The Department of Telecommunication and mobile service providers, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance Communications failed to reach a consensus on the spectrum issue during a meeting held on Wednesday. According to sources, Reliance Communications Chairman Anil Ambani raised the issue of extra spectrum being held by GSM operators. He asked how over 6.2 MHz of radio waves have been given to GSM players beyond their contractual agreement.
Under another plan, it will offer unlimited voice calling along with 100 SMS per day, 5GB 3G/4G data and free subscription to Wynk Music and Wynk Movies for Rs 1,599
Demand for 1,800-MHz weak but govt secures a combined Rs 42k cr on Day-1
Bharti Airtel called the prices exorbitant while Vodafone Idea wants the auctions take place in 2020. The auctions need to happen when the infrastructure is ready for the roll out, be it in terms of fiberisation levels, or optimisation of equipment and software etc. Spending a hefty amount on a technology (airwaves) that at present offers limited returns is not going to be a priority for the incumbent telcos.
Two leading mobile operators, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular, are understood to have increased pre-paid tariffs by up to 20 per cent, in line with the recent Bharti Airtel move. According to industry sources, the tariffs were increased few days ago.
Jio to charge users 6 paisa/min for voice calls made to rival phone networks. However, these charges are not applicable on calls made by Jio users to other Jio phones and to landline phones and calls made using WhatsApp, FaceTime and other such platforms.
The company will wait for sizeable user base for better valuation.
In the broader market, the BSE Midcap index bucked the trend to gain 0.3%
'Is it advisable to have more number of scrips in small quantities or a few scrips in big quantities?'
The telecom sector's adjusted gross revenues have grown 13.2% year-on-year in the June quarter.
But the road map of telecom will be decided by one thing: Whether Jio sticks to its ambitious plan and whether incumbents have enough financial muscle or ability to raise money every year to ensure that Jio does not reach its target, says Surajeet Das Gupta.
A day after mobile charges were hiked by leading operators, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday said consumers should be offered the lowest call rates. "We want consumers to be offered calls at lowest rates," Sibal told PTI.
The company wants to woo post-paid customers and rent out its assets to cut debt.
Companies have activated a comprehensive pandemic response plan with requisite risk mitigation protocols for keeping networks working as telecom is an essential service.
According to the CEO of an Indian group with presence in the telecom segment and two merchant bankers, the Mexico-headquartered telco's bankers have been sounded out for preliminary discussions with leading Indian telecom companies for a strategic tie-up.
Telecommunication companies buying airwaves in an Indian auction next month will pay 5 per cent of their revenue as an annual fee.
Special CBI Judge O P Saini adjourned Monday's proceedings in the wake of stay granted by the Supreme Court on separate pleas filed by Mittal and Ruia challenging the March 19 order of the trial court summoning them as accused in the case.
Airtel says to avail alternative routes to keep services on.
Analysts at rating agency ICRA say the debt level of the telecom companies is very high and the ecosystem for the premium band is not in place.
CEOs expect to finish the ongoing March quarter with positive growth as the corporates get back to work in full strength.
In a setback to telecom service providers, the Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Centre's plea to recover adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of about Rs 92,000 crore from them.
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.
Ahead of the coming auction of 2G telecom spectrum, the government has decided to allow all players to bid for all bands.
The government is likely to get about Rs 24,000 crore from one-time spectrum fee that has been levied on existing operators for holding radiowaves beyond a prescribed limit.
DoT's data is based on inputs from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and service providers.
Telecom Commission says refarm all spectrum in 900-MHz band to 1,800-MHz band operators.
The minister said the companies have given representation which is being examined by the DoT before taking a final decision.
Competitive intensity has returned to haunt the telecom sector.
The government has approved mergers between telecom companies with a combined market share of 35 per cent and rejected spectrum-sharing among 3G operators while restricting it for 2G operators.
The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accepted recommendation of the empowered group of ministers that all existing mobile phone companies must pay one-time spectrum charge.
Incumbent operators can retain 2.5-MHz spectrum in 900-MHz band, rest to be refarmed decision final.
The total outstanding dues against Bharti Airtel is Rs 11,235.50 crore.
The empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on telecom headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday decided to impose a one-time fee on incumbent operators prospectively for spectrum beyond 4.4 MHz in GSM and 2.5 MHz in CDMA.
At present, GSM operators such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular earn 10-12 per cent of their revenues from the national roaming services, which amount to Rs 10,000-Rs 13,500 crore.
Together, the top 10 business groups reported a pre-tax loss of Rs 19,342 crore during the January-March 2020 quarter, as against a profit before tax of around Rs 48,500 crore in the year-ago period and Rs 39,600 crore during the December quarter. While Vedanta was the worst hit. others included Aditya Birla, Bharti, Adani, Mahindra, and Tata.
The joint letter to Manmohan Singh was written by Sunil Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel, Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla group which has promoted Idea Cellular, and Vittoria Colao, chairman of Vodafone Group Plc.
However, the government is readying a relief package and it could include a cut in the licence fee to 5 per cent, two years' moratorium on paying spectrum charges with interest, and referring the GST tax refund issue to the Council.
DoT has stated in an internal note that the 3G roaming agreements between these three companies are tantamount to their becoming mobile virtual network operators, something not allowed under the current policy.
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