According to the PwC report titled -- Value Added Service: The Next Wave -- it is now time for India to evolve from the well established mobile messaging and commoditised voice play to focus on customer segmentation based data play.
"To use this spectrum, BSNL has gone for a franchise model on a revenue-sharing basis. As per the provision of expression of interest and agreement signed with the franchisee companies, they are required to pay amortised value of spectrum/ cost to BSNL on monthly basis," Minister of State for IT & Telecom Gurudas Kamat said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
The Budget for 2010-11 estimates the fiscal deficit, which represents excess government expenditure over its revenue, at Rs 3,81,408 crore or 5.5 per cent of GDP.
The telecom department has sent a letter of intent to NM Rothschild.
Two years after having allotted third-generation (3G) spectrum without any contest to its own telecom companies, on the promise that they'd match the prices later paid by private sector winners of the auction for it, the communications ministry now wants them to get it for free.
Better than projected revenues from the spectrum auction for 3G services and Broadband Wireless Access is likely to reduce the Centre's fiscal deficit to 4.47 per cent of the GDP during 2010-11 from an estimated 5.5 per cent and curtail its huge borrowings.
Qualcomm India got licences for four markets, including Delhi and Mumbai, apart from Kerala and Haryana.
Revenues from 3G and Broadband Wireless Access spectrum auction has helped government reduce the deficit.
The 3G and broadband wireless access spectrum auction is running into further controversies with a section of telecom firms opposing the timing of the auction and internet companies planning to move the Prime Minister's Office.Even though Reliance Communications is ready with $1-billion investment for 3G rollout, it intends to focus on GSM rollout at the moment. The company is "receptive to the opinion that the 3G auctions should be held at a later date," a source said.
The opening of bids has been deferred to September 22 from September 3 as decided earlier. The pre-bid conference, which was to be held on August 27, has also been re-scheduled to September 8. However, according to the revised schedule issued by the communications ministry, there will be no delay in the date of identifying the agency. The finalisation of the bids will be completed by September 30 as announced earlier by Telecom Secretary Siddhartha Behura.
State run BSNL on Monday it paid Rs 8,313.8 crore (Rs 83.13 billion) for Broadband Wireless Access spectrum, two days after the deadline expired, prompting the government to slap a penalty of Rs 30 crore (Rs 300 million) on the PSU.
The Rs 67,700 crore (Rs 677 billion) revenue mop up from the auction of 3G licence will help the government cut its fiscal deficit to nearly 4.9 per cent from 5.5 per cent of GDP projected in the Budget.
Faster connectivity, a host of value added services like internet TV, video-on-demand, audio-video calls and high-speed data exchange will soon be a reality in India as one of the biggest auctions begins today for 3G spectrum.
The government has set base prices for all the 22 zones at Rs 3,500 crore.
Foreign companies, except those already present in India, have stayed away from the auction of third-generation mobile spectrum, or 3G, though two new ones are keen on broadband wireless access.Not one new foreign company has applied for 3G. The last day for showing interest in bidding for 3G and BWA spectrum drew to a close on Friday.
The last date for applying for both 3G and BWA spectrum is today. Auction for BWA spectrum will begin on April 11.
The voice revenue per minute in India is among the lowest in the world at around 50 paise, says Kanwalinder Singh, President,Qualcomm India.
India's biggest telecom players, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries-backed Jio Platforms, will soon bring billionaire Elon Musk-led SpaceX's Starlink satellite services to India. According to analysts, the move could boost India's tele density, especially in the rural areas, and may be an opportunity for investors to add the two stocks on dips for long-term gains
In just four days of auction, the bid for the pan-Indian broadband wireless access spectrum has gone up by three times to Rs 5,245 crore (Rs 52.45 billion) against the base price of Rs 1,750 crore (Rs 17.50 billion).
The reserve price for pan-India spectrum was Rs 3,500 crore.
The bid for pan-India spectrum for 3G telephony on Thursday crossed Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion) and is still rising.
The auction of third generation (3G) spectrum is expected to close in one-two days, with the government likely to rake in Rs 50,000 crore from it.
The government would earn a minimum of Rs 38,000 crore (Rs 380 billion) from the 3G auction, with the pan-India licence reaching a bid of about Rs 9,521 crore (Rs 95.21 billion) on the 18th day, up by over 172 per cent from a base price of Rs 3,500 crore (Rs 35 billion).
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On May 24, 2012, Bharti Airtel and Qualcomm announced an agreement under which Bharti had acquired 49 per cent interest in Qualcomm AP's India entities with licences to offer 4G data services in four circles of Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala.
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.
The issue of which technology to use in wireless broadband services, TD-LTE or WiMax, is becoming keener.
Reliance Industries, which holds pan-India 4G telecom spectrum for data services, has applied for a licence to offer mobile telephony.
The subscriber base is made up of 778.09 million broadband internet users and 47.21 million narrowband internet users.
A VSNL statement at the Bombay Stock Exchange said that the completion of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions precedent and is expected to be over in next few weeks.
After subdued earnings in the first half amid global headwinds, India Inc is taking a cautious approach on their capital expenditure (capex) for the second half of the financial year ending March 2025, according to management commentary. Minutes from the October monetary policy meeting show the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) optimism about private investments picking up.
Airtel announced complete acquisition of WBSPL in October last year for an estimated Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion).
Officials of Reliance Jio Infocomm claimed to have achieved broadband speeds on their networks that are 10-12 times faster than 3G services.
BSNL, which was formed in 2000, was in the pink of financial health but lost to competition because of inadequate investment in infrastructure expansion that ought to have been provided during past few years, he told Rajya Sabha.
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel reported more than 2.5 times jump in its consolidated profit to Rs 4,160 crore in the April-June quarter of 2024-25 compared to the year-ago period driven by an improvement in average revenue per user and an exceptional gain of Rs 735 crore. The company had posted a profit of Rs 1,612.5 crore in the same period a year ago. The consolidated revenue from operations of Bharti Airtel increased by 2.8 per cent to Rs 38,506.4 crore during the reported quarter from Rs 37,440 crore in the June quarter of the last year.
Tata Teleservices has become the first service provider to offer mobile TV on high speed broadband wireless by launching Photon TV, which allows users to access channels on desktops and laptops.
Gearing up for its pan-India 4G services launch in coming months, Reliance Jio Infocomm has approached the Department of Telecom for a network test conducted along with security agencies.
'We operate in 16 countries already, and therefore adding the UK to it, and beginning a chapter in the European continent is the next step.'
Bharti Airtel is the largest mobile phone operator in the country.
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