The auction for Broadband Wireless Access started on Monday with 11 players, including Bharti, Vodafone, RCom and Tatas, in the race to acquire the two slots on offer.
Reliance Jio's aggressive target to reach 100 million households through the launch of the 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) could make it one of the world's largest players in this space. But this also marks a change from its earlier strategy of offering fibre-to-the home (FTTH) broadband to households. Despite its best efforts, in two years Jio has been able to connect only 7 million households with FTTH, as permission for right of way for the last mile became a major impediment and the process of laying ducts for the roll-out was slow and cumbersome.
There are opportunities to repeat the success of NTP '99 with 3G and Broadband Wireless Access, says Shyam Ponappa.
Jio Platforms Limited is likely to have a valuation of $148 billion by the time it goes public on the back of strong free cash flow and potential deleveraging, ICICI Securities said.
ICICI Securities expects Jio Platforms' ensuing IPO to fetch "premium valuations", as was the case in the high-profile equity raise of FY21, and has pegged the company's equity value at $148 billion by September 2027.
The Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI), which represents ISP operators in the country, is planning to go to telecom tribunal TDSAT against the new guidelines on licence for broadband wireless access (BWA) services, announced on Friday by Communications Minister A Raja.
Bharti Airtel on Thursday said it has acquired 49 per cent stake in Qualcomm's broadband wireless access (BWA) business in India for USD 165 million (about Rs 922 crore).
The stock of Bharti Airtel, India's largest listed telecommunications (telecom) services provider, recently hit an all-time high on expectations of higher average revenue per user (Arpu), a stable market setup, and fresh revenue lines.
The Department of Telecommunications has decided to hike four-fold the reserve price for broadband wireless access services in the country.
The details of the BWA auction winners are still awaited from the Department of Telecom.
Mukesh Ambani-led RIL on Tuesday said its newly acquired internet arm Infotel has paid Rs 12,847.77 crore (Rs 128.477 billion) it bid for pan-India Broadband Wireless Access spectrum.
The Unified Licence for all 22 Service Areas across India will make the company the first telecom operator in the country to get pan India Unified Licence, the company said in a statement.
The government on Friday said successful bidders for BWA spectrum -- including Infotel, which was acquired by Mukesh Ambani-led RIL -- will get the frequency next week, paving the way for subscribers to get mobile broadband services by the end of this year.
Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, is understood to be in talks with leading Indian telecom companies like Tata Communications (formerly VSNL), Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications that could bid for broadband wireless access spectrum to be auctioned by the government in January 2010.
Telecom major Alcatel-Lucent on Wednesday said they are in talks with various service providers, including Reliance Industries and Tikona Digital Networks for deploying infrastructure for mobile broadband services.
While Reliance/Infotel Broadband stands to gain if Qualcomm is forced out of the BWA race, will the potential Indian consumer of broadband wireless services gain from this unseemly tussle? That is a question that remains unanswered.
The move is being considered after growing clamour from competing 4G operators for a level playing field in relation to Qualcomm.
The government has raised over Rs 38,300 crore (Rs 383 billion) from the 16-day long auction for Broadband Wireless Access spectrum, which closed on Friday.
According to a study by industry association Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and telecom consulting firm BDA, 3G revenues in the country will reach $15.8 billion, 46 per cent of the total wireless revenue, by 2013.
Reliance Infotel to be the biggest beneficiary.
Reliance Industries (RIL) has cut estimates for proven gas reserves in its Krishna-Godavari block off the east coast by 6.7 per cent, to 3.67 trillion cubic ft (tcf), the company said in its annual report.
Reliance Jio accuses COAI of malafide intention.
Telecom players have started protesting against government's move to allow Voice over Internet Protocol. They say Reliance will be the biggest beneficiary.
The United States-based mobile chip maker Qualcomm today sold 26 per cent stake in broadband unit in India to Tulip Telecom and Global Holdings for $57.72 million (about Rs 268 crore).
The government on Tuesday exuded confidence that revenues from sale of spectrum for 3G telephony and broadband may touch Rs 50,000-55,000 crore (Rs 500-550 billion), beating the budget estimates of Rs 35,000 crore (Rs 350 billion).
The move is significant as it would extend the power of CAG -- set up to audit central and state government departments as well as PSUs -- to private sector companies.
Malaysia's leading telecom operator, Axiata, has backed out of its negotiations to pick up a substantial stake in broadband wireless access operator Tikona Digital.
Google, the world's largest search engine and one of the biggest internet brands, is understood to be eyeing opportunities in the third generation of mobile telephony, or 3G, in India.
Qualcomm had received its internet service provider licence last month, after a delay of 18 months, with a validity period of 20 years after a Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal direction to DoT.
The bids were slated to be opened on December 4. WiMAX or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access provides for wireless transmission of data and up to 75 Mb/sec speed. The 802.16d -- also frequently referred to as 'fixed WiMAX' has no support for mobility.
The Cellular Operators Association of India said it would not take any legal step on the issue, unlike what it had said earlier.
Will Mukesh Ambani disrupt the telecom market by offering consumers voice calls at rock-bottom tariff?
The Finance Ministry, which is under immense pressure to meet the fiscal deficit target during the current financial year, has also written a letter to the department of telecommunication to auction spectrum to earn additional revenues.
The amount is much higher than the earlier target of up to Rs 35,000 crore (Rs 350 billion).
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has rejected a proposal by Communications Minister A Raja for refund of the Rs 29,598 crore paid by state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited for third generation (3G) and broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum.
The government is scheduled to borrow Rs 4.57 lakh crore (Rs 4.57 trillion) from markets this fiscal and it maintains that this level of debt would be raised.
This investment, up from $20 billion seen last year, would be for continuing the development of 3G, Broadband Wireless Access and expansion of existing networks, said R K Pathak, secretary of the Telecom Equipment & Services Export Promotion Council, in Singapore at the CommunicAsia 2010, a Singapore exhibition for global telecom industries.
The reserve price is Rs 1,750 crore for a pan-India BWA spectrum licence.
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