Far from benefitting consumers, the new rules on roaming charges have opened another front in the battle between large and small operators.
India's third largest carmaker, Tata Engineering and Locomotive, launched a sedan version of its lone car model on Wednesday and priced it below its competitors in a bid to grab market share.
Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company Ltd said on Friday it has agreed to supply its homegrown Indica hatchback cars to the UK's MG Rover Group, to be sold under the Rover brand in Europe.
Bharti Airtel Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Bharti Mittal, Vodafone Plc CEO Vittorio Colao, Telenor CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas and Idea Cellular Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla on Wednesday met ministers and senior government officials to present the industry's concerns over telecom regulator Trai's proposals on the auction of spectrum.
The move will help telcos, including Reliance Jio, Vodafone, and Idea Cellular
Analysts believe making mobile data more affordable will fuel mass market adoption of data services
Telcos participating in the upcoming auctions at the end of July say they expect only a fourth of the value of spectrum on offer to be sold. The government has put Rs 4.3 trillion of spectrum up for sale at the base price across seven bands including for 5G. An executive of a leading telco said he estimates that mobile operators collectively would buy spectrum of only around Rs 1.1 trillion.
Despite a largely stable December quarter, investors booked profit in shares of IndusInd Bank (IIB) as an increase in slippages took them by surprise. Analysts, on their part, believe investors may, now, wait for actual delivery on slippage decline, potentially limiting near-term upside. "The management has indicated that corporate slippages (from legacy stressed book) have ended and inch up in consumer finance slippages was more one-off, and should meaningfully improve Q4FY24 onwards.
The government is contemplating slapping penalty on four foreign telcos, including AT&T, MCI and BT, for allegedly circumventing licence norms that may have caused revenue loss to the government.
The Indian market is more in sync with mobile markets of advanced countries like the UK, Japan, and South Korea, where there are fewer players - three to four.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the apex audit body, has decided to audit the accounts of five telcos-- Bharti Airtel, Reliance, Tata, Vodafone and the state-run BSNL-- for 2009-10.
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
According to the quality of service rules, not more than 2 per cent of total calls in a telecom circle on a network should automatically get disconnected.
Telecom operators will need to shut down 5G services in high-frequency bands in and around airports following restrictions imposed by the Department of Telecom at the request of the civil aviation ministry, according to sources. Based on buffer and safety zone details provided by the aviation ministry, the DoT has asked telecom operators to not install 5G base stations in the 3.3-3.6 Ghz band in the area of 2.1 kilometres from both ends of the runway and 910 meters from the centre line of the runway of Indian airports with immediate effect. "Telecom operators will need to shut down 5G service in the 3.3-3.6 Ghz band only in and around airports based on the order.
International telcos such as Russia's Sistema and Norway's Telenor and foreign investment funds such as KAIF Investments Mauritius and Capital Global Ltd (investors in Loop Telecom) have sent legal notices to the Indian government under the respective Bilateral Investment Promotion & Protection Agreement or Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement.
From spending a little less than three hours on making voice calls, Indians are spending well over 5 hours. So, while people make more calls, they are spending less than ever, reports Romita Majumdar.
Jio makes data on call drops public, says 121 mn calls failed in a day
The merits and demerits of the telcos' 5G strategy however is clearly dependent on the financial muscle of players, reports Surajeet Das Gupta.
Telco proved the biggest draw in the 30-share BSE Sensex late afternoon on Friday as FIIs reckoned that the company will turn out exciting results for Q3.
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.
Telecom companies have been desperately waiting for a bailout package from the government after a Supreme Court order put their statutory liabilities at Rs 1.47 lakh crore.
Will open radio access network technology (O-RAN) disrupt the way 5G networks roll out in the country? After all, it promises to offer a substantially lower capital cost, enables the choice of an array of vendors, and provides more network flexibility - all very important for telcos who expect to invest over Rs 60,000 crore to roll out a pan-India 5G network and that's without spectrum costs. But more importantly, it counters the stranglehold of global telecom gear makers such as Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung over telcos to whom they sell propriety technology and bundled hardware and software.
With India rolling out 5G services, can telcos get the sizeable 350-400 million 2G customers to upgrade to 4G, or even better -- but very improbably -- straight to 5G?
The International Finance Corporation will provide a $50 million loan to the leading automaker Tata Engineering to support its ongoing investment programme and new product development initiatives.
As Ayodhya readies itself for the glittering, much-awaited consecration ceremony of the Ram Mandir on January 22, and as millions of pilgrims and devotees pour into the holy city for the momentous event, companies are rushing to do their bit and be a part of the mega celebrations. Some are offering a part of their profits as donations, telcos are beefing up the number of cellular towers to ensure better connectivity, and there are those distributing jalebis and food platters.
Telcos say tests were done in the known problematic areas of Delhi-NCR, where operators face issues in obtaining cell sites.
Xiaomi India on Tuesday announced its partnership with Reliance Jio to offer the telco's 'True 5G' experience to its consumers. Smartphone models supporting the Standalone (SA) network have received a software update to work seamlessly on Reliance Jio's network, according to a statement. The enabled devices include Mi 11 Ultra 5G, Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G, Xiaomi 11T Pro 5G, Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G, Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G, Redmi Note 11T 5G, Redmi 11 Prime 5G, Redmi Note 10T 5G, Mi 11X 5G, Mi 11X Pro 5G, Redmi K50i 5G, Xiaomi 11i 5G and Xiaomi 11i HyperCharge 5G.
Jio says it has completed mobile number portability testing and is certified MNP-compliant
With telecom disruptor Reliance Jio not raising tariffs, incumbents Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea are focusing on the minimum monthly recharge and higher first recharge offers to ensure they retain only loyal and revenue-incremental subscribers, reports Romita Majumdar.
The Department of Telecom has slashed performance and financial bank guarantee requirement of telecom operators by 80 per cent, according to a licence amendment note issued on Wednesday. Under the amended norms, telecom operators will be required to provide a performance bank guarantee of up to Rs 44 crore for each service for the telecom licence compared to Rs 220 crore mandated under the old rule.
With Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE excluded from participating in the 5G roll out, their absence leaves a vacuum in the market which will have to be filled by three vendors: Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung.
Telecom gear makers, who are in talks with telcos, say that if all goes well, they are ready to roll out the first phase of 5G services from October this year and cover the country's top 30-50 cities (in limited areas) by March 2023. The gear makers expect the telecom companies to give them a heads-up about their plans as well as the equipment required by July, and have promised deployment in three to four months after that. India's main telecom gear suppliers are Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung.
Consumers can expect a 5G launch in the country soon. Telecom companies (telcos) say if auctions take place on time - the target is July - they would be able to offer some services in a few cities by the end of this year and a full roll-out from 2023. But the question is: will 5G turn the tables for telcos financially? Will average revenue per user (ARPU) improve? Will mobile consumers upgrade to 5G quickly and pay more? Will the expanded functions that 5G enables drum up sufficient revenues? In simple terms, will telcos make more money?
The Department of Telecommunications (DOT) on Wednesday received over Rs 17,873 crore from companies towards 5G spectrum dues. Nearly half the amount (Rs 8312.4 crore) was paid by Bharti Airtel, which made advance payments for four years to free up cash for future investments. Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea paid Rs 7,864 crore and Rs 1,680 crore, respectively.
The figure is based on the base price of spectrum for the upcoming auction fixed by the TRAI and on the assumption that there will be no bidding war.
Cellular operators' body COAI had, last year, alleged that the new entrant Reliance Jio was attempting to acquire customers by offering connection loaded with freebies, in the guise of a trial launch.
UV Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd has made the highest bid of Rs 16,000 crore to buy Anil Ambani group's Reliance Communications and Reliance Telecom, which are in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Last year it was the highest bidder for taking over Aircel's assets for an upfront payment of Rs 150 crore. Surajeet Das Gupta and Dev Chatterjee dig deeper to find out more about this little known company.
Now, telcos will be penalised for call drops.
DoT's data is based on inputs from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and service providers.
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