Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Friday said it has signed an agreement to buy Vodafone's 4.7 per cent stake in Indus Towers on the condition that the proceeds will be used for investment in Vodafone Idea and clearing its dues towards the mobile tower company. Debt-ridden Vodafone Idea (VIL) has been unable to pay dues to Indus Towers and both VIL and promoter Vodafone have proposed a payment plan to clear the outstanding amount by July 15. In the meantime, VIL has committed to pay certain minimum amount each month to Indus Towers.
Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported a 9 per cent rise in its December quarter net profit as a planned maintenance-induced weakness in oil business earnings was offset by stability in retail and telecom verticals. The oil-to-retail-to-telecom conglomerate's consolidated net profit of Rs 17,265 crore, or Rs 25.52 per share, in October-December - the third quarter of the current 2023-24 fiscal - was 9.3 per cent higher than Rs 15,792 crore, or Rs 23.19 a share, earning a year back, according to a company statement. Quarter-on-quarter, the profit was lower when compared to Rs 17,394 crore earnings in the preceding three months ended September 30.
Investors indulged in profit booking at attractive and higher valuations
Customers of Vodafone, Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices and BSNL in some circles have reported maximum discrepancies in their phone bills, according to a latest report by telecom regulator TRAI.
A high-powered group of ministers on Thursday decided to go for a unified licence regime for telecom services, a move seen to resolve the ongoing battle between basic and cellular operators on limited mobile services.
According to software company Mavernir, the new virtualised networks would lead to a saving of 40 per cent in capex and 34 per cent in terms of lower operations cost for operators.
Former Central Bureau of Investigation joint director Amit Kumar, who is now posted as Chhattisgarh police ADG, led the probe into the coal scam that resulted in convictions in a number of cases.
India can build new technology in the telecom sector that leapfrogs the legacy systems in the West and leverage these systems to serve the global market, Satyam Computer Services director T R Anand said on Monday.
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.
Various corporate houses and multinational companies including AT&T, Russian firm Sistema, Sterlite, Hindujas, DLF, Parsavnath, Videocon and others have entered the fray to get telecom licences.
A senior official in the Telecom Ministry said the government is considering an exit option for the new telecom players who are struggling to roll out services.
Despite low tariffs, voice usage is not growing.
The launch of 5G services in India turbocharged mobile download speeds here, pushing the country's ranking 72 notches higher to 47th spot in Speedtest Global Index, ahead of nations like Japan, the UK and Brazil, according to Ookla. India's speed performance has zoomed up 3.59 times since the introduction of 5G, it said dubbing the country's 5G advancement as "remarkable". In this global pecking order, India ranked not only ahead of its neighbours like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, but also some G20 countries, such as Mexico (90th), Turkey (68th), the UK (62nd), Japan (58th), Brazil (50th place), and South Africa (48th place).
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.
The Army has asked telecom companies to realise the security implications of such malpractices.
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad is learnt to have approached Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for additional funds to carry out schemes committed under Universal Services Obligation fund scheme.
The directive by the department of telecommunication has also made it mandatory for equipment vendors to transfer technology to Indian manufacturers within three years of selling machines to any operator.
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio has introduced a 20-per cent cashback offer on select prepaid plans, intensifying competition in the Indian telecommunications (telecom) market. Jio is the largest telecom service provider in India, with 443 million subscribers as of July. Jio's cashback offer will drive cross-selling across Reliance's various retail businesses, but the move is also being seen by some analysts as a signal that tariff hikes may not be around the corner just yet.
The telecom dream that India is living is not without blemish.
As per the initial version of the Unified Licence on August 2, DoT had exempted Internet services revenue from adjusted gross revenue -- part of telecom company's earnings on which annual licence fee is levied.
The top four Indian IT firms have cash reserves of nearly $15 billion with TCS alone holding $5.9 billion in reserves, followed by Infosys with $3.6 billion, and Wipro with $3.4 billion. HCL Technologies has cash reserves of $1.75 billion.
With this launch, Airtel has now become the only private operator to have network footprints in all the districts of J&K.
With iYogi's 'Digital Services Cloud', telecom companies, original equipment manufacturer, technology retailers and business process outsourcing companies can address new opportunities and generate revenue, while enhancing customer experience and reducing costs.
The Cabinet is believed to have asked the Department of Telecom to examine imposing a Swachch Bharat cess on spectrum charges paid annually by service providers.
Leading service provider Spice Telecom has said consumer must be given competitive choices to choose from and number of telecom players in a circle cannot be an issue.
The TDSAT bench, headed by its chairman Justice S B Sinha, asked Bharti Airtel to file a short reply by Tuesday over Asergis's allegations.
Telecom companies are eyeing a piece of the market share where data usage generates a higher amount of revenue, once 3G services are launched later this year.
Telecom firms like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and MTNL have shown interest to start IPTV services, where television signal is carried to homes through telecom lines and broadband.
By sharing the infrastructure with others, telecom companies can drive down their costs, reduce investments and, in the process, improve their bottom line.
'Investors should not go for lump-sum investments in infrastructure funds at this point.' 'The SIP route is the best to avoid any major disappointment.'
Bharti Airtel on Friday said it has rolled out unlimited data offer for 5G users in 4G plans starting from Rs 239 onward. The move from the telecom operator comes to match its rival Jio, which is offering unlimited 5G data access during the beta trials during the network rollout. "This introductory offer is in line with the philosophy of wanting our customers to be able to surf, stream, chat and enjoy multiple benefits at blazing speeds without having to worry about data limits. We hope our customers enjoy the power of world-class Airtel 5G Plus," Bharti Airtel, director consumer business, Shashwat Sharma said in a statement.
The company said that intense competition following the disruptive entry of a new player, legal and regulatory challenges, high level of unsustainable debt and increased losses had together caused significant "negative business and reputational impact".
Promoter Vodafone plans to infuse up to Rs 3,375 crore into debt-ridden Vodafone Idea Ltd as part of the company's proposed raising of funds worth Rs 14,200 crore. Besides Vodafone, Aditya Birla Group plans to pump in up to Rs 1,125 crore, according to a regulatory filing on Friday. The telecom operator will seek shareholders' approval for raising up to Rs 14,500 crore as well as increase its authorised share capital to Rs 75,000 crore at its the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to be held on March 26.
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Thursday posted a net profit of Rs 1,612 crore for the first quarter ended June 2023, which is nearly flat over earnings in the same period of the previous year. The revenue for the just-ended quarter was 14 per cent higher at Rs 37,440 crore compared to the year-ago period "backed by strong and consistent performance delivery across the portfolio", the company said.
India's IT and business services market is expected to grow 5.4 per cent annually to reach $13 billion by December this year, research firm IDC said. The segment grew 5.3 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in January-June (H1) 2020 period as compared to 8.9 per cent growth in H1 2019, IDC said in a report. Of the IT and business services market, the IT services market contributed 77.4 per cent in H1 2020, growing 5.9 per cent y-o-y as compared to 9.3 per cent growth in the year-ago period.
State-owned BSNL has become the first telecom firm to launch mobile services at the Holy Amarnath cave, as well as on the two routes of the yatra.
