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Vodafone Idea partners with Amdocs for multi-year smart operations services for postpaid segment  Aug 08, 2019
Amdocs, a leading provider of software and services to communications and media companies, today announced that Vodafone Idea Ltd. (VIL) has selected Amdocs to consolidate the merged entity’s postpaid operations for retail and enterprise customers across mobile and fixed-line services. As part of the new multi-year agreement, Idea postpaid customers will be migrated to Amdocs Service Monetization Software Suite, which has been supporting Vodafone postpaid customers...read more
BSNL reviews outsourced functions to save cost; faces Rs 800 cr revenue-expense gap  Aug 07, 2019
Cash-strapped BSNL has started an exercise to ''streamline'' outsourced functions for saving up to Rs 200 crore annually, and also hopes to rationalise power bills to derive 15 per cent cost savings, a top official said on Tuesday. BSNL Chairman and Managing Director PK Purwar told that the public sector undertaking faces a gap of about Rs 800 crore between its monthly revenue and expenses (operational expenditure and wages), so "challenges will remain". Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has been in the grip of severe liquidity crunch, and recently delayed payment...read more
Employees union seek Centre’s soft loans to revive crisis-affected BSNL  Aug 06, 2019
An employees’ union on Monday demanded that the Centre sanction soft loans to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to revive it. Addressing reporters at the Trichy Press Club on Monday, All India Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited Executives’ Association (AIBSNLEA) general secretary S Sivakumar said there was a planned false propaganda going on to defame the image of BSNL. “Our debts are way lower than the debts of our rival private telecommunication service providers. BSNL’s crisis can be fixed by infusing soft loans and revival package...read more
Airtel, Vodafone Idea may have limited participation in 5G spectrum auction  Jul 30, 2019
India''s reserve price of USD 70 million per MHz is "expensive", and will force Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel to participate in 5G spectrum auctions in a "limited" way, global rating agency Fitch said on Monday. The comments come weeks after nearly all the telcos had expressed their concerns on the spectrum pricing. "The Telecom Regulatory Authority of Indias (TRAI) 5G spectrum price for...read more
Jio emerges as India's biggest telecom player; Voda Idea user base dips to 320 million  Jul 27, 2019
Within three years of starting its commercial operations, Reliance Jio has become the country's largest telecom operator with a subscriber base of 331.3 million, surpassing Vodafone Idea which on Friday reported a decline in its user base to 320 million by June 2019. According to the financial results reported by Reliance Industries last week, its subsidiary Reliance Jio had a user base of 331.3 million by June 2019. Mukesh Ambani-led firm Jio had pipped Bharti Airtel in May to become the second largest...read more
Huawei inks distribution pact with Micromax  Jul 24, 2019
Huawei on Tuesday said it has entered into a distribution partnership with homegrown handset maker Micromax, a move that will help the Chinese firm strengthen its presence in the offline retail segment in India. Huawei had started selling its smartphones in India via the online route. Last year, it partnered with Croma to enter the offline retail channels and later inked a similar pact with Poorvika that operates a large chain of stores in southern part of the country....read more
Jio is biggest mobile tower customer of BSNL, MTNL  Jul 24, 2019
Reliance Jio is the biggest mobile tower client for state-owned firms BSNL and MTNL, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad informed Parliament on Wednesday. "BSNL and MTNL have rented out 13,051 and 392 mobile tower sites respectively to private telecom service providers," of which Jio has rented 8,307 sites from BSNL and 137 from MTNL, as per the data shared by Prasad in the Lok Sabha. BSNL has rented out 2,761 towers to Airtel, 892 to Vodafone,...read more
Xiaomi becomes youngest company on Fortune Global 500 list for 2019  Jul 22, 2019
Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has become the youngest company on the Fortune Global 500 list for 2019, ranking 468, with a revenue of $26,443.50 million and a net profit of $2,049.10 million in the previous fiscal. The Beijing-based global technology firm on Monday announced that the company has, for the first time, made the Fortune Global 500 list, nine years after its iteration....read more
Jio outpaces Bharti Airtel to become No. 2 telco by users at May end: Trai  Jul 19, 2019
Reliance Jio has upstaged Bharti Airtel to become the second largest telco in terms of subscribers. According to May data released by the telecom regulator, Mukesh Ambani-owned Jio had nearly 323 million customers compared with Sunil Mittal-led Airtel’s 320.38 million. Kumar Mangalam Birla-led Vodafone Idea, remains the market leader with 387.55 million. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have been losing subscribers at a fast rate, owing mainly to their introduction of the minimum recharge plans....read more
Govt disburses Rs 20,431 cr for BharatNet project  Jul 18, 2019
The government has allocated and disbursed Rs 20,431 crore for the BharatNet project till date to connect all 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high-speed broadband network, Parliament was informed Thursday. "A lump sum of Rs 20,431 crore (Rs 10,286 crore for phase-I and Rs 10,145 crore for phase-II) has been allocated and disbursed from Universal Service Obligation Fund to Bharat Broadband Network Limited under BharatNet project," Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha....read more
Telcos to install over 57,500 mobile towers in rural areas in FY'20: Prasad  Jul 10, 2019
Telecom operators intend to install over 57,500 towers for mobile connectivity in rural areas during the current financial year, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. "There is plan to install 57,559 towers for mobile services in the rural areas during the financial year 2019-20 by telecom service providers," Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply in Lok Sabha. To another query, the Minister said as per data available for 2018, 5.54 lakh villages are covered with mobile services,...read more
USOF to help BharatNet under PPP model to bridge digital divide, says FM  Jul 05, 2019
The Centre’s ambitious BharatNet program is being speeded up with moves afoot to target internet availability in every panchayat or `village block in the country,’ finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Friday, in the course of her Budget 2019 speech. The FM said the government would dip into the Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF) corpus to enable BharatNet to boost rural broadband penetration through the public, private partnership (PPP) model to bridge the digital divide....read more
Govt asks BSNL to put all capex on hold, stop tenders  Jun 26, 2019
The telecom department is learnt to have asked state-owned BSNL to put all tenders and purchase order on hold, as the company is facing financial crisis. The finance department of BSNL issued order in this regard on June 2, directing all its circle heads to take prior approval of corporate officer located in Delhi before floating any new tenders for capital expenditure, according to official sources. "The order issued to circle heads on June 12 says...read more
Reliance raises USD 1.85 billion in long-term loan  Jun 25, 2019
Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries (RIL) Tuesday said it has signed pacts with overseas lenders to avail long-term loans of USD 1.85 billion (about Rs 12,900 crore) to finance its capital expenditure. The fund raising comes amid reports of the company planning to infuse as much as Rs 20,000 crore into its telecom unit, Jio, to bolster broadband and e-commerce play ahead of a potential entry into 5G mobile telephony services in future....read more
DoT alone will not take call on Huawei: Telecom Secy  Jun 21, 2019
The department of telecom (DoT) will not decide on the business engagement of Chinese telecom gear maker Huawei in India but a holistic view will be taken by higher authorities in the government, a top official said on Thursday. The DoT has set up a panel to examine issues related to Huawei's participation in the Indian telecom network. "We are expecting a recommendation of the committee. Once the recommendations of the committee come, these will be submitted to the government to take a call. It is not just going to be the decision of the DoT....read more
CERC allows Power Grid to offer towers to telecos for BTS installation  Jun 17, 2019
Power regulator CERC has allowed state-owned transmission utility Power Grid to offer towers to telecom companies for BTS (base trans-receiver station) installation to improve mobile connectivity, especially in remote rural areas. The move will not only address the issue of deficiency of telecom coverage in the country, particularly remote areas, but this segment could also be money spinner for Power Grid. Besides, the power distribution utilities will get a share of income, which would eventually reduce tariff burden on consumers....read more
Nokia confirms 42 commercial 5G deals across the globe  Jun 05, 2019
Nokia today confirms its position with 42 commercial 5G deals (more than any other vendor has announced) in place with operators around the world, 22 with named customers such as T-Mobile, Telia Company and Softbank. Including these agreements, Nokia's 5G deals, trials and demos total over 100 5G customer engagements to date. Since the announcement of the 30th commercial 5G contract at the end of March the company has seen...read more
Telecom minister promises dialogue with industry on outstanding issues, challenges  Jun 04, 2019
The communications ministry will hold detailed discussion with the financially stressed telecom industry on challenges faced by them and will work on addressing outstanding issues, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Monday. The comments assume significance as the mobile industry despite witnessing an explosive growth in voice and data usage has been battling financial stress with eroding profitability and falling revenues, due to heated competition....read more
TRAI Chief allays concerns on dip in mobile user base; rules out intervention  Jun 03, 2019
The recent seen in the mobile subscriber base is not a cause of worry nor does it call for the regulator''s intervention as the fluctuation is on account of multiple factors like minimum recharge plans and will correct in due course, TRAI Chairman R S Sharma said. India''s total wireless subscriber base fell to 1,161.8 million on March 31, 2019, shedding 21.87 million users over the previous month, according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recently....read more
Second National BPO Summit held in Gurugram  May 31, 2019
The second National BPO Summit was held at Crowne Plaza Hotel, Gurugram yesterday. The conference was convened by CMAI Association of India (CMAI), Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association of India (TEMA), BPO Council of India with Microsoft as its technical partner and law firm Khaitan & Co as an exclusive knowledge partner for the event. The conference was attended by several stakeholders, including current and former members from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI),...read more
Ericsson considering new clauses to avoid RCom like situations  May 30, 2019
Swedish telecom gear maker Ericsson is considering tweaking provisions in business deals to avoid situations like those it is facing with Reliance Communications. The company sued RCom and its promoter Anil Ambani to recover dues of about Rs 1,500 crore, of which it managed to receive only Rs 550 crore. "We think fairness sort of came true in the end. But of course, as we sell new deals...we try to avoid those things. But it is hard to tell because who could have seen that coming....read more
Airtel submits Rs 644 crore bank guarantee in TDSAT for Tata Tele merger  May 27, 2019
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel is learnt to have submitted a bank guarantee of Rs 644 crore in telecom tribunal TDSAT to complete the merger of Tata Teleservices'' consumer business with the company. The TDSAT on May 2 granted partial stay on a Rs 8,300-crore demand raised by the telecom department from Bharti Airtel for approving its merger with the consumer business of Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL)....read more
Airtel's paid-up share capital rises to Rs 2,565 cr after rights issue  May 25, 2019
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel said Friday that its paid-up equity share capital has increased to Rs 2,565.4 crore comprising about 513 crore shares, after the right issue share allotment. "Accordingly, pursuant to the...allotment, the paid-up equity share capital of the company has increased to Rs 25,654,955,910 consisting of 5,130,991,182 fully paid-up equity shares of Rs 5 each," Bharti Airtel said in a BSE filing....read more
World Telecom Day: Industry not investing on standardisation: Anshu Prakash  May 18, 2019
The telecom sector players are not spending much on standardisation and an institutional mechanism is much needed to develop standards, the department of telecom additonal secretary Anshu Prakash Friday said. "Industry is not investing much in standardisation which may be due to the fact it being a heavy-cost exercise, and shying away from developing standards," Prakash said, addressing an event on the occasion of World Telecom Day in New Delhi....read more
National Conference held on need for an overhaul in legal framework for other service providers  May 16, 2019
A national conference on the framework for other service providers (OSP) and BPO industry was held at Vigyan Bhavan on 13 May. It saw active participation from Government representatives and industry stakeholders. The conference was convened by CMAI Association of India (CMAI), Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association of India (TEMA), BPO Council of India with Microsoft as its technical partner and law firm Khaitan & Co as an exclusive knowledge partner for the event....read more
Tata Communications partners with US-based Cisco to offer multi cloud hybrid network  May 16, 2019
Tata Communications has extended its partnership with the US-based Cisco Systems to enable enterprises to transform their legacy network into a customised and secure multi-cloud native hybrid network, the two companies in a joint statement Thursday said. Tata Communications’ cloud enablement platform together with Cisco SD-WAN, according to the statement, is a fully-managed solution that gives businesses greater control over their digital infrastructure and...read more
Reliance Industries shifts registered offices of Reliance Jio, others to Ahmedabad  May 14, 2019
Reliance Industries has moved out registered offices of its five subsidiaries to Ahmedabad over the last year, officials said here Monday. The list of companies includes four related with telecom arm Reliance Jio, while the fifth one is an investment company promoted by Mukesh Ambani. It can be noted that the Ambani family is originally from Gujarat and RIL''s largest petrochemicals complex is also located in Jamnagar....read more
COAI and ETSI sign MoU for cooperation on telecom standardization  May 13, 2019
Telecom industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and ICT standardization organization ETSI have collaborated and signed a MoU to jointly work towards telecom standardization especially for emerging technologies. COAI’s director general Rajan S Mathews and Luis Jorge Romero, DG, ETSI signed the MoU as both the organizations have the common objective to perform and promote, directly or indirectly, regional and international standardization in ICT....read more
Tata Communications Q4 loss widens to Rs 199 crore  May 09, 2019
Digital infrastructure provider Tata Communications Wednesday said its losses widened to Rs 198.8 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, from Rs 120.9 crore in the year-ago period. "PAT (profit after tax) loss for the quarter was at Rs 198.8 crore due to equity loss pick up in STT, Singapore data centre business to the tune of Rs 173 crore," the company said in a statement....read more
Hughes and Airtel to combine their India VSAT operations  May 07, 2019
Bharti Airtel Limited (“Airtel”), one of the world’s leading integrated providers of telecommunication services, and Hughes Communications India Ltd. (HCIL), a subsidiary of Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES), the global leader in broadband satellite networks and services, today announced an agreement to combine their VSAT operations in India. The transaction is subject to approvals by relevant authorities....read more
Vodafone Idea Limited to deploy Ericsson’s Cloud Packet Core to enhance network performance  May 03, 2019
Ericsson today announced that it has been selected by Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) to deploy its Cloud Packet Core to enhance its existing core network. As part of this deal, VIL will benefit from Ericsson’s market leading core network applications and Network Functions such as Ericsson virtual Evolved Packet Gateway (vEPG), Service Aware Policy Controller (vSAPC) and Virtualization Infrastructure (NFVi) solution enabling fast introduction of new services and providing full service continuity....read more
Bharti Infratel MD D S Rawat not keen on top job post-merger with Indus  Apr 25, 2019
Bharti Infratel’s managing director D S Rawat is not keen to take on the top job of the combined tower entity created post-merger with Indus Towers. “Managing director D.S Rawat has informed the board of directors Wednesday that post-merger of Bharti Infratel and Indus, he would not like to be considered for the role of MD & CEO of the merged entity,” but would like to continue within the Bharti Group in a senior role,” the country’s sole listed tower company said in an exchange filing....read more
Airtel and Cisco announce strategic alliance to bring advanced connectivity solutions to enterprise and SMB customers  Apr 15, 2019
Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), India’s leading telecommunications services provider, and Cisco today announced an alliance to offer advanced networking and connectivity solutions to enterprise and SMB customers in India. India, which is the fastest growing major economy in the world, is seeing strong growth in demand for next-generation connectivity solutions. As businesses tap digitization for enhanced agility and growth, this partnership will leverage Airtel’s deep customer relationships and network...read more
Foreign investors likely to pump in Rs 18,000 crore in Vodafone Idea rights issue  Apr 08, 2019
Foreign investors are likely to invest around Rs 18,000 crore in the rights issue of Vodafone Idea, which includes a major chunk from promoter Vodafone Group, sources said. The company's Rs 25,000 crore rights issue will open on April 10. "Vodafone Idea had approached government for FDI approval. The proposal has received clearance from Cabinet. It is expected that Rs 18,000 crore during the rights issue will come from foreign sources," an official said....read more
Reliance invests Rs 700cr in Haptik to up AI play  Apr 04, 2019
Reliance Industries Wednesday confirmed that its subsidiary Reliance Jio Digital Services Limited (RJDSL) has entered into a definitive business transfer agreement with Haptik Infotech. The transaction size, including investment for growth and expansion, is estimated at about Rs 700 crores, with Rs 230 crore as the consideration for the initial business transfer, it said in a statement. However, the Haptik team will continue to drive the growth of the business, including the enterprise platform as well as digital consumer assistants....read more
Election Commission seeks cooperation of telecom firms  Mar 29, 2019
The joint chief electoral officer Abhijit Agarwal has directed the telecom companies to maintain call contact-related issues of toll free number 1950 set up by the commission. The number of the state contact centre being operated in the districts have been given to all telecom service providers, so that the mapping of toll free number 1950 could be done correctly. Agarwal told the companies to cooperate in its campaign for voter awareness so that more and more citizens can exercise their franchise in the Lok Sabha elections....read more
BSNL partners local entrepreneurs to provide Bharatfibre services in rural homes  Mar 28, 2019
State-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has come up with Digital Gram Sewaks initiative as part of which local entrepreneurs in the rural areas are providing Bharat fibre connections to the rural homes, using BSNL’s network. Under the initiative, BSNL customers are given speeds up to 100 MBPS and options of daily data download ranging from 5GB to 50 GB per day are available. The company in a press release on Tuesday said that the local partners will be given revenue share for maintaining the last mile connectivity to the customers....read more
Airtel transfers another 16.76% stake in Infratel to Nettle Infra  Mar 20, 2019
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel has transferred additional 16.76 per cent stake, worth Rs 10,000 crore, it holds in telecom tower arm Bharti Infratel to Nettle Infrastructure Investments Ltd in two tranches, according to a regulatory filing. The Sunil Bharti Mittal-led telecom services firm had earlier said it is parking its stake in Nettle Infrastructure, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, as it plans to monetise stake in Bharti Infratel. Airtel holds 53.51 per cent stake in Bharti Infratel....read more
Vodafone Idea’s Board fixes record date and entitlement for rights issue of Rs. 250 billion, at Rs. 12.50 per share  Mar 20, 2019
Further to the meeting of the Board of Directors (‘Board’) of Vodafone Idea Limited (‘Company’) held on January 23, 2019 approving the offer and issue of fully paid-up and/or partly paid-up equity shares and/or other equity linked instruments by way of a rights issue to the eligible shareholders of the Company for an amount aggregating up to Rs. 250 billion in accordance with the applicable laws, the Board has today approved issuance of 20 billion fully paid up equity shares (face value of Rs. 10 each) at a price of Rs. 12.5 per share...read more
Vodafone Idea signs next-generation LTE rollout deal with Nokia  Mar 19, 2019
Vodafone Idea Limited has partnered with Nokia to roll out its next generation, future ready LTE network across multiple service areas. As part of the agreement, Nokia will deploy state-of-the art telecom equipment, including Single RAN Advanced, massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) and small cells. These deployments will enable Vodafone Idea subscribers to enjoy higher-bandwidth applications and services. Nokia’s Single RAN solution will enable Vodafone Idea Ltd. to simplify its network installation and management....read more
Xiaomi infuses Rs 3,500 crore into Indian entity  Mar 18, 2019
Xiaomi which overtook Samsung to become the leader in the Indian smartphone market, has just invested Rs 3,500 crore into its Indian entity, the highest by the Chinese company since it entered the country over four years back. As per regulatory filings with Registrar of Companies, Xiaomi infused the money into Xiaomi Technology India in two tranches this year: Rs 2,000 crore on March 1 and Rs 1,500 crore on January 17. The firm, counted among the world’s largest technology startups, did not say in its filings where it would use the funds....read more
Vodafone Idea board meet on rights issue on March 20  Mar 18, 2019
Vodafone Idea has called for a Board meeting on March 20 Wednesday to discuss the rights Issue, whereby the telecom operator plans to raise Rs 25,000 crore. “... a meeting of the Board will be held on Wednesday , March 20,2019, to consider , discuss and decide , inter alia, various matters in connection with the Rights Issue , including the terms and conditions , such as the instrument, issue price , rights entitlement ratio , record date , timing of the Rights Issue and other related matters ,” said the telco in a regulatory filing on Sunday....read more
Juniper Networks expands Networking simplicity through support of SONiC  Mar 15, 2019
Juniper Networks, an industry leader in automated, scalable and secure networks, today announced native integration of Juniper’s platforms with Software for Open Networking in the Cloud (SONiC), which was developed and contributed to the Open Compute Project (OCP) Foundation by Microsoft. This integration will give cloud providers a simplified and automated switch management platform, enhanced by the rich routing and deep telemetry innovations valued by customers....read more
Bharti Airtel to lower direct stake in Infratel  Mar 12, 2019
On Tuesday, Bharti Infratel Ltd said mobile carrier and its majority shareholder Bharti Airtel Ltd will lower its direct stake in the telecom tower company by more than a half. Airtel''s unit Nettle Infrastructure Investments will buy an up to 32 per cent stake in Bharti Infratel by March 18, Infratel said in an exchange filing. Airtel will own an 18.3 per cent stake in Infratel after the transfer, down from its current stake of 50.33 per cent....read more
GIC to invest Rs 5000 crore to pick up 4% stake in Bharti Airtel  Mar 08, 2019
The Singapore government’s investment arm GIC Pvt Ltd will invest Rs5000 crore ($700 million) to pick up around 4% stake in Bharti Airtel by subscribing to the telco’s Rs25,000 crore rights issue. That’s by way of a portion of the stock entitlement of promoter group entity Bharti Telecom. “Singtel and Airtel’s major shareholders, Bharti Group and Bharti Telecom, intend to subscribe to their full entitlement except for a renunciation by Bharti Telecom in favour of GIC Singapore, which will commit approximately $700 million,”...read more
Vodafone Idea, Airtel, Jio pay spectrum dues of over Rs 6,000 cr in March; RCom yet to pay  Mar 06, 2019
Telecom operators Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio have paid the government about Rs 6,000 crore in spectrum dues slated for March 3, but debt-ridden Reliance Communications has so far not deposited its dues of Rs 21.5 crore, sources said. A source privy to the development told that India''s largest telecom operator Vodafone Idea has made payment of over Rs 3,042.7 crore to the department of Telecom towards its spectrum dues...read more
Cabinet approves foreign direct infusion by Vodafone into India joint venture  Mar 01, 2019
The cabinet on Thursday approved foreign direct infusion of up to Rs 25,000 crore by the British telecom giant, Vodafone Plc, into its India joint venture Vodafone Idea Ltd. Finance minister Arun Jaitley announced that the government had approved the FDI proposal of investing anywhere between Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 25,000 crore, floated by the telecom department. The approval comes a month after, the board of directors of Vodafone Idea Ltd had approved Rs 25,000 crore fund-raising plan by way of rights issue to existing eligible equity shareholders....read more
Govt must ensure early 5G rollout, make spectrum available at reasonable pricing: Sunil Mittal  Feb 26, 2019
Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal Tuesday said the government must encourage 5G rollout in the country at the earliest by supporting the telecom sector in terms of pricing of spectrum at reasonable levels and lowering various levies. "My recommendation is govt must encourage 5G coming in India ... rather than being late. Government can help in giving more spectrum at reasonable price," Mittal told reporters here. He said the telecom regulator Trai-recommended price is very high, as for 5G every operator will require over 100 megahertz....read more
Airtel and Ciena to build one of the World’s Largest Photonic Control Plane Networks for delivering Ultra-fast Data  Feb 25, 2019
Bharti Airtel, India’s leading telecommunications services provider, is deploying Ciena’s coherent optical and intelligent software platforms to build one of the World’s Largest Photonic Control Plane networks in India. Airtel’s new backbone network will serve the exploding demand for high speed data services. It will also enable super-fast broadband experiences over 4G/5G/FTTH architectures, making the most efficient use of available fiber resources. The deployment is part of Project Leap – Airtel’s network transformation program...read more
Telecom regulator floats paper on porting costs  Feb 23, 2019
The telecoms regulator plans to review the per-port transaction charge and related ancillary levies for mobile number portability (MNP) at a time when monthly porting requests are falling, post-sector consolidation. When a mobile user moves from one service provider to another, the recipient telco pays a per-port transaction charge to the MNP service provider for processing porting requests. The per-port transaction charge was reduced from Rs 19 to Rs 4 by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) in January 2018....read more
Govt plans Rs 8,500 cr VRS for BSNL and MTNL  Feb 22, 2019
This could be one of the biggest voluntary retirement schemes (VRS) and early pension scheme offered in the country. The government is planning a near Rs 8,500-crore support scheme for BSNL and MTNL to reduce the large pool of their ageing manpower and infuse fresh life into these ailing telecom PSUs, which are under debt and heavy losses. Official sources said the two PSUs — despite being seen as a burden on the exchequer — are “strategic assets” in a sector where “government presence is desirable”....read more
DoT floats Cabinet note on Voda Idea's FDI proposal ahead of Rs 25,000 cr rights issue  Feb 15, 2019
The telecom department has floated a cabinet note on proposed foreign fund infusion plans by India''s largest telecom operator Vodafone Idea Ltd, which is planning up to Rs 25,000 crore rights issue, according to a source. A telecom department official privy to the development said that the proposal is likely to be taken up by the Cabinet soon. The official noted that a cabinet note has already been circulated on the FDI proposal linked to the proposed rights issue of the company....read more
Intermediaries guidelines may create an environment of distrust among consumers of online economy: CUTS International  Feb 13, 2019
CUTS International, a global policy research and advocacy group, organised a roundtable discussion on Evolving Role of Online Intermediaries: Retaining Trust, Re-imagining Safety, in association with CUTS Institute for Regulation and Competition on Tuesday. The discussion covered key aspects of the proposed amendments to the intermediaries guidelines and their likely impact on consumer trust in online economy....read more
Trai issues showcause notice to Airtel over recent DTH disruption  Feb 07, 2019
Telecom regulator Trai has served a showcause notice to Airtel over the blackout faced by some of its DTH customers during the switch over to the new tariff regime, sources said. The showcause notice was issued by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) earlier this week, and Airtel has been given three days time to respond, they told. When contacted, an Airtel spokesperson said a few customers may have experienced delays in provisioning of channels, owing to a massive surge in last minute requests during migration,...read more
Reliance Industries lines up over Rs 10,000 cr of fresh investments in West Bengal for expanding Jio’s 4G operations  Feb 07, 2019
Reliance Industries (RIL) has lined up over Rs 10,000 crore of fresh investments in West Bengal for expanding telecom arm Jio’s 4G operations in the state, chairman Mukesh Ambani said. “RIL has already invested Rs 28,000 crore in West Bengal, which is one tenth of the company’s total investments across India, and (telecom arm) Jio will invest a further Rs10,000 crore-plus to make the state a land of digital revolution” Ambani said at the fifth Bengal Global Business Summit in Kolkata on Thursday....read more
OnMobile Global Limited renews its contract with Telefónica España  Feb 05, 2019
OnMobile Global Limited, a global leader in mobile entertainment, today announced the renewal of its contract with Telefónica España, S.A.U. (Telefonica) for another five years. Telefónica is one of OnMobile’s largest customers. OnMobile has been providing videos, editorials, games and tones and a host of similar services to Telefonica’s subscribers since 2012. The long-term contract renewal ensures continued revenue growth and is a testimony to the deep and trusted relationship that OnMobile has with Telefónica....read more
Vodafone Idea successfully consolidates 25% of its nationwide radio network in just 5 months  Feb 04, 2019
Vodafone Idea Ltd., India’s leading telecom service provider, today announced the successful consolidation of nearly 25% of its pan-India radio network integration within a short span of just five months. With this integration of network, customers of both Vodafone and Idea brands are able to enjoy a unified network experience on 2G, 3G & 4G, in the service areas of West Bengal, Haryana, HP, Assam, North East, AP & Telangana (excl. Hyderabad), J&K and MP & Chhattisgarh....read more
Nokia forecast fast shift to 5G ahead after strong Q4  Jan 31, 2019
Telecom network equipment maker Nokia forecast stronger-than-expected 2019 and 2020 results thanks to fast-rising investments in 5G networks, after beating fourth-quarter sales and profit estimates on Thursday. "Over the longer-term, we expect a virtuous cycle of investment, where operators update their networks across multiple domains," Nokia's chief executive Rajeev Suri said in a statement. The networks industry - dominated by Nokia, Sweden's Ericsson and China's Huawei - has been battered by years of slowing demand since 4G network sales peaked in the middle of the decade....read more
Vodafone chief meets telecom secretary, seeks relief for Vodafone-Idea  Jan 30, 2019
ritish telecom major Vodafone Inc top officer Nick Read is learnt to have met Department of Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan on Monday to seek relief in spectrum payments of its Indian arm Vodafone Idea. "The meeting between telecom secretary and Read was held on Monday to discuss relaxation in spectrum payment for Vodafone Idea," a source privy to the development said. Vodafone Idea, along with Bharti Airtel, has requested the government to defer spectrum payment instalments with a two-year moratorium given the losses that these players are facing....read more
Lower network gear sales in India hit Ericsson''s business in Oct-Dec 2018  Jan 28, 2019
Swedish telecom component maker Ericsson saw its network gear sales rise by 16 per cent on a sequential basis in October-December 2018 globally. However, its seasonal sales trend was adversely impacted by India performance. "Sales (network) increased by 16 per cent quarter on quarter and sales adjusted for comparable units and currency also increased by 16 per cent. The sequential sales growth was slightly lower than normal seasonality mainly due to lower sales in India....read more
Bharti Infratel settles tower exits for about Rs 3,800 crore  Jan 25, 2019
Telecom tower firm Bharti Infratel Thursday said it has reached a settlement with four operators, including Vodafone Idea, that exited from its cell sites before the expiry of their contracts at a payment of around Rs 3,800 crore. The payments include one-time charge of Rs 2,000 crore and rental of around Rs 1,800 crore. Bharti Infratel Chairman Akhil Gupta during the company''s earnings call said that all the charges with Airtel, Tata, Telenor, Vodafone Idea have been settled for all exits that were received up to November 30, 2018....read more
Bharti Infratel, Indus seek exit charges post Vodafone-Idea merger  Jan 24, 2019
Tower companies Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers have sought exit charges following Vodafone-Idea merger that led to two tenancies on a single tower being converted into one, and negotiations are on in this regard, the newly merged telecom firm said Wednesday. Prior to the mega merger, both entities - Vodafone and Idea - had tenancies on the same tower of various infrastructure service providers, including Indus Towers and Bharti Infratel....read more
Reliance Communications posts wider loss in 3rd quarter  Jan 24, 2019
On Wednesday, Debt-laden Indian telecom company Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) reported a wider loss for the third quarter, hurt by higher expenses. Net loss came in at 2.38 billion rupees ($33.38 million) for the October-December quarter, compared to a loss of 1.30 billion rupees in the year-ago period. Revenue from operations fell about 6.5 percent to 10.70 billion rupees....read more
Vodafone Idea board approves fund-raising up to Rs 25,000 cr through rights issue  Jan 23, 2019
Vodafone Idea board has approved fund-raising to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore through a rights issue, the telecom firm said on Wednesday. Promoters of the company, including Vodafone Group and Aditya Birla Group, intended to contribute up to Rs 11,000 crore and Rs 7,250 crore, respectively, as part of such rights issue. “Further, the promoter shareholders have indicated that in case the rights issue is undersubscribed, each of the promoter shareholders reserves the right to subscribe to part or whole amount of the unsubscribed portion, subject to applicable law,” the company said in a release....read more
NCLAT to hear contempt plea against Anil Ambani on Feb 25  Jan 22, 2019
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) Tuesday deferred the hearing on a contempt petition against Anil Ambani filed by minority shareholders of one of his firms till February 25. A two-member bench headed by Justice S J Mukhopadhaya said that it would hear on February 25 the contempt plea filed by HSBC Daisy Investments (Mauritius) and other minority shareholders over an alleged default in payment against Reliance Infratel and its promoters....read more
Vodafone Idea seeks 2 yrs extension for spectrum payment citing high debt  Jan 21, 2019
Telecom operator Vodafone Idea has sought two-years moratorium on annual spectrum payment of about Rs 10,000 crore, citing high debt levels and stress on the balance sheet. "The Department of Telecom has received representation from Vodafone Idea for 2-years additional moratorium on spectrum payment that they procured in auction. The request is being examined and it has to be scrutinised and considered by other departments/ministries in the government before taking any decision," a senior government official told PTI....read more
NCLT Delhi bench approves Bharti Airtel’s acquisition of Tata Teleservices’ consumer mobility business  Jan 21, 2019
The Delhi bench of the National Company Law Tribunal(NCLT) has approved Bharti Airtel’s acquisition of Tata Teleservices’ consumer mobility business, a deal that will enable the Sunil Mittal-led telco to close the market share gap with leader Vodafone Idea besides bolstering its 4G airwares portfolio to take on Reliance Jio Infocomm more effectively. “The NCLT’s Delhi principal bench, vide its order dated January 17, has sanctioned the composite scheme of arrangement between Tata Teleservices, Bharti Airtel and Bharti Hexacom and their respective shareholders and creditors...read more
Customers in BSNL Chennai Circle can pay their bills at post offices by showing SMS or email bill copies  Jan 19, 2019
Hardcopies of BSNL bills are no more required for payment at post offices for BSNL Chennai subscribers with the state-owned telecom service provider has done away with the process. Now, customers in BSNL Chennai Circle can pay their bills by just showing the SMS or emailed bill copies. BSNL Chennai Circle covers Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts. A press release from BSNL Chennai Circle said customers could pay their landline and mobile bills at all post offices anywhere in Tamil Nadu, just by showing the SMS or image copy of their bill....read more
BSNL launches fiber to home service; to offer 35GB per day  Jan 18, 2019
State-run telecom operator BSNL on Friday said that it has launched its fiber to the home service, Bharat Fiber, in the country, and will offer 35GB per day at as low as Rs 1.1per GB to take on Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. Vivek Banzal, director of CFA, BSNL board said "We realize that now customers are demanding super fast internet and have started owning more electronic gadgets and entertainment tools than ever before. So our Fiber to the Home technology has been upgraded and we are happy to announce the launch of Bharat Fiber...read more
Vivo India partners Cashify to allow exchange of old smartphones on Vivo’s in-house e-store  Jan 16, 2019
Chinese handset maker Vivo has come up with an exchange program in India ‘Vivo Xchange’ as part of which the company will allow people to exchange their old phones and upgrade to a new Vivo smartphone on Vivo’s in-house e-store. For this, the company has partnered with online re-commerce brand Cashify.in. The upgrade program will let both existing Vivo customers and other smartphone users looking to buy a new Vivo smartphone to participate in the program. Moreover, Vivo is offering an additional Rs 1000 bump-up in exchange of old Vivo smartphones from January 16-19....read more
HFCL bags Rs 500 cr orders for optical fibre cable; plans Rs 388 cr capex  Jan 11, 2019
Domestic telecom gear maker HFCL Thursday said it has bagged two orders of worth around Rs 502 crore for supply of optical fibre cable from Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and a consortium led by ITI. Himachal Futuristic Communications Limited (HFCL) said it is investing Rs 388 crore to ramp up production capacity of optical fibre cable and optical fibres to meet the market demand. "Himachal Futuristic Communications Limited (HFCL) is pleased to announce that it has won orders of Rs 502.73 crore for supply of optical fibre cables (OFC)...read more
Bharti Infratel expects to complete its merger with Indus Towers in 1Q FY20  Jan 10, 2019
Bharti Infratel, the tower unit of Bharti Airtel, expects to complete its merger with Indus Towers in the first quarter of the new financial year, starting April 1, 2019. The company''s management, in an analyst meet, also chalked out the new growth areas which include fibre sharing, small cells, data centres and wi-fi offloading. The “deal is expected to be completed latest by April-May-19,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a report....read more
Govt spending on telecom infrastructure increased to Rs 60,000 crores  Jan 09, 2019
The Narendra Modi-led NDA government''s spending on telecom infrastructure has been increased to six-fold to Rs 60,000 for the 2014-19 period, and it had taken various industry-friendly initiatives, according to a year-end review by the Ministry of Communications. "There is a six-fold increase in government spending on telecommunications infrastructure and services in the country from Rs. 9,900 crores between 2009-14, to Rs. 60,000 crores (actual and planned) between 2014-19," the statement issued by the ministry Wednesday said....read more
SC asks RCom, RJio to resolve issues over past dues by Jan 11  Jan 08, 2019
The Supreme Court Monday asked Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) and Reliance Jio to take a decision by January 11 over the settlement of past dues to DoT, which is yet to give clearance to their spectrum sale deal. It also asked RJio to furnish an undertaking to abide by the spectrum trade guidelines, to which the company said that it cannot take this risk knowing the problems faced with regard to the past dues....read more
IBM earns record patents in 2018, India second highest contributor  Jan 08, 2019
IBM inventors from India earned over 800 patents - the second highest contributor to the company''s global record of 9,100 patents in the US in 2018 - with nearly half in the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud computing, cyber security, Blockchain and Quantum Computing. One of the patents filed from India went to IBM inventors Shivali Agarwal, Gaargi B. Dasgupta, Shripad J. Nadgowda and Tapan K. Nayak, the company said in a statement on Tuesday....read more
SC seeks response from Anil Ambani on Ericsson''s contempt petition  Jan 07, 2019
The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to Reliance Communication Ltd (RCom) Chairman Anil Dhirubhai Ambani and others on a contempt petition filed by Ericsson India over non-payment of its dues. A bench headed by Justice RF Nariman sought a response from Ambani and others in four weeks. Appearing for RCom, senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Mukul Rohatgi asked the court to accept Rs 118 crore towards outstanding dues to Ericsson India to establish its bonafide....read more
Vodafone Idea loses 6.52 million customers in November 2018: COAI  Jan 04, 2019
India’s biggest telco Vodafone Idea lost over a whopping 6.52 million customers in November 2018 while second-largest, Bharti Airtel notched up a modest 0.11 million subscriber additions amid network integration challenges and continued pricing aggression from Reliance Jio Infocomm, latest numbers collated by Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) showed. The COAI represents all major telecom companies....read more
NCLAT disposes of contempt plea against Reliance Infratel  Jan 03, 2019
The NCLAT Wednesday disposed of a contempt plea against Reliance Infratel by HSBC Daisy Investments (Mauritius) and other minority shareholders over default in payment on technical grounds. A two-member bench of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), however, gave HSBC Daisy liberty to approach again with its contempt plea against the officials of Reliance Infratel. "We allow the appellants to withdraw, with liberty to file fresh petition for contempt," said the bench headed by Justice S J Mukhopadhaya....read more
IT ministry officials to discuss proposed changes in social media rules with legal experts on Jan 5  Jan 02, 2019
IT ministry officials are planning to meet on January 5 legal experts and those advocating privacy to discuss proposed changes in social media rules, amid concerns over privacy and free speech. According to a source in the ministry, the proposed meeting with legal experts on January 5 is likely to be followed by a one-hour Twitter session that would be open to the larger public for discussion on the matter. The government is keen on getting feedbacks and clarifying doubts, through the proposed exercise, said the person familiar with the development....read more
RCom, Reliance Jio extend validity of asset sale pact to June 28  Dec 31, 2018
Reliance Communications and Reliance Jio announced Monday that they have extended the terms of an agreement for sale of wireless assets of the Anil Ambani owned firm. The move comes at a time when Reliance Communication's spectrum sale deal has been hanging fire, pending requisite clearance from the telecom department. "Reliance Jio lnfocomm Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, extended the term of the definitive agreement for the acquisition of specified assets of Reliance Communications Limited and its affiliates to 28th June 2019,"...read more
Jio Happy New Year Offer returns with 100% cashback on Rs 399 recharge  Dec 29, 2018
Reliance Jio Friday announced a New Year offer under which it offers 100 per cent cashback on a recharge of Rs 399 in the form of coupons that can be availed on e-commerce portal AJIO. "Jio in partnership with AJIO has introduced its Jio Happy New Year Offer. The offer provides 100 per cent cashback in form of AJIO coupon. Customers performing recharge of Rs 399 will get 100 per cent cashback in form of AJIO coupon. AIO coupon worth Rs 399 will be credited in ''MyCoupons'' section of MyJio," Jio said in a statement....read more
Consumer court in Rajkot orders BSNL to pay for poor service, harassment  Dec 24, 2018
A consumer court in Rajkot ordered Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to pay Rs 1,500 to a customer for not refunding him the deposit after he surrendered connections following poor data service. According to case details, Rajkot’s Arunkumar Joshi approached the Rajkot District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum in May with a complaint that BSNL had not refunded Rs 395 for the internet connection he stopped subscribing to due to problem with the telecom company’s 3G service in the area....read more
Vivo to invest Rs 4,000 cr for new manufacturing plant in Uttar Pradesh  Dec 13, 2018
On Thursday, Chinese smartphone maker Vivo announced an additional investment of Rs 4,000 crore for over a period of four years towards opening a new manufacturing plant on the Yamuna Expressway in Uttar Pradesh that will generate 5,000 jobs in its first phase of expansion. The new 169-acre land has been acquired near the existing 50-acre manufacturing facility that will help expand Vivo''s manufacturing capabilities and support its continued growth in the country, the company said in a statement....read more
Reliance Jio joins O-RAN alliance board along with TIM and Verizon  Dec 12, 2018
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio has joined the O-RAN Alliance board along with TIM and Verizon. The O-RAN Alliance is a world-wide, carrier-led effort to drive new levels of openness in the radio access network of next generation wireless systems. O-RAN is organized as a series of work groups focused on specific aspects of the RAN open architecture and interfaces, with a Technical Steering Committee (TSC) coordinating the overall work program....read more
Design in India needs designed thinking and evidence-based policymaking  Dec 03, 2018
Speaking at CUTS International''s Roundtable on "Design in India to maximise 5G opportunities", Yaduvendra Mathur, Additional Secretary, NITI Aayog stated that in order to shift from manufacturing to designing in the ICT sector, India needs to adopt designed thinking and an approach of policymaking - that emerges from practice and is evidence-based....read more
Natya Ballet Centre organising three-day long ''Natya Ballet Dance Festival"  Nov 29, 2018
One of the oldest dance institutions in Delhi, Natya Ballet Centre organised a press conference on 27 November 2018. Radhika Hoon, the current Chairperson of the Natya Ballet Centre announced that the Natya Ballet Centre in association with Sangeet Natak Akademi is hosting the second edition of the biennale ‘The Natya Ballet Dance Festival’ from 30th November to 2nd December, 2018 (Friday to Sunday) at SNA premises....read more
Telcos urge TRAI to make 4G airwaves more affordable  Nov 29, 2018
Telecom companies have urged the regulator to make 4G airwaves more affordable and unveil a long-term road map of the periodicity of auctions to provide clarity on spectrum availability and discourage irrational bidding. Top executives of Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio Infocomm and state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. met Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Chairman RS Sharma on Wednesday....read more
Xiaomi in active discussions with two new component partners for local production: Manu Jain  Nov 28, 2018
Chinese handset maker Xiaomi is in active discussions with two more component partners to set up factories to support its growing operations in the country, especially its smartphones business where it has emerged as the market leader. "We have two other partners who are in active discussions with us for multiple components... nothing is finalised yet," Manu Kumar Jain, vice president at Xiaomi Global and managing director at Xiaomi India, told ET....read more
Cong questions Gujarat govt's choice of mobile service provider for officials  Nov 20, 2018
The Congress Monday questioned the Gujarat government''s choice of private telecom company for services for official numbers, saying it paid Rs 2.4 crore more to a private player when the same services were available at a cheaper rate from state-run BSNL. Speaking to reporters here, Congress national spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil sought to know if the government would recover this "additional" sum from the private mobile company....read more
I&B secretary Amit Khare wary of telcos entering broadcast media  Nov 16, 2018
Union information and broadcasting ministry secretary Amit Khare has said that lack of regulation on Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) entering broadcast media was a valid concern, and indicated thinking on measures to prevent such monopolies and in distribution. Speaking here on Thursday at a seminar organised by the Union industry ministry and the World Intellectual Property Organization, he said:...read more
MTNL Q2 loss widens to Rs 859 crore  Nov 15, 2018
State-run telecom firm MTNL Wednesday reported widening of its loss to Rs 859 crore on standalone basis in the quarter ended September 30, 2018, mainly on account of increase in finance cost and decline in sales. The debt-ridden firm had posted a loss of Rs 730.64 crore in the same period a year ago. The finance cost of the company during the period under review increased to Rs 422.72 crore from Rs 366.22 crore....read more
Vodafone Idea posts loss of Rs 4950.7 cr for Sept end quarter, to raise Rs 25,000 cr via equity  Nov 15, 2018
Vodafone Idea posted a loss of Rs 4950.7 crore for the September end quarter, in its first results since being formed, hurt by the continuing price war and higher costs, and unveiled plans to raise Rs25,000 crore through equity and more by selling its fibre assets to take on competition from Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. The mobile phone operator, which was born out of the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular,...read more
Reliance Ind to invest Rs 3000 crore in Odisha mostly towards expanding Jio network  Nov 12, 2018
Mukesh Ambani, chairman of RIL has committed to invest Rs 3000 crore in the state of Odisha, which is in addition to the Rs 6000 crore already invested previously. The company will invest this sum over a period of three years in various businesses in Odisha, however most of the investments will be focused towards creating Jio network....read more
Sterlite enters into telecom access solutions, teams up with Jio for last mile fibre connectivity  Nov 06, 2018
Homegrown fibre manufacturer Sterlite Tech, a Vedanta Resources company has entered into telecom network market to provide integrated services to telcos, and is currently doing a Proof of Concept (PoC) for its newly-unveiled fibre to the last mile solution with Reliance Jio. “We are looking beyond fibre. We now design end-to-end network solutions for fibre-to-the-home, fibre-to-the-enterprise, and fibre-to-the-small cells,”...read more
Apple''s India profit zooms 140% to Rs 896 cr in FY18  Nov 01, 2018
Tech giant Apple''s India unit registered 140 per cent jump in its net profit at Rs 896.3 crore for the fiscal ended March 2018, as per regulatory documents filed by the company. The iPhone maker, which competes with the likes of OnePlus and Samsung in the premium smartphone category in India, had registered net profit of Rs 373.3 crore in 2016-17, the documents filed with the Corporate Affairs Ministry showed....read more
Realme Partners with Reliance Digital for offline sales  Nov 01, 2018
Realme, the smartphone brand that specializes in providing high quality products for the youth, has entered into an exclusive partnership with Reliance Digital, India’s No 1 and fastest growing consumer electronics chain for offline sales of their products. This initiative is a part of the brand’s commitment towards ‘Realme for every Indian’, bringing products packed with power and style closer to consumers....read more
Tata Teleservices Q2 loss narrows to Rs 383.06 crore  Oct 31, 2018
Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) said its loss narrowed to Rs 383.06 crore in the quarter ended September from Rs 8,194.67 crore a year earlier when it took an impairment charge on its consumer mobile business assets. The impairment loss had been disclosed as an exceptional item. The telecom arm of the Tata Group said Tuesday there had been a change of such impairment charge due to “adjustments in the ordinary course of business”...read more
Indian telecom operators lauds TDSAT judgement on EMF testing fee  Oct 31, 2018
Indian telecom operators have lauded TDSAT’s judgement on EMF testing fee stating that only Rs 4000 will be charged by DoT for EMF testing of a mobile tower irrespective of the number of BTSs installed on the site. Rajan S Mathews, DG, COAI said “We welcome the judgment by the TDSAT on EMF testing fee which we believe, was an equitable prayer from the industry. The judgement is a welcome relief for the telecom operators in the long run....read more
Apple posts 12% increase in total income to Rs 13,098 cr in India in FY18  Oct 27, 2018
The Indian unit of Apple more than doubled its profit in the year ended March 2018, but sales grew at a slower pace which analysts attributed to weakened demand for iPhone models after their prices went up in January due higher import duties, and Chinese aggression in the premium smartphone segment. Apple posted a 12% increase in total income to Rs 13,097.64 crore in India in the last fiscal year, compared with Rs 11,704.32 crore the previous year,...read more
Nokia wins broadband deal from GTPL in India  Oct 27, 2018
Nokia said that GTPL, a cable TV and broadband service provider will deploy its fixed access and core technology to upgrade and modernize its network. Nokia’s solutions will replace GTPL’s legacy Ethernet-based access network with fiber capable of supporting ultra-broadband speeds that provide a faster internet experience to subscribers....read more
HFCL bags Rs 366 cr order from BSNL  Oct 23, 2018
Domestic telecom gear maker HFCL has bagged Rs 366 crore contract from state-run telecom firm BSNL for rolling out and maintaining broadband network under the Bharat Net project. Himachal Futuristic Communications Limited (HFCL) has received an "advance purchase order worth Rs 366.36 crore from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited," HFCL said in a filing....read more
Supreme Court grants RCom time till Dec 15 to pay Ericsson  Oct 23, 2018
The Supreme Court has given Reliance Communications (RCom) time till December 15 to pay Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson its dues of Rs 550 crore, bringing relief to the Anil Ambani-owned telco. "The bench told RCom that keeping in mind the difficulties they were facing in their asset sale, an extension till December 15 will be given but the operator will have to pay Ericsson by then," said senior counsel member Anil Kher,...read more
Tejas Networks wins Rs 111 cr order for Indian Navy’s communication network from Sterlite Tech  Oct 22, 2018
Sterlite Tech which recently bagged Rs 3500 crore worth Indian Navy deal has given an order of Rs 111 crore to Tejas Networks for the country wide digital communications project. As a part of this order, Tejas Networks will supply its terabit capacity DWDM systems and Layer-3 multi gigabit ethernet switches, the company said in a release on Monday....read more
Reliance to buy majority stakes in Den Networks, Hathway Cable and Datacom for Rs 5,230  Oct 18, 2018
Reliance Industries Wednesday said it will buy majority stakes in Den Networks Ltd and Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd for Rs 5,230 crore. It will acquire 66% stake in Den Networks through an investment of Rs. 2,045 crore, and will acquire 51.3% stake in Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited through a primary investment of Rs. 2,940 crore....read more
Nokia working with BSNL to implement industrial automation solutions at Chennai plant  Oct 16, 2018
Finnish telecom gear maker Nokia said that it is working with BSNL to implement the next level of industrial automation, leveraging 4G LTE technology to enable greater operational efficiency at Nokia’s Chennai plant. Sanjay Malik, Vice President and head of the India Market at Nokia, said: “Our collaboration with BSNL will enable us to leverage the latest technology advancements and continue in our efforts to build the increasingly digitized and connected factory of the future....read more
Expect three more quarters of losses for telecom industry: COAI  Oct 15, 2018
The telecom sector is likely to experience three more quarters of losses, hurt by high levies and "unsustainable tariffs", a top official of industry body COAI has said. "Under the current scenario, I see at least another three plus quarters of losses. Why? Because personally, I do not think the present tariffs are sustainable for long term health of the industry...," COAI Director General, Rajan Mathews told....read more
Chinese electronics major Xiaomi plans to float a NBFC in India, to soon seek RBI approval  Oct 15, 2018
Xiaomi plans to foray into consumer finance and business-to-business lending by floating a non-banking financial company (NBFC), the Chinese smartphone and electronics major has said in its latest regulatory disclosure. The new company, Xiaomi Financial Services India, will soon seek the Reserve Bank of India’s approval to operate as an NBFC....read more
India raises basic customs duty on telecom equipment  Oct 12, 2018
India has raised basic customs duty on several telecom equipment and imposed duties on printed circuit boards used to make these as the country looks to curb non-essential imports to address its current account deficit as also boost ‘Make in India’. Telecom products including base stations, optical transport equipment, combination of one or more of Packet Optical Transport Product or Switch (POTP or POTS), Optical Transport Network (OTN) products and IP radios will face customs duty of 20% instead of 10% now....read more
China based retailer Gome enters Indian smartphone market via Agaston Mobile partnership  Oct 09, 2018
Gome, one of the largest privately-owned electrical appliance retailers based in Mainland China and Hong Kong, is entering the Indian handset maker through a partnership with Agaston Mobile, which operates through its brand, Tambo. Gome''s India foray is its first global expansion outside China where it ventured into the handset business last year. Beijing-headquartered Gome will invest $5 million to support its foray, and it will share resources with Agaston Mobile....read more
Court extends interim protection from arrest granted to Chidambaram, son in Aircel-Maxis case  Oct 08, 2018
A Delhi Court Monday extended till November 1 the interim protection from arrest granted to former Union Minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti in the Aircel-Maxis case filed by the CBI and the ED. Special CBI Judge O P Saini put up the matter for November 1 after the counsel appearing for agencies sought an adjournment in the matter....read more
Tata Communications acquires IoT company Teleena  Oct 03, 2018
Tata Communications, a leading global digital infrastructure provider, on Wednesday said it was acquiring Teleena, a Netherlands-based Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity specialist and mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE). This acquisition follows Tata Communications'' investment in Teleena in January 2017, when the company became the single largest shareholder in Teleena with a 35 per cent stake....read more
Telecom tribunal allows RCom to sell spectrum to Jio, telco to repay Ericsson  Oct 03, 2018
The telecom tribunal has allowed Reliance Communications (RCom) to sell its spectrum by staying the demand of bank guarantees worth Rs 2900 crore from telecom department. The tribunal''s order will bring relief to the telco which can now go ahead and sell its spectrum to Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio) and complete its asset monetisation process....read more
BSNL joins hands with Amazon; to offer free Prime membership to postpaid, broadband customers  Oct 01, 2018
State-run telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has joined hands with Amazon to offer Amazon Prime Membership worth Rs 999 for free to select postpaid and broadband customers. BSNL customers across the country with Rs 399 postpaid or Rs 745 broadband landline plans can avail one year of free Amazon Prime membership. Vodafone-Idea and Bharti Airtel already offer free Amazone Prime membership to their postpaid customers in the country....read more
Reliance Communications in talks with 2 parties for sale  Sep 27, 2018
Reliance Communications (RCom) is in talks with two strategic buyers to sell a controlling stake in its leftover businesses such as data centre and India enterprise and Global Cloud Xchange (GCX), which runs undersea cable networks, a top official said. “There are two strategic buyers and we are in the process of discussions but timelines have not been finalised yet....read more
In a region’s first, Connect Broadband rolls-out Loyalty Program for Patrons  Sep 25, 2018
In a one-of-its-kind customer centric initiative by a telecom service provider, Connect Broadband, market leader in wireline and broadband services across Punjab, today announced “Connect Rewards”, program for its patrons. The program aims to recognize and appreciate its new and existing customers for every spend they make on the broadband service....read more
India’s telecom sector attracted $6.2 billion FDI in 2017-18: Manoj Sinha  Sep 25, 2018
India’s telecom sector has attracted a Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) worth $6.2 billion (Rs 43,400 crore) in 2017-18 fiscal, telecom minister Manoj Sinha Tuesday said. “FDI in the telecom sector has jumped nearly five times in the last 3 years – from $1.3 billion in 2015-16 to $6.2 billion in 2017-18,” Sinha said, according to a press statement....read more
State-run telco BSNL partners with Japan''s SoftBank, NTT to roll out 5G, IoT services  Sep 24, 2018
State-run telecom firm BSNL has inked a pact with Japan''s SoftBank and NTT Communications to roll out 5G and internet of things technology in India, a top official has said. "We have signed agreement with SoftBank and NTT Communications to roll out 5G and IoT products and services in India. Under the agreement, we will look at solution specially for the smart cities," said Anupam Shrivastava, BSNL chairman and managing director....read more
SC extends deadline by 3 months for completing probe in Aircel-Maxis deal case  Sep 20, 2018
The Supreme Court Thursday extended by three months the deadline given to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to complete the probe in the Aircel-Maxis deal case. A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said the probe should be completed in three months. Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED, said the agency needs some two-three months to complete the probe as it needs to confront some accused with several e-mails....read more
Telecom sector may soon be a monopoly: Anil Ambani  Sep 19, 2018
Reliance Communications chairman Anil Ambani said the telecom sector may eventually become a monopoly, having been “creatively destroyed,” and thanked elder brother Mukesh for his “support and guidance” in challenging times. At the company’s 14th annual general meeting, Ambani said some 20 lakh jobs had been lost to continuing hyper-competition. He said the “creative destruction” of the telecom industry, underlined by high cost...read more
HFCL gets Rs 611 cr order from BSNL for broadband in Madhya Pradesh  Sep 19, 2018
Telecom equipment maker HFCL said Wednesday it has received advance purchase order worth Rs 611 crore from state-run BSNL for broadband connectivity in Madhya Pradesh. The contract is for survey, procurement, supply, trenching, laying, installation, testing and maintenance of optical fibre cable (OFC), accessories and GPON equipment in Madhya Pradesh under Centre''s BharatNet programme, HFCL said in a BSE filing....read more
Reliance Comm. to monetize enterprise, global undersea cable business: Anil Ambani  Sep 18, 2018
Reliance Communications’ (RCom) Chairman Anil Ambani said that the debt saddled operator has complete backing of its global and Indian lenders in its asset monetisation plan and will monetise its enterprise and GCX businesses. The operator’ asset monetisation deal is with Reliance Jio for fibre, spectrum, MCN, tower and some of its land parcels will go to Canadian asset management firm Brookfield for a total of about Rs 18,000 crore....read more
Ayla Networks announces partnership with Tata Elxsi to deliver IoT solutions for CSPs  Sep 17, 2018
On Monday, California-based Internet of Things (IoT) company Ayla Networks announced a strategic partnership with global technology and design services provider Tata Elxsi to help communications service providers (CSPs). The two companies will develop and deliver IoT solutions that enable CSPs to meet growing demands...read more
Mobile operators ask UIDAI to defer Sept 15 deadline for face authentication rollout  Sep 15, 2018
Barely hours to go before the September 15 deadline comes into play, mobile operators have sought more time to implement the UIDAI-mandated face authentication feature, citing non-preparedness of biometric device makers. The operators under the ambit of Apex Advisory Council for Telecom in India (ACT) have said that the date of implementation of face authentication...read more
Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins meets PM, signs pact with BSNL, Niti Aayog  Sep 14, 2018
Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins on Thursday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his three-day visit to India and also signed agreements with state-run telecom firm BSNL and Niti Aayog. "Had a wonderful meeting with Mr Chuck Robbins, Chairman and CEO of Cisco. We discussed various aspects relating to technology as well as innovation," Modi said in a tweet....read more
T-Mobile and Ericsson sign major $3.5 billion 5G agreement  Sep 12, 2018
Ericsson and T-Mobile today announced a multi-year, $3.5 billion contract to support T-Mobile’s nationwide 5G network deployment. Under the deal, Ericsson will provide T-Mobile with the latest 5G New Radio (NR) hardware and software compliant with 3GPP standards. Bridging from a nationwide LTE Advanced network to 5G, T-Mobile will leverage Ericsson’s market-leading 5G portfolio to expand existing LTE capacity needs while future-proofing the network....read more
Extramarks ties up with BSNL, takes lead in Digital Education  Sep 12, 2018
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Extramarks Education India Pvt. Ltd. (Extramarks), India’s leading digital education company, on Tuesday joined hands to provide high quality education throughout the country. The two companies will offer Extramarks’ internationally acclaimed education content and scientifically developed learning tools through BSNL’s state-of-the-art telecom network....read more
Bharti-Airtel enhances voice clarity, call stability  Sep 11, 2018
Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Monday said it has upgraded its network infrastructure in Tamil Nadu to ensure better voice clarity and call stability. The company has further optimised the 3G network, which carries bulk of the voice traffic, by deploying network solutions and advanced software, a press release said here....read more
Samsung, Micromax, Oppo, Honor seek extension of mandatory testing deadline  Sep 10, 2018
Mobile handset firms including Samsung, Micromax, Oppo, Honor and Karbonn represented by The Mobile Association (TMA) Monday has sought extension of the mandatory device testing deadline, and believe that any hasty implementation would impact sales in upcoming Diwali season and would have impact on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious Make in India program....read more
HC orders notice to TN govt on plea by BSNL on ''track rent''  Sep 07, 2018
The Madras High Court Thursday issued notice to the Tamil Nadu government on a petition moved by BSNL challenging a circular demanding annual "track rent" from the public sector firm for laying optical fibre cables along public roads. Admitting the plea, Justice R Mahadevan directed the Commissioner of Land Administration and the Revenue Department to file their reply by two weeks....read more
Bharti Infra to take annual hit of Rs 780 cr from Vodafone Idea exit  Sep 06, 2018
Telecom infrastructure firm Bharti Infratel said Wednesday its consolidated revenue, including that from Indus Towers, is expected to take around Rs 780 crore hit on annual basis, due to exit of Vodafone and Idea Cellular from co-located mobile towers. Following completion of Vodafone-Idea merger, the companies have served exit notices to Bharti Infratel and its subsidiary Indus Towers from 27,447 co-located mobile towers on consolidated basis....read more
Juniper Networks expands partnership with Ericsson to accelerate 5G transformation  Sep 05, 2018
Juniper Networks, an industry leader in automated, scalable and secure networks, today announced it has expanded its 18-year partnership with Ericsson, a global leader in mobile networks, to deliver a comprehensive end-to-end 5G solution leveraging each company’s complementary portfolios. Together, the companies are now offering service providers a complete 5G transport network solution...read more
Airtel introduces new simplified combo recharge packs for its prepaid customers  Sep 04, 2018
Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), India’s leading mobile operator, today launched a new range of convenient combo prepaid recharge packs that are aimed at further simplifying its prepaid proposition. Customers can now get data, talk time, tariff and validity together in the same pack at affordable price points....read more
Vodafone and Idea completes merger to create India's largest telco with 408 mn active subscribers  Aug 31, 2018
On Friday, Aditya Birla Group said that Vodafone India and Idea Cellular have completed the merger to create the country’s largest telecom company with 408 million active subscribers and a revenue market share of 32.2%. “We wish to inform you that pursuant to filing of the NCLT orders with the relevant Registrars of Companies on 31st August, 2018...read more
ZMI enters Indian Mobile Accessories market with Shyam Telecom Group  Aug 30, 2018
ZMI, a Xiaomi funded- ecosystem company, specializing in design and manufacturing of battery power banks, power adapters, projectors, IOT Cameras, smart mosquito repellent and charging cables for cell phones, tablets, laptops, and other mobile/smart devices. ZMI has partnered with Shyam Telecom group, its Indian partner to launch the full range of products for Indian consumers....read more
Bharti Airtel shareholders approve merger proposal with Tata Teleservices  Aug 30, 2018
Telecom major Bharti Airtel said its shareholders have approved the proposed merger between the company and Tata Teleservices as part of ongoing proceedings at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The special resolution to approve the proposed composite scheme of arrangement between Tata Teleservices, Bharti Airtel and Bharti Hexacom...read more
RCom seeks nod to raise borrowing limits to Rs 50,000 crore  Aug 27, 2018
Debt-laden Reliance Communications has sought shareholders'' approval to enhance the company''s borrowing limits to up to Rs 50,000 crore to meet its capital requirements. The company said its annual general meeting is scheduled to be held on September 18, 2018 to consider various proposals, including revising borrowing limits, alterations to the Articles of Association of the company,...read more
RCom sells nodes worth Rs 2000 cr to Jio  Aug 23, 2018
Reliance Communications has competed sale of its media convergence nodes (MCNs) and related infrastructure assets, worth Rs 2,000 crore, to Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio), which will be the first tranche of payments in the operator’s asset sale. The Anil Ambani owned operator said “With the successful completion of the MCN monetization transaction, 248 MCNs covering 5 million sq. ft. of area, used for hosting the telecom infrastructure, stand transferred to RJIO”....read more
Route Mobile gets Sebi nod for Rs 600 crore IPO  Aug 21, 2018
Route Mobile has received markets regulator Sebi''s approval to raise an estimated Rs 600 crore through an initial share-sale. Incorporated in 2004, Route is among the leading cloud- communication platform service providers to enterprises, over-the-top players and mobile network operators....read more
‘Thank You Punjab’ says Airtel as it crosses 10 million mobile customers mark in the state  Aug 20, 2018
Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), India’s largest telecommunications service provider, today said that it has become the first mobile operator in Punjab to cross 10 million subscriber mark. With this, India’s fastest mobile network has further cemented its leadership position in the state; thanks to its sharp focus on innovative products and best-in-class services....read more
SC issues notice to Bharti Airtel on Aircel plea seeking Rs453 crore dues  Aug 17, 2018
The Supreme Court has asked Bharti Airtel to reply to a notice in two weeks while admitting bankrupt telecom firm Aircel''s petition seeking Rs453 crore dues from the Sunil Mittal-owned mobile phone operator. Last week, Aircel had moved apex court seeking an order directing Bharti Airtel to pay the Rs453 crore...read more
Make in India: Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei fears incorrect, says Trai  Aug 16, 2018
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) believes the panic raised by multinational telecom equipment makers such as Ericsson over local manufacturing was unfounded and that India’s telecom market presents enormous opportunity to align towards Make in India. “As far as equipment requirement is concerned, the consumers remain 1.2 billion albeit growing....read more
MTNL reports widening of losses for quarter ended June to Rs 943.3 crore  Aug 16, 2018
State-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) has reported widening of losses for the quarter ended June 30, 2018 to Rs 943.3 crore. According to MTNL''s regulatory filing, the losses stood at Rs 703.1 crore in the corresponding period of 2017-18....read more
RCom and its subsidiaries replenishes bank guarantees of Rs. 774 cr to DoT  Aug 13, 2018
Reliance Communications (RCom) and its subsidiaries have replenished bank guarantees (BGs) aggregating Rs. 774 crore with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), thereby ensuring that the department does not cancel its licenses and spectrum. The payment to DoT was done four weeks ahead of telecom tribunal''s deadline of September 10....read more
Bharti Airtel shareholders approve merger with Tata Tele Maharashtra  Aug 06, 2018
Shareholders of Bharti Airtel Friday approved the merger of the mobile business of Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) with the company. The "proposed scheme of arrangement between Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited and Bharti Airtel Limited and their respective shareholders and creditors" was approved with over 99 per cent votes, the company said in a BSE filing....read more
SC approves settlement between RCom & Ericsson India  Aug 04, 2018
The Supreme Court today approved the settlement arrived at between Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) and Ericsson India Pvt Ltd over a payment dispute and asked the Anil Ambani-led firm to pay Rs 550 crore to the company by September 30. Ericsson India Pvt Ltd, which had signed a seven-year deal in 2014 to operate and manage RCom''s nationwide telecom network, had alleged that it had not been paid the dues....read more
BSNL narrowed FY''18 loss to Rs 4,785 crore: Telecom Minister  Aug 02, 2018
State-run telecom company BSNL has narrowed its loss to Rs 4,785 crore during 2017-18, even as its income declined to Rs 27,818 crore as against the previous fiscal, Parliament was informed today. BSNL posted a loss of Rs 4,859 crore in 2015-16, Rs 4,786 crore in 2016-17 and Rs 4,785 crore (provisional and unaudited) in 2017-18, Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha....read more
JioPhone leads overall shipments in Indian market with 27% share: CMR  Aug 02, 2018
Reliance Retail’s JioPhone led the overall shipments in the Indian market, contributing 27% across feature phones, fusion phones and smartphones followed by Samsung, CMR said in its report on Thursday. JioPhone was able to create a new category of phones called ‘fusion phones’ which was later adopted by Indian brands like Micromax and Lava as well even as they shipped in smaller quantities, the report highlighted....read more
Anti-profiteering authority seeks inputs from Bharti Airtel on GST benefits  Jul 31, 2018
The GST anti-profiteering authority has sought inputs from telecom operator Bharti Airtel and budget airline Indigo on whether the goods and services tax (GST) or credit allowed on inputs in the new regime has created room for reduction in prices. Taking suo-moto cognisance of the impact of GST on prices in telecom and aviation sector, the National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA)...read more
Idea Cellular posts profit of Rs 263.6 crore in the fiscal 1st quarter  Jul 30, 2018
Idea Cellular posted a profit of Rs 263.6 crore, in the fiscal first quarter, its first quarter in black , after six consecutive quarterly losses. This was aided by an exceptional gain from the sale of standalone towers to ATC. Otherwise, the Kumar Mangalam Birla owned telco would have been hit by a loss of Rs 2894.8 crore The company in the same period last year had clocked a loss of Rs 815.9 crore....read more
Airtel''s Gopal Vittal expects pricing of mobile services to rise in next 5 to 6 months  Jul 28, 2018
Bharti Airtel chief executive Gopal Vittal expects pricing of mobile services to rise in the next five-to-six months with the rapid emergence of three equal-sized telcos following recent government approval to the Vodafone-Idea Cellular merger. The present pricing scenario is completely unsustainable in terms of return on investment (RoI) for all major telcos, and any further “pricing destruction would hurt everyone in the industry...read more
Vodafone-Idea merger: Telecom market to stabilise, grow at robust pace, says DoT secy  Jul 27, 2018
Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan today termed the Vodafone-Idea Cellular merger as a "big milestone", and said it will bring robust growth as also stability to the Indian telecom market which is good news for consumers. "We expect that with this merger, the market will begin to stabilise....read more
Bharti Infratel reports 4% drop in net profit in fiscal Q1  Jul 26, 2018
India’s sole listed tower company, Bharti Infratel reported a 4% in net profit in the fiscal first quarter, caused mainly by ongoing consolidation of networks and spectrum among carriers which led to a sharp fall in co-location of telecom sites. The telecom tower company''s consolidated net profit for the April-June period came in at Rs 638 crore, from Rs 664 crore in the year-ago period....read more
Telecom operators may face connectivity disruptions as BBMP intensifies drive to pull down cables  Jul 24, 2018
Businesses and consumers in the nation’s IT capital may face massive connectivity disruptions in the coming weeks, as Bengaluru’s municipal corporation has decided to intensify its drive to remove unauthorised overhead cables. Last week, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) pulled down cables dangling from trees and poles in three zones, including Mahadevapura that houses many IT offices. The corporation will now expand the drive to the rest of the city....read more
SC refuses plea by DOT to stay TDSAT order cancelling bank guarantees of ailing Aircel  Jul 21, 2018
The Supreme Court on Friday refused a plea by the Department of Telecom (DOT) to stay a TDSAT order ordering the cancellation of bank guarantees worth Rs 450 cr against the company. The Department claims that the company owes over Rs 6500 crores to the government by way of dues whereas the government only has a part of it Rs 1300 cr odd covered by bank guarantees....read more
Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal''s pay remains almost flat, MD Vittal''s rises by 37% in FY18  Jul 19, 2018
Total remuneration of Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal remained almost flat at about Rs 30.19 crore in 2017-18 compared to the previous year as the company reported the lowest annual profit in a decade at Rs 1,099 crore for the year. However, the remuneration of Bharti Airtel Managing Director and CEO Gopal Vittal increased by around 37 per cent to Rs 16.97 crore on account of increase in salary and stocks option, according to the company''s report....read more
Completed prelim enquiry into Rs 1,000-crore BSNL case: CBI to HC  Jul 19, 2018
The CBI has told the Delhi High Court that it has completed its preliminary enquiry into allegations that some BSNL officials caused a loss of about Rs 1,000 crore to the exchequer by releasing unauthorised payment to a subsidiary of a Chinese firm by fabricating documents. The agency told a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar that the investigating officer was yet to submit his findings to his superiors and sought more time to file a report regarding its enquiry....read more
Reliance Jio says not importing 4G feature phones  Jul 16, 2018
Reliance Jio has rubbished allegations that it was trying to evade import duties by taking alternative trade routes to ship in its 4G feature phone Jio Phone, saying it manufactures all those handsets in India. Jio was responding to allegations by Indian mobile handset companies led by The Mobile Association (TMA) that claimed that Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries was not making the Jio Phone locally....read more
Huawei organizes first Huawei Southern East Asia Enterprise Service Ecosystem Summit 2018  Jul 16, 2018
Huawei Technologies (Thailand) Co., Ltd. organized today the first “Huawei Southern East Asia Enterprise Service Ecosystem Summit” on the theme “Leading Service Ecosystem, Accelerate Digital Transformation”. The event took place at The Westin Grande Sukhumvit in the presence of 40 industry core partners from Thailand, Hong Kong and India....read more
Airtel payments Banks receives approval from RBI to enroll new customers  Jul 12, 2018
On Thursday, Market leader Bharti Airtel said it has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to enroll new customers for Airtel Payments Bank. “Airtel Payments Bank has received requisite approvals from the Reserve Bank of India to start on-boarding new customers. Airtel Payments Bank has also been permitted by the UIDAI to resume the on-boarding of customers using Aadhaar based e-KYC,” it said in a statement....read more
Samsung India set to announce key business expansion on July 9  Jul 05, 2018
South Korean electronics giant Samsung India is set to announce a key business expansion to further cement its position in the country on July 9. The company on Wednesday revealed that it will make an important announcement regarding its business expansion in India, during a highly secured environment at its Noida facility....read more
Spotlight on EISML bankruptcy even as IFC and Axis bank seek independent investigation into its parent Educomp insolvency  Jul 05, 2018
When the Parliament passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), in May 2016, it was touted as the biggest reform by the Modi government. It was supposed to not only solve the problem of NPAs but also deter errant promoters from siphoning off bank loans. However, it seems that in some cases promoters may be using it to escape payment obligations....read more
Bharti Airtel''s India operations likely to widen net loss in current April-June quarter  Jul 04, 2018
Bharti Airtel''s India operations are likely to widen its net loss in the current April-June quarter as revenue remains under pressure and costs continue to rise, its chief executive officer Gopal Vittal has said. He, however, reassured that the worst may be behind the industry with the pricing of voice and data services — at the heart of the company’s financial woes — having bottomed out...read more
Reliance industries to acquire Radisys  Jun 30, 2018
Radisys Corporation, a global leader of open telecom solutions (“Radisys” or “the Company”), and Reliance Industries Limited, India’s largest private sector company (“RIL” or “Reliance”), have entered into a definitive agreement under which Reliance will acquire Radisys for US$1.72 per share in cash. Radisys is a leader in providing open telecom solutions to service providers worldwide....read more
Tata Communications launches service for Microsoft Teams Direct Routing  Jun 29, 2018
Tata Communications, a leading global digital infrastructure provider has announced that it is one of the launch partners for the new Microsoft Teams Direct Routing capability. Calling In Microsoft Teams can be delivered over Tata Communications’ Tier-1 global network, helping enterprises worldwide offer their employees a reliable, high-quality collaboration user experience....read more
Chennai to host 7th Edition of Industrial IOT Congress today  Jun 27, 2018
The 7th Edition of the Industrial IOT Congress in Chennai will be held on Wednesday and Thursday, will bring together some of the sharpest minds in industry working on internet of things (IOT). Experts from sectors including automobiles, consumer products, telecom and manufacturing will discuss critical aspects of the Internet of Things, the new cutting-edge technology that is driving smart products of the future....read more
Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited signs US$ 1 bn equivalent term loan facility covered by K-SURE  Jun 26, 2018
Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (“RJIL”) has signed a US$ 1 billion equivalent term loan facility covered by Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (“K-SURE”) on 22nd June 2018 (the “Facility”). The Facility will be used to finance goods and services procured primarily from Samsung Electronics and Ace Technologies Corp. The Facility has door to door tenor of 10.75 years....read more
Idea Cellular’s stocks fell 6% on possibility of Vodafone merger delay  Jun 25, 2018
Idea Cellular stocks dip 6% in intraday trade on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), following a report indicating that the telecom department may raise a fresh demand of Rs 4,700 crore ahead of Idea-Vodafone proposed merger. This is expected to delay the proposed merger between UK-based Vodafone and India’s third-largest telco Idea Cellular....read more
Nokia signs five-year global IT infrastructure and application services deal with HCL Technologies  Jun 23, 2018
HCL Technologies (HCL), a leading global technology company has announced that it has been selected by Nokia, a Finnish networking and telecommunications equipment company as part of an important effort of streamlining Nokia’s outsourced IT management services. Nokia will partner with HCL for transforming and modernizing its IT infrastructure & applications landscape....read more
Tata Communications join hands with Singaporean TelcoTech platform company MyRepublic  Jun 21, 2018
Tata Communications, a leading global digital infrastructure provider, is working with the Singaporean TelcoTech platform company MyRepublic as it looks to expand its offering from home broadband to mobile services. The cloud-based Tata Communications MOVE™ platform helps MyRepublic become a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) without having to make any capital investments in its own mobile network infrastructure or service management....read more
Tata Communications provides secure and seamless connectivity to BlaBla Connect OTT subscribers  Jun 20, 2018
Tata Communications, a leading digital infrastructure provider has been selected by global OTT solutions provider BlaBla Connect to underpin a first-of-its-kind OTT service that integrates its existing mobile wallet and voice services together with borderless connectivity. As a result, BlaBla Connect subscribers will enjoy peace of mind while on the move through seamless access to over 64 million secure hotspots in over 160 countries – integrated through one mobile application....read more
Dish TV India Limited achieves ISO 27001 Certification  Jun 19, 2018
Dish TV India Limited, world’s largest single country DTH Company, has achieved the ISO 27001 Certification, the international standard that sets out and describes requirements and best practices for an Information Security Management System (ISMS). Dish TV India has received ISO 27001 certification for its Noida and Greater Noida facilities. ISO 27001, considered the gold standard for information security, ensures systematic examination of the organization’s security...read more
astTECS to demonstrate leading-edge enterprise telecom solution at CommunicAsia 2018  Jun 18, 2018
astTECS, a leading provider of enterprise telecom technology products and Asterisk based open source communication solution has announced, that the company will be demonstrating its extended portfolio of enterprise communication solutions - astDial and astTrac along with its comprehensive suite of products at CommunicAsia 2018. Dr. Devasia Kurian, CEO, astTECS will be delivering a session on "Telecom Innovations on Cloud and Mobile" on June 27...read more
Aircel and two other companies come under SFIO lens  Jun 15, 2018
The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) is probing alleged financial irregularities at debt-laden Aircel as well as two group entities - Aircel Cellular and Dishnet Wireless, according to a senior official. The official said the Corporate Affairs Ministry has ordered a probe by the SFIO into the affairs of the three companies....read more
BSNL launches FTTH broadband plans to take on competition  Jun 14, 2018
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has launched its FTTH (fiber-to-the-home) broadband scheme, in an attempt to take on the "latest telecom player''s" proposed foray into fibre connected broadband service, a senior company official said. Calcutta Telephones, the Kolkata circle of BSNL unveiled two combo plans of Rs 777 and Rs 1,277 per month, offering 500 GB and 750 GB monthly data at up to 50 Mbps speeds, besides unlimited voice calls to any network....read more
Brightstar launches Cloud offering on Security as a Service in partnership with SonicWall  Jun 11, 2018
Brightstar said that it has launched its Cloud offering on Security as a Service (SeCaaS) in partnership with SonicWall. The subscription-based service provides enterprises with essential network security needs to detect and block a wide range of advanced and emerging threats, according to an official statement....read more
COAI mulls legal options on Jio defamation suit  Jun 04, 2018
A group representing the country’s major telecom operators is evaluating legal options to counter a defamation suit filed by Reliance Jio Infocomm, one of its members, against it and its director general. The Delhi High Court accepted the defamation suit against the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) last week....read more
5,000-odd mobile towers run illegally, MCG sends notices to operators  Jun 04, 2018
Around 5,000 mobile towers have been set up in the city without the requisite permission from the MCG. In a letter to the companies responsible for installing and running these towers last week, the planning division of the corporation gave them two weeks’ time to report to the MCG with details of their towers, and another two months’ time to get the towers regularised under the latest policy....read more
Vodafone lose 6.4 lakh subscribers in April  Jun 02, 2018
According to data provided by the Delhi-based telecom group, India’s second-largest telco Vodafone has lost 6.4 lakh subscribers in April. UK-based Vodafone India’s 664, 816 subscribers were eroded while Aditya Birla group’s Idea Cellular added 5.55 million subscribers in April this year, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) Friday said....read more
After bypoll fiasco, what are the options before Modi government to tackle fuel price rise?  Jun 01, 2018
The BJP suffered a heavy blow and lost a prestige battle in the by elections. All political observers credit the party''s loss to opposition unity. Amid the new united show, one key factor that slipped most discussions is anti-incumbency....read more
Reliance Retail Limited partners with Motorola to bring the Moto Hub experience  May 31, 2018
India’s largest CDIT (Consumer Durables and Information Technology) retail chain - Reliance Digital announced the launch of Moto Hubs in partnership with Motorola India to showcase the widest and latest range of Motorola phones at its stores....read more
Idea Cellular announces completion of sale of standalone tower business to ATC  May 31, 2018
Idea Cellular (“Idea”), has announced the completion of sale of its pan-India standalone tower business, by way of divesting its entire stake in ICISL (100% subsidiary of Idea), to ATC Telecom Infrastructure Private Limited (“ATC”). The transaction has been closed with an enterprise value of Rs. 40 billion for approximately 9,900 standalone towers....read more
MTNL debt, difference in pay scales impede merger: BSNL Head  May 28, 2018
Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) feels a merger with MTNL will be positive for both the companies, but there are a few impediments like the latters huge debt and the difference between pay scales which need to be sorted out, a top official has said....read more
2G case a shame to nation: CBI tells HC challenging acquittals  May 26, 2018
The CBI told the Delhi High Court that the 2G spectrum case allegedly involving former telecom minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and others was "a case of monumental loss and a shame to the nation"....read more
Huawei honored with Vodafone ‘Supplier of the Decade’ award  May 23, 2018
Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, has announced that it has been named ‘Supplier of the Decade’ by Vodafone. The Vodafone Supplier Awards recognizes companies that have performed outstandingly in supporting Vodafone Group’s continuous drive for operating efficiency and to deliver greater benefits to its customers....read more
Samsung posts Rs 34,300cr revenue from mobile sales for fiscal ending 2017  May 22, 2018
Samsung posted a revenue of Rs 34,300 crore from sales of mobile phones in India for the fiscal ending 2017 and is growing even faster now, a company official said here. "It''s (Rs 34,300 crore) the mobile revenue for us, in India, for the fiscal year ending 2017... last year, we grew at 27 per cent....read more
Anritsu updated Wireless Connectivity Test Set MT8862A  May 21, 2018
Anritsu Corporation launches its 2x2 MIMO Measurement Software MX886200A-010 to extend the measurement functions of the company’s Wireless Connectivity Test Set MT8862A with support for evaluating 2x2MIMO WLAN equipment. The MT8862A is the world’s first measuring instrument covers all measurements of output signal quality, transmit power, receiver sensitivity, 2x2 MIMO, etc., of IEEE802.11ac WLAN equipment under actual operation conditions using its built-in network mode....read more
Arbitration panel to hear Vodafone challenge to Rs 22,100 cr tax in Feb 2019  May 21, 2018
An international arbitration tribunal will in February next year begin hearing in British telecom giant Vodafone's challenge to India using a retrospective legislation to seek Rs 22,100 crore in taxes. The tribunal, headed by Sir Franklin Berman, will hear the government's objection to tax matters being covered under the Netherlands-India Bilateral Investment Treaty, which was used by Vodafone to trigger an arbitration over the tax demand, a senior official with direct knowledge of the development said....read more
Jio announces exclusive partnership with Screenz to create India’s largest digital engagement platform  May 18, 2018
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. (“Jio”) has announced an exclusive partnership for the Indian market with Screenz, the most powerful platform for “entertainment-based interactivity” used by world’s top broadcasters and format owners....read more
BT joins forces with Europol to build a safer cyber space  May 17, 2018
BT has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Europol, The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Co-operation, to share knowledge about major cyber threats and attacks, as the two organisations reinforce their efforts to create a safer cyber space for citizens, businesses and governments....read more
Airtel completes the acquisition of Telenor India  May 15, 2018
Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), India’s largest telecommunications services provider, and Telenor South Asia Investments Pte Ltd has announced the completion of their transaction, wherein, Airtel has acquired the operations of Telenor (India) Communications Private Limited (“Telenor India”)....read more
BSNL and SAP unite to boost GST accessibility in rural India  May 15, 2018
State run telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) has announced signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly offer innovative GST solutions to enterprises across India. The collaboration leverages the capabilities of BSNL as GST Suvidha Provider (GSP) and SAP as Application Service Provider (ASP)....read more
Coolpad files two lawsuits in patent litigation cases against Xiaomi, in China  May 14, 2018
Coolpad, a global leader in smartphone manufacturing and integrated wireless data solutions, has announced that its unit has sued three group firms of Xiaomi for several patent Infringements. Coolpad said in a statement that its subsidiary, Yulong Computer Telecommunication Scientific (Shenzhen) Co. Limited has filed a lawsuit against Xiaomi Telecom Technology Co, Xiaomi Technology Co and Xiaomi Factory Co, in a court in Jiangsu province for using its patents without authorization....read more
Times Group MD against further acquisition in telecom sector; fears it will limit consumer choice  May 11, 2018
The government must discourage further mergers and acquisitions in the telecom sector because that would drastically limit consumer choice and give the handful of players in the sector a monopoly over content, Times Group Managing Director Vineet Jain said....read more
RCom-GCX, PrimeTel strengthen partnership to upgrade subsea cable system  May 10, 2018
Global Cloud Xchange (GCX), a subsidiary of Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM), and Cyprus’ leading telecommunications provider PrimeTel has announced further enhancement of their partnership with a 100Gbps upgrade to GCX’s HAWK subsea cable system branch into Cyprus. This network upgrade will offer robust connectivity solutions and drive new business opportunities across the strategic Europe-Cyprus-Middle East-Asia route....read more
India to Nepal call rates high as Nepal Telecom hiked termination rate: BSNL  May 10, 2018
State-run telecom firm BSNL said that phone calls made from India to Nepal have become expensive due to high termination rates levied by Nepal Telecom. "Nepal Telecom has increased the termination charges from Rs 3.15 per minute to Rs 7.80 per minute with effect from December 1, 2017....read more
RCom-GCX, PrimeTel strengthen partnership to upgrade subsea cable system  May 09, 2018
Global Cloud Xchange (GCX), a subsidiary of Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM), and Cyprus’ leading telecommunications provider PrimeTel has announced further enhancement of their partnership with a 100Gbps upgrade to GCX’s HAWK subsea cable system branch into Cyprus. This network upgrade will offer robust connectivity solutions and drive new business opportunities across the strategic Europe-Cyprus-Middle East-Asia route....read more
RCom-GCX, PrimeTel strengthen partnership to upgrade subsea cable system  May 09, 2018
Global Cloud Xchange (GCX), a subsidiary of Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM), and Cyprus’ leading telecommunications provider PrimeTel has announced further enhancement of their partnership with a 100Gbps upgrade to GCX’s HAWK subsea cable system branch into Cyprus. This network upgrade will offer robust connectivity solutions and drive new business opportunities across the strategic Europe-Cyprus-Middle East-Asia route....read more
RCom-GCX, PrimeTel strengthen partnership to upgrade subsea cable system  May 09, 2018
Global Cloud Xchange (GCX), a subsidiary of Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM), and Cyprus’ leading telecommunications provider PrimeTel has announced further enhancement of their partnership with a 100Gbps upgrade to GCX’s HAWK subsea cable system branch into Cyprus. This network upgrade will offer robust connectivity solutions and drive new business opportunities across the strategic Europe-Cyprus-Middle East-Asia route....read more
RCom-GCX, PrimeTel strengthen partnership to upgrade subsea cable system  May 08, 2018
Global Cloud Xchange (GCX), a subsidiary of Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM), and Cyprus’ leading telecommunications provider PrimeTel has announced further enhancement of their partnership with a 100Gbps upgrade to GCX’s HAWK subsea cable system branch into Cyprus. This network upgrade will offer robust connectivity solutions and drive new business opportunities across the strategic Europe-Cyprus-Middle East-Asia route....read more
RCom-GCX, PrimeTel strengthen partnership to upgrade subsea cable system  May 08, 2018
Global Cloud Xchange (GCX), a subsidiary of Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM), and Cyprus’ leading telecommunications provider PrimeTel has announced further enhancement of their partnership with a 100Gbps upgrade to GCX’s HAWK subsea cable system branch into Cyprus. This network upgrade will offer robust connectivity solutions and drive new business opportunities across the strategic Europe-Cyprus-Middle East-Asia route....read more
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