Bharti Airtel has sought quashing of the government's September 28 decision directing the service providers to stop providing intra-circle roaming services.
According to market sources, Airtel has reduced free minutes by 10 to 25 per cent and has increased price of SPVs in the range of Rs 5 to Rs 15.
Total subscriber base at the end of November 2011 stood at 663.78 million users.
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.
The Sunil Mittal led firm accused the regulator of "wrongly" holding Jio's promotional offer as compliant with the regulatory guidelines
Telco moves Delhi High Court against order; Vodafone expected to get notice too
Telcos' m-cap rises Rs 11,286 crore; Bharti, RCom lead.
Companies may face significant spectrum fees from the government.
Telecom Commission says refarm all spectrum in 900-MHz band to 1,800-MHz band operators.
Vodafone's operating loss from India business jumped to 692 million euros in April-September from 133 million euros in the same period last year.
Govt petition separated from others, to be heard in open court on Apr 13
Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular have demanded allocation of a part of CDMA spectrum in 800 Mhz band for GSM services.
Total revenue dropped by 10.5 per cent to Rs 19,634 crore in the fourth quarter of 2017-18
With their net debt estimated at Rs 1.15 trillion, the merged entity will not be in much of a position to dole out freebies, says Romita Majumdar.
Incumbent operators can retain 2.5-MHz spectrum in 900-MHz band, rest to be refarmed decision final.
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 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.
The reason is believed to be a 19% increase in interest cost.
Idea tops list of companies with high percentage of active subscribers.
Revenues rose 12.88 per cent to Rs 6,061
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.
Successful bidders will have to pay 25 per cent of the amount upfront for sub 1 GHz, and 50 per cent upfront for higher frequency bands.
On February 2, the court had ordered the cancellation of 122 licences issued in January 2008 under then telecom minister, A Raja, and directed the government to conduct the auction of vacated 2G spectrum in four months.
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.
Historically, public sector units were conceived of under the assumption that they will control the 'commanding heights' of the Indian economy, which were necessary for rapid industrial growth but where private investment was unwilling to enter.
Firms to pay Rs 24,700 cr if spectrum formula is accepted.
In an aggressive bid to improve the slow uptake of 3G services, the country's largest mobile operator, Bharti Airtel, on Thursday slashed tariffs in various plans by as much as 70 per cent across circles.
Says Airtel-Vodafone-Idea pacts violate licence terms; firms may move TDSAT.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has rejected a proposal by Mauritius-based Axiata Investments 2 India Ltd, part of Asian telecom giant Axiata Group, to increase its stake in Idea Cellular by acquiring shares from the stock exchange.
Mobile tariffs are currently under forbearance, which means these are determined by market forces.
The telecom regulator had suggested imposition of a price on operators for holding spectrum beyond the contracted limit of 6.2MHz.
Vodafone, Airtel, Idea provide services without spectrum.
Idea Cellular has gone off the beaten track in its 3G growth strategy.
Nine million subscribers opt for mobile number portability in first three months of its launch.
Number of 3G subscribers in India is more than 12.2 million.
It wants subscribers who are 'active' on its network.
As trade pundits predicted, tariff hikes are going to be slow and steady unlike the domino effect caused in 2009, when even established operators went into a frenzy and slashed tariffs to hold back subscribers.
TRAI said the two companies failed to fulfill roll-out obligations and their merger was in violation of rules.
The three will now use each other's networks through inter and intra-circle roaming arrangements where they do not have licences.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances