There was an under reporting of Rs 1000 crore (Rs 10 billion) to Rs 1500 crore (Rs 15 billion) by the telecom firms, to avoid payment of licence fee, and the government may have lost about Rs 250 crore (Rs 2.5 billion) because of this, telecom minister A Raja said during Question Hour.
Currently, subscribers pay 50-60p for an SMS. By comparison, Tata Teleservices charges a paisa per word, for up to 15 characters.
The department of telecommunications is planning to seek details from four operators - Bharti-Airtel, Hutchison-Essar, Tata Teleservices Ltd and Reliance Communications - on the fulfillment of rollout obligations under the mobile telephony licence.
Reliance Communications' third entry into the telecom business, starting with the time it was run under a different name when the Ambanis were an undivided group, has predictably got the mobile industry in a tizzy.
Traditional heavy spenders on cricket properties Vodafone, car maker Hyundai Motors, Reliance Communications and soft drink major Coca-Cola have decided to stay out of the bidding for the sponsorship of the Indian cricket team with the Board of Control for Cricket in India setting a steep base price to Rs 510 crore for a four-year deal for one of cricket's most coveted sponsorships.
RComm has reportedly acquired an African firm for $500 million to offer telecom access services in Uganda.
Firming up its plans to rollout direct-to-home (DTH) television services, telecom firm Reliance Communications (RCom) has booked capacity on Malaysian satellite system, MEASAT-3. The deal size could not be confirmed, while it is understood that the deal is signed for around 15-20 years. RCom has booked four transponders, with an option to add four transponders after a year on MEASAT-3.
ADAG company offers one-time subscription charge of Rs 25. To capture its share in the fast-growing GSM subscriber base, RCom has focused on the segment that provides less than Rs 300 as average revenue per user and launched its services at competitive prices.
Anil Ambani Group firm Reliance Communications said it has bought back foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) worth Rs 121.22 crore (Rs 1.21 billion).
DoT sources confirmed receipt of the report by auditors Parekh and Co and said that it is yet to examine the findings. DoT would ask for RCom's response later.
The race for Hutch-Essar, the country's fourth largest mobile service provider, quickened on Wednesday with Hong-Kong based Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd formally informing the 4 companies in the fray to submit their bids by Friday
Falcon, which is owned by Flag Telecom, has been damaged in the Middle East but it is unlikely to affect Net operations across India.
Nifty gained 21 points to close at 5,024. The market breadth, however, was weak. The market breadth, however, was weak. Out of 2,791 stocks traded on Tuesday, there were 1,709 advancing stocks as against 1,012 declines.
Electronics major has tied up with Reliance Comm and Tata Tele.
After a strong start to the week on Tuesday, the Sensex this morning opened 15 points higher at 16,868 amid subdued global cues.
The British teleco is bidding hard for cellular operator Hutchison Essar. At stake: the world's fastest growing mobile market-and Vodafone's reputation.
RComm has decided to raise the retirement age of its employees from 58 to 65 years. This move is seen as part of its expansion plan and difficulty of recruiting sufficient staff.
Rival bidders Vodafone and Reliance Communications are studying the possibility of taking an indirect route to acquire control of Hutchison Essar to skirt the right of first refusal claimed by the Essar group.
Delhi HC has refused to stay the process of spectrum allotment to RCom, giving a major setback to GSM operators.
Anil Ambani severely criticised the attitude of GSM operators and raised the issue of returning the extra spectrum again.
Passing an interim order, Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal also directed BSNL to restore RCom's inter- connection within 48 hours of such payment. TDSAT Chairman Justice Arun Kumar said: "I am of a view that the petitioner (Rcom) should deposit an amount of 65 per cent of disputed claim in one week and respondent should restore the connection with 48 hours of the deposit."
Among the sectoral indices, realty and metal indices lead the rally.
With Bharti Airtel making it to the list of top-ten advertisers of the year, cellular phone service providers as a category have overthrown fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) products such as toilet soaps and shampoos to emerge as the top advertising category on television in 2007.
Essar holds the key for the future of telecom joint venture Hutch-Essar, as domestic and global firms, including Reliance Communications and British giant Vodafone, reportedly vie with each other to acquire the country's third-largest mobile operator
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.
At present, the cheapest business phone (with personal digital assistants) is priced at Rs 15,000, while high-end phones are available around Rs 13,000.
Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Authority had on December 12 refused to stay the government's process of awarding new licences and allocating airwaves to mobile firms, a decision which existing GSM players say would hurt them Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular are the major GSM players in Cellular Operators Association of India, but it is learnt that there is no consensus within the lobby group over moving the high court.
Upping the ante in the ongoing spectrum war, Reliance Communications chairman Anil Ambani has shot off a missive to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), accusing GSM operators of having cornered spectrum under the valuable 900 MHz.
In his letter dated October 19, Anil Ambani points out that while the top three GSM players -- Bharti, Vodafone-Essar and Idea Cellular -- have acquired an additional 52 million subscribers in the past few years without allocation of any additional spectrum, something they have constantly told the government that they do not have sufficiently.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is believed to have left it to telecom minister A Raja to resolve the tangle over allocation of spectrum, an issue that has brought industry bigwigs like Reliance Communications' Anil Ambani and Bharti Airtel's Sunil Mittal face to face.
In a move towards gender inclusion, Tamil Nadu has partnered Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) to offer a 5 per cent job reservation for LGBTQAI+ and people with disabilities at GCPL's upcoming fast-moving consumer goods manufacturing unit in Thiruporur in Chengalpattu district. According to industry experts and activists, while companies acknowledge transgender communities, this is the first time the entire spectrum of gender minorities, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning (one's sexual or gender identity), asexual and intersex, is receiving such a notable share of job participation in the private sector while signing memoranda of understanding with states.
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.
Powered by surging markets, seven companies, Reliance Communications (R-Com) and stock market debutant DLF among them, have joined the Rs 1 trillion (Rs 1,00,000 crore) club in terms of market capitalisation. New entrants are hard-core engineering and mining companies like National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and Bhel - both in the public sector - and L & T. Bharti Airtel, SBI and ICICI Bank are other entrants.
However, operators said the chief beneficiary would be the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, which have already been given the spectrum for 3G services, as well as Reliance Communications, which is still to roll out its 2G GSM network.
Under this initiative, ICICI Bank's customers can transfer money anytime and anywhere in the country to people having an account in the bank using their Reliance mobile phones, it said.
The service, first of its kind in the country, is expected to be launched shortly, if not within a week.
Telkom Kenya has a monopoly on landline services in the country. If an Indian company wins the bid, it will enable the company to enter the country's telecom market, according to news reports in international press.
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