Page 3 - Airtel

Airtel lands India's 20th undersea cable to connect with Africa, Europe

System is part of 45,000 km-long '2Africa', which will be the world's longest cable once completed

Airtel prepays additional spectrum dues of Rs 5,985 cr for 2024 auctions

Airtel subsidiary redeems $1 billion worth of perpetual bonds

Bharti Airtel prepays additional Rs 5,985 crore of high-cost spectrum dues

Bharti Airtel and subsidiary Bharti Hexacom have prepaid an additional Rs 5,985 crore of high-cost spectrum liabilities to the government, the telco said on Wednesday. Airtel's subsidiary Network i2i has also voluntarily called and redeemed USD 1 billion in 'perpetual debt securities'. "Bharti Airtel and its subsidiary Bharti Hexacom have prepaid additional Rs 5,985 crore to the Department of Telecom thereby fully prepaying the high-cost interest liabilities of 8.65 per cent pertaining to the 2024 auctions," the Sunil Mittal-led company said. Network i2i Ltd has also voluntarily called and redeemed USD 1 billion in 'Perpetual Notes'. "Underscoring its commitment to financial prudence, operational efficiency, and its strong capital position, Airtel continues to prepay its high-cost spectrum liabilities, lowering its debt and cost of debt," it said. Airtel has now prepaid Rs 25,981 crore of high-cost spectrum liabilities for the current 2025 fiscal year and has cumulatively prepaid

Mcap of 9 top valued firms surges Rs 3 trn; ICICI, Airtel biggest gainers

The combined market valuation of nine of the top-10 most-valued firms surged Rs 3,06,243.74 crore last week, with ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel emerging as the biggest gainers, in tandem with a bullish trend in equities. Last week, the BSE benchmark gauge surged 3,076.6 points, or 4.16 per cent, and the NSE Nifty jumped 953.2 points, or 4.25 per cent. The market capitalisation (mcap) of ICICI Bank jumped Rs 64,426.27 crore to Rs 9,47,628.46 crore, the most among the top-10 firms. Bharti Airtel's valuation zoomed Rs 53,286.17 crore to Rs 9,84,354.44 crore. HDFC Bank added Rs 49,105.12 crore, taking its market valuation to Rs 13,54,275.11 crore. The mcap of Reliance Industries Ltd surged Rs 39,311.54 crore to Rs 17,27,339.74 crore and that of Bajaj Finance rallied Rs 30,953.71 crore to Rs 5,52,846.18 crore. The valuation of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) soared Rs 24,259.28 crore to Rs 12,95,058.25 crore. The mcap of State Bank of India climbed Rs 22,534.67 crore to Rs 6,72,023.89

Ericsson, Airtel, Volvo partner to research 5G digital twin tech, AI

The research engagement, to be conducted at the Volvo Group Factory and Volvo Group's research and development centre in Bangalore, will explore industrial metaverse applications

Starlink to set up control center in India? Centre cites security concerns

According to a news report, the Starlink control center will help in maintaining law and order by enabling the suspension or shutdown of communication services when necessary

Bharti Airtel transfers 69.94% stake in Airtel Payments bank to Airtel Ltd

Bharti Airtel has transferred its entire 69.94 per cent stake in Airtel Payments Bank to wholly-owned subsidiary Airtel Limited, a regulatory filing said on Tuesday. "The shareholding of 69.94 per cent, held by Bharti Airtel Limited in Airtel Payments Bank Limited, is being transferred to the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary (i.e. Airtel Limited), post receiving requisite regulatory and corporate approvals. The above is an internal reorganisation of shareholding in the Bank and has no impact on the ownership of the Bank," Bharti Airtel said in the filing. According to the filing, the requisite regulatory and corporate approvals with regard to the transaction have been received by the company. Airtel Payments had a turnover of Rs 1,835.8 crore in 2023-24. "The transfer of shareholding falls within the purview of related party transactions and shall be done at arm's length," the filing said.

Airtel's Sunil Mittal lauds telco-satellite partnership after SpaceX deal

Expressing his confidence in the industry, Mittal also said that the telecom sector would similarly embrace satellite technology to embrace advancements like 4G and 5G

Airtel signs deal with Elon Musk's SpaceX to bring Starlink to India

Airtel will distribute Starlink's equipment at its retail stores, sell Starlink services to business customers

Airtel to bring Starlink to India, signs deal with Elon Musk's SpaceX

This marks the first partnership of its kind in the country, pending regulatory approvals for SpaceX to operate Starlink in India.

India eyes potential to become a hub for submarine cables, global backbone

"Increase in the number of submarine cables is key to reducing latency, improving network speed and performance in India"

Airtel confirms 'bilateral discussions' with Tata Group for DTH merger

This consolidation is set to benefit Airtel by expanding its broadband and entertainment business, integrating telecom, broadband, and DTH services into a unified offering

Ericsson to deploy gear for Bharti Airtel's transition to standalone 5G

Airtel is expected to soon move to 5G SA for fixed wireless access service

Bharti Airtel rises 3% on partnering with Ericsson for 5G Core technology

As per the filing, the collaboration will enable Airtel to seamlessly transition to a commercially live, full-scale 5G standalone network over time, bringing the high-end capabilities of 5G

Airtel, Tata Play plan merger amid DTH struggles, expand service bundles

Bharti Airtel will reportedly hold a majority stake of 52-55% while Tata Play's shareholders, including Tata Sons and Walt Disney, will keep 45-48%

Airtel bundles Apple TV+ and Apple Music with home Wi-Fi and postpaid plans

Airtel is offering access to Apple TV+ on home Wi-Fi and postpaid plans starting at Rs 999, with the option to stream content on multiple devices

Airtel completes landing of SEA-ME-WE-6 submarine cable in Chennai

Bharti Airtel on Monday said it has completed the landing of the new SEA-ME-WE 6 submarine cable system in Chennai. The company recently landed the SEA-ME-WE 6 (Southeast Asia-Middle East-West Europe-6 or SMW6) cable in Mumbai on December 30, 2024. "The cable landing, both in Mumbai and Chennai, will be fully integrated with Airtel's data centre arm, Nxtra by Airtel, at its large facilities in the respective cities with an aim to enable global hyperscalers and businesses in the country to seamlessly access international connectivity and data centre services," Bharti Airtel said in a release. These cable landings were completed by SubCom, a leading supplier of subsea fibre optic cable data systems responsible for the engineering, manufacture and installation of SEA-ME-WE-6. Cable landing stations connect submarine cable systems with land-based networks. According to the release, the 21,700 Rkm (route kilometres) submarine cable system connects India to Singapore and France (Marseil

BSNL introduces budget Voice and SMS-only plans; challenges Jio, Vi, Airtel

BSNL's existing voice and SMS-only recharge plan is cheaper than the latest plans rolled out by Jio, Vi, and Airtel. Here's a quick comparison between all

Airtel, Jio, Vi introduce revised plans for customers after TRAI guidelines

After TRAI's interference, Jio, Airtel, and Vi revised their plans for users who need voice and SMS-only plans. Check details about each plan

Airtel regaining entry-level subscribers as tariff hike shock subsides

Analysts say continuing user loss for Vodafone Idea a key concern