The company has reportedly been in the process of shutting its CDMA business and shifting its subscribers to 2G, 3G and 4G networks.
With a sharp spurt in growth, the GSM industry has witnessed the highest ever subscriber additions in September at 4.4 million, taking the cellular subscriber base to 91 million.
Indian telecom seems to be getting back on its feet.
With the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) refusing to reserve 900-MHz spectrum for incumbent telcos, asking them to vacate the quantity held and win back through bidding, GSM operators, led by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), have decided to propose a compromise formula.
The incumbent operators faced the onslaught of free offers and cheaper rates from Jio.
A crown of thorns awaits the next telecom minister at Sanchar Bhawan as the new incumbent will have to address a host of tricky issues like industry infighting, tariffs and improving financial health of the Rs 2.3 lakh crore industry.
India's cellular subscribers base rose to 11.16 million in January 2003 from 10.48 million in the previous month, registering a growth of 6.4 per cent.
The move comes a few days after billionaire businessman Elon Musk tweeted that his Starlink internet services would be available in India as soon as it gets regulatory approvals next year. Musk's Starlink, which plans to have a constellation of 40,000 low-orbit satellites, recently started offering high-speed internet in the US as part of its beta launch phase.
Reliance Jio accuses COAI of malafide intention.
Trai calls both Jio and incumbents for a meeting to discuss the issue
India has average monthly spends of $4 per user; it is over $20 in other Asian markets
Letter to telecom secretary alleges Jio is masquerading full-blown services in the guise of a trial; no word from Reliance.
With the profitability of telecom operators declining due to "low tariffs and high costs", GSM industry body COAI Chairman Himanshu Kampania has said the mobile sector cannot sustain future investments with present low margins.
Market leader Bharti Airtel added the maximum 17.22 lakh (1.72 million) new users during the month to take its base to 19.65 crore (196.5 million) at the end of November.
Industry body COAI plans to approach DoT citing Supreme Court's 2012 order
For re-verification through Aadhaar-based eKYC process, the operator will send a verification code to the mobile number of the subscriber.
GSM based mobile service providers jointly added over 44 lakh new customers, taking their cumulative customer base to 67.88 crore in September, according to data released by industry body COAI on Wednesday.
Total subscriber base at the end of November 2011 stood at 663.78 million users.
Under the previous quality of service rules, penalty on call drop was Rs 100,000 per violation and could go up to Rs 200,000 in case of third subsequent violation.
Kolkata has emerged as one of the key concerns for the telecom companies providing GSM services.
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.
TRAI today made it mandatory for telecom operators to compensate consumers by one rupee for call drops with effect from January 1, 2016.
Among other segments, home broadband subscriptions have picked up and the virtual private network service, too, increased by around 15 per cent.
GSM operators in the country have added 14.49 million new users in the month of March, taking the total GSM subscriber base to 569.55 million, an industry body said.
The Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) upholds government's decision on dual technology for RCom.
CDMA operators on Tuesday slammed a report of the DOT spectrum committee on airwave allocation, saying it is 'highly inclined' in favour of the GSM operators.
'Everybody has freedom, but you cannot start a fire in a crowded theatre.'
The Aadhaar-enabled payment system, or AEPS, allows consumers who don't have smartphones or debit cards to perform basic banking transactions like cash deposit, cash withdrawal, intrabank or interbank fund transfer, balance enquiry and obtaining a mini statement through biometric authentication at micro-ATMs.
Home minister heads several groups of ministers, including the one to decide the revival package for Bharat Sanchar Nigam and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam. His ministry also takes decisive calls on national security in relation to telecom operations as well as equipment and technology used in the industry.
High spectrum charges would lead to rise in mobile services rates and adversely impact government's Digital India initiative by impeding telecom network expansion.
Private GSM mobile players' lobby Cellular Operators Association of India launched on Wednesday another attack on the government, warning that any proposal to issue Letters of Intent to all prospective licencees will seriously hamper investors' confidence. According to COAI, the entry fee of Rs 1,651 crore (Rs 16.51 billion) for a pan-India licence, as fixed by the department of telecommunication is for spectrum bundled with license.
The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal will hear the petition, asking for a stay against the government order permitting crossover allotment, on Wednesday. In its petition, the COAI has said the DoT's decision has been taken with 'unseemly' haste to benefit a few operators that have made a 'backdoor entry' on the basis of 'invalid applications' given in February 2006.
The petition filed by a host of GSM operators along with COAI also sought quashing of department of telecommunication's decision, dated October 19, to allow enhanced subscriber-linked criterion for spectrum allocation. They also sought non-implementation of these decisions terming them unfair, unjust, illegal, arbitrary and violative of level-playing field and principles of natural justice.
The government on Tuesday started allocating GSM spectrum to new telecom players, commencing with the Tamil Nadu circle including Chennai, in a move that would infuse more competition in the mobile telephony space.Five new players -- Videocon-promoted Datacom, Idea Cellular, realty major Unitech, Swan Telecom and Loop Telecom -- have been given start-up 4.4 MHz GSM spectrum in Tamil Nadu circle.
The GSM-based mobile operators in the country added 8.3 million subscribers in May taking the total subscriber base to 306.4 million.
GSM operators may face the music as DoT considers the decision of taking away excess spectrum.
Mumbai is a distant number two with 90 per cent, followed by Delhi at 83 per cent. The fourth metro, Kolkata, is way behind with 67 per cent. The four metros account for 16 per cent of the country's mobile subscriber base, but 25 per cent of the total revenue. That means their residents use their phones more and pay fatter bills than subscribers elsewhere in the country. This is the user profile that rings a bell for mobile phone marketers.
TRAI removed network interconnection charges.
Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications said on Tuesday the government's move to introduce mobile number portability would help GSM players Aircel, Idea and Spice as they enter new circles. The government had on Monday announced that the mobile number portability, under which users would be able to switch operators while retaining their existing cell phone numbers, would be allowed by next year.
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