The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India last week recommended that the government should auction 5 MHz of airwaves in the 1800 MHz band and companies will have to pay a minimum Rs 3,622.18 crore (Rs 36.22 billion) for every unit of spectrum.
Norway-based telecom company Telenor has raised its stake in its Indian joint venture with Unitech Wireless to 60.1 percent from 49 percent at an investment of Rs 1,493 crore.
As the new owner, Airtel will take over Telenor India's spectrum, licences and operations, including its employees and customer base of 44 million.
The government on Wednesday said it has cleared Norwegian telecom firm Telenor's proposal to invest Rs 1,000 crore in a joint venture company in the telecom sector.
After building a subscriber base of nearly 50 million in about eight chequered years, it finally gave up as it saw itself up against a 600-pound gorilla that breezed through double that many subscribers in a fraction of that time, says N Sundaresha Subramanian.
Bharti to spend Rs 1,600 cr for spectrum payout over 10 yrs; Telenor to service its own debt.
Sun Pharma promoter Shanghvi's brother-in-law Sudhir Valia to pick 26%
Merchant bankers appointed to explore options on merger or stake sale in Tata Teleservices.
Telenor Financial Services, IDFC Bank and Sun Pharma's Dilip Shanghvi have decided to withdraw their licence to set up a payments bank.
Unitech has already got a stay on the rights issue from the Gurgaon district court, while Telenor's appeal against this decision has been declined by the Punjab and Haryana high court.
Norwegian firm Telenor, the majority partner in Uninor, has asked Sanjay Chandra to step down from the post of Chairman of Unitech Wireless in the wake of ongoing 2G court case.
Telenor of Norway and Sistema of Russia - on Friday asserted that they would take legal measures.
The Norway-based firm, Telenor, entered India through a joint venture with Unitech Wireless.
Despite mounting losses from its Indian operations and growing pressure from minority stakeholders back home, Norwegian telecom major Telenor said Uninor, its telecom joint venture in India, plans to raise about Rs 9,365 crore to support its expansion.
It is not clear, however, whether the two players are considering a majority stake or would be content as investors with 26 per cent.
The apex court had on February 2, last year cancelled 122 licences for 2G spectrum and had directed the department of telecommunication to hold fresh auction for them within four months.
Life has come full circle for Nobel laureate Professor Mohammad Yunus, who faced persecution during Sheikh Hasina's regime for embezzlement, is now all set to head of the interim government in Bangladesh after she resigned and fled the country.
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.
Foreign companies miffed at Indian partners for irregularities, rising debt.
Idea may have to shell out Rs 4,500 crore in cash
The decision is likely to bring in at least Rs 5 lakh crore of fresh investments into the sector over five years by improving connectivity and competition
For over a year Sanjay Chandra, managing director of the Unitech group, has been under a cloud for various reasons.
Spectrum auction ends, brings Rs 1.09 tln to govt kitty.
Vodafone Idea and Airtel have made provisions for their liabilities arising from the Supreme Court order in their latest September quarter results.
Following the October 24 Supreme Court order, the department of telecom estimated that the total liability of 15 telecom companies, including penalties and interest, would be Rs 1.47 lakh crore.
The attack came close on the heels of an ongoing anti-militant operation in the nearby forests of Manigah in the same district.
After their merger Vodafone Group CEO, Vittorio Colao says India is not a Jio market alone. Aditya Birla Group CEO, Kumar Mangalam Birla says Vodafone is dominant in metro cities, while Idea is a big player in urban, semi-urban markets.
Firm makes Rs 4,858-crore loss on Rs 10,799-crore income.
Funds will be raised via non-cumulative preference shares issued to Tata Sons on rights basis
In effect, companies which put their money in telecom in India would have done much better to keep the cash in bank and earn interest.
Facebook will now directly compete with Slack, HipChat, Yammer and a few others in this space.
It may be the season for corporate matchmaking but India Inc's record of managing partnerships is far from impressive, says Shailesh Dobhal.
The move came as the country badly needs capital inflows as the rupee comes under pressure
Karunanidhi was convinced that using the 2G cases against the DMK and reopening the fodder case against Lalu Prasad Yadav were products of the Congress leadership's short-sightedness. A revealing excerpt from A S Panneerselvan's Karunanidhi: A Life.
The launch of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd last September, particularly the tariff war it has unleashed on its competitors, has deepened the crisis facing India's telecom sector. One offshoot of this is the major drop in earnings reported by industry leaders Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular with each passing quarter. Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com tells the story in numbers.
The company has reportedly been in the process of shutting its CDMA business and shifting its subscribers to 2G, 3G and 4G networks.
The move comes barely a few days before the Special Investigation Team of Pakistan visits here to ascertain the facts of the case and investigation carried out by the NIA.
The deal between Bharti group and Tata Teleservices is yet another example of how swiftly things can change in business.
Likely to seek FIPB approval to raise holding; deal could bring FDI of about $696 mn.
A decline in the real estate sector, rising debt and the company's alleged involvement in 2G scam caused damage to the business and its image.
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