The government on Wednesday cleared the long-discussed proposal to hike foreign direct investment limit in the telecom sector to 74 per cent from the current 49 per cent, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said after Cabinet meeting.
In Metro circles only Bharti-Mumbai, BPL-Mumbai, Reliance- Mumbai and Tata-Mumbai meet the benchmark.
Indian telecom companies are likely to get a windfall of Rs 100-150 crore (Rs 1 to Rs 1.5 billion) when they announce their first quarter results during this week.
Indian telecom companies are scouting for acquisitions worldwide as part of an ambitious attempt to establish a global footprint. Moreover, the growth momentum needs to be maintained amid the falling average revenue per user (ARPUs) and expected saturation in the domestic subscriber base.
The acrimonious atmosphere created by increased litigations among service providers was bound to have its impact on the foreign investors, Shourie said during an interaction with telecom industry stalwarts in New Delhi.
Spice Telecom, one of the cellular service providers in Punjab, on Friday announced a 'special ISD offer' for its subscribers in the state, reducing international calling rates from Rs 16 to Rs 3.99 per minute.
The ongoing arguments in the case remained inconclusive and would continue on August 5
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 Union Cabinet on Friday extended the period of compliance with the conditions of Press Note 5, 2005, by three months to December 31, 2006.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the 2G spectrum issue will look into the allocation and pricing of telecom licences and spectrum from 1998 to 2009.
BPL Telecom Pvt Ltd, a part of the Rs 4500 crore BPL Group, on Friday launched its new range of Notebook PCs based on Intel's Centrino Mobile Technology.\n\n\n\n
Global credit rating agency Fitch upgraded outlook for the Indian telecom sector from 'negative' to 'stable'.
'The expeditious enactment of labour codes and strategic measures to bridge the skills jobs gap are critical.'
RCom and Aircel will hold 50 per cent each in the new company
Telecommunication is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world.
Continuing its probe in the 2G spectrum allocation scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation questioned two top telecom honchos besides close aides of former Telecom Minister A Raja, including his brother Kalia Perumal. The agency quizzed chief executive officer of Loop Telecom Sandip Basu and chairman of Sistema Shyam Teleservices Rajiv Mehrotra in connection with the scam, official sources said.
"The telecom service sector has shown unprecedented growth during 2003-04 mainly driven by intense competition and aggressive pricing," The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said in a statement in New Delhi.
The telecom regulator on March 27, announced its decision to phase out the Access Deficit Charge, which was paid by private telecom service providers to compensate BSNL for offering services in rural areas at subsidised rates. All major telecom players, Bharti Airtel, Tata Teleservices and Vodafone Essar had also welcomed the move.
The Department of Telecommunications is planning to give more powers to the telecom regulator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, in the new telecom policy, including the power to impose financial penalties on the erring telecom service providers.
India's booming mobile services market will see investments of over Rs 100,000 crore (around $24 billion) by 2010, the fastest investment ramp-up seen in any telecom market globally even as analysts predict a bruising battle that will see tariffs fall sharply.
The attached properties include 14 assets of Tuteja worth Rs 15.82 crore, 115 properties of Anwar Dhebar, the elder brother of Raipur Mayor and Congress leader Aijaz Dhebar, worth Rs 116.16 crore, properties of Vikash Agarwal alias Subbu worth Rs 1.54 crore and 33 properties of Arvind Singh worth Rs 12.99 crore, it said in a statement.
Sources at the department of telecommunications confirmed that Bharti Airtel has submitted application to bid for airwaves frequencies at pan-India level.
'The transactions were done in a circuitous route deliberately and most of the companies involved in it are Reliance ADA group firms.'
Despite the increased business risks, the rating agency affirmed Baa2 ratings, three notches down from the highest grade, with a stable outlook for RIL, Moody's Investor Service said in its weekly outlook.
Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Balwa, who along with former Telecom Minister A Raja and 17 others are facing a money laundering case arising out of the 2G scam, on Friday moved the Supreme Court seeking setting aside of a lower court order of framing charges against him.
The government is banking on the second round of spectrum auction and customer-centric moves such as free national roaming to rebuild the telecom sector, impacted by controversies and court judgements that have shaken investor confidence.
Wannabe telecom operators will take a while to know whether they have passed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's test. But that hasn't stopped them from taking the next step: tying up with infrastructure providers such as tower operators for rolling out their nation-wide operations.
Credible growth in new users was not matched by revenue as the all-India blended Average Revenue Per User per month for GSM remained almost at the same level of Rs 297 as compared with Rs 298 for the previous quarter.The ARPU for postpaid GSM service has shown an increase of 7 per cent from Rs 613 in January-March to Rs 655 in April-June quarter.
The industry was hit by the financial stress of 3G and 4G auctions in 2010.
Despite the infamous scams and taints that the industry has faced, each Indian can claim to be a proud beneficiary of the country's telecom revolution.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as a source of funding has shrunk to a trickle for the once lucrative telecom sector with foreign investment inflows plunging to $43 million in the April-September period of the current fiscal.
What's happening in the telecom sector are classic bullying tactics - do the wrong thing, threaten to do worse, get the threatened party to sue for peace, and walk away smelling of roses after a "compromise".
In its report tabled in Parliament, the CAG said the Swan Telecom's application was 'in effect against the intent and spirit' of the Unified Access Service Licencing guidelines as it was among those beneficiaries which 'suppressed facts, disclosed incomplete information and submitted fictitious documents' to the department of telecommunication.
The telecom foray is the second diversification outside its core business of developing residential and commercial real estate -- it is already in the Special Economic Zone space with five zones to be set up across the country.
China-based telecom equipment supplier Huawei Technologies, which has bagged a $200 million contract from Reliance Communications, is upbeat on India and expects to clinch other multi-million dollar outsourcing deals in the country.
Leading Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corporation, have launched an aggressive 'Indianisation' drive. The two companies are replacing Chinese nationals with Indians on their board of directors. The move is seen as an attempt by the companies to change the public perception in India, where Chinese firms are often viewed with suspicion. This would also make it easy for the firms to do business in India.
Since the last few years, the telecom sector has been affected by regulatory uncertainty which has hurt the investor sentiment.
Telecom operators pay 30 per cent of their revenue as levies like annual licence fee, spectrum charges, contribution to universal service obligation fund and the total burden adds up to 40 per cent along with service tax.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) began making submissions on Monday on its appeal before the Delhi high court challenging the acquittal of accused persons, including former telecom minister A Raja, and firms in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case in December 2017.
