Mobile Data

Exit clears path for 10-15% tariff hikes this year

The mobile network blackout in Spain caused a loss of signal, inability to make calls, receive texts, or use mobile data, as well as access emergency numbers

The loss-making private telecom firm Vodafone Idea has rolled out annual recharge plans for mobile phones, offering users unlimited data from midnight till noon, in an attempt to catch up with competition. The company in a statement shared that it has rolled out pre-paid plans priced at Rs 3,599, Rs 3,699 and Rs 3,799 that will offer unlimited data usage from 12 AM till 12 PM every day throughout the year and it will be in addition to the daily data usage limit at high speed. "Vi's annual recharge plans offer half day unlimited data from 12 AM to 12 PM in addition to a 2GB daily data quota for the remaining 12 hours of the day. Not just that, Vi SuperHero packs also offer weekend data rollover, which allows users to carry forward unused weekday data and use it during the weekend," Vi said. The new recharge plans, Vi SuperHero prepaid packs, are currently available in Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Punjab and Haryana. Vi's rival Jio and Bharti Airtel h

Revenue from wireless data usage in the country increased by about 22 per cent to Rs 1.74 lakh crore in the financial year 2022-23, a report by telecom regulator Trai said on Tuesday. According to the report, the revenue from wireless data services was Rs 1.43 lakh crore in the financial year 2021-22. "Total revenue from wireless data usage increased from Rs 1,43,169 crore in the year 2021-22 to Rs 1,74,144 crore in the year 2022-23 with yearly rate of growth of 21.63 per cent," Trai's Yearly Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report for the year 2022-23 said. The increase in wireless data revenue usage was mainly on account of growth in user base as telecom operators are yet to monetise 5G data services that were launched in October 2022. The gross revenue of telecom service providers increased by 19.94 per cent to over Rs 3.33 lakh crore in FY'23 from Rs 2.78 lakh crore in FY'22. However, the adjusted gross revenue (AGR), based on which the government calculates its levies,

Direct-to-mobile has promise

Is the IPL India's Superbowl? Who protects the data you share while shopping? Do EMs stand to gain with a higher US debt ceiling? What is Neuralink? Answers here

Rising prices of data and devices are a concern for the rapid proliferation of digitisation, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Wednesday. The comments have come against the backdrop of a recent hike of about 57 per cent in the minimum monthly recharge plan by the country's second-largest telco Bharti Airtel. "Rise in cost of data or cost of devices are of concern because they are impediments in rapid digitisation," Chandrasekhar said. The minister said that he is not exactly aware of the hike in mobile services rates by Airtel and the ministry may approach telecom regulator Trai to examine if the hike is going to have a short-term or long-term impact. He said that there has been an impact on prices across the world due to the Russia-Ukraine war and the impact of data price need to be examined. Bharti Airtel has increased the price of its minimum recharge for the 28-day mobile phone service plan by about 57 per cent to Rs 155 in eight circles, ..

The total mobile data traffic in the India region is estimated to grow from 18 exabyte (EB) per month in 2022 to 53 EB per month in 2028

WhatsApp has in the past declared that iOS 12 or a newer software version will be required for iPhone users to continue using the platform on its Help Center website

Easy onboarding, according to experts, is the most significant factor responsible for the rise in mobile trading

Department of Telecom (DoT) has extended the duration of archiving call data and internet usage records of subscribers to two years from one year due to security reasons. The amendments in the licences were issued on December 21 and extended to other forms of telecom permits on December 22. "The licensee shall maintain all commercial records/call detail record/exchange detail record/IP detail record with record to the communications exchanged on the network. Such records shall be archived for at least two years for scrutiny by the licensor for security reasons...," the DoT circular said. Telecom companies may destroy the data stored thereafter if there is no direction from the DoT thereafter. The circular said that the amendment is necessary in "public interest or in the interest of the security of the state or for the proper conduct of the telegraphs". The amendment mandates telecom companies to maintain internet data records of subscribers including login and logout details of a

The research showed that 4G alone constituted nearly 99 per cent of the total data traffic consumed across the country in 2020.

Company also announces new data plans offering 1-2 GB data at lower prices than competition

Data networks are working at near peak capacity of 80-85% (compared to 65-75% pre-Covid) and they could get into a jam once again if economic activity suddenly picks

Internet services were suspended in J-K in August last year after the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories

Earlier, only access to white-listed sites was allowed after the services were restored for a week on January 25 and subsequently extended from time to time.

Current mobile internet prices are in the range of Rs 4-5 per GB

Telcos should not give up freedom to set tariffs

The data usage in the country increased by 56 folds to 46,404 million GB in 2018 from 828 million GB in 2014

While India ($0.26) topped the scale of cheap mobile data, Kyrgyzstan ($0.27), Kazakstan ($0.49), Ukraine ($0.51) and Rwanda ($0.56) completed the top five countries offering the cheapest data packs