Telecom Companies

Explained: SC rejects AGR waiver plea by Airtel, Vi & Tata

TCIL kept out of Bharti Hexacom tower valuation; new deal in works

State-run Telecommunications Consultants India (TCIL) was not consulted in the valuation process for the sale of 3,400 mobile towers to Indus Towers for Rs 1,134 crore, and a fresh deal is being worked out, a government source said. Bharti Airtel and Bharti Hexacom board approved sale of their firms' telecom towers for Rs 2,147.6 crore and Rs 1,134 crore, respectively, to their group company Indus Towers in the first week of February. The deal is being worked out afresh and TCIL has now been engaged in the process, the source said. "TCIL was not kept in loop about sale of Bharti Hexacom mobile towers to Indus Towers. The deal was limited for transactions among group firms only. TCIL wants the sale to take place through an open bidding process where other players can also participate," the source said. TCIL holds a 15 per cent stake in Bharti Hexacom -- a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel. An Airtel spokesperson said the company remains convinced about the business logic and merits of th

Indus Towers Q4 results: Profit dips 4% to ₹1,779 cr despite revenue growth

Telecom infrastructure company Indus Towers on Wednesday reported a net profit of Rs 1,779 crore for the March quarter, registering a decline of 4 per cent year-on-year. It said the industry developments during the year have only strengthened the outlook for the company and the sector. The company exuded confidence about maintaining the "momentum" by capitalising on customers' network expansion and available strategic opportunities. The revenue for the just-ended quarter came in at Rs 7,727 crore, up 7.4 per cent year-on-year. The Q4 FY25 had a provision of Rs 226 crore for doubtful receivables, aided by collections against past overdue, the company said in a release. "During the quarter, the company acquired passive infrastructure assets from Bharti Airtel and accounted for the same as a common control transaction in accordance with Ind AS 103 which requires restatement of financial results of Indus Towers from the date on which common control was established i.e. Nov 19, 2024. ..

COAI urges equal cybersecurity rules for telcos, OTT communication apps

Industry body COAI on Tuesday said similar cybersecurity and regulatory rules should govern players, be it telecom operators or OTT communication applications. In a statement on the 'need to address spam calls and messages', the association argued that for a number issued by a telco to a subscriber, the operator takes the onus and responsibility and if required, it can provide all assistance to enforcement agencies. "However, in this same example, there could be instances whereby an OTT Communication Application used on the same number, may be utilised in another handset of the user, carried beyond the limits of a city/state, and may be used for illegal purposes. "Here again, while the telecom number can only be traced to the city where the mobile is residing, there are no ways to trace the activities of the OTT Communication App which was initially issued on the mobile number, but is now running off a separate handset, while the SIM is on a different handset," said Cellular ...

Telcos gross revenue up 14% to ₹96,390 crore in Dec quarter: Trai

Telecom service providers reported a 14.07 per cent increase in their gross revenue to Rs 96,390 crore in the December quarter on a year-on-year basis, according to data published by telecom regulator Trai on Thursday. The telecom service providers (TSPs) had registered a gross revenue of Rs 84,500 crore in the year-ago period. According to Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicators for October-December, telecom service providers adjusted gross revenue (AGR), revenue from telecom services on which government calculates its levies, grew 14.89 per cent to Rs 77,934 crore during the period on a year-on-year basis from Rs 67,835 crore. While Reliance Jio led the chart with highest AGR of Rs 28,542.76 crore. Bharti Airtel's AGR growth rate at 27.31 per cent on a year-on-year basis was almost double of its rival Jio that recorded 14.8 per cent a year-on-year growth rate. Bharti Airtel posted AGR of Rs 26,073.7 crore during the quarter under review. Vodafone Idea AGR grew 6.69 per ce

GX Group acquires Ping Communication; eyes $50 million business in LATAM

Telecom gear maker GX Group has acquired Switzerland-based broadband and fiber solution provider Ping Communication to expand its presence in Europe, the Middle East and Latin America, the company said on Friday. GX Group, CEO, Paritosh Prajapati in a statement said the company will leverage its "Made in India" products to compliment existing portfolio of Ping Communication and thereby scale up the revenue to USD 50 million, about Rs 430 crore, in the next two years in Latin America (LATAM) region. The company, however, did not disclose the financial details of the transaction. "After six months, Ping Communication will become part of GX Group. The current revenue of Ping Communication is around USD 30 million. By complementing its portfolio with our 'Made in India' products we expect to scale up our revenue to USD 50 million by 2026," he said. Ping Communication is part of Norway's Heimgard Group. "This acquisition is a key milestone in our 'Make in India for the World' journey.

Global telecom equipment manufacturers cold to sharing source codes

A top European Union delegation, which recently visited India for free-trade agreement (FTA) talks, raised concerns on the contentious issue with the government

Telcos support Parl panel recommendation of merging IT & Telecom ministries

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology made the suggestion to merge the three allied ministries in its report tabled in the Lok Sabha last week

Govt preps Rs 82,000 cr relief for non-telcos: Decoding the AGR dispute

Adjusted Gross Revenue is a crucial financial metric in India's telecom sector which represents the revenue telecom operators must share with the government under their licensing agreements

Vi board approves plan to raise Rs 1,980 crore from promoter units

Omega Telecom Holdings and Usha Martin Telematics to hold nearly 3 per cent of Vi after issue

MTNL soars 9% as co plans 'not to shut shop' or go to NCLT, say reports

The government plans to keep MTNL as a 'going concern' as the company going to NCLT will not set the right precedent for other PSU companies

Telcom firms, Scindia discuss AGR, OTP apps exclusion from licensing rules

Telecom operators in a meeting with Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia expressed concerns over regulator Trai excluding messaging and calling apps like WhatsApp and Telegram in its recommendation on new licensing rules, sources aware of the development said. Operators also discussed issues concerning adjusted gross revenue payments, they added. The meeting was attended by Reliance Jio Chairman Akash Ambani, Vodafone Idea CEO Akshaya Moondra, Bharti Airtel MD and CEO Gopal Vittal and BSNL Chairman and Managing Director Robert J Ravi. "All telecom operators expressed concern over the exclusion of over-the-top apps by Trai in its recommendation on Service Authorisation. Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel raised the issue of adjusted gross revenue," a source said. Telecom operators have been demanding for a long time to bring calling and messaging apps, called as OTTs, under the ambit of telecom licences as they provide calling and messaging services like any telecom operator. The Telec

SC rejects telecom firms' pleas in AGR case; Vi shares plunge 10%

The rejection of the final legal remedy leaves Vodafone Idea with limited options, worsening its financial struggles amid fierce competition and heavy debt

Trai urges DoT to encash Rs 115 cr from telcos for spam-related violations

The telecom regulator maintains that telcos are responsible for controlling unsolicited commercial communications under the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations

Trai extends mandatory whitelisting deadline by a month to October 1

Telcos to submit status update to Trai in 15 days

Bharti Airtel Q1 FY25 results: Profit rises 158% on new 4G, 5G users

Continued growth in WiFi category helped Q1 gains; Arpu rises to Rs 211

Trai's service quality rules will raise compliance and costs, says telcos

Telecom companies said the new rules will impose additional costs on them, and the benefits to consumers will be minimal

Trai intensifies crackdown on spam, robocalls with new directive to telcos

Telecom firms are only allowed to use the 140 series to make calls to consumers, however, unregistered telemarketers continue to use 10-digit phone numbers, making identification a challenge

Telcos eye 6G rollout with AI-driven network amid ongoing 5G deployment

6G is expected to heavily depend on artificial intelligence, with experts predicting that artificial intelligence algorithms will play a central role in driving the 6G networks autonomously

DoT plans to update trade codes for telco gear for better tracking

Trai wants HSN codes updated to better identify products & trade