Putting at rest the controversy over issuance of new telecom licenses on 575 applications, the government on Monday said in the Lok Sabha that these would be issued as per the existing policy which does not put any restriction on the number of operators.
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 company has already made payments for the spectrum according to rules.
This move gives Airtel and Chinese major immense benefits.
Letter to telecom secretary alleges Jio is masquerading full-blown services in the guise of a trial; no word from Reliance.
Iqara Broadband, part of United Kingdom energy major BG Group Plc, expects its broadband Internet services in India to guide the firm's growth in the new thrust area of telecom, a senior company official said on Monday.
Shareholders have given approval to the appointment of Ambani scions Akash, Isha and Anant on board of Reliance Industries, the company said in a stock exchange filing.
Others taxed at 5, 12, 18, 28%
'In the next 15-20 years, India will have at least 50 new (AI-driven) billion-dollar companies that are going to solve problems for the largest companies around the world.'
Call blocking is one facility that telecom service providers claim is only for the chosen few, for instance the celebrities. Not withstanding its niche appeal, service providers in the country are in various stages of implementing the technology.
A user can list certain numbers with the operator from which he does not want to receive calls, and calls from these numbers would be blocked. Around 10-15 numbers can be blocked, while the caller will get a "busy tone or a recorded message".
While Airtel's India wireless operational performance was one of its worst in recent times, Jio surprised the Street by reporting a higher expected operating and net profit.
In a development that would hit telecom operators' profits, the government announced an up to 50 per cent increase in spectrum charges for all GSM and CDMA technology based service providers.
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had told Parliament in November that Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and other telecom companies owe the government as much as Rs 1.47 lakh crore in past statutory dues.
The bidding for four spectrum bands is scheduled to start from March 4.
Airtel already offers services in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and 17 African countries apart from India.
However, Rajya Sabha being a continuing chamber is not subject to dissolution, and bills introduced and pending in this House remain on the live register, unless withdrawn by the government.
In India BT is working on a new community project aimed at supporting the developing countries to be a part of the digital society.\n
DoT officials, under fear of allegation of their conniving with telecom operators for lowering penalty, directly impose the maximum penalty that can be levied on service providers.
British phone maker INQ on Wednesday said it has launched unlocked versions of its handsets, which were earlier only available with Aircel network, in the open market to tap the country's burgeoning telecom market.
The government on Friday said guidelines for 3G services will be issued next month and foreign players will be allowed to offer this service in the country whether they come through open auction route or via the existing law, which allows 74 per cent FDI in telecom companies.
This will be the first time BJP's prime ministerial candidate holds a discussion with IT, telecom czars.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said on Tuesday it summoned eight telecom operators for poor quality of service across the country.
India's 140 million mobile subscribers make missed calls to convey a pre-agreed message.
The Bharti group, which has just acquired a majority stake in the Bangladeshi mobile operator Warid Telecom, is on the lookout to acquire government-owned telcos in developing markets like Africa which are up for divestment.
Trai also recommended allocation of 3G spectrum in the 2.1 GHz band through auction in tranches of 2x5 MHz. And if this spectrum band was not adopted, it would be possible to provide spectrum only to two to three operators, apart from state-owned companies (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and Mahanagr Telephone Nigam Limited).
A higher-than-expected consumer price inflation (CPI) print for March in the US has dashed hopes of an interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve (US Fed) in June. Analysts now expect the US central bank to start cutting rates in September, provided inflation remains in check and oil prices remain supportive. The markets, analysts believe, partially factored in this possibility.
Alphabet Inc's Google has paid Rs 33,737 crore for a 7.73 per cent stake in Reliance Industries Ltd's (RIL) digital subsidiary, Jio Platforms Ltd, joining the list of global investors such as Facebook, billionaire Mukesh Ambani's firm said. The transaction also marks the US technology giant's biggest-ever investment in an Indian company. With this, Jio Platforms has raised a total of Rs 1.52 lakh crore by selling nearly 33 per cent stake to 13 financial and strategic investors in just 11 weeks.
Bharti Airtel had planned to charge separately for internet-based voice calls provided by Skype.
Concerned over the health of their telecom business, the Tata group has planned an investment of Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) over the next 2-3 years while expecting the telecom ventures to come to the big league by around 2008.
It is boom time for the communications sector with India adding 200.8 lakh (20.08 million) wireless subscribers in the quarter ended December 2006, taking the gross telecom subscriber base to 18.9 crore (189.92 million).
The government on Thursday cleared changes to the current channel down-linking guidelines to allow broadcasters to provide content to telecom service providers for Internet Protocol TV.
'I feel more like a chess player, thinking for long hours how to make the next move," Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan tells Surajeet Das Gupta.
Reliance Communications' tower business Reliance Infratel is likely to enter into an end-to-end telecom infrastructure agreement with Aircel for towers, voice carriage and bulk bandwidth worth about $300 million.
The fourth generation or 4G technology offers download at faster speed known as ultra-broadband and high definition video on demand among other such services.
The government is likely to make mandatory the sharing of telecom infrastructure such as towers in Delhi and Mumbai, a move that would bring down the cost of setting up of towers and enable faster roll out of services in rural areas.
Facebook is now attempting to make truce with telecom operators through its programme.
The Union Cabinet on Friday decided to unify the licenses of basic and cellular telecom services, paving the way for WLL operators like Reliance to offer full mobility services.
The government has collected over Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) in penalties from new telecom service providers that failed to roll-out their networks within the stipulated timeframe after getting licences and spectrum.
For Paris-headquartered IT services major Capgemini, India has always been the backbone of its services delivery for its global clients, but the company is focused on driving more value from India as it gears up its engineering research and development (R&D) presence worldwide with its acquisition of Altran Technologies. The company, which has about 149,000 employees in India, is looking to hire 60,000 associates this year. Of them, 30,000 will be recruits from campuses and the rest lateral entrants. For Ashwin Yardi, chief executive officer India, Capgemini, the focus is to make sure that the India unit is aligned with the global plans of repositioning the company as a hub of engineering R&D, operational technology, and IT.
