Vodafone Idea CEO Abhijit Kishore stated that the company will implement minor corrections to existing mobile tariffs, but does not plan an across-the-board hike in rates, driven by current market conditions.
Despite recent share price dips, Bharti Airtel is strategically positioned for growth, driven by investments in data centres via Nxtra, a potential tariff hike, and strong performance in Africa, alongside efforts to deleverage and expand its subscriber base in underpenetrated rural markets.
Gurugram police have dismantled a cyber-fraud gang with links to the Philippines, arresting a key operative involved in the distribution of illegal SIM boxes used for cybercrimes.
These customers will be unable to meet the lowest recharge requirements for Jio, meaning they will either exit the market or migrate to BSNL/MTNL.
Firms come out with detailed communiqu for consumers that counter Jio's claims of cheap data
The post, markedly different from its usual X feed -- typically focused on low-cost tariff plans and anti-spam measures -- appears to ride on Samay Raina's popularity.
The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to Bharti Airtel and Vodafone on a BSNL petition, seeking that the private telecom operators pay interconnection charges, along with penalty, for transferring to its network their calls that did not identify phone numbers.
India's total telephone subscriber base reached 1,321.31 million by the end of February 2026, marking a 0.56 per cent monthly growth, primarily fuelled by a significant surge in broadband adoption.
Denial of interconnection "appears to be with ulterior motive to stifle competition and is anti consumer", Trai said.
UK-based Vodafone Group has ruled out selling its around 5 per cent stake in the holding company of Bharti Airtel in the near future as there is no buyer.
Telecom firm Bharti Airtel will approach the government on the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) it has to pay the exchequer following the Supreme Court's judgment that the government can reassess all AGR dues, according to vice-chairman and managing director Gopal Vittal.
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 latest telecom war kicked off after some pictures surfaced, showing Airtel banners among agitating farmers. According to the Jio camp, it was a giveaway that farmers were being enticed to port their phone numbers.
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.
While Reliance Jio added 3.65 million users in May, both Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea continued to lose subscribers.
Apple's iPhone, the touch screen handset that acquired a cult status in the United States and other Western countries, will be available to Indian mobile users through private telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar from August 22, giving competitors like Nokia, Samsung and others a run for their money.
App-based communication services providers and Indian telcos are at loggerheads over the SIM-binding directions issued by the department of telecom, which are to be complied with by the end of February 2026.
The telecom department is not contemplating providing any relief to Vodafone Idea with regard to adjusted gross revenue, Minister of State for Communications Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said on Monday. "We have recently converted a lot of their debt into equity.
India's third-largest telecom operator Vodafone Idea (Vi) has secured a 10-year breather on adjusted gross revenue (AGR) payments from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). This is expected to ease pressure on its balance sheet and enable the company to raise bank debt for capital expenditure.
Telecom operators Vodafone and Idea Cellular on Monday said they will resume 3G services in circles where they don't have spectrum through intra-circle roaming (ICR) pacts with other operators.
Bharti Airtel sees opportunity in raising tariff for data services as it feels that rich are paying less and poor are not required to pay anymore, a senior official of the company said. During the company's earnings call for the first quarter of the current fiscal, Bharti Airtel vice-chairman and MD Gopal Vittal said that the company has written to the government for a relief on adjusted gross revenue and has demanded that it should be given benefit at par with other telecom operator, without naming Vodafone Idea.
Security has been increased across four districts in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly division for Dussehra, with internet services suspended in Bareilly district for 48 hours to prevent the spread of rumors and maintain public order.
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the pleas of telecom majors Vodafone, Airtel and Tata Teleservices seeking the waiver of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues. A bench comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan called the pleas "misconceived".
Shares of Reliance Industries as well as Bharti Airtel began the trade on a positive note on Wednesday after the two firms announced their partnerships with Elon Musk's SpaceX for providing high-speed internet services in India. Bharti Airtel stock opened with a gain of 5.49 pc to hit a high of Rs 1,388.25 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Soon, it pared all gains and traded 0.77 per cent lower to Rs 1,650.10 per piece.
The move by three major telecom service providers - Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular - to set up a consortium for passive infrastructure is gaining ground, but independent telecom infrastructure providers are yet to be convinced.
Airtel has informed the government and regulator Trai that it has approached Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea with a proposal for a joint initiative to unite the industry against rising telecom fraud and scams.
Bharti Airtel vice-chairman & managing director Gopal Vittal on Wednesday said while a call on exercising the option of converting pending spectrum dues into government equity would be taken by its board, the company had reached out to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to confirm whether it could do so. "On the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) conversion, it was simple.
The missive has, however, polarised stakeholders, with mobile operators under COAI coming out in its support, while digital platforms under the aegis of Broadband India Forum expressing "serious concerns" around overreach and calling for a pause in implementation of timelines.
The Supreme Court on Monday deferred to October 13 the hearing on a plea of telecom major Vodafone Idea Ltd seeking quashing of the additional adjusted gross revenue (AGR) demands for the period until 2016-17.
Bharti Airtel is expected to see its highest revenue growth, and subscriber addition during the third quarter (October-December) of FY25 among telcos, said analysts. The telco's top line in Q3 may see the fastest sequential growth at 5 per cent compared to 3 per cent for Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea (Vi). Airtel's annual mobile revenue growth would rise to 16 per cent, IIFL Capital said in an analyst note.
Indian-American executive Srini Gopalan has been appointed chief executive officer of telecom operator T-Mobile, amid ongoing debates over H-1B visa policies. Gopalan's appointment, effective from November 1, 2025, comes as US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation imposing a staggering $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas, triggering widespread panic, concern and fear among Indian professionals on work visa.
British telecom player Vodafone on Wednesday said it has sold an 18 per cent stake in Indus Towers for 1.7 billion euro (about Rs 15,300 crore). Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel has increased its stake by acquiring 2.69 crore shares, representing a 1 per cent stake, in Indus Towers. The shares were acquired by Airtel at an average price of Rs 320 apiece, taking the transaction value to Rs 862.38 crore, as per the bulk deal data.
The companies are being probed into for alleged corruption in spectrum allocation during NDA regime.
The Department of Telecom (DoT) has slapped a penalty of Rs 2,000 crore on Vodafone Idea and Rs 1,050 crore on Bharti Airtel based on sector regulator Trai's recommendation five years ago, according to sources. The DoT has given three weeks time to the telecom operators to pay the penalty, a source said while sharing the content of the demand notice served to the companies on Thursday. When contacted Bharti Airtel spokesperson said, "We are deeply disappointed with the arbitrary and unfair demand based on Trai recommendations of 2016 relating to provisions of point of interconnect to a new operator.
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Friday said it has signed an agreement to buy Vodafone's 4.7 per cent stake in Indus Towers on the condition that the proceeds will be used for investment in Vodafone Idea and clearing its dues towards the mobile tower company. Debt-ridden Vodafone Idea (VIL) has been unable to pay dues to Indus Towers and both VIL and promoter Vodafone have proposed a payment plan to clear the outstanding amount by July 15. In the meantime, VIL has committed to pay certain minimum amount each month to Indus Towers.
Rs 3,050-crore penalty on Airtel, Voda Idea gets nod. Final decision will be taken by DoT.
What worked for Airtel was that its data traffic growth was 13 per cent sequentially and its average data usage was even higher than Jio's at 11.9 gigabyte per month per user.
The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,183.15 million at the end of May to 1,186.63 million at the end of June.
New customer additions by Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel pushed the Indian telecom subscriber base past 120.5 crore in June, according to a Trai report released on Tuesday. The wireless subscriber base grew marginally to over 117 crore and wireline connections in the country increased to 3.51 crore in June from 116.89 crore and 3.47 crore, respectively, in May, as per data released in Trai's subscriber report for June.
While Airtel may be pushed to to No 3, Jio will find it mighty difficult to beat the new entity.
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