Mobile companies are now gearing up even faster to get a slice of the Indian telecom market by offering the latest technology, design and the lowest pricing to woo Indian consumers.
The British telecom major has disputed the tax demand over its acquisition of 67 per cent stake in Hutchison, now called Vodafone India, arguing that no tax was due as the transaction was conducted offshore.
The regulator's directive implies that operators will have to end the practice of splitting monthly fixed charges.
Setting aside security concerns, state-run Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited has signed MoUs with India's telecom giant Reliance Infocomm to provide cable link between the two countries through the Wagah border
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India received the award at the Frost & Sullivan Technology awards in Singapore.
India's telecom industry grew by an impressive 28.59 per cent last fiscal with the subscriber base nearing the 100 million mark aided by cheaper call tariffs.
Telecom subscribers will soon have uniform rates across the country as 'One India', Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran said on Tuesday.
Eyeing a share in the growing value-added services market in India's telecom sector, US-based communications company Telenity will set up an R&D centre in New Delhi with an initial investment of Rs 30 crore (Rs 300 million).\n\n
The IT department had issued a tax assessment order in December 2011 asking Vodafone to add Rs 8,500 crore (Rs 85 billion) to its taxable income, thus raising the tax liability of the company.
With the profitability of telecom operators declining due to "low tariffs and high costs", GSM industry body COAI Chairman Himanshu Kampania has said the mobile sector cannot sustain future investments with present low margins.
India's telecoms regulator must guard against overly aggressive price-cutting in the nation's fast-growing telephone industry, a key policy maker said on Thursday.\n\n
Sam Pitroda said that the MTNL-BSNL merger is not the only solution and asked the government to give them more autonomy by lowering its stake to below 51 per cent.
India's telecom customer base is slowly inching towards the 10-crore (100 million) mark.
India's telecom services would continue to record a strong growth with teledensity more than doubling to 18 per cent in the next five years
Hyundai Mobile, a unit of South Korean conglomerate Hyundai Corp, has entered into a strategic partnership with State Trading Corporation for selling mobile phones in India under which the PSU will give an import funding assistance of Rs 200 crore (R
Why are states important to win for national parties? What is the significance of local power? That was what we should have a look at because the Congress has been squeezed out of power in more states today than it has ever been in history.
India's telecom subscriber base grew by 8.5 per cent to touch 7.67 crore (76.7 million) for the quarter ended March 2004 compared to the previous quarter, primarily driven by a whopping surge in mobile phone users.
Reliance Industries Ltd is expected to invest Rs 30,000 crore (Rs 300 billion), of the total Rs 70,000 crore (Rs 700 billion) announced, in its telecom arm Reliance Jio Infocomm over the next two years, credit rating firm Moody's said on Monday. The investment in the telecom business is a credit negative for RIL because RJio will not generate any EBITDA (an indicator of cash flows) for at least next 12 months, it said. Moody's added however that RJio will be a formidable competitor in the sector making it a credit negative for top telecom operators already in the field. "Based on RIL's March 2014 annual report, we estimate that it has already invested about Rs 400 billion (Rs 40,000 crore) in Reliance Jio, and we expect RIL to invest the next Rs 300 billion in Reliance Jio over the next two years," Moody's Investors Service said in a statement. RIL recently announced that it will launch commercial 4G telecom service of RJio in 2015 entailing investment of Rs 70,000 crore. RIL has said that RJio will initially cover about 5,000 towns and cities accounting for over 90 per cent of urban India, as well as over 215,000 villages in India and the target is to expand this to over 600,000 villages. Moody's said RJio will be a "formidable competitor in India's telecom sector" as it will enter the business with financial muscle. RJio's entry into highly competitive telecom sector is also credit negative for incumbent mobile operators and market leaders Bharti Airtel and Vodafone India because "it will undoubtedly result in intensified competition that will lead to declines in average revenue per user and margins". But, it also said that strong spectrum holding of incumbents; existing large subscriber-bases and well- established brand equity; offering 2G and 3G services (apart from 4G services being launched) as well as marketing and distribution architecture mitigate much of the near-term competitive threat from Reliance Jio for them. "Furthermore, given issues of language and literacy, large parts of rural India remain a substantially voice-based market where near-term demand for 4G services may be muted," Moody's said.
Sam Pitroda, chairman and CEO of the US-based World Tel, and the man behind India's telecom revolution said on Tuesday that information technology.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd is expected to use between 30,000 and 45,000 mobile towers when it starts offering 4G services in the third or fourth quarter of this financial year, according to Credit Suisse.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said a strong domestic manufacturing base in electronics and telecommunications will mitigate burden of growing imports for the sector.
US-based technology major IBM is contesting a claim of the revenue department which has increased the company's taxable income substantially to around Rs 11,000 crore (Rs 110 billion).
'Modi has kept some loopholes in case they lose, saying it was not his election.' 'The fight will be Modi of 2014 vs Modi of 2019.' 'The BJP has realised that keeping the temple issue alive is more important than building the temple itself in terms of votes.'
India's telecom sector, billed as one of the fastest growing markets globally this decade, has attracted foreign direct investment worth $1.05 billion in the past two years, the government said in a statement on Monday.
Prasad asked private operators to play a role in skill development.
The auction will help operators augment expansion of high-speed 4G voice and data services in the world's second largest mobile phone market.
Despite getting lukewarm response from the earlier two auctions, the government on Monday said it is confident of meeting the revenue target of Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion) from spectrum sale this fiscal.
More than 19 million people in 38 countries have been connected through Facebook's different programmes.
The Rs 51 per GB data versus industry norm of Rs 250-plus comes with the caveat of an upfront payment of Rs 1,498 for a year
E-governance roll-out needs better infrastructure, privacy protection.
Bharti'suarterly revenue run rate continues to be hover around the $1.2 billion mar
The agency had "almost finished" its probe into the matter, which involved Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader and former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, an official said.
The big beneficiaries of this move will be the big three -- Bharti, Vodafone and Idea.
The government on Friday put on hold the preferential market access (PMA) policy that provided for sourcing of sensitive telecom and electronic equipments and technology from domestic manufacturers over security concerns.
Besides Vodafone, several other major MNCs like Nokia and Shell were locked in tax dispute with the revenue department.