Known as 'vikas purush' (man involved in developmental work), Sinha is a three-time Lok Sabha MP who held charge of the communication ministry as a minister of State in 2016 when the telecom industry was engaged in the sale of spectrum.
India's stand is important against the backdrop of US FCC's decision to roll back its net neutrality rules adopted in 2015
Mergers and acquisitions would continue to create big corporate conglomerates but there is a need to draw a red line to avoid dominance and curbing of open competition in market by them, he said while addressing a conference on competition issues in New Delhi.
The US is set for a geographically limited 5G rollout this Christmas, after a bumper $81 billion spectrum auction earlier this year. Just as the rollout date nears, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has sounded alarm bells over potentially fatal consequences of 5G interference on aircraft. Similar consequences could apply in India, where 5G spectrum auction is scheduled in January 2022, with the rollout beginning later next year (though reports suggest impending delays).
Telecom major Bharti Group Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Bharti Mittal denied any attempt on forming a cartel with other telecom players to distort competition. Bharti Airtel had received a 'notice of enquiry' by anti- monopoly watchdog MRTPC. Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular too had received such notices. It was alleged that 3 GSM operators, by colluding, have simultaneously increased the price. Mittal said that MVNOs will not work in India due to existing tariffs.
US President Barack Obama has nominated Indian-American lawyer and telecom policy expert Ajit Varadaraj Pai, who belongs to Republican party, as Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the country's premier regulatory body.
While consumers feel that petrol pinches directly, diesel hurts indirectly, as it is an input in almost all the goods and services we use.
In an interview with Karan Thapar on the CNN-IBN channel's Devil's Advocate programme, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia explains why he faults the controversial report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on 2G telecom spectrum allocation. Edited excerpts:
Raises cap of market share for merged entity to 50%, spectrum trading allowed, with riders.
The department of telecom is considering a proposal to reduce the license fee and spectrum charges of telecom players to 2-3 per cent from the current six per cent in the Approach Paper of Planning Commission's 11th Five Year Plan.
In this interesting case filed by the petitioner against the Taj Hotels, the National Commission gave an equally interesting judgment.
G C Murmu rarely speaks in public and when he does, his statements are always in lockstep with the thinking within this government.
At 11:37 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 28 points at 27,037 and the Nifty50 was up 2 points at 8,268
Analysts remain confident RIL's refining and petrochemical segment will continue to support growth.
Telecom operators, including Reliance Jio, have been demanding "same service same rules" regime which means that mobile applications providing calls and messaging services should also be made to comply with set of rules that are mandatory for mobile service providers.
The eight-member SAARC region includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. Gupta also hoped that the 3G auction would take place on time.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his engagements in the US on Thursday by meeting with leading American CEOs from five different key sectors and highlighted the economic opportunities in India.
We have a government with an extremely weak economic team advising a PM who hardly pays attention to their thoughts, says Jayanta Roy.
Work on BSNL, MTNL sell-off plans to begin
Preliminary work on submitting proposals for offloading government equity in 12 PSUs, including BSNL and MTNL, has begun.
The Cabinet's decision to auction 3G spectrum in January next year will give a fillip to investments in port, power, telecom and roads in the next 12-18 months, deputy Planning Commission chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.
Trai had asked the Attorney General for views on Jio's free voice and data offering till March 2017, that rivals have termed predatory.
The CJI has also kept with himself matters concerning arbitration, habeas corpus, criminal cases, contempt of court and ordinary civil matters.
The government has plans for the third round of spectrum auction and may put on block 2G GSM airwaves in Delhi and Mumbai circles, and CDMA spectrum in 13 circles that remained unsold in the previous sale held in March, according to sources.
Montek welcomes investment in infrastructure; deals worth over $5 billion signed at the 2nd India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue.
If Indian storytelling can deliver, it can make the entertainment industry an engine of economic growth and a substantial contributor to GDP, says Vanita Kohli-Khandekar.
The 700-Mhz spectrum band ranges from 698 Mhz to 806 Mhz and has been identified by the International Telecommunication Union for telecom services.
Bharti Airtel Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Bharti Mittal, Vodafone Plc CEO Vittorio Colao, Telenor CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas and Idea Cellular Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla on Wednesday met ministers and senior government officials to present the industry's concerns over telecom regulator Trai's proposals on the auction of spectrum.
Flag Telecom and Pivotal Pvt Equity, the company, which had made an offer to acquire the former at a price higher than that offered by Reliance, have "mutually" decided not to pursue their discussions.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram has asked UK-based Vodafone Group, which is facing a tax liability of over Rs 11,200 crore in India, to give its view on the long-pending matter in writing, a senior official said.
India's economy could prove to be the "most resilient" in the subregion of South and South-West Asia over the long term, according to a report by the UN, which says a positive but lower economic growth post COVID-19 pandemic and the country's large market will continue to attract investments. The report titled 'Foreign Direct Investment Trends And Outlook In Asia And The Pacific 2020/2021', and compiled by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), stated that inward FDI flows to South and South-West Asia slightly decreased by 2 per cent in 2019, from $67 billion in 2018 to $66 billion in 2019. The growth, however, was mainly driven by India, which accounted for 77 per cent of the total inflows to the subregion and received $51 billion in 2019, up 20 per cent from the previous year.
Anil Ambani has interests in power, telecom and other infrastructure sectors.
The party unanimously elected veteran Duraimurugan as general secretary and senior leader T R Baalu as treasurer. Former Telecom Minister A Raja and seasoned party leader K Ponmudi were elected as deputy general secretaries.
The government has suffered a loss of Rs 12,488.93 crore (Rs 124.88 billion) due to under-invoicing of gross revenue by six telecom companies including Reliance Communications, Vodafone and Bharti Airtel, the CAG said in a damning report on Friday.
Corporate affairs ministry note for ministerial group says can't keep banking, telecom out of CCI purview as RBI, Trai enable but not regulate competition
'Some cases do not get a single hearing for 6 to 8 months, while some have been pending for as long as 8 years.'
Out of the total of 25,359 complaints received during 2010, the highest of 8,330 were against Railways, 6,520 against banks, 1,836 against petroleum department and 1,572 were against telecom officials.
'There is a fiscal crisis building up, which might become apparent when the Finance Commission presents its report,' warns T N Ninan.
Bharti Airtel called the prices exorbitant while Vodafone Idea wants the auctions take place in 2020. The auctions need to happen when the infrastructure is ready for the roll out, be it in terms of fiberisation levels, or optimisation of equipment and software etc. Spending a hefty amount on a technology (airwaves) that at present offers limited returns is not going to be a priority for the incumbent telcos.
Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh told reporters that a national TV news channel, facing flak over its attack on Mumbai police and Maharashtra government in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, was also involved in the TRP racket.