The company has increased the cost of 1 GB of 3G internet usage to Rs 156 from Rs 123 it charged earlier.
The total number of telephone connections in the country crossed the record one billion mark in May, bolstered by growth in number of mobile users.
Investors' wealth eroded by a massive Rs 8,21,666.77 crore on Monday as the market saw a massive sell-off not seen in many months. The BSE benchmark Sensex plunged 1,170.12 points or 1.96 per cent to close at 58,465.89. This is the worst single-day drop for the gauge in over seven months. This was also the fourth straight session of decline for the Sensex.
In a major reform push, government on Thursday approved 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the telecom sector, meeting a key demand of the fund-starved industry.
Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) on Friday announced the sale of 51 per cent stake in its telecom tower business to Canada-based Brookfield Infrastructure Group, for an upfront cash payment of Rs 11,000 crore.
RCom had net debt of about Rs 40,222.6 crore at the end of June 30.
India Inc's quarterly net profit reached a record high of Rs 1.64 trillion in the third quarter ended December 31, 2020, mainly due to gains from higher commodity prices and a big swing in banks' earnings. The combined net profit of 3,323 listed companies that have declared results so far was up 68.6 per cent year-on-year (YoY). In comparison, earnings were up six times (534 per cent) in the second quarter and 6.5 per cent in the corresponding period last year.
Facebook Inc is launching an open platform for online content and application developers to join its Internet.org service.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Monday pressed for bridging the digital divide "both among nations and within nations", saying connectivity and communications have become the fundamental rights of every person. Also, there is a need to bring back the economies around the globe. Speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum, he said it is difficult to imagine what India would have been without the 4G telecom network during the pandemic. "The digital divide must be bridged, both among nations and within nations.
The agency had earlier alleged that the company had sold its 9.1% stake to Delphi for Rs 10 crore --a rate much lower than the prevalent market price.
The Department of Telecom (DoT) has slapped a penalty of Rs 2,000 crore on Vodafone Idea and Rs 1,050 crore on Bharti Airtel based on sector regulator Trai's recommendation five years ago, according to sources. The DoT has given three weeks time to the telecom operators to pay the penalty, a source said while sharing the content of the demand notice served to the companies on Thursday. When contacted Bharti Airtel spokesperson said, "We are deeply disappointed with the arbitrary and unfair demand based on Trai recommendations of 2016 relating to provisions of point of interconnect to a new operator.
Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, RCom, Reliance Jiosubmitted applications.
DoT still working on final AGR dues due to varying accounting practices. Telecom operators have been submitting two separate audited details of deduction towards interconnection usage charges and roaming fee to the DoT.
In absolute terms, the outstanding book value of NPAs of LIC in the debt portfolio across life, pension and unit-linked funds is to the tune of Rs 32,685.39 crore at the end of December 2019.
The debt resolution involves RCom exiting the SDR framework with no conversion of debt into equity and zero write-off by lenders, Anil Ambani said, adding that he expects full closure by March 2018.
In big bang reforms, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a relief package for the telecom sector that includes a four-year moratorium on payment of statutory dues by telecom companies as well as allowing 100 per cent foreign investment through the automatic route. Briefing reporters on the decisions taken by the Cabinet, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said nine structural reforms for the telecom sector were approved. The definition of AGR, which had been a major reason for the stress in the sector, has been rationalised by excluding non-telecom revenue of telecom companies.
Voice calling will be free on Jio phones for life and post December 31, 10 data plans will be offered
RCom and Aircel will hold 50 per cent each in the new company
Private equity investments into domestic companies fell sharply year-on-year by 42 per cent to $23.3 billion in 2022, which is the lowest since 2019, when it was $15.8 billion, according to an industry report. The numbers reflect the overall funding winter that the startup space in particular, and the overall foreign investments in general have been witnessing since the Ukraine war began last February. Private equity investment inflows into the country fell by a sharp 42 per cent in 2022 from last year to $23.3 billion -- the lowest annual inflows since 2019 when it was a low $15.8 billion, but still relatively elevated compared to historical levels, said Elaine Tan, a senior analyst at Refinitiv, the LSEG business arm that provides financial markets data and insights.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel led the growth in segment with net addition of 1.31 million subscribers.
'Spectrum payment to push up telcos' debt to Rs 3.5 lakh cr'
With the addition of 4,000 employees, the RCom staff strength is estimated to rise to 9,500
The deal includes Reliance Infrastructure's integrated business of Generation, Transmission and Retail Electricity Distribution
The government expects the rollout of 5G services to start from early October in the country, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday. "As soon as the spectrum auction ends, within a few days itself, we will allocate the spectrum. "We expect that the 5G roll-out will happen from the beginning of October and within a year or so, we should have a good rollout in the country," the Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters in New Delhi.
The development comes a day after RCom posted a consolidated loss of Rs 30,142 crore for July-September 2019 due to provisioning for liabilities after the Supreme Court ruling on statutory dues.
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At the close of trade, telecom stocks ended with as much as 4.3 per cent loss.
The Mumbai-based firm is on a cost optimisation drive through outsourcing of network management services and call centre operations.
In a setback to telecom service providers, the Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Centre's plea to recover adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of about Rs 92,000 crore from them.
Despite the recent fall, the Nifty Midcap 100 index has outperformed by gaining 20 per cent till date in this year calendar year.
Despite the recent fall, the Nifty Midcap 100 index has outperformed by gaining 20 per cent till date in this year calendar year.
Bharti Airtel made part payment of Rs 4,725 crore.
Initiative aims to encourage more people to use the Internet.
Experts say going ahead data price will fall further due to competition
American Tower bulks up in India with $1.2 billion Viom stake buy
Even as telecom services are being restored in Kashmir Valley, mobile operators are offering free calling facility in the region.
S&P BSE Sensex settled at 31,170, up 60 points, while the broader Nifty50 closed at record high for third straight session. It ended at 9,624, up 19 points.
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio, however, continued to add wireless subscribers
Adani Enterprises' proposed Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) fundraising via fresh issue of equity shares through a public offer would be the fourth biggest by Indian companies, excluding banks and non-banking financial companies.
US and European institutional investors bought a majority of shares in the over Rs 4,800 crore (Rs 48 billion) QIP offering by telecom operator Reliance Communications.
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has bluntly told the government there is no reason for its members to roll out 5G networks as they will be unviable if 'captive private wireless networks' are allowed to be run by enterprises. The COAI, which has Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea as its key members, has written to Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw saying there is 'no business case for the roll out of 5G networks'. Permitting such captive networks will 'diminish the revenue so much that there will be no viable business case left for the telecom service providers and there will not remain any need for 5G network roll out by telecom service providers (TSPs)'.
