RJio's aggressive plans will lead to significant impact on listed companies in this space
The Internet is too important to let a few private telecom players decide what the rules will be for consumers, says Rajeev Chandrasekhar, independent member of Parliament who was one of the key petitioners seeking the scrapping of Section 66A of the Information Technology Act.
Telecom Commission approves high base price of Rs 11,485 cr per Mhz for 700-Mhz frequency; no decision taken on proposed standard spectrum usage charges of 4.5%
Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) CEO Ravinder Takkar did some plain speaking. In an analyst call after its quarterly results recently, Takkar said that the main stumbling block to raising fresh capital from investors is "pricing" - telecom tariffs, in other words. Nine months ago, the telecom company's board had cleared a proposal for raising Rs 25,000 crore from investors, after the promoters made it clear that they were not ready to pump in more money. But potential investors are concerned that without clarity on tariff hikes (there have been none for more than 18 months) they might just lose their money. The lack of visibility on raising tariffs has also impelled VIL to request the Department of Telecom (DoT) for a fresh reprieve by extending the two-year moratorium on paying its spectrum instalment of Rs 8,200 crore for another year till FY23.
This puts an end to Facebook's Free Basics and Airtel's zero rating plans in India.
A crown of thorns awaits the next telecom minister at Sanchar Bhawan as the new incumbent will have to address a host of tricky issues like industry infighting, tariffs and improving financial health of the Rs 2.3 lakh crore industry.
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.
More than 19 million people in 38 countries have been connected through Facebook's different programmes.
One reason why mobile subscribers haven't shifted companies is that the service is uniformly bad. But now, with new players coming in, the picture could be different, says Sunil Jain.
For years it has been evident that fibre and DTH would give tough competition to cable in India where regulatory overload has mutilated an already warped industry structure. OTT added fuel to the fire. From Rs 27,000 crore in 2010, cable's share of subscription revenues is now estimated at Rs 13,000 crore.
The move will help telcos, including Reliance Jio, Vodafone, and Idea Cellular
Appropriate policies will increase connectivity much more than spectrum auctions, says Shyam Ponappa.
DoT committee rejects most Trai suggestions for freeing airwaves for sale.
Reliance Jio saw fall in speeds from 7.2 mbps in September to 6 mbps in October, according to CLSA report.
Income will be higher as spectrum in 2,100-MHz band will also be auctioned
Historically, public sector units were conceived of under the assumption that they will control the 'commanding heights' of the Indian economy, which were necessary for rapid industrial growth but where private investment was unwilling to enter.
The telecom to look at opportunities to acquire another firm in India.
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Mark Zuckerberg on Friday said universal connectivity and net neutrality "can and must" coexist.
While everybody is talking about the vast potential of 5G, the uptake of such services in India depends on operators getting around 100 Mhz 5G spectrum. At the reserve price proposed by Trai, getting this spectrum will cost a telco around Rs 490 billion. Which amount could be difficult for operators to mop up, given the financial stress they are undergoing, says Kiran Rathee.
Idea, Reliance and BSNL have call drop rates in the range of 10 per cent or above.
Once launched, RJio services will cover over 18,000 towns and over 200,000 villages across all the 22 service areas of the country
Cashless transactions need ubiquitous connectivity, which we don't have. And connectivity needs political and administrative convergence, says Shyam Ponappa.
It is alleged that WhatsApp's strategy of gaining user permission for such data sharing is deceptive and surreptitious in nature and compromises privacy rights of citizens
The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,183.15 million at the end of May to 1,186.63 million at the end of June.
Letter to telecom secretary alleges Jio is masquerading full-blown services in the guise of a trial; no word from Reliance.
Typically these are high-beta stocks and earnings are volatile
Telecom tariffs set to fall significantly across the board as sector regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India announced on Wednesday a cut of more than 37 per cent in the levy paid by private players to BSNL.
Analysts have pointed out that with the dues arising out of the SC judgment there could soon be only two private telcos in the country, and not three - Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea - as now.
Transcript of Nikhil Pahwa's chat with Rediff readers.
Much of the loudest opposition comes from those in the start-up world, who fear this would put them at a disadvantage in reaching new users
A company claims to run ads on Facebook where students are encouraged to provide their details to get help from career counsellors.
On September 4, Trai issued a consultation paper on call drops.
What will it take to get India's poor broadband penetration to be seen as a problem and not as a condition, thus enabling real, serious e-commerce to take off in India?
Writes to Trai, Mumbai Police to catch unauthorised SMS senders
While Vodafone will hold 45.1% of the shares in the new entity, to be renamed at a later stage, Kumar Mangalam Birla and other promoters of Idea group will hold 26%. Vodafone India will also transfer 4.9% of its shareholding to Idea's promoters for a cash consideration of Rs 38.74 lakh crores.
The decision of the Telecom Commission to approve in-flight connectivity won't just bring cheer to the chat-friendly passengers, but even more to the telecom industry facing severe financial stress, says Nivedita Mookerji.
On these routes, the train speed would also be increased to above 160 kmph over the next four or five years by revamping the entire signaling, tracks and fencing.
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