The Supreme Court Registry is learnt to have refused to accept the Centre's plea seeking modification of its 2012 verdict in the 2G spectrum case which had said the State was duty bound to adopt the auction route while transferring or alienating the country's natural resources.
With the import bill of telecom equipment rising, the government on Wednesday said preferential treatment would be given to its indigenous production in the New Telecom Policy, which is under formulation.
Six months after an infrastructure deal with brother Anil Ambani, Mukesh Ambani has now joined hands with Sunil Mittal.
A higher-than-expected consumer price inflation (CPI) print for March in the US has dashed hopes of an interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve (US Fed) in June. Analysts now expect the US central bank to start cutting rates in September, provided inflation remains in check and oil prices remain supportive. The markets, analysts believe, partially factored in this possibility.
Under the pact, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries' telecom arm will hire nationwide optical fibre network of Reliance Communications for the roll-out of 4G services.
Though the multi-crore 2G scam had come to light last year, it was 2011 which was action-packed as Raja, telecom ministry officials along with many high-profile business heads were put behind the bars for their alleged involvement in the case.
The wise men who formulated the National Telecom Policy 999 broke the vertically integrated National Telecom Network into three segments, i.e., Access (Fixed and Mobile), National Long Distance and International Long Distance. This has resulted in a dramatic reduction in tariffs and improvement of Quality of Service.
The department of telecom will issue guidelines on raising the foreign direct investment limit to 74 per cent from 49 per cent next week.
Telecom companies with cases pending before the Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal or those hoping to file new ones would be advised to hurry.
Vodafone Idea board on Tuesday approved a fund-raise of up to Rs 20,000 crore through a combination of equity and equity-linked instruments, the crisis-ridden telco said, adding promoters will also participate in the proposed equity raise. Overall, Vodafone Idea plans to raise around Rs 45,000 crore through a mix of equity and debt, the company said. The company has been fighting a desperate battle for survival -- it has a debt of Rs 2.1 lakh crore and is reporting quarterly losses, amid massive subscriber churn.
Among the Sensex firms, major winners included Tata Steel, rising 3.77 per cent, followed by HCL Tech, which gained 3.62 per cent. IndusInd Bank and PowerGrid closed with a gain of 3,60 and 3.34 per cent, respectively. Other gainers were Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finserve and Bharti Airtel, among others. On the other hand, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance and TCS were the only laggards, sliding up to 2.94 per cent.
Indian telecom seems to be getting back on its feet.
For the smart phone industry, it has been a lacklustre quarter of CY2024, with sales falling by 3-4 per cent over the same period last year, according to Counterpoint Research projections. However, with the launch of many new models in Q1 of CY24, overall shipments grew year-on-year by 10-12 per cent. In CY23 shipments remained flat, ending the year with 152 million units.
Ahead of its Rs 18,000 crore further public offer (FPO), Vodafone Idea on Monday said it expects to roll out 5G services in select pockets within 6-9 months of raising fresh capital. Its chief executive Akshaya Moondra said rollout of the modern 5G telecom services is one of the objectives of raising the capital from the public and once the funding comes, it will start work on the rollout. "With this round of funding, we believe we will be able to (come) back to participate in the industry growth which has not been possible," he said.
According to software company Mavernir, the new virtualised networks would lead to a saving of 40 per cent in capex and 34 per cent in terms of lower operations cost for operators.
Call drops may end as govt allows telecom spectrum trading
'I am shocked that the BJP makes so many commitments. What did they deliver as the NDA?'
...benefiting 350,000 persons. Also, Trai detected and blocked seven million mobile phone connections involved in cyber fraud and suspicious activities.
The Cellular Operators Association of India has suggested that the government, in allocating telecom licence, consider applicants with experience and impose a five-year lock-in period under which promoters cannot sell their equity.
The mistrust between the authorities and service providers can end if the contentious issues are addressed as a package deal.
Signalling both change and continuity, India's new government, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third consecutive term, got into work gear on Tuesday with cabinet ministers and ministers of state filing into their respective offices to assume charge.
'In the next 15-20 years, India will have at least 50 new (AI-driven) billion-dollar companies that are going to solve problems for the largest companies around the world.'
The Delhi circle licence will be available in the efficient 900 MHz spectrum, which is why Videocon is interested.
The government has issued a stern warning to telecom companies to put the required security system for Blackberry services in place within 15 days or stop the services. The directive has been issued to the respective service providers to work out with officials of Blackberry licensor Research in Motion (RIM) of Canada to provide full-proof security system in the country. Currently, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Essar, BPL Mobile and Reliance are offering this premium service.
The new telecom policy-2011 is also expected to come out with new norms for mergers and acquisitions, enhancing rural coverage, and spectrum allocation, among other things.
The rush to enter the world's fastest-growing mobile services market has attracted a wide range of applicants for telecom licences with the Department of Telecommunications.
Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported a 9 per cent rise in its December quarter net profit as a planned maintenance-induced weakness in oil business earnings was offset by stability in retail and telecom verticals. The oil-to-retail-to-telecom conglomerate's consolidated net profit of Rs 17,265 crore, or Rs 25.52 per share, in October-December - the third quarter of the current 2023-24 fiscal - was 9.3 per cent higher than Rs 15,792 crore, or Rs 23.19 a share, earning a year back, according to a company statement. Quarter-on-quarter, the profit was lower when compared to Rs 17,394 crore earnings in the preceding three months ended September 30.
Telecom services across the country could suffer, with the Department of Telecom ready to recall over 2,200 of its officers on deputation in MTNL and BSNL.
The policy is also pushing for a one-country-one-licence regime, which means removal of roaming charges.
In a bid to spread its telecom footprint across the country at a time when the government has decided to unify basic and cellular licences, Tata Teleservices has applied for licences in 7 more circles, including Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Given how the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (Trai's) recommendations on 2G spectrum will hit telecom firms, it's not surprising that telecom stocks have plunged. Of course, the fun and games have only begun since it is up to Telecom Minister A Raja to decide whether to accept the recommendations, which ones to accept, and when to accept.
In 2011-12, India imported Rs 52,400-crore (Rs 524 billion) worth of telecom equipment; most estimates are that the figure in 2012-13 will match or even cross that number.
FLAG Telecom, the global telecom arm of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications, is believed to have won a $35 million worth international deal for providing international bandwidth to China Netcom.
In 2012, ZTE India posted a small rate of growth, realising revenues of $700 million, around half the $1.5 billion it received in 2009, a write up in the state run China Daily titled 'ZTE banks Indian telecom market' said.
On receiving the award at a glittering function, Mittal said: "This is a tremendous honour and I would like to thank the GSM Association for considering me worthy of this award."
A bench comprising justices K S Radhakrishnan and Vikramajit Sen said CAG can carry out the audit to examine whether the companies are giving proper share of their revenue to the government.
