laggards.
The South West District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum said that Tara Chand, a Delhi-based businessman, was entitled to three domestic trips instead of one as contended by Airtel since he had bought the connections in the names of three directors of his firm.
Global pilot project set to revolutionise remittances.
Tech Mahindra was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, slipping 4.59 per cent, followed by Asian Paints, Wipro, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries and JSW Steel. In contrast, Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel, Power Grid and Axis Bank were among the gainers.
ontinuing its acquisition spree in the international market, Bharti Airtel on Wednesday said the company will acquire 100 per cent stake in Telecom Seychelles for $62 million (about Rs 288 crore).
Among the Sensex firms, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel, Wipro, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra and JSW Steel were the major laggards. Power Grid, Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra and NTPC were among the gainers.
Among the Sensex firms, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, Tech Mahindra, Titan and Axis Bank were among the major laggards. Tata Steel, State Bank of India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti and Nestle were the gainers.
The reported buyback of Temasek's 20 per cent stake in Tata Play by Tata Sons will be the third instance of Tata Group providing an exit to a foreign partner in recent years. In 2018, Tata Sons paid $1.27 billion to DoCoMo to buy back 26 per cent of the group's telecommunication venture, Tata Teleservices. This was followed by Tata Sons acquiring AirAsia Berhad's 49 per cent stake in AirAsia India in two tranches to make it a wholly owned subsidiary.
Leading telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Wednesday said it has earmarked a capital expenditure of $3.1 billion (over Rs 14,000 crore) for India and other global operations in the current fiscal.
ICICI Bank was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, slipping 2.81 per cent, followed by Mahindra & Mahindra, State Bank of India, UltraTech Cement, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank and Power Grid. Tech Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, Larsen & Toubro and Titan were the gainers.