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.
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 move should help as many as 25 aspirants, including Unitech, Parsvnath, DLF, HFCL and Shyam Telecom, seeking to enter the lucrative GSM mobile services space.
Two regional CDMA players - HFCL in Punjab and Shyam Telecom in Rajasthan - have deposited fee for their GSM spectrum as per the dual technology permitted by the government. HFCL deposited Rs 151.75 crore (Rs 1.51 billion) for Punjab circle, while Shyam gave about Rs 32 crore for the Rajasthan circle.
The company has won the award under the 'Operator Leadership' category for having demonstrated leadership in the wireless community through the expansion of 3G CDMA system deployments and the unique implementation of 3G CDMA technologies in a specific market, a release issued by the company stated.
In a move that will result in further snowballing of the spectrum issue, British telecom major Vodafone has termed the Reliance Communications' (RCom) allegations "as false and inconsistent with the facts".
Corporate giant Tatas on Tuesday asked the government to seek surrender of excess spectrum lying with GSM operators, a line being aggressively pursued by Reliance Communications chief Anil Ambani. With this, the top two CDMA players have joined forces against GSM operators like Bharti and Vodafone to seek return of spectrum beyond the contractual amount of 6.2 Mhz.
The FIR was lodged by the Lucknow Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee after an emergent meeting held in Lucknow on Monday, official sources said on Tuesday.
Flag Telecom was looking at divesting up to 20 per cent of its equity stake through an international convertible bond issue and raise over $200 million.
Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications on Saturday reacted sharply to rival Bharti Airtel's statement that others have equal opportunity to succeed, saying "if Bharti honestly believes in competition, it should welcome entry of RCom and other new players in GSM" segment.
Tata Steel and Anil Ambani-led& Reliance Communications raised $1.375 billion through overseas borrowings and convertible bonds in September, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India. Tata Steel, which early this year acquired Anglo-Dutch firm Corus to become the sixth-largest maker of the alloy, raised $875 million for overseas acquisition through foreign currency convertible bonds.
After 3G auctions, analysts worried over the likely rise in debt and pressure on margins
The Indian government has emerged as the biggest winner.
The Department of Telecommunication and mobile service providers, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance Communications failed to reach a consensus on the spectrum issue during a meeting held on Wednesday. According to sources, Reliance Communications Chairman Anil Ambani raised the issue of extra spectrum being held by GSM operators. He asked how over 6.2 MHz of radio waves have been given to GSM players beyond their contractual agreement.
Virtually bringing the entire industry into the picture, telecom tribunal TDSAT on Monday directed Reliance Communications, HFCL, Shyam Telelinks, BSNL and MTNL to become a party to a petition challenging changes to spectrum allocation norms among others.
Reliance Communications (RCom), the country's second biggest mobile operator promoted by Anil Ambani, has earmarked Rs 30,000 crore for capital expansion this financial year with an aim to take its subscription to 100 million by 2010 from the current 60 million.
The Anil Ambani group company has soft-launched the service in Mumbai, Delhi, Gujarat, Punjab Bangalore and Chennai. The company has provided GSM phones to its employees for testing the service, according to sources.
As the reports trickled that the permission for the use of twin-technology would benefit the aspiring Reliance Communication, an Anil Ambani group company, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) shot a letter to the government saying that such a permission was against the existing policy and is tantamount to favouring a few.
Liquor and airline baron Vijay Mallya, auto major Hero Honda and leading telecom company Reliance Communications have started negotiations with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to buy the rights of teams that will play in the Twenty20 tourney, which was announced to counter Subhash Chandra's Indian Cricket League (ICL).
Leading TV channels will see a blackout of spot advertising from midnight tonight after Hindustan Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Airtel, Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Reliance Communications, among others, directed their media-buying agencies not to book such advertisements on 16 news and entertainment channels, including NDTV, Network 18, Zee News, Star News, starting October 16.
Going by application dates, companies like Spice, Birla-promoted Idea Cellular, Reliance Communications (through Swan and Cheetah) and Hindustan Futuristic are in the lead for licences in different circles. The only new player in the list is the little-known ByCell.Several incumbents like Idea Cellular, Maxis-Aircell, owned by a Malaysian promoter, and Vodafone-Essar lead the list of applicants for initial spectrum allocation since they already hold licences.
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).
With many new players waiting to launch their operations and Mobile Number Portability to be implemented shortly, the competition will intensify further.
It is estimated that RCom has been reeling under debt of over Rs 46,000 crore.
At least a dozen advertisers, including Reliance Communications, Nokia, Pepsi, Hero Honda, Maruti and Visa among others, and host broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports may find themselves on a sticky wicket with India's exit from the current world Twenty20 cricket tournament.
It has suggested OTTs be subject to the same security requirements that a traditional TSP has to adhere to.
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.
Flag Telecom, a subsidiary of Reliance Communications, has signed a $100 million
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.
Making its foray into mobile content outsourcing, the CDMA major, Reliance Communications, has signed its first contract with a Singapore-based GSM service provider.
RCom, which, sources say had offered to pick up a 51 per cent stake in MTN through a complicated share-swap deal through which shareholders of the African company would pick up stake in RCom, had asked for an extension of the exclusivity talks for another three to four weeks.
Anil Ambani Group company, Reliance Communication Ventures Ltd said on Monday it will raise upto $1 billion through its Sponsored Global Depository Receipts and American Depository Receipts programme.
Buoyed by the entry of new telecom players and entry of Reliance Communications in the GSM space, the Indian telecom industry clocked the highest subscriber-addition in a month, by adding 15.87 million subscribers in March 2009.
Noting that Indian firms face a high risk of mark-to-market losses due to a volatile forex market, a brokerage firm has named telecom major Reliance Communications and auto giant Tata Motors among five blue-chip companies estimated to have suffered the most during 2008-09.
However, the IT firms will get some benefits, as software exports from their Chinese campuses will yield more in local currency
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 total revenues and net profit of the top six Indian telecom players, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, BSNL, Hutchison Essar, MTNL and Idea Cellular, more than doubled during the last two years.
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