Analysts have pointed out that with the dues arising out of the SC judgment there could soon be only two private telcos in the country, and not three - Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea - as now.
After initial success, data use is stagnating and getting consumers to spend additional money for high-speed internet is proving to be difficult for telcos.
Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal on Thursday said tariffs need to go up amid "tremendous stress" in the telecom sector, and Airtel will not hesitate to raise prices, but it will not do so unilaterally. The comments by the telecom czar came at a time when Airtel's rival Vodafone Idea has approached the government for a one-year moratorium on payment of spectrum instalment of over Rs 8,200 crore - due in April 2022. Cash-strapped VIL has told the telecom department that while it is working on raising new funding for the last six months, "investors are not willing to invest in the company because they believe that unless there is a significant improvement in consumer tariffs, the health of the industry will not recover and they will incur a loss on their investment".
According to the quality of service rules, not more than 2 per cent of total calls in a telecom circle on a network should automatically get disconnected.
Apple's decision to slash its entry-level iPhone (8 GB version) in the US market will not trickle down to India anytime soon.
In big bang reforms, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a relief package for the telecom sector that includes a four-year moratorium on payment of statutory dues by telecom companies as well as allowing 100 per cent foreign investment through the automatic route. Briefing reporters on the decisions taken by the Cabinet, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said nine structural reforms for the telecom sector were approved. The definition of AGR, which had been a major reason for the stress in the sector, has been rationalised by excluding non-telecom revenue of telecom companies.
During a hearing before the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) last month Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices, and government-run BSNL and MTNL agreed to submit the undertaking.
According to JP Morgan, it seems that Jio is willing to go for the jugular in chasing market share if this hurts some of its standing rivals like Vodafone and Idea to a point from where they find it difficult to fight back.
The Jio-Bharti battle will not just be limited to mobile telephony but will extend to the fibre to home space too.
The telco, being one of the first operators in the circle, has a strong base of high-value subscribers; Airtel could leverage that for its top-end services.
The big advantage that Jio is able to garner currently is its low cost of operations.
It reported adding 698,3146 subscribers in September, the lowest since it added 6.1 million in November 2017.
Doha-based Qatar Foundation Endowment has bought five per cent stake for $1.18 billion in Bharti Airtel.
The petitioner said the companies were increasing the prices just to earn huge profit. Companies like Bharti Airtel had posted an annual profit of more than 90 per cent, the NGO said.
Total revenue dropped by 10.5 per cent to Rs 19,634 crore in the fourth quarter of 2017-18
Sunil Mittal is confident that Airtel will retain its numero uno position, inspite of Vodafone's competition.
After falling 11 per cent over the past six months, shares of Bharti Airtel gained over three per cent on news that the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) had given a split verdict on inter-circle 3G roaming arrangements between Bharti, Idea and Vodafone.
State-run MTNL has received the highest amount of spectrum in Delhi and Mumbai at 12.4 Mhz as on March 2009, while private GSM operators Bharti and Vodafone are not far behind at 10 Mhz each in the same period.
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the applications filed by telecom majors, including Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel, seeking rectification of the alleged errors in calculation of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) related dues payable by them. "All the miscellaneous applications are dismissed," a bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao said while pronouncing the order. The telecom companies had submitted before the apex court that arithmetical errors in the calculation be rectified and there are cases of duplication of entries.
The government has given an option to telcos to pay back interest on dues through equity and also conveyed that it has no interest in acquiring any telecom company, a top official of debt-ridden Vodafone Idea has said. Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) managing director and CEO Ravinder Takkar in an interview to PTI said it is clear that the government wants the company to compete in the market and there should be at least three private service providers in the telecom sector. "I have had many many interactions across various parts of the government leading up to this announcement (telecom reforms).
Analysts said even though the Indian economy is expected to slow down to 7.2 per cent in fiscal 2020, it is still the best bet for investment for foreign investors.
Bidding for the sixth round of spectrum auction for radiowaves worth Rs 3.92 lakh crore will start from March 1, according to a notice issued by the Department of Telecom on Wednesday. The long-awaited spectrum auction is being held after a gap of four years and over two years after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) calculated and recommended base price for the radiowaves. The DoT has fixed January 12 for the pre-bid conference and January 28 as the last date for seeking clarification to the notice.
DoT's proposal to impact many, including Vodafone
After Vodafone Idea, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) on Tuesday said it will opt for conversion of the interest amount on AGR dues into equity and post conversion, the government's holding in the company is expected to be around 9.5 per cent. The announcement of Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) came within hours of Voda Idea also deciding to opt for converting the interest amount on AGR dues into government equity. In a filing to the BSE, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) said Net Present Value or NPV of interest is expected to be nearly Rs 850 crore as per the company's estimates, subject to confirmation by the Department of Telecom (DoT).
The top three operators - Airtel, Vodafone and Idea - which account for over 67 per cent of the GSM market, lost over 2.17 million users in September.
The highest number of requests are in Karnataka (39.18 million) and Tamil Nadu (35.56 million).
The Mukesh Ambani-owned company had complained to Trai about incumbents offering segmented offers to different customers
Singapore based telecom firm SingTel, which holds over 30 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel, on Wednesday said it has full faith in the company's corporate governance standards under the leadership of company's chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal.
Bharti to spend Rs 1,600 cr for spectrum payout over 10 yrs; Telenor to service its own debt.
Bharti Airtel has paid Rs 11,374.7 cr while upfront amount due from it was Rs 7,832.20 cr
Bharti Airtel Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Bharti Mittal, Vodafone Plc CEO Vittorio Colao, Telenor CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas and Idea Cellular Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla on Wednesday met ministers and senior government officials to present the industry's concerns over telecom regulator Trai's proposals on the auction of spectrum.
While the investment amount could not be immediately ascertained, a report pegged it at about $2 billion.
Billionaire Gautam Adani's group is said to be planning a surprise entry into the race to acquire telecom spectrum, which will pitch it directly against Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio and telecom czar Sunil Bharti Mittal's Airtel, sources said. Applications for participating in the July 26 auction of airwaves, including those capable of providing fifth-generation or 5G telecom services such as ultra-high-speed internet connectivity, closed on Friday with at least four applications. Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea -- the three private players in the telecom sector -- applied, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.
Country's largest telecom service provider Bharti Airtel on Monday revealed its plans to launch iPhone 4, the latest product from Apple Computers's stable, by October.
The Centre had earlier urged the top court that up to 20 years be given to telecom companies for the payment of dues in staggered manner.
About Rs 52,500 crore (Rs 525 billion) has been offered as of the fourth day of the ongoing wireless spectrum auction on Thursday, with metros like Delhi seeing renewed demand for airwaves.
The adjusted gross revenue (earnings from sale of telecom services) of the top three telecom companies in India - Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular declined by 7.98 per cent, 5.14 per cent and 4.91 per cent respectively during third quarter of 2016-17.
Consumers will now have to pay up to 30 per cent extra for data services as leading telecom players Bharti Airtel and Vodafone are hiking tariffs and others may soon follow suit.
Airtel reported a 19 per cent rise in its ARPU in the March quarter, as it removed the non-paying users from its network.
The letter was jointly written by Bharti Enterprises Chairman and Group CEO Sunil Bharti Mittal, Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and Vodafone Group Plc CEO Vittorio Colao.
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