Inching towards the 50 million mark, the GSM subscriber base in India touched 44.92 million in June, 2005 adding 1.57 million users with telecom operator Bharti enjoying a market share of over 27 per cent.
Nokia's Chennai plant is under freeze over tax dispute.
Apple's three vendors in the country have hit the milestone of creating 30,000 new direct jobs since the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for mobile devices kicked off in April 2021. Based on the government's estimate that one direct job in the electronics industry helps to generate three indirect ones, Apple's vendors, Foxconn Hon Hai, Wistron and Pegatron, are close to creating 100,000 direct and indirect jobs. The direct jobs that the vendors have created account for a fourth of Apple's commitment to generate 60 per cent of the new direct jobs out of the 200,000 jobs targeted by the government under the PLI scheme within five years.
Nokia may be allowed to sell Chennai mobile plant.
'The government expects demand for electronic products to reach $400 billion by 2023-24. This would be a huge foreign exchange outflow, which may further widen our trade deficit with other nations. Hence, the government plans to push local electronics manufacturing to cut down on their import bill.'
A Dubai trip plus Apple iPhone 12 is cheaper than buying the phone in India. Various models of the iPhone 12 Pro and Max are cheaper in Dubai by up to Rs 35,000 owing to higher GST, Customs duty in India.
BSNL, Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications, who also provide GSM technology-based services, are not part of the report.
By the end of December 2021, India had 389 million users who did not have access to mobile Internet, while there were 765.8 million mobile Internet users in the country.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is in the process of issuing a show-cause notice to Vodafone Idea (Vi) for delaying the payment of licence fee. Companies pay 8 per cent of their adjusted gross revenue as licence fee. This also includes a universal service obligation levy. The fee is collected from each of the 22 telecom circles in the country on a quarterly basis.
The novel mRNA vaccine candidate, HGCO19, is supported with seed grant under the Ind-CEPI mission of the Department of Biotechnology. The mRNA vaccines do not use the conventional model to produce immune response. Instead, they carry molecular instructions to make the protein in the body through a synthetic RNA of the virus.
India had 1.417 crore mobile phone subscribers at the end of May, 102.8 per cent more than at the end of the same month last year, an industry body said on Thursday.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel led the growth in segment with net addition of 1.31 million subscribers.
IAMAI in a statement, which represents digital businesses in India, said Trai's recommendation to formulate standards of anonymisation and de-identification was akin to putting the cart before the horse, and till such time the Srikrishna Committee submits the report, making these standards would be like groping in the dark.
Several factors have held India back. One is DoT policy somersaults and lack of clarity on whether to or not to ban Chinese gear makers.
'There is no doubt at all that Jio's disruption of the mobile broadband market was a turning point for India's digital economy.'
The GSM-based mobile operators in the country added 8.3 million subscribers in May taking the total subscriber base to 306.4 million.
T V Ramachandran, former director-general of the Cellular Operators' Association of India, iterates his wish that the differences in technologies would blur.
India added over 13.5 million new GSM mobile subscribers in August, with Bharti Airtel adding a little over two million users to achieve close to 30 per cent market share.
Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and Association of Unified Telcom Service Providers of India (AUSPI) have opposed the proposal to compensate consumers.
In a communication to the empowered committee on PLI recently, the Indian Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA) has stated that except one player (Samsung), all the other eight players (which include vendors of Apple Inc) selected under the scheme were facing numerous challenges in fulfilling the qualification criteria.
The Cellular Operators Association of India, industry body representing GSM operators, had argued that TTSL's spectrum was allotted through the same press release issued on January 10, 2008, which led to the cancellation of 122 licences.
Telecom industry body COAI has approached the information technology ministry for removal of fake and misleading messages from social media platforms like Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter linking spread of COVID-19 to 5G technology. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), whose members include Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, said the claims linking 5G with coronavirus are baseless as 5G networks have not yet been installed in the country and even 5G trials are yet to be started by the telecom operators. In a letter dated May 15 to MeitY additional secretary Rajendra Kumar, COAI director general S P Kochhar said: "To safeguard the national interest, we request your good office to kindly instruct all the social media platforms such as Facebook, Watsapp, Twitter, etc, to remove all such posts and misleading campaigns from their platforms on an urgent basis." People have been sharing audio and video messages on social media platforms in which 5G towers are being blamed for rise in casualties across the country even though none of the companies have installed 5G technology anywhere in India.
A well-balanced lifestyle is the cornerstone for people living with diabetes and those at risk, recommends Shilpa Joshi, head of Metabolic Nutrition, Fitterfly.
The US tech major is planning to begin local production of its upcoming iPhone 12 by next April - within six months of its launch.
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.
Telecom regulator TRAI on Tuesday released a detailed consultation paper to discuss threadbare the modalities for auction of spectrum across multiple bands, including pricing, quantum and other conditions -- preparing the groundwork for 5G auctions slated for next year. Trai's comprehensive consultation paper runs into 207 pages and throws up 74 questions for industry-wide discussion, touching on crucial aspects like valuation and reserve price of spectrum, including 5G, quantum of spectrum, block size, eligibility conditions for participation in auction, roll-out obligations, spectrum cap, and surrender of spectrum. Norms will also be worked out for new frequencies such as 526-698 MHz and millimetre band, that is 24.25 - 28.5 GHz, in addition to bands such as 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300-3670 MHz.
Amid an existential crisis facing the firm over Rs 50,000 crore unpaid dues towards the government, billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla on Wednesday stepped down as the chairman of Vodafone Idea Ltd. Birla -- who had in June offered to give away his holding in the joint venture with Britain's Vodafone to the government -- will cease to be a director and non-executive chairman of the company at the end of business hours on Wednesday, VIL said in a filing to the stock exchanges. It did not give any reason for Birla's decision. He will be replaced by Himanshu Kapania (who was earlier managing director and CEO of Birla's Idea Cellular) as the new chairman of Vodafone Idea Ltd.
Apex telecom industry body COAI has asserted that spectrum pricing should be kept conducive to market conditions as 5G entails upfront capital investments with monetisation spread over a long-haul, and pricing radiowaves high will only push the players up against the wall. The stage is set for Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to come out with its recommendations on 5G spectrum pricing and other modalities for upcoming auctions, and the announcement from the sector watchdog is expected anytime now. Norms will also be worked out for new frequencies such as 526-698 MHz and millimetre band, that is 24.25 - 28.5 GHz, in addition to bands such as 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300-3670 MHz.
'While consumers have benefited tremendously from rock-bottom telecom tariffs, the telecom sector has been reeling under deep financial stress,' points out Rajan S Mathews, director general, Cellular Operators Association of India.
Cellular operators' body COAI had, last year, alleged that the new entrant Reliance Jio was attempting to acquire customers by offering connection loaded with freebies, in the guise of a trial launch.
The telephone subscriber base was 996.49 million at the end of March.
New telecom operators who have been given licences to operate pan-India GSM mobile services are all set to fight a bitter battle with the established GSM players like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular.
Private cellular and fixed line operators on Monday demanded direct inter-connectivity with Bharat Sanchar Nigam's Ltd cellular services.
A presentation by the CBI to a Joint Parliamentary Committee last week said the decision led to a loss of Rs 508 crore to the exchequer.
According to sources, Idea Cellular has agreed to provide interconnection to RCom thereby not becoming a part of Cellular Operators' Association of India's likely petition against Trai's directive on the same. Besides, other operators to provide interconnectivity to RCom GSM network are Aircel and Spice Communication.
From real estate behemoths to infrastructure majors, from mobile device manufacturers to heavy engineering companies, they all made commitments to the tune of billions of dollars. Unfortunately, the reality has fallen far short.
The new proposals will lead to complex processes and huge costs for telecom service providers, without any substantial benefits: COAI
Come July, mobile phone prices are expected to be dearer by up to 10 per cent due to the steep depreciation in the value of rupee against dollar.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances