Experts say going ahead data price will fall further due to competition
In a major reform push, government on Thursday approved 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the telecom sector, meeting a key demand of the fund-starved industry.
Govt likely to make security clearance mandatory for telcos irrespective of equity holding before giving licences; DoT members to meet today.
For Uninor, it is more important to serve customers better in existing circles rather than going for pan-India operations.
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed that former Unitech promoters Sanjay Chandra and Ajay Chandra be shifted from Tihar Jail in Delhi to Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail and Taloja prison in Maharashtra after the ED said they were conducting business from the premises in connivance with the staff.
DoCoMo's exit from Tata Teleservices highlights the struggle of smaller operators even as the outlook improves for bigger players.
Sources at the department of telecommunications confirmed that Bharti Airtel has submitted application to bid for airwaves frequencies at pan-India level.
Telco says zones where it had acquired fresh spectrum in the November auction won't be affected.
Bharti Airtel has bid for telecom licence in Myanmar as India's biggest private telecom company looks to expand its overseas operations.
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
FIPB clears Telenor proposal to raise stake in Indian unit with the clause that officials who have worked in Pakistan will not be allowed in India.
In the November auction of second-generation telecom spectrum, Bihar was the only circle to cross the base price
In February, the Supreme Court had cancelled 122 telecom licences. Many of these belonged to foreign companies or companies with foreign investors.
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 apex court had on February 2, last year cancelled 122 licences for 2G spectrum and had directed the department of telecommunication to hold fresh auction for them within four months.
Decades of military rule kept the country closed to foreign investors.
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.
Eight FDI proposals worth Rs 1,311.54 crore (Rs 13.11 billion), including that of Norwegian telecom firm Telenor, have been cleared by the government on the basis of FIPB approvals.
No reason was cited for rescheduling of the meeting.
Says action taken following Supreme Court order, not because of government decision
A large migrant population, better law and order situation made the state attractive.
Etisalat owns about 45 per cent stake in Etisalat DB, a joint venture between Indian player DB Realty and Etisalat of UAE.
The phenomenon is a little difficult to explain. According to the Supreme Court's order, all telecom service licences given in 2008, during the A Raja regime, have to be cancelled by June 2. The licencees will have to return the spectrum they received to host telephony services.
Uninor and Etisalat DB were given preferential treatment by A Raja, says CBI
Bulk of these customers use 2G phones and are still focused on voice services and might prove useful for both Bharti Airtel and the Idea-Vodafone combine.
Telecom tribunal TDSAT on Thursday reserved judgement on new operator Uninor's petition challenging Telecom Ministry's drive to impose penalty on telcos that did not roll out services within the stipulated period.
It wants subscribers who are 'active' on its network.
For over a year Sanjay Chandra, managing director of the Unitech group, has been under a cloud for various reasons.
The fear of another scam pushed the government into a rather long period of so-called 'policy paralysis'. To play it safe, the price of spectrum in all subsequent auctions was benchmarked to the high 3G rates, says Surajeet Das Gupta.
A Norwegian-Indian joint venture Uninor, on Thursday became the latest entrant in the country's highly competitive mobile telephony market, where it would offer GSM services at rates as low as 29 paisa per minute.
Vodafone m-pesa was one of the 11 firms that was given payments bank licence by the Reserve Bank of India in 2015.
The government has so far received about Rs 26,000 crore from AGR payments, including adhoc/ buffer amounts given by telcos to meet any reconciliation differences with the telecom department.
A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra declined to accept the proposal given by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Vodafone, after he mentioned the matter. Rohatgi said they are willing to pay Rs 2,500 crore today (Monday) and another Rs 1,000 crore by Friday but no coercive action be taken against the company. He urged the bank guarantee deposited with the government by Vodafone should also not be encashed.
Even more curious, while the law says foreigners can have only up to 74 per cent equity in a telecom firm in India, the 3G Information Memorandum says foreigners can bid without having Indian partners if they win the bid, they can then set up an Indian firm and comply with the rules.
Addressing a hurriedly called press conference to clear his position in the wake of Left parties demanding a probe, alleging Rs 60,000 crore (Rs 600 billion) loss to the exchequer in spectrum allocation, the minister said that Trai recommendations were followed in letter and spirit.
Spectrum auction ends, brings Rs 1.09 tln to govt kitty.
Vodafone Idea and Airtel have made provisions for their liabilities arising from the Supreme Court order in their latest September quarter results.
Given the escalating cost of doing business, the revenue opportunity is decreasing and consolidation is an inevitable part of the industry.
Nokia, that has already begun manufacturing of 5G equipment at its Chennai plant, is also readying for exporting the products to several key markets like the US.
In effect, companies which put their money in telecom in India would have done much better to keep the cash in bank and earn interest.
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