Initiative aims to encourage more people to use the Internet.
The Financial Times reported that Ambani hopes to be a major shareholder in RCom and MTN after the firms combine in a reverse takeover. Ambani would pay an extra $4 to $5 billion in cash to bring his stake in MTN to his target level of 34.9 per cent, the ceiling beyond which he would be forced to make a general offer for MTN, the newspaper said in an article published in its online edition.
French telecom infrastructure player Alcatel has bagged an approximately $350 million (roughly Rs 1,400 crore) contract from FLAG Telecom, a subsidiary of Reliance Communications (RCom), to build a fully IP-enabled Trans-Pacific undersea cable.
The battle for subscribers in the direct-to-home (DTH) market is hotting up with Reliance Communications (RCom) close to finalising a bulk deal with the country's leading TV manufacturers -- LG Electronics, Samsung India and Sanyo -- which will be offered to customers at a hefty discount bundled with a DTH package.
The company is looking at demerger of land banks from RCom and then go for separate listing.
Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications said on Tuesday the government's move to introduce mobile number portability would help GSM players Aircel, Idea and Spice as they enter new circles. The government had on Monday announced that the mobile number portability, under which users would be able to switch operators while retaining their existing cell phone numbers, would be allowed by next year.
A high-profile team from MTN is also expected to meet Reliance Industries Ltd next week to take stock of the situation. RCom had informed the bourses on May 26 that it has entered into exclusive negotiations with MTN for 45 days soon after the South African giant aborted its talks with the Sunil Mittal-controlled Bharti group. The deadline will end on July 8.
The loan is funded by a consortium of banks led by Australian and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, DBS Bank Ltd and Intesa Sanpaolo Spa, RCom said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
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Reliance Communications on Wednesday announced 1,000 free minutes of usage for GSM subscribers for calls to any other Reliance mobile in the Delhi-NCR region.
The telecom services provider had a net profit of Rs 1,395.14 crore (Rs 13.95 billion) in the third quarter of FY'08, RCom said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. RCom's total income rose by 18.75 per cent to Rs 5,671.82 crore (Rs 56.71 billion) for the quarter under review from Rs 4,776.26 crore (rs 47.76 billion) in the corresponding period last fiscal.
The government has proposed a penalty of over Rs 41 crore (Rs 410 million) on Tatas, Rs 31 crore (Rs 310 million) on Airtel and Rs 19.65 crore (Rs 196.5 million) on RCom and others, totalling Rs 135.60 crore (Rs 1.35 billion), for not rolling out network on time
Total income rose 6.55 per cent to Rs 5,361 crore (Rs 53.61 billion) compared with Rs 5,031 crore (Rs 50.31 billion) for the same period last year.
A liberalised spectrum allows operators to use any technology to deliver services like 3G and 4G.
Firming up its plans to rollout 3G services in the country, Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Communications (RCom) is planning to overlay a 3G infrastructure on its nationwide GSM network.
Total income from operations rose 6.55 per cent to Rs 5,361 crore (Rs 53.61 billion) for the reported quarter as compared to Rs 5,031 crore (Rs 50.31 billion) for the same period last year.
A deal between MTN and RCom could be announced this weekend despite threats of legal action to block the deal, the Wall Street Journal said in a report in its online edition on Thursday, quoting two unnamed people familiar with the situation. The report added that the two companies are "getting very close to announcing the deal. If there are no last-minute disagreements, the announcement may come as early as Sunday or sometime next week."
Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications, which offers GSM and CDMA mobile services, said it added 1.62 million new mobile users in March.A company official said the net additions from January to March this year stood at 4.83 million. RCom, the country's largest CDMA operator, added 1.6 million mobile users each for the first two months.
India's third largest network service provider, Reliance Communications (RCom), is close to signing an agreement with US-based GetJar to launch its own application store (app store, software modules to run specific tasks on own mobiles), sources said.
For operators, occasions such as Holi, Diwali, Christmas, New Year and Independence Day spell an increase in SMSes and voice traffic and are, hence, treated as 'black out' days where they charge slightly higher SMS rates, irrespective of the tariff plan subscribed.
Reliance Communications chairman Anil Ambani on Thursday met Finance Minister P Chidambaram and senior DoT officials, even as his company started examining the books of Hutchison Essar Ltd for a possible bid.
In what could be one of the largest outsourcing deals in the Indian telecom space, Reliance Communications is close to awarding a $500-600 million (Rs 2,500-3,000 crore) operations and maintenance contract to Foprench telecom infrastructure provider Alactel-Lucent.
RCom proposed to raise Rs 10,000 crore through a long-term fund-based facility and the remaining Rs 3,000 crore through a non-convertible debenture issue. The firm is raising the debt to meet the capex requirements of various projects, including expansion of GSM network, and repayment of debts. The capex for the next financial year (Rs 150 billion) also includes expansion plans of its telecom infrastructure subsidiary, Reliance Infratel.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday gave its approval to Jio for the acquisition of Reliance Infratel (RITL). The tribunal asked Jio to deposit Rs 3,720 crore in the State Bank of India (SBI) escrow account to complete the acquisition of RCOM's tower and fibre assets. On November 6, Jio had proposed to deposit Rs 3,720 crore in an escrow account to complete the acquisition of Reliance Infratel which is undergoing an insolvency resolution process.
Reliance Communications has received a $750 million (Rs 3,000 crore) loan from China Development Bank that would be invested in building a nationwide GSM footprint for the telephony major. The Anil Ambani group company has received the loan for a ten-year period and at a rate of Libor (London Inter-Bank Offered Rate) plus 80 basis points. RCom had received the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approvals for the loan, sources close to the development said.
Investors in Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Communications have reaped a windfall with the company adding over Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) in its market cap since its listing on the bourses last year.
The Delhi high court on Thursday put on hold the insolvency resolution process (IRP) proceedings against Reliance Communications (RCom) chairman Anil Ambani in relation to the recovery of Rs 1,200 crore loans given by SBI to his two firms. Ambani had given personal guarantees for the Rs 565 crore and Rs 635 crore SBI loans to RCom and Reliance Infratel Ltd (RITL), respectively, in August 2016.
He, however, seemed to indicate that he did give a personal guarantee to India's largest lender SBI, which has moved the NCLT to recover Rs 1,200 crore.
Resignations of Anil Ambani and four other directors were conveyed to the CoC of RCom in its meeting on November 20 and were unanimously rejected.
With the State Bank of India moving the National Company Law Tribunal's Delhi bench to enforce the personal guarantees of Ambani, it will delay the recovery of dues by the Chinese banks which won a UK court order in May this year.
The sharing agreement will provide more bandwidth for RJIL to provide its high-speed 4G services.
Chinese banks -- China Development Bank, China Exim Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) -- will get a lion share of 30 per cent or Rs 7,000 crore in RCOM/RTL/RITL resolution plan, with the DoT getting nothing if the proposed plan goes ahead.
Anil Ambani had given a personal guarantee to the loans given by SBI to Reliance Communications and Reliance Infratel in August 2016.
NCLAT chairman Justice S J Mukhopadhaya dismissed the pleas against Ambani and officials after observing that consent terms agreed upon between RCom and minority shareholders for payment of dues cannot be a ground for initiation of contempt proceedings.
The dispute between RCom and Chinese banks led by ICBC started after Anil Ambani led company defaulted on its loans to Indian as well as Chinese banks. A British court on May 22 asked Ambani to pay nearly $717 million to three Chinese banks within 21 days.
The three companies for sale are Reliance Communications, Reliance Telecom and Reliance Infratel.
The Delhi high court on Monday sought the Centre and SBI's reply to former RCom chairman Anil Ambani's plea to include the Chinese banks, which have got a decree of $717 million against him from a court in United Kingdom, in the proceedings related to recovery of Rs 1200 crore loan granted to two of his companies. The high court also said that the moratorium on recoveries from sale of Ambani's assets, as provided under section 96 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), would remain in operation for now. This direction came on the application moved by the State Bank of India (SBI) seeking a declaration that the moratorium shall continue to be in effect.
UV Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd has made the highest bid of Rs 16,000 crore to buy Anil Ambani group's Reliance Communications and Reliance Telecom, which are in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Last year it was the highest bidder for taking over Aircel's assets for an upfront payment of Rs 150 crore. Surajeet Das Gupta and Dev Chatterjee dig deeper to find out more about this little known company.
Reliance Jio to take over mobile business assets of troubled RCom at an estimated value of Rs 24,000-Rs 25,000 crore.
The apex court said Ambani and the others will have to purge contempt by paying Rs 453 crore to Ericsson in four weeks. A bench comprising Justices R F Nariman and Vineet Saran said if the 'contemnors' failed to make the payments within the specified period, they will undergo a jail term of three months.