In a blow to GSM operators, who have been demanding that auditor CAG be stopped from vetting their account books, tribunal TDSAT has declined an interim relief, saying it had no powers to intervene.
The 3G spectrum auction evoked an excellent response from mobile operators on day one on Friday, with the reserve price of Rs 3,500 crore (Rs 35 billion) for pan-India operations escalating nearly 12 per cent to Rs 3,913.81 crore (Rs 39.138 billion).
There are nine mobile operators, including the big six that would bid for the 3-4 slots on offer.
With the existing operators garnering the high-average revenue per user subscriber, new service providers like RCom has to look at new customers," Gartner principal research analyst Naresh Singh said.
The seven listed companies of the Anil Ambani Group, led by Reliance Power and RCom, made their investors wealthier by Rs 16,969 crore.
The bid price for 3G spectrum continues to rise as it touched Rs 10,749 crore (Rs 107.49 billion) for pan-India operations on the 21st day of auction, assuring the government of Rs 43,372 crore (Rs 433.72 billion) in terms of revenue.
The bids for pan-India 3G telephony spectrum touched Rs 8,382 crore (Rs 83.82 billion), up 140 per cent from the base price, on the 14th day of auction on Monday.
With 3G services set to become a reality by year-end, over millions of mobile users can experience real-quick downloading of full length movies or music files, live TV and video calls.
Telecom industry may be hit by biggest customer churn ever, due to mobile number portability.
With the Beijing Olympics 2008 starting from Friday, three of the major Indian telecom service providers Reliance Communications, BPL Mobile and Tata Communications are launching services aimed at tapping the communication potential of the event.
More and more companies are opting for outsourcing data centres. Data centre operators are also called managed service providers (MSPs). These MSPs include Reliance Communications (RCom), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Bharti, Netcore, and Ctrl S. The biggest outsourcers are enterprises, banks and financial institutions. IT managers in the Asia-Pacific region rely on outsourcing data centre operations more than their peers.
The slowdown in capital expansion is clearly seen in the current financial year. Large sectors such as cement, metal, oil and gas, power and telecom have provided negligible funds in the first quarter for their capex plans.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
After seeking the surrender of spectrum, Reliance Communications (RCom) chairman Anil Ambani is seeking installation of frequency-efficient technologies such as synchronised network and FemtoCells that can be used at no additional cost. Ambani listed seven technologies to improve mobile network efficiency in the country.
The country's wireless subscriber base fell to 87.05 crore at the end of September, registering the first drop in five months, after Reliance Communications deactivated services of over 1 crore "unprofitable" users.
Reliance Infratel, a subsidiary of the group's telecom arm RCom, is looking to dilute 10-15 per cent stake in a private placement of shares with the PE firms, investment banking sources said. The company had last year scrapped plans to raise about Rs 6,000 crore (Rs 60 billion) through sale of about 10 per cent shares in an IPO due to adverse market conditions.
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.
As Reliance Communications (RCom) is struggling to sew up a deal with South African telecom major MTN, another Indian telecom service provider Tata Communications is all set to get a majority stake in South African telecom firm Neotel.
The battle between the Ambani brothers flared up again today -- this time over the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's (ADAG's) bid to seal a merger deal with South African telecom company, MTN.
Telcos may hike mobile rates to recover spectrum cost: Moody's
The issue of spectrum allocation has become murkier, with the Association of United Service Providers of India (Auspi) -- the CDMA operators' body -- slamming the move by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to allocate additional spectrum to existing private GSM operators.
Analysts expect that Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications (RCom) and Idea Cellular will post over 50 per cent annual growth in revenues (year-on-year) and more than 10 per cent sequential growth (over the previous quarter). Bharti continues to lead in the subscriber addition race (2.1 million in August).
"We will start our GSM services soon. We have got spectrum in 13 circles in one or two months. We expect to get spectrum in all the circles barring one or two," TTSL managing director Anil Sardana said. RCom has launched GSM services in 11,000 towns, which would be extended to 22,000 towns in the next few months.
Speculations are rife in the local media about MTN's next move after the failure of talks with two Indian entities RCOM and Bharti Airtel for a possible merger, with some saying that the South African telecom major might now target other telecom operators from India.
In what could be a prelude to Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group claiming damages against Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries for allegedly derailing the merger talks with South Africa's MTN group
The technology's spectrum efficiency, low cost and simple installation make it the next big thing in the telecom world.
The technology's spectrum efficiency, low cost and simple installation make it the next big thing in the telecom world.
The government struck a cordial note with the GSM mobile lobby by agreeing on the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (Trai's) norms for spectrum allocation, a move described by rival CDMA player Reliance Communications (RCom) as "succumbing to pressure".
The COAI decision comes in the wake of Anil Ambani group company Reliance Communications and two other CDMA players receiving approvals to offer GSM services in their respective circles of operation from the Department of Telecom on Friday.
The MTN-Reliance Communications merger, if it gets through, will create a telecom behemoth of 115 million subscribers in 25 countries.
The minister said the companies have given representation which is being examined by the DoT before taking a final decision.
A DVR is a device that allows consumers to pause, record, play back, rewind and fast forward their favourite television shows. DTH companies are expected to slash DVRs box prices by nearly half to Rs 7,000-Rs 8,000 per unit. DVRs for cable channels would soon be available for between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000, industry sources said.
The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group on Thursday announced it that would build the world's largest next generation under-sea cable network with an investment of $1.5 bn (about Rs 7,000 crore) over the next three years.
Formally throwing its hat in the Reliance Communications said it was looking to acquire its rival Hutch-Essar and has received funding support for the proposed deal.
Verdicts paving the way for construction of a Ram Temple at Ayodhya and India's multi-billion dollar Rafale fighter jet deal with France were 2019's landmark imprints of the Supreme Court, which also found itself at the centre of a controversy with then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi being accused of sexual harassment before getting the clean chit.
India's telecom sector has been through dizzying peaks, troughs, policy U-turns, court battles, brutal competition, and daily controversies. India could go back to a private sector duopoly with just Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel surviving the mayhem. The third player, Vodafone Idea, could be history.
Under the UASL norms, spectrum is linked to licences, and a particular band of radio wave is restricted to be used in a particular technology
Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Jio Infocomm and five other telecom firms will battle it out at the spectrum auction tomorrow, from which the government expects to garner at least Rs 11,300 crore (Rs 113 billion).
The company is to act as an ISP across rural areas for local entrepreneurs.
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