The Department of Telecommunications has called a meeting of the heads of all leading telecom companies offering GSM technology services on November 21 to resolve contentious issues that have arisen following recent changes in telecom policy.
The DoT estimates that it will receive Rs 29,524 cr in revenue from the telecom industry in FY18, which is 38% less than the Budget revenue target of Rs 47,300 cr for FY18
'We have informed the government multiple times that the situation in the US and India are different.' 'Here, there will be a 500 MHz gap in the frequencies which will safely allow aviation without interference.'
The Unified Licence for all 22 Service Areas across India will make the company the first telecom operator in the country to get pan India Unified Licence, the company said in a statement.
On the Sensex chart, Bharti Airtel was the biggest loser with nearly 3 per cent drop in its share price. It was followed by IndusInd Bank, Maruti Suzuki, HeroMoto Corp and Tata Steel.
There is no plan to direct over the top (OTT) communications players who generate large amounts of traffic to give a 'fair and proportionate' share of their revenues to telecom network operators, the communications ministry has said. A senior official allayed any such apprehension by saying: "We have no proposal of this kind or anything like this which we are working on. "There is no fresh reference on this matter to the regulator (Trai)," he said. The ministry's view is significant as telecom network operators have been escalating this issue since July when Trai issued a consultation paper called 'Regulatory Mechanism Over OTT Communication Services and Selective Banning of OTT Services'.
Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd head Mukesh Ambani continues to be the richest Indian and has now broken into the world's top 10 wealthiest persons in the latest Forbes 2024 Billionaire List. Ambani, 66, is ranked 9th on the list with a wealth of $116 billion, up from $83.4 billion in the 2023 ranking, according to Forbes. Gautam Adani is the second richest Indian and is ranked at No.17 on the global list.
Govt says there is enough spectrum, telcos differ
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said a strong domestic manufacturing base in electronics and telecommunications will mitigate burden of growing imports for the sector.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde took note of the submissions by a battery of senior lawyers including A M Singhvi and C A Sundaram and said it will list the fresh pleas "sometime in next week" before the same bench which had heard the earlier petition in the high-stake matter.
In the debate whether spectrum was over- priced or not, the focus seems to have shifted from Videocon's telecom gamble.
The court said Shroff is a celebrity and this status inherently grants him certain rights over his personality and associated attributes.
From its lows this month, the stock of Bharti Airtel is up 14 per cent. The gains for the telco have come on the back of expectations that market share consolidation, tariff hike and lower capex should boost margins and profits. While the company is a key player in the Indian market, it also has a leadership position in major markets of Africa.
Typically these are high-beta stocks and earnings are volatile
The Biju Janata Dal on Wednesday announced its support for the candidature of Bharatiya Janata Party's Ashwini Vaishnaw in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Odisha
Ambani said, it will be ready for trials as soon as 5G spectrum is available and can be ready for field deployment next year.
In its annual report on telecom sector, the US Trade Representative also said there were barrier concerns regarding supplying satellite services in China and India.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will finalise its internal view on the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai's) recommendations, which was given in May last year, on mergers and acquisitions, spectrum allocation, spectrum sharing and other licencing aspects by the end of this month, a senior official from the department said.
The Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management invites applications for admission to its two-year, full-time autonomous Post-graduate Diploma in Telecom Management Programme with dual specialisation in Marketing & Finance and Systems & Finance.
In August 2021, Nick Read, chief executive of Vodafone Plc at the time, did not mince his words while speaking about the India business in an earnings call. Replying to an analyst's question on Vodafone Idea, a venture with the Aditya Birla Group that had piled on huge debts and worrisome losses, Read described it as a highly stressed situation that "they (Vodafone Idea) are trying to navigate... "We, as a group, try to provide them as much practical support as we can, but I want to make it very clear, we are not putting any additional equity into India.''
After a two year run-in with controversies, telecom sector now looks stable and seems back on its feet with initial investment proposal of over Rs 11,000 crore (Rs 110 billion) received in 2013.
The group is making a foray into the telecom space even as it closes in on Daewoo Electronics.
The fear of another scam pushed the government into a rather long period of so-called 'policy paralysis'. To play it safe, the price of spectrum in all subsequent auctions was benchmarked to the high 3G rates, says Surajeet Das Gupta.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries and Tata Group have made it to the prestigious TIME's list of 100 World's Most Influential Companies of 2024. TIME called Reliance 'India's Juggernaut'. This is the second time that Reliance has found its way into the TIME list. Jio Platforms, the firm that holds digital properties of the conglomerate, was included in the inaugural TIME 100 Most Influential Companies List of 2021. Serum Institute is the other Indian company on the list.
The three-day India Mobile Congress (IMC) will showcase the widening convergence of telecom with new domains, such as semiconductors and deep tech, P Ramakrishna, the forum's chief executive officer, said on Tuesday. With more than 250 global and domestic exhibitors, the seventh edition is expected to draw more than 100,000 visitors this year, he said. There will also be over 5,000 CXO-level delegates and more than 350 speakers.
Experts say going ahead data price will fall further due to competition
Lower margins, caused by substantial cash outflows and increasing competition, are seen as negatives for the sector.
'The expeditious enactment of labour codes and strategic measures to bridge the skills jobs gap are critical.'
Just ahead of its mega FPO opening to public investors, Vodafone Idea (VIL) has announced closure of its anchor book allocation, raising about Rs 5,400 crore from marquee global as well as domestic investors, according to a statutory filing by the telco. This could be the third-largest anchor book after One 97 Communications and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC). One 97 Communications and LIC had raised Rs 8,235 crore and Rs 5,627 crore in the anchor round, respectively.
Globally, the focus has moved back to India, especially in terms of telecom assets. Vodafone Idea, with some 300 million customers, continues to be attractive with shares available at a low price.
Telecom players have started protesting against government's move to allow Voice over Internet Protocol. They say Reliance will be the biggest beneficiary.
The Telecom Policy 1999 which revolutionised the telecom sector will be revamped soon with the Department of Telecom likely to retain licensing powers.
Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in India have moved into the slow lane, dropping 43 per cent in terms of deal value to touch $13.37 billion since January this year to date, compared to the same period in the last year. According to data sourced from Bloomberg, Indian companies reported deal value worth $23.5 billion between January and March 22, 2023. Data Infrastructure Trust's acquisition of American Tower Corporation's India telecom towers business for $2.5 billion was the top deal for the ongoing quarter so far, followed by the Highway Infrastructure Trust's acquisition of PNC Infratech's road projects for $1.08 billion.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Tuesday became the first listed company to hit the Rs 20 lakh crore market valuation mark. The market heavyweight's stock jumped 1.88 per cent to its record high of Rs 2,957.80 apiece on the BSE. It finally settled at Rs 2,928.95 per piece, up 0.90 per cent on the bourse.
On Monday, Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for the Centre, mentioned an interim application before a bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice J B Pardiwala.
The interconnection charge has been reduced.
Since August 2013, FIPB has approved two FDI proposals in the telecom sector.
DoT has also announced that it will conduct third round of auction but dates and other final details have not been released yet.
The Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India, the CDMA operators' body, said mobile services could become dearer by 28 paisa per minute if the recommendations by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India are accepted in their current form.
Last week, while releasing the 100-day agenda for telecom sector, Sibal had announced formulation of a new and comprehensive National Telecom Policy, 2011 that he said will be 'clear and transparent'.
