The Department of Telecom (DoT) on Tuesday postponed the spectrum auction by 19 days to June 25, as per information available on its website. According to amendments made in the notice inviting applications for bids on Tuesday, the new date for "start of the live auction" has been changed to June 25 from June 6. The government will auction eight spectrum bands for mobile phone services at a base price of about Rs 96,317 crore.
This follows the expiry of its brand-use agreement with the BPL Group. The company, which faces an ownership battle between the Ruias of the Essar Group and the UK-based Vodafone, does not expect 'any issues' to arise from the change. "Loop is an extension of an ongoing campaign, Get in the Loop, and it will be easy for our subscribers to identify with this new brand name," said BPL Mobile Director and CEO Sanjeev Chachondia.
Media reports in Australia say the contract has now been awarded to EDS (part of IT major Hewlett-Packard). It is also understood that Satyam's new chief executive, A S Murty, had rushed to Australia last week in a last-ditch effort to retain the contract, which accounted for about 35 per cent of Satyam's revenue from Australia.
AT&T Inc, the largest telecom services provider in the US, has acquired an 8.07 per cent stake in Pune-headquartered Tech Mahindra for $34.5 million (around Rs 160 crore) by exercising a 2005 option agreement to buy a stake in the company. Its stake at Tuesday's prices on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), however, is worth around Rs 900 crore.
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.
Total revenue, as per the US accounting rules, rose over one per cent to Rs 9,772.20 crore (Rs 97.72 billion) during the December quarter, from Rs 9,633.4 crore (Rs 96.33 billion) in the corresponding period last year, Bharti Airtel said.
State-run telecom service provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has placed an advance purchase order with Huawei of China on mobile equipment for 20 million GSM lines in the south zone. The PSU is also in advanced negotiations with Ericsson for the north and east zone.
BSNL is providing telecom services in remote parts of the country and maintaining 17,000 to 18,000 exchanges, incurring Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 crore losses every year. Otherwise, these villages will be cut off.
Earlier, only access to white-listed sites was allowed as the service was restored for a week on January 25 and subsequently extended from time to time, after being snapped on August 5 last year when the Centre abrogated the special status to the erstwhile state and bifurcated it into two union territories.
The operating profit growth rate of mobile service providers is expected to double in next two years buoyed by increase in call rates and clarity in policy, credit rating agency CRISIL has said.
Illegal routing of international calls is assessed to have caused a loss of about Rs 145 crore to the government during the last three financial years, Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication Jyotiraditya Scindia said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. Illegal routing of international calls is done in the guise of local calls by private players, resulting in evasion of connectivity and Access Deficit Charges.
Hutchison holds a 52 percent stake in Hutchison Essar and the Ruias-promoted Essar group 33 percent, while the rest is held by Analjit Singh of Max India and Hutchison Essar CEO Asim Ghosh.
TRAI seeks views to regulate net-based calling, messaging apps
Telecom service provider Reliance Communications on Friday said it has launched an international calling card for the United States and Canada through which users can make calls to these countries at a rate of Rs 1.99 per minute.
State-owned telecom service provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd on Thursday said it has slashed its local and STD rates by 50 per cent allowing rural users to make calls at 40 paise per minute.
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea will roll out revised mobile service tariffs increasing rates in the range of 10-24 per cent from the first week of July. Bharti Airtel announced a 10-21 per cent hike in prepaid and postpaid mobile tariffs from July 3, a day after larger rival Reliance Jio announced an increase in rates. Later in the day, loss-making telecom operator Vodafone Idea (Vi) also announced its plan to raise mobile tariffs by 11-24 per cent from July 4.
MTNL was the target of selling on Friday after its net profit came in way below even the lower side of analysts' expectations.
The company at present provides monthly mobile services at starting price of Rs 24 without data, and plans with data service starts from Rs 33 onward. It did not disclose the quantum of hike.
Bharti Airtel, India's leading private telecom service provider, is keen to acquire a player similar in size to South African giant MTN in the emerging markets to become a global brand, said Akhil Gupta, deputy group CEO and managing director of Bharti Enterprises.
Bharti Airtel, India's leading private telecom service provider, is keen to acquire a player similar in size to South African giant MTN in the emerging markets to become a global brand, said Akhil Gupta, deputy group CEO and managing director of Bharti Enterprises.
BlackBerry Curve 8300 smartphone is the smallest and lightest BlackBerry smartphone ever to come with a full QWERTY keyboard.
Telecom service provider Reliance Communications on Monday introduced two new Classic colour phones with FM radio, aiming to tap a higher market share in this segment.
CEO pay is not always the function of performance.
This move is seen as part of efforts to strengthen China's ties with Pakistan and safeguard Chinese investments in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, particularly related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Monday reported multiple irregularities in the accounts of units under the IT and telecom ministries, including purchases of hardware and software worth Rs 890 crore by NICSI in contravention of rules. In its audit report for financial years 2017-18 and 2018-19, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has flagged anomalies in the decision taken by state-run telecom firm BSNL, C-DoT, the Department of Posts, ITI Limited and CDAC that had adverse financial implications. "NICSI procured hardware and software costing Rs 890.34 crore through the 'Strategic Alliance' route in contravention of General Financial Rules, 2005 and departmental instructions and thus failed to ensure transparency and competitiveness in the procurement process," according to the CAG report tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday.
The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has unearthed a racket in which many subscribers are reported to have sought mobile phone connections from the BSNL after producing fake ration cards.
Trai said the reports that compensation was not feasible were based on wrong inputs.
The Home Ministry will hold a meeting with Department of Telecommunications and service providers to take a view on BlackBerry's services on Thursday, and is expected to direct them to stop certain features which cannot be accessed by security agencies.
Foreign institutional investors have been allowed to invest up to Rs 5,400 crore (Rs 54 billion) in Reliance Communications through ADRs or GDRs.
Reliance Infocomm, the largest private telecom service provider in the country, has deployed Veraz networks' I-Gate 4000 PRO media gateways, supporting 60,000 ports for international long-distance VoIP traffic.
While smart boys like the Ruias of Essar, Ajay Piramal, Max India promoter Analjit Singh laughed all the way to the bank, the Tatas, Anil Ambani, Malaysian tycoon T Ananda Krishna of Maxis (which invested in Aircel), Sistema, and Norway's Telenor burnt their fingers, notes Surajeet Das Gupta.
To support its huge expansion plans, BSNL might have to resort to an initial public offer (IPO) in three years' time. The public sector telecom service provider will require around Rs 60,000 crore (Rs by 2010 to fund the expansions.
Typically these are high-beta stocks and earnings are volatile
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