In December, Trai had floated a pre-consultation paper seeking inputs from stakeholders on tariff for national roaming services.
Qatar's sovereign wealth fund is in early discussions to buy a minority stake in billionaire Mukesh Ambani's rapidly expanding retail unit for about $1 billion (Rs 8,200 crore), sources said. The Qatar Investment Authority is keen on tapping the fast-growing Indian market and has entered into a discussion to buy about 1 per cent stake in Reliance Retail Ventures, sources with knowledge of the matter said. Talks, sources said, are at a preliminary stage and being led by an executive director on the board of parent Reliance Industries Ltd.
Reliance Industries, construction major L&T and IRB Infrastructure are some of the top companies that have used an infrastructure investment trust structure to reduce part of their debt and generate returns for their investors. Earlier this month, IRB Infrastructure InvIT was listed on the National Stock Exchange, giving its investors an option to exit by selling their units. The listing came within months of the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) guidelines for conversion of private unlisted InvITs into listed ones were issued.
Every defaulter is not a wilful defaulter who has the capability of paying back and is yet not servicing the bank loan, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 2G spectrum scam on Wednesday began examining the telecom policy pursued during the National Democratic Alliance rule as it sought to know the quantum of losses incurred during that period and decided to summon the then Attorney General Soli Sorabjee in this connection.
NavIC consists of a constellation of seven satellites and a network of ground stations and is touted to be more accurate than GPS.
it will allow users to retain their numbers even if they move from one state to another.
According to sources in the know, Anil Ambani-led RCom will be providing all infrastructure - towers, fibre, backhaul as well as its national and international long distance facilities-- to RIL's high-speed broadband services.
Reliance Jio has suggested an alternative plan to the The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) under which spectrum required by non-geostationary orbit satellite (NGSO) operators to run their gateway terminals should be auctioned geographically, based on districts, rather than circles as done for mobile services. For spectrum which would be required to connect user terminals (like individual homes), Jio has suggested it should be auctioned frequency-wise and exclusively to an operator at a pan-India level. The move is significant as the auctioning of satellite space spectrum has been vehemently opposed by low earth orbit satellite operators (satellites which circle at low altitudes of 200-2000 km).
This decision was taken at Executive Council meeting of National Association of Software and Service Companies held in Pune.
It is not only toll collection that is expected to boost government revenue, but also charges on services rendered.
NTP 2012, approved in May, aims to abolish roaming charges and allow mobile phone subscribers to use same number across country without having to pay extra charges for services once they are outside their telecom circle.
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad is learnt to have approached Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for additional funds to carry out schemes committed under Universal Services Obligation fund scheme.
Billionaire Gautam Adani's group is said to be planning a surprise entry into the race to acquire telecom spectrum, which will pitch it directly against Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio and telecom czar Sunil Bharti Mittal's Airtel, sources said. Applications for participating in the July 26 auction of airwaves, including those capable of providing fifth-generation or 5G telecom services such as ultra-high-speed internet connectivity, closed on Friday with at least four applications. Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea -- the three private players in the telecom sector -- applied, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.
Telecom operators slash call rates to quake-hit Nepal
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) expects to finalise the norms for mergers and acquisitions and spectrum sharing by the end of June. It also plans to approve the National Telecom Policy (NTP), 2012, by the end of July.
Mukesh Ambani, will become the IOA's principal partner and help the country's sports federations
Reliance Industries Ltd will invest Rs 75,000 crore in rolling out 5G mobile telephony services, expanding retail network and setting up renewable energy capacity in Uttar Pradesh in the next four years, its chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Friday. Ambani also announced foray of the oil-to-telecom conglomerate into bio-energy business, converting agriculture waste into gas which can be used as fuel in industries, run automobiles or light kitchen stoves. Speaking at the Uttar Pradesh Global Investors Summit 2023 here, Ambani said his group will set up 10 GigaWatts of renewable energy capacity and roll out 5G services across the state in the next 10 months.
NTP 2012, approved in May, aims to abolish roaming charges and allow mobile phone subscribers to use same number across country without having to pay extra charges for services once they are outside their telecom circle.
Incoming charges while roaming have been a hindrance to worry-free usage
Earlier, during the day, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal met various operators to discuss the national broadband policy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the US is expected to see discussion on India's possible entry into a US-led global alliance on critical minerals, officials told Business Standard. In June last year, the US, the European Union, and other G7 partners launched the Minerals Security Partnership to ensure that China did not further strengthen its grip on supplies of critical minerals the world over. Various ministries, including the Ministry of Finance, have communicated to the Ministry of External Affairs to explore the possibility of India joining the partnership, officials said.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has received Rs 300 crore from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) following relief from the Supreme Court (SC), which is hearing an appeal by the market regulator in the colocation case. The court on March 20 asked Sebi to return Rs 300 crore to the NSE from the Rs 1,107 crore the exchange had deposited as part of the disgorgement in the case. The NSE had given an undertaking that it will return the entire amount to Sebi if the latter wins its appeal before the SC.
The regulator has also agreed to the one-nation, one-licence proposal, which will make roaming free across the country. But it wants to decide the modalities of the issue.
Mukesh's television unit has been aggressively wrapping up deals with hundreds of small players in a street-by-street effort to conquer that final hurdle in its cable TV drive
The department of telecom has rejected any suggestion to put 74 per cent foreign direct investment under the automatic route saying it is not feasible on account of national interest.
From the US, Modi will travel to Egypt at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
The second largest telecom operator said auction would avoid possible legal disputes and pave the way for licence extensions.
'Our mandate is to work in a transparent manner, keeping two objectives in mind - consumer interest and growth of the telecom sector.'
Hitting back at Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal for accusing Bharatiya Janata Party of killing democracy, senior party leader Yashwant Sinha has said that the country's main opposition party has saved nation's democracy.
The revenue of telecom services, including that of cellular, fixed line, national long distance, international long distance, broadband, radio trunking and VSAT services, has risen to Rs 1,30,561 crore, registering a growth of 21.3 per cent, a survey by Voice&Data revealed. Among the services, cellular segment contributed a major chunk of around 59 per cent to the total revenue.
'Inter-ministerial coordination, information on the proposed PSUs, and due diligence are taking longer than expected to conclude the process.'
Currently, MNP is only available within a state/circle.
Gautam Adani's alleged proximity to Narendra Modi may dent the latter's self-styled image of incorruptibility, points out Kanika Datta.
The prime minister, who is visiting the US at the invitation of President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, will join them for the state banquet along with a number of dignitaries on Thursday.
Chinese telecom gear giant Huawei Technologies has sought permission for access to the government's 'Trusted Telecom Portal' which went live on June 15 so that it can share details about the telecom products which telecom service providers have agreed to buy from it. The move is significant as sources close to the development say that, according to Chinese telecom companies' interpretation, the new National Security Directive on the telecom sector does not in any way prohibit them from participating in the process of selling telecom equipment of any kind to private telcos. The firm is waiting for a response from the government. It declined to comment.
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