What worked for Airtel was that its data traffic growth was 13 per cent sequentially and its average data usage was even higher than Jio's at 11.9 gigabyte per month per user.
Bharti Airtel on Monday reported a 168 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,593 crore for the September quarter, and the company unveiled top-level changes, including Gopal Vittal moving into the role of executive vice chairman on January 1, 2026. India's second-largest telco - that competes with Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea in the Indian telecom market - clocked quarterly revenues of Rs 41,473 crore, 12 per cent higher than the year-ago period, aided by strong momentum in India and growth in Africa.
New customer additions by Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel pushed the Indian telecom subscriber base past 120.5 crore in June, according to a Trai report released on Tuesday. The wireless subscriber base grew marginally to over 117 crore and wireline connections in the country increased to 3.51 crore in June from 116.89 crore and 3.47 crore, respectively, in May, as per data released in Trai's subscriber report for June.
A large team led by Kumar Mangalam Birla has taken charge of the integration process.
Jio is planning to win over 350 million 2G feature phone users by launching a smartphone at a fraction of the current cost.
The government is expected to outline a policy framework for artificial intelligence (AI) at the annual India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2024, beginning Tuesday, officials said. Apart from industry participation, the four-day event will feature booths from over 15 ministries showcasing how AI is being integrated into their departments.
This merger, Bhupesh Bhandari believes, will be watched keenly by management gurus the world over.
'He asserted in his usual jovial style that he was not an MBA like his audience at IIM-Ahmedabad but perhaps had an even better business degree: MBB'. 'He went on to explain to his perplexed, blue chip B-School audience that MBB stood for "Marwadi by birth"!' Shivanand Kanavi salutes Shashi Ruia, co-founder of the Essar group who passed into the ages on November 25, 2024 in Mumbai.
Prominent exits by promoters included a Rs 15,300 crore share sale in Indus Tower by Vodafone Plc, a Rs 9,300 crore share sale by the Tata group in Tata Consultancy Services.
The latest telecom war kicked off after some pictures surfaced, showing Airtel banners among agitating farmers. According to the Jio camp, it was a giveaway that farmers were being enticed to port their phone numbers.
Hutch's migration to the Vodafone brand became complete on Wednesday, but the pug that made the mobile company ever so popular with the masses will remain.
To decide whether capital gains on surrender of call options are taxable
Vodafone m-pesa was one of the 11 firms that was given payments bank licence by the Reserve Bank of India in 2015.
Measures reportedly being mulled by the government to ease telecom industry's stress and fundraising may give Vodafone Idea the much-needed breather, but structural issue undermining the sector can be fixed only with "sizable" tariff hike for 4G prepaid customers, according to a note by Edelweiss. It further observed that as Voda Idea's large liabilities are falling due, and given the impending launch of JioPhone Next (whose rollout timeline has now been pushed to before Diwali), "the sooner the government measures as well as tariff hikes are rolled out, the better it is". It is pertinent to mention here that the telecom sector has been keenly watching out for the relief package, which could include redefinition of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) to exclude non-telecom items, cut in levies such as Spectrum Usage Charges and easier terms and conditions for surrendering radiowaves to the government.
Finance secretary R S Gujral too is believed to have met top Vodafone officials in Mumbai last month.
Representatives of the British telecom company on Friday met senior finance ministry officials, in search of an amicable solution.
Kapoor, who joined Vodafone a year back from Cairn India, resigned citing family commitments, Vodafone India said in a statement.
Debt-ridden Vodafone Idea (VIL) has decided to opt for converting about Rs 16,000 crore interest dues liability payable to the government into equity which will amount to around 35.8 per cent stake in the company, as per a regulatory filing of the telecom firm. If the plan goes through, the government will become the biggest shareholder in the company which is reeling under a debt burden of about Rs 1.95 lakh crore. "...the board of directors, at its meeting held on 10th January 2022, has approved the conversion of the full amount of such interest related to spectrum auction instalments and AGR dues into equity.
According to reports, Vodafone NZ had offered all its employees, other than call centre and retail staffers, voluntary severance package
The Finance Ministry has already circulated a draft Cabinet note withdrawing the conciliation offer to Vodafone to resolve the Rs 20,000-crore (Rs 200-billion) tax dispute case.
Vodafone Idea, the country's third largest telecom operator, on Wednesday reported a staggering Rs 73,878 crore of net loss in fiscal ended March 2020 -- the highest ever by any Indian firm -- after it provisioned for Supreme Court-mandated statutory dues. The firm, which has to pay Rs 51,400 crore dues after the apex court ordered the non-telecom revenues to be included in calculating statutory dues, said the liability has "cast significant doubt on the company's ability to continue as a going concern".
Delhi High Court quashes reassessment proceedings by Income Tax department.
Promoter shareholders -- Vodafone Group and Aditya Birla Group -- have reiterated to the board that they intend to contribute up to Rs 11,000 crore and up to Rs 7,250 crore, respectively, amounting to a total of Rs 18,250 crore, as part of the Rs 25,000-crore rights issue.
While Airtel may be pushed to to No 3, Jio will find it mighty difficult to beat the new entity.
While it was technically not possible to block the deal, the tax department could resort to arm-twisting.
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.
The company has added over 1,300 sites across the two states.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
In a significant move, Vodafone India on Tuesday said it has reduced data charges by up to 80 per cent in three circles and the new cheaper rates will be rolled out nationally in a phased manner.
Ruias to challenge Vodafone's put option, continue reverse-listing plan.
The country's second largest cellular services provider, Vodafone Essar, on Friday announced reduction in international roaming rates for its postpaid customers traveling to South Africa during the IPL Twenty20 cricket tournament beginning on Saturday.
The telecom operator had earlier sought the extension under Clause 4.1 of the licence agreement.
The landmark Vodafone ruling was delivered last fortnight amid fiercely debated proceedings lasting nine days and putting to test skills of a battery of lawyers assisting Vodafone and the Indian government.
Firms come out with detailed communiqu for consumers that counter Jio's claims of cheap data
Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf of the International Court of Justice is appointed as the 3rd arbitrator in Voda tax row.
The Indian equity markets will soon account for over a fifth of a key emerging market (EM) benchmark tracked by funds with assets exceeding $500 billion. This development is expected to funnel as much as $3 billion into the domestic markets. Following the latest review undertaken by global index provider MSCI, India's weighting in the MSCI EM index will surpass 20 per cent for the first time, narrowing its gap with the current top-weighted China to fewer than 400 basis points.
A landmark tax case between Vodafone of the UK and the Indian government that is set to determine the future climate for mergers and acquisitions in the country began on Monday.
Granted 6-month relief, subject to interim payments and guarantee, on Rs 3,700-cr demand for alleged transfer pricing in FY09.
Under the 2007 agreement between Vodafone and Essar, the latter has a put option of divesting its stake in the telecom venture.
Telecom giant Vodafone on Tuesday reported nearly three-times growth in net profit at 8.61 billion pounds ($12.42 billion) for the 2010 fiscal, mainly helped by growth in mobile data and cost cutting measures.
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