The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,183.15 million at the end of May to 1,186.63 million at the end of June.
The officials said that the recently developed SH-15, a 155 mm truck-mounted howitzer gun, has also been spotted at some places along the Line of Control after it was displayed on Pakistan Day last year.
The government on Wednesday said foreign direct investment in IT and telecom sector is expected to go up by more than 100 per cent in 2006.
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel will start rolling out 5G services later this month as it signed requisite agreements with Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung. At the recently held much-awaited spectrum auction for 5G services by the Department of Telecom, Airtel bid for and acquired 19867.8 MHZ spectrum in 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz frequencies. "We are delighted to announce that Airtel will commence roll out of 5G services in August.
The vacation of additional 2G and 3G spectrum may generate additional revenue of about Rs 80,000 crore (Rs 800 billion) on the basis of prices according to spectrum auctioned last year, DoT said in a note for the empowered group of ministers.
Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty buckled under selling pressure after a nine-session rally on Monday, as massive sell-off in IT, tech and telecom counters unnerved investors.
For operators, occasions such as Holi, Diwali, Christmas, New Year and Independence Day spell an increase in SMSes and voice traffic and are, hence, treated as 'black out' days where they charge slightly higher SMS rates, irrespective of the tariff plan subscribed.
Gautam Adani's alleged proximity to Narendra Modi may dent the latter's self-styled image of incorruptibility, points out Kanika Datta.
CDMA operators on Tuesday slammed a report of the DOT spectrum committee on airwave allocation, saying it is 'highly inclined' in favour of the GSM operators.
According to the study spanning 11 key sectors, aggregate industrial investments would continue to grow despite the current economic slowdown amid expectations of a relatively muted GDP growth. The study stated that aggregate industrial investments would grow at a moderate pace over the next three years, with total investments projected at Rs 10,50,000 crore.
Shares of Reliance Industries (RIL) traded 2 per cent higher at Rs 2,310.10 on the BSE in intra-day trade in an otherwise volatile market after the company reported a 27.4 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in its consolidated net profit at Rs 17,394 crore for the September quarter (Q2FY24). While revenue growth of the company was flattish YoY at Rs 2.32 trillion, the profit rose on the back of operational improvement across most segments, especially higher profits in the O2C (oil-to-chemicals) and oil & gas businesses, as well as the retail business. "Strong operational and financial contribution from all business segments has helped Reliance deliver another quarter of robust growth," said Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of the company.
Reliance Industries, construction major L&T and IRB Infrastructure are some of the top companies that have used an infrastructure investment trust structure to reduce part of their debt and generate returns for their investors. Earlier this month, IRB Infrastructure InvIT was listed on the National Stock Exchange, giving its investors an option to exit by selling their units. The listing came within months of the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) guidelines for conversion of private unlisted InvITs into listed ones were issued.
For example, Idea Cellular posted a 0.7 per cent decline in the average minutes of use per subscriber in the first quarter of the current financial year, partly because of the increasing use of multiple SIM cards. So, too, with Vodafone-Essar. The company admits a fall in usage per subscriber, as an increasing number utilised SIMs of more than one operator, particularly in the new circles.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the much-awaited 5G services in India on October 1, 2022, an official release said on Friday. According to the release, 5G to be launched by the Prime Minister in select cities, will progressively cover the entire country over the next couple of years. The cumulative economic impact of 5G on India is estimated to reach $450 billion by 2035. Capable of supporting ultra-high-speed internet services, the fifth generation or 5G is expected to unleash new economic opportunities and societal benefits, serving as a transformational force for Indian society.
Voice and Data, a flagship magazine of the Cybermedia Group, will organise a 'CEO Conclave' on the Indian telecom industry in leading metros, starting off with Mumbai on November 26.
Job postings declined on an annual basis in September but witnessed a marginal uptick compared to August this year, a report said on Tuesday. There was a fall in job postings in various sectors, including media and entertainment, home appliances, shipping and marine, IT and BPO/ITES compared to September 2021. For September 2022, the Monster Employment Index (MEI) showed that there was a 4 per cent decline in hiring activities on an annual basis but a 1 per cent rise on a month-on-month basis.
A telcom operator said since there is a CBI investigation over alleged irregularties in the license and spectrum allotment going on, the minister may try to win over the industry by asking them not to be perturbed over the development and focus on operations and customers.
''No lobbyists will be able to influence us. If that happens, you can censure me for dereliction,'' he said.
Anant Ambani, the youngest son of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, will wed Radhika Merchant, daughter of industrialist Viren Merchant, the family announced on Thursday. The 'roka' or engagement ceremony of Radhika, daughter of Shaila and Viren Merchant, and Anant was performed at the Shrinathji Temple at Nathdwara in Rajasthan on Thursday in the presence of family members and friends. A statement issued by the family said the young couple after the engagement spent the day at the temple seeking Lord Shrinathji's blessings for their upcoming union.
While the draft M&A policy for the telecom sector has been revised a few times over the past few months, DoT has not made any major changes to guidelines.
Noida-based Ringing Bells is launching India's most affordable smartphone, priced at Rs 251.
Global investment management firm Bernstein has pegged the enterprise valuation of Reliance Industries (RIL)'s 85 per cent stake in Reliance Retail at $111 billion, while valuing the Mukesh Ambani-led company's 66.5 per cent stake in telecom and digital platform arm Reliance Jio at $88 billion. Reliance Industries had earlier planned to list both its subsidiaries to unlock value for its shareholders but hadn't fixed any timeline. The report said that Reliance Retail had raised $6 billion by diluting a 10.1 per cent stake, while Jio Platforms raised $20 billion from investors by selling 33 per cent in 2020.
Centre mulls strategy to ensure powers given to the agencies are not misused.
Google, the world's largest search engine and one of the biggest internet brands, is understood to be eyeing opportunities in the third generation of mobile telephony, or 3G, in India.
Benchmark indices fell on Monday with the BSE Sensex declining 306 points, mainly dragged down by Reliance Industries. Foreign funds outflow also added to the overall bearish trend in equities on Monday. The 30-share BSE benchmark fell 306.01 points or 0.55 per cent to settle at 55,766.22. During the day, it declined 535.15 points or 0.95 per cent to 55,537.08. The broader NSE Nifty dipped 88.45 points or 0.53 per cent to 16,631.
Independent Mobile Infrastructure Mauritius Ltd, a telecom infrastructure provider, has sought the Foreign Investment Promotion Board's approval for investing up to Rs 3,000 crore ($674 million) in India.
The auction of 5G spectrum for telephony services will stretch to the fourth day on Friday after 16 rounds of bidding fetched bids worth Rs 149,623 crore. Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday said 16 rounds of bidding have been completed in three days and the auction will continue on Friday.
With the telecom industry aiming to increase its rural subscribers base and the central bank asking banks and financial firms to cater to the rural sector, businesses will have to find ways of servicing customers, say analysts. Most of the rural BPOs have a seating capacity of below 100 per centre, as they are situated in remote areas.
April-June 2023 (Q1FY24) was a mixed quarter for India's top family-owned business groups. Three of the big five in terms of revenue reported a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) decline in combined net sales and two saw a Y-o-Y fall in net profits. Combined net sales of all listed companies in the five groups were up just 2.2 per cent Y-o-Y at Rs 6.6 trillion in the quarter, down sharply from the 10.3 per cent in the March 2023 quarter (Q4FY23) and 42.8 per cent in Q1FY23.
Corporate India is busy restructuring - through mergers, demergers and splits. That seems to be the new normal as CXOs and boards brainstorm on how to create assets and value. The pitch rose significantly during the third quarter of this financial year (FY24), translating into $32.9-billion worth of such deals - the highest quarterly total since the HDFC Bank-HDFC merger announced in FY22 Q2.
The bulk of the incremental profits will come from oil & gas and automobile sectors.
The long-awaited 5G spectrum auction is expected to be held in May this year if the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) submits by March its recommendations on the rules regarding the sale process, according to a senior official of the telecom department. Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw earlier this month said the Trai has informed that it will submit its recommendations for the 5G auction by March and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is simultaneously firming up other processes to hold the auction at the earliest. "Trai has indicated that they will send it (recommendations) by March. "Thereafter, it will take us a month to make a decision around it," telecom secretary K Rajaraman told PTI.
The government on Wednesday cleared a fresh Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) financial package for the crisis-ridden paging industry, amid the ongoing general elections, after getting clearance from the Election Commission.
Patni Computer Systems Ltd said on Friday its wholly owned subsidiary Patni Computer Systems Inc has signed a multi-service contract with US-based Disney Mobile.
At the 45th Annual General Meeting of Reliance Industries (RIL) in August, chairman and managing director (CMD) Mukesh Ambani described the company as an "unputdownable book" with never-ending chapters of success. "Reliance grew from strength to strength because we internalised the founder's mindset of purpose, philosophy and passion," he said. Wednesday marked the 90th birth anniversary of RIL founder Dhirubhai Ambani.
The iPhone was not the first touch-driven handset when it launched last year, or even the fastest for internet browsing over standard cellular networks but the impact of Apple's consumer smartphone on the world's handset business still reverberates through the telecom industry.
In FY22-23, Samsung exported $4.09 billion smartphones from India -- an increase of 42 per cent over 2021, when it was $2.8 billion -- accounting for 35 per cent of all smartphone exports.
