The government on Thursday announced a new broadband policy and as expected has not accepted Telecom Regulatory Authority's proposal for unbundling the last mile link.
While the draft M&A policy for the telecom sector has been revised a few times over the past few months, DoT has not made any major changes to guidelines.
In 2011-12, 2010-11 and 2009-10, the sector attracted FDI worth $1.99 billion, $1.66 billion and $2.55 billion respectively.
In the broader market, the BSE Midcap index bucked the trend to gain 0.3%
'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.
Centre mulls strategy to ensure powers given to the agencies are not misused.
India and the US on Friday said they have started talks to put in place a strategic framework for human space flight by year-end as they plan to send an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station in 2024.
Amid increasing number of cyber attacks and snooping, the government on Tuesday announced the national cyber security policy that aims to protect information and build capabilities to prevent such attacks.
The 2G judgment suggests many bureaucrats have poor application, inadequate interest and are unwilling to be active participants in the policy process, says Babu Jacob.
'The government is unwilling or unable to provide the kind of relief that Vodafone India is asking for.'
The govt withdrew the draft encryption policy which made it mandatory for storage of all messages, including social media, for 90 days.
However, since the banking system is facing tight cash conditions due to payment for spectrum for high speed telecom and broadband services and advance tax outgo, some experts are also of the view that RBI would wait for liquidity to ease before going for rate hikes.
Foreign players too will be allowed to compete in the 3G space.
The government will introduce a unified licensing regime, covering operators either on an all-India scale or circle-wise with an aim to increase competition in the long distance segment. \n
This State-corporate 'cooperation' didn't begin with the arrival of the Modi government.
Many of the big licences, contracts, and even environmental clearances for the Adani group had come in the UPA's time, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Dismissing the view that the Supreme Court's judgement cancelling 122 2G licences was an indictment, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday said that the government will move forward in the issue after regulator TRAI make its recommendations.
'If you are going to have only a handful of telecom players on whom the entire dream of Digital India rests, it's important they are financially sustainable.'
Total foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow to India declined to $74.01 billion in the calendar year 2021, which is 15 per cent lower from $87.55 billion recorded in the previous year, the ministry of commerce & industry said on Wednesday. The FDI inflow includes equity inflow, equity capital of unincorporated bodies, re-invested earnings and other capital. "FDI is largely a matter of commercial business decisions and FDI inflow depends on a host of factors such as availability of natural resource, market size, infrastructure, political and general investment climate as well as macro-economic stability and investment decision of foreign investors.
Need for much more investment; sector would like govt help
Former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, currently in jail in connection with the 2G scam, on Wednesday told the Delhi high court that the 'so called' gigantic loss of Rs 30,984 crore (Rs 309.84 billion) to the state in spectrum allocation was caused due to the government policy and not because of the alleged acts of the accused.
Letter to telecom secretary alleges Jio is masquerading full-blown services in the guise of a trial; no word from Reliance.
The new telecom policy draft has paved the way for stoking competition and allowing customers to select their long distance operators by calling for introduction of carrier access code immediately.
The Indian markets have seen a good run in the last three months with the S&P BSE Sensex rising around 7 per cent and the Nifty50 moving up 7.5 per cent. The next leg of the market rally from here on, analysts suggest, will be driven by a growth in corporate earnings over the next few quarters. That said, they do not expect material / sharp downgrades to India Inc's earnings estimates despite headwinds for the economy.
''No lobbyists will be able to influence us. If that happens, you can censure me for dereliction,'' he said.
Poor infrastructure could result in a loss of $21 billion of investment to other competing countries in Asia and this was a major threat to the realisation of India's projected IT vision for 2008, a Confederation of Indian Industry paper has said.
Indian telecom sector has registered a phenomenal growth and has become second largest telephone network in the world after China.
To make the scheme attractive, the government has announced a rate structure wherein the operators may take the optical fibre on lease and provide broadband connectivity to customers.
The Indian economy recovered from the Covid-induced downturn during 2022 and is poised for further improvement in the coming quarters though downside risks emanating from geopolitical tensions, strengthening dollar and elevated inflation will continue. The positive trajectory in the growth trend and improved fundamentals will help the nation in neutralising the impact of global headwinds which are expected to have a bearing on the country's exports in the months to come. The challenges before the government and the Reserve Bank in the new year would be to arrest inflation, check declining value of rupee against US dollar and promote private investment and growth, with a view to ensure that the country remains one the fastest growing major economies of the world.
The much-awaited guidelines for the 3G policy will be out this month, assured Communications Minister Andimuthu Raja today. Speaking on the sidelines of a conference, the minister said, "It has been delayed for some time. I will ensure that the policy is out by the 30th of June."
Former telecom minister Arun Shourie agreed with A Raja that the latter had discussed the 2G spectrum issue with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and then finance minister P Chidambaram before going ahead, but refuted his claim of following the National Democratic Alliance policy.
India's booming telecommunications industry is set to see investment in excess of $20 billion over the next five years, a senior government official said on Friday.
S&P Global Ratings on Thursday said about half of the Indian companies that it rates are getting a boost in their core profitability from rupee depreciation. "Much of our rated India corporate portfolio has sizable US-dollar linked revenue and, therefore, is not exposed to rupee depreciation. "This encompasses entities in the IT, metals, and chemicals sectors. About half of the firms we rate are getting an EBITDA boost from currency weakening," the US-based rating agency said in a report.
A government panel on Tuesday proposed raising foreign investment limits in sectors like defence, multi-brand retail and telecommunications, to spur investment in the country and tide over the Current Account Deficit woes.
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