Reliance Industries' refining earnings will remain steady, supported by its position as India's largest importer of Russian crude and favourable global supplies, according to analysts at JM Financial and Goldman Sachs. Reliance imported more Russian barrels than any other Indian refiner in the past eight months, according to data from Bloomberg/Kpler.
The missive has, however, polarised stakeholders, with mobile operators under COAI coming out in its support, while digital platforms under the aegis of Broadband India Forum expressing "serious concerns" around overreach and calling for a pause in implementation of timelines.
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.
Bharti Airtel on Friday announced the closure of its agreement with Reliance Jio Infocomm to transfer the 'Right to Use' of Airtel's 800 MHz spectrum in three circles to Jio. Airtel said it has received Rs 1,004.8 crore (net of tax) from Jio for the proposed transfer.
Akash Ambani's first big job as he takes over as chairman of Reliance Jio, the group's telecom arm, is a no-brainer - he has to get his company through the long-awaited 5G auctions that are a few weeks away. But his bigger job, analysts said, will be to lead the transformation of the telecom company into a tech giant, a process that is underway as it seeks to list in the US. Insiders said there has been plenty of debate within the company's top executives on the auction strategy.
The stock of Bharti Airtel, India's largest listed telecommunications (telecom) services provider, recently hit an all-time high on expectations of higher average revenue per user (Arpu), a stable market setup, and fresh revenue lines.
The Reliance-Disney joint venture's new, rebranded streaming app JioHotstar will offer subscription plans starting at Rs 149.
The network cost per tower of Reliance Jio is lower than its rival Bharti Airtel even as the gap between them is narrowing due to the latter cutting costs at a faster pace, analysts said. While the energy cost per tower for both telcos is reducing, Airtel has managed to reduce costs at a faster pace, brokerage firm IIFL Securities said in a research note. "Jio used to enjoy 35 per cent lower network cost per tower, including the right of use (RoU) depreciation and lease finance cost, versus Bharti four years back. This gap has now (FY24) narrowed to 7 per cent," it said.
The company will wait for sizeable user base for better valuation.
US technology company NVIDIA and billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries on Friday announced a partnership to build AI supercomputers in India. "The companies will work together to build AI infrastructure that is over an order of magnitude more powerful than the fastest supercomputer in India today," the firms said in a statement. Days before the announcement, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.
Airtel tops with 3.7 million new subscribers, Jio adds 2.2 million; Vi lets go of 2.7 million.
Market expects either a price disruption or differentiated service; combination of both could hurt incumbents.
Reliance Industries Ltd has withdrawn its trademark application for the term 'Operation Sindoor' -- the codename for India's military strikes in Pakistan -- stating that it was inadvertently filed by a junior employee without authorisation.
The company had announced similar pricing for Sri Lanka, where its application was in advanced stages of regulatory clearance.
India's biggest telecom players, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries-backed Jio Platforms, will soon bring billionaire Elon Musk-led SpaceX's Starlink satellite services to India. According to analysts, the move could boost India's tele density, especially in the rural areas, and may be an opportunity for investors to add the two stocks on dips for long-term gains
'The first time India has seen two consecutive blockbuster IPO years.'
Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani on Monday announced a Rs 2 lakh crore investment in deploying fifth-generation or 5G telephony with rollout in metro cities by Diwali. Jio, the nation's largest telecom operator, has deployed standalone 5G stack rather than upgrading the existing 4G network, to offer ultra-high speed internet, he said at Reliance Industries' 45th AGM.
The deal follows Facebook picking up a 9.99 per cent stake in the firm that houses India's youngest but largest telecom firm on April 22 for Rs 43,574 crore. Within days of that deal, Silver Lake -- the world's largest tech investor -- bought a 1.15 per cent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 5,665.75 crore. On May 8, US-based Vista Equity Partners bought 2.32 per cent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 11,367 crore.
In an event-heavy week ahead, stock markets are expected to track Q3 corporate earnings from several blue-chip firms, including TCS and Infosys, while inflation data and global trends would also dictate investors' sentiment, analysts said.
Reliance will launch Jio, pan-India 4G service, for its employees on December 27, marking Dhirubhai Ambani's birth anniversary.
Vodafone and Bharti have pointed out that, for data, their revenue realisation should be at Rs 30-35 per GB for them to cover their costs as opposed to the current figure of over Rs 11 per GB. But Jio has suggested a gradual increase to Rs 15 per GB and then maybe to Rs 20 per GB after six to nine months.
India's first auction of telecom spectrum in five years ended on Tuesday with Rs 77,814.80 crore of airwaves being bought, mostly by billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio. Over 2,250 MHz of spectrum, that carry telecom signals, in seven bands worth nearly Rs 4 lakh crore at the reserve or start price, was offered for bidding in the auction that began on Monday. Telecom secretary Anshu Prakash said 855.60 MHz of spectrum was bought for Rs 77,814.80 crore in the two-day auction.
Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd will invest Rs 75,000 crore in North Eastern states in setting up 350 biogas plants, expanding its telecom services, retail footprint, and clean energy projects, chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Friday. Speaking at the Rising NorthEast Investors Summit here, Reliance Industries Ltd chairman and managing director said his group will invest in factories for high-quality FMCG products in the region and setting up a 150-bed cancer hospital in Manipur.
The Sunil Mittal led firm accused the regulator of "wrongly" holding Jio's promotional offer as compliant with the regulatory guidelines
The development marks a watershed moment in India's telecom history since fixed-line or landline connections formed the final segment where a State-owned operator was in the top spot.
Shares of telecom services providers - Reliance Industries (parent of Reliance Jio), Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea - have shed up to 23 per cent so far in the current calendar year as growth in the wireless subscriber segment begins to plateau amid higher tariffs and rising costs of smartphones. By comparison, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex, and sectoral index BSE Telecom have dipped 1.8 per cent, and 12.6 per cent, respectively, ACE Equity data shows. However, analysts expect the trend to reverse soon as telecom services providers focus on the next leg of growth -- fixed broadband (FBB) segment.
Jio has accused incumbent telecom operators for not providing the required number of equipment to connect its mobile network with theirs
Reliance Jio maintained the top position in the 4G speed chart with a 20.9 megabit per second (Mbps) average download rate in September, while Vodafone Idea topped in the upload segment with 7.2 Mbps data speed, as per telecom regulator Trai. Reliance Jio's 4G network speed increased by about 15 per cent in September while its competitors Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (VIL) speed jumped by about 85 per cent and 60 per cent month-on-month to 11.9 Mbps and 14.4 Mbps, respectively, according to data published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).
Ending Paytm's monopoly as the only wallet payment option on Uber, the ride-hailing service has decided to allow payments through Jio Money. Alnoor Peermohamed reports.
India's space regulator INSPACe has granted a license to Starlink to offer space-based internet services in the country. The authorization is valid for five years and subject to regulatory provisions and clearances.
Jio Financial Services, the demerged financial services unit of Reliance Industries, will be listed on bourses on August 21, according to an exchange notification. Jio Financial Services Ltd (JFSL) demerged from Reliance last month and is currently listed under a dummy ticker after its price discovery at Rs 261.85 but there is no trading happening in the scrip. The listing on BSE and NSE has been scheduled a day before FTSE Russell plans to drop JFSL from its indices.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio on Friday announced deferring the roll-out of the JioPhone Next - the low-priced smartphone it has developed with Google - to Diwali. The phone was previously to be launched on September 10. Ambani at the shareholder meeting of his flagship Reliance Industries in June, had stated that the JioPhone Next will be available for purchase on September 10.
India's largest telecom operator Reliance Jio gained 17.6 lakh mobile subscribers in October 2021 while market rivals Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea lost a cumulative 14.5 lakh users during the month, according to the latest data released by TRAI on Monday. Bharti Airtel lost 4.89 lakh mobile users in October, while Vodafone Idea lost 9.64 lakh subscribers during the reported period. Reliance Jio's mobile subscriber base surged to 42.65 crore in October, as the telco added 17.61 lakh mobile users in the month, according to data by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
All three Bharti group companies outperformed in CY25 but the biggest gain came from Bharti Airtel, the flagship.
India's largest telecom operator Reliance Jio gained over 79 lakh mobile users in March, comfortably surpassing the combined net adds by rivals Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea during the month, according to data released by TRAI on Friday. Bharti Airtel added 40.5 lakh wireless users, and interestingly Vodafone Idea gained 10.8 lakh customers during March (compared to the previous month). Reliance Jio added a staggering 79.18 lakh wireless subscribers in March, taking its customers base to about 42.29 crore.
Jio had almost three times higher speed than its nearest rival Bharti Airtel.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is set to introduce key reforms aimed at facilitating smoother mega initial public offerings (IPOs). Key among the proposals is a reduction in the quota reserved for individual investors - those applying for less than Rs 2,00,000 per application - from the current 35 per cent to 25 per cent for large IPOs (issue size above Rs 5,000 crore).
While Jio MF will undoubtedly grow in size, it will have to cross multiple hurdles even to emerge as the market leader, observes Debashis Basu.
The regulator on Thursday asked the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio to withdraw the three-month 'complimentary' offer of unlimited data usage and free calls on payment of a minimum Rs 303.
Reliance Industries Ltd, India's most valuable company, is back on a growth path after six months of challenges as it posted better than expected earnings in the December quarter, brokerages said.
