Reliance Communications has received a $750 million (Rs 3,000 crore) loan from China Development Bank that would be invested in building a nationwide GSM footprint for the telephony major. The Anil Ambani group company has received the loan for a ten-year period and at a rate of Libor (London Inter-Bank Offered Rate) plus 80 basis points. RCom had received the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approvals for the loan, sources close to the development said.
Upping the ante in the ongoing spectrum war, Reliance Communications chairman Anil Ambani has shot off a missive to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), accusing GSM operators of having cornered spectrum under the valuable 900 MHz.
In his letter dated October 19, Anil Ambani points out that while the top three GSM players -- Bharti, Vodafone-Essar and Idea Cellular -- have acquired an additional 52 million subscribers in the past few years without allocation of any additional spectrum, something they have constantly told the government that they do not have sufficiently.
Reliance Telecom, a subsidiary of Reliance Communiations, on Friday announced a unique recharge scheme for its prepaid GSM customers who could avail of free ''double on net minutes and built-in talktime'' on top-up vouchers of Rs 10.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is believed to have left it to telecom minister A Raja to resolve the tangle over allocation of spectrum, an issue that has brought industry bigwigs like Reliance Communications' Anil Ambani and Bharti Airtel's Sunil Mittal face to face.
NXP (Next eXPerience) Semiconductors, the new semiconductor company founded by Philips, is partnering with mobile communication service provider Reliance Communications to bring out low cost handsets in India
For sometime, satellite-based management education has come to the aid of senior managers who never went to a business school.
B K Modi-controlled Spice Mobile is all set to launch its GSM phone for Rs 800 this month. Branded as the 'People's Phone', the handset, a very basic model, doesn't have a display screen. Spice officials believe the company will sell around one million units in India and 10 million globally over the next 12 months.
Reliance Communications Ltd's subsidiary Reliance Mobile World on Wednesday announced introduction of LPG gas booking service on mobile phones.
The total revenues and net profit of the top six Indian telecom players, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, BSNL, Hutchison Essar, MTNL and Idea Cellular, more than doubled during the last two years.
Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications, which offers GSM and CDMA mobile services, said it added 1.62 million new mobile users in March.A company official said the net additions from January to March this year stood at 4.83 million. RCom, the country's largest CDMA operator, added 1.6 million mobile users each for the first two months.
According to some analysts, Reliance has vaulted ahead of others in the queue and now stands a "rock-solid" chance of getting spectrum earlier than expected.
The COAI decision comes in the wake of Anil Ambani group company Reliance Communications and two other CDMA players receiving approvals to offer GSM services in their respective circles of operation from the Department of Telecom on Friday.
From a policy point of view, India's telecom industry is getting exciting once again. After a lull of a few years, we're back to the same half-truths from regulators/policy makers, and the all too familiar attempts to help favoured firms.
Powered by surging markets, seven companies, Reliance Communications (R-Com) and stock market debutant DLF among them, have joined the Rs 1 trillion (Rs 1,00,000 crore) club in terms of market capitalisation. New entrants are hard-core engineering and mining companies like National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and Bhel - both in the public sector - and L & T. Bharti Airtel, SBI and ICICI Bank are other entrants.
It means a CDMA players like Reliance can also operate GSM services and get the required spectrum from the government within the same licence. Earlier, they were allowed spectrum either for CDMA or for GSM within the licence. However, now they have to pay an amount equal to the entry fee of a UASL licence (over Rs 1,680 crore for a pan-India licence) to get the spectrum as recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
The department of telecommunications is planning to seek details from four operators - Bharti-Airtel, Hutchison-Essar, Tata Teleservices Ltd and Reliance Communications - on the fulfillment of rollout obligations under the mobile telephony licence.
Branded Mobi-Retail, this service will be offered to the 35 million subscribers of Reliance Communications, who will be able to use their handsets to buy over 100,000 products ranging from fresh vegetables to groceries, readymade garments, toys etc.
Programmes offers pared-down web services on mobile phones along with Facebook' s own social network and messaging services cost free
Telcos may hike mobile rates to recover spectrum cost: Moody's
Under this initiative, ICICI Bank's customers can transfer money anytime and anywhere in the country to people having an account in the bank using their Reliance mobile phones, it said.
The service, first of its kind in the country, is expected to be launched shortly, if not within a week.
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.
The race for Hutch-Essar, the country's fourth largest mobile service provider, quickened on Wednesday with Hong-Kong based Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd formally informing the 4 companies in the fray to submit their bids by Friday
Reliance Infratel, a subsidiary of Reliance Communications has filed papers with Sebi for issuing IPO.
Telkom Kenya has a monopoly on landline services in the country. If an Indian company wins the bid, it will enable the company to enter the country's telecom market, according to news reports in international press.
The licensor has asked Bharti Airtel, Hutch, Reliance Communications and BSNL why they should not be asked to pay Rs 50 crore or Rs 500 million (per circle) as penalty for violation of the licensing agreement, official sources said.
Electronics major has tied up with Reliance Comm and Tata Tele.
The British teleco is bidding hard for cellular operator Hutchison Essar. At stake: the world's fastest growing mobile market-and Vodafone's reputation.
Move to skirt public offer for S African telco.
The Anil Ambani group on Friday asked market regulator SEBI to probe hammering down of shares of Reliance Communications and other companies by rivals and charged RIL with attempting to derail ongoing talks for a deal with South African telecom giant MTN.
