For the smart phone industry, it has been a lacklustre quarter of CY2024, with sales falling by 3-4 per cent over the same period last year, according to Counterpoint Research projections. However, with the launch of many new models in Q1 of CY24, overall shipments grew year-on-year by 10-12 per cent. In CY23 shipments remained flat, ending the year with 152 million units.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has significantly tightened the noose on mergers among telecom operators within a circle by imposing a three-year lock-in period, besides making it mandatory for them to take prior permission from the ministry.
The government believes firms which are subject to China's laws could be forced to hand over information to Beijing's security services.
"The fact of the matter is we need policies in place. There are no policies in place to ensure that spectrum is adequately and effectively used. There are no policies in place for audit for companies that actually buy spectrum. We must put in place (policies) to ensure that there is spectrum sharing, spectrum trading," Telecom minister Kapil Sibal said at the FICCI Annual General Meeting.
The fear of another scam pushed the government into a rather long period of so-called 'policy paralysis'. To play it safe, the price of spectrum in all subsequent auctions was benchmarked to the high 3G rates, says Surajeet Das Gupta.
If accepted, the plan could give the sector Rs 70,000-crore (Rs 700-billion) relief.
The S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices have managed to stay afloat in a volatile January that saw the frontline indices hit their respective 52-week high levels and then slip. While the S&P BSE Sensex has lost over 2 per cent thus far in January, the S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices have gained nearly 2.5 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively during this period.
India has become the world's fourth largest market for optic-fibre cable after Japan, the US, and China following adoption of new telecom policy, a new study has said.
The Internet is too important to let a few private telecom players decide what the rules will be for consumers, says Rajeev Chandrasekhar, independent member of Parliament who was one of the key petitioners seeking the scrapping of Section 66A of the Information Technology Act.
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.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as a source of funding has shrunk to a trickle for the once lucrative telecom sector with foreign investment inflows plunging to $43 million in the April-September period of the current fiscal.
it will allow users to retain their numbers even if they move from one state to another.
Inter-ministerial body Telecom Commission on Tuesday approved hiking foreign direct investment limit in the sector from 74 per cent to 100 per cent.
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.
Analyst are cautious about the performance of IT services sector from January to March quarter (Q4) of FY24 and the first half (H1) of FY25. While the Bloomberg consensus on revenue implies the market is expecting 2-3 per cent growth on a quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) basis for the IT majors through FY25, the H1FY25 is likely to see even flatter returns, and Q4FY24 is likely to be poor. There is likely to be some recovery in the second half (H2FY25) but even so, there's a chance that the market will be overall disappointed.
For the PMO this is urgent as the Digital India framework would depend on how the telecom companies perform. It is also linked to the proposed auction of 5G airwaves.
Signalling both change and continuity, India's new government, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third consecutive term, got into work gear on Tuesday with cabinet ministers and ministers of state filing into their respective offices to assume charge.
Asserting that leading international consultancy firm A T Kearney had rated India as the third hottest FDI destination, India on Thursday sought investment from Taiwan in telecom and ICT ventures.
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.
The operating profit growth rate of mobile service providers is expected to double in next two years buoyed by increase in call rates and clarity in policy, credit rating agency CRISIL has said.
India's overall imports from Taiwan during April-February rose by 34 per cent to $7.5 billion.
The Telecom Commission, the policy-making wing of the DoT, will soon take up the issue of divestment in state-run BSNL, Telecom Minister A Raja said on Wednesday.
Telecom operators have opposed sectoral regulator Trai's proposal to review the tariff policy, saying the current regime has appropriate regulatory measures to protect the interest of consumers.
The government on Friday put on hold the preferential market access (PMA) policy that provided for sourcing of sensitive telecom and electronic equipments and technology from domestic manufacturers over security concerns.
The government on Thursday cleared changes to the current channel down-linking guidelines to allow broadcasters to provide content to telecom service providers for Internet Protocol TV.
The much-awaited guidelines on foreign direct investment in telecom are expected to be notified this month with companies likely to be given a maximum of four months
The department of telecommunications, in the draft universal licence guidelines to be signed with telcos which recently won spectrum in the 1800 MHz auction of November, has included a new clause for foreign companies.
Shourie held the telecom portfolio between January 2003 and May 2004 in the NDA regime.
India's security concerns over Chinese telecom equipment are groundless, a Chinese trade body has said, asserting that Chinese companies used same technologies as their Western counterparts and banning them was discriminatory.
Since August 2013, FIPB has approved two FDI proposals in the telecom sector.
A day ahead of the interim Budget, India slashed import duty on spare parts, like battery cover, lens and SIM socket, used in mobile phone manufacturing to 10 per cent, from 15 per cent. The duty cut is aimed at boosting local production and exports, as well as reducing prices in local markets. The finance ministry on January 30, notified the cut in duty on all goods for use in manufacture of cellular mobile phones to 10 per cent.
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Indian telecom sector has at present around 13 mobile phone service providers with some of them expected to go for consolidation once the final guidelines are in place.
Earlier, during the day, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal met various operators to discuss the national broadband policy.
The second largest telecom operator said auction would avoid possible legal disputes and pave the way for licence extensions.
The government plans to remove the definition of broadcasting services altogether from the bill to help reduce confusion among stakeholders.
Modelled loosely around the National Highway System of the US, he in 2001 launched the Golden Quadrilateral and the North-South & East-West Corridor projects to build 4/6 lane highways between four top metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata as well as from Srinagar to Kanyakumari and Porbandar to Silchar.
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.
Manoj Sinha, earlier minister of state for railways, will be tasked to conduct the auction and deal with issues like net neutrality.
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