Page 13 - Telecom Industry

Telecom subscriber base rises by 5.6 mn in March 2024, led by Jio, Airtel

Reliance Jio clocked in 3.6 million new subscribers and Bharti Airtel added 2.8 million subscribers in March 2024, while Vodafone Idea loss 0.6 million

BSNL to launch 4G services across India in August; to use indigenous tech

State-owned BSNL will start rolling out 4G services across the country from August, using completely indigenous technology in line with the government's "Atmanirbhar" policy, according to official sources. BSNL officials claimed to have recorded peak speed of 40-45 megabit per second on the 4G network which has been rolled out in the premium spectrum band of 700 megahertz (Mhz) as well as in 2,100 Mhz band during the pilot phase. The company has rolled out 4G services in Punjab using indigenously developed technology by IT company TCS and state-run telecom research organisation C-DoT-led consortium and onboarded around 8 lakh subscribers. "The 4G core developed by C-DoT is performing very well in the BSNL network in Punjab. It was installed in July last year. It takes 12 month to prove the success of such complex technology but the C-DoT core has stabilised within 10 months. BSNL will launch atmanirbhar 4G technology across the country in August," a senior government official, who d

Indian telecom vendors stop supplying broadband internet services to Nepal

Broadband internet was disrupted in many parts of Nepal on Thursday as Indian vendors from whom most Nepali private operators source the bandwidth stopped providing the services because of payment defaults. Private internet service providers in Nepal issued notices saying their services were either disrupted or connections were slow. The state-run Nepal Telecom was still continuing to provide internet services. Two private mobile services operating in Nepal were working, but their internet speed was affected. Private ISPs in Nepal haven't been able to pay the Indian vendors for months as the government hasn't provided them foreign currency from the banks to make the payments. The government has been refusing to do so until the private companies clear taxes on certain services they provide. The private companies say they are exempted from such taxes. Wlink Communications, the largest ISP in Nepal, blamed the government for the disruption. Our upstream provider has disconnected our

SC's ruling on spectrum allocation won't affect satellite regulations

The SC has refused to accept the plea seeking clarifications on administrative allocation of spectrum

SC refuses to accept govt application on 2012 2G spectrum allocation

Application 'misconceived' and there is no 'reasonable cause' for entertaining it, says court registrar

Telecom operators group asks govt to ban sale of unlicenced WiFi 6E routers

Cellular Operators Association of India says routers are available for sale on e-commerce platforms and through offline retailer

COAI renews demand for revenue share between telcos, traffic generator apps

Telecom industry body COAI renewed its demand for revenue share between telcos and large traffic generator apps like Netflix and Instagram, saying telecom operators would need additional fund to upgrade infrastructure to meet the increasing demand for bandwidth. In a letter to telecom secretary Neeraj Mittal, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said it is imperative that the Indian government takes critical note of the issue facing the telecom sector at this juncture and help create "an apt precedent for the world". The telecom industry body also said that substantial investments are required to be made by telcos for GPU (graphic processing unit)-based high-speed servers to support demand of AI-based applications as well as high definition video streaming by several apps that are also referred as larger traffic generators (LTGs). Large traffic generator apps include YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp, Netflix, etc. LTGs, it suggested, need to share their revenue with telcos for

Fundraise of Rs 18,000 cr 'fresh lease of life' for Vi, says KM Birla

Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla on Thursday said the Rs 18,000-crore fundraise by Vodafone Idea is a "fresh lease of life" for the company and asserted that the telco will stage a smart comeback. The company, which has been struggling to hold on to subscribers amid aggressive play by bigger rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, will focus on increasing its network, densifying it and also selectively introduce 5G services, Birla told reporters at the listing ceremony of Vodafone Idea's follow-on public offer. Calling it as the beginning of 'Vi 2.0', Birla said the money raised will be invested in the business, which will trigger a cycle of growth. "Vi will stage a smart comeback, this moment marks the beginning of Vi 2.0," Birla said at the listing ceremony. When asked if most of the problems for the company get sorted with the capital raise, Birla answered in the affirmative. "And this is like a sort of fresh lease of life for the company," he said. He credited

Vodafone Idea slumps 9% ahead of telecom company listing new shares

Firm's FPO saw nearly seven times more demand than shares on offer

'Auction route for spectrum to continue, admin allocation in limited cases'

The government will continue to auction telecom spectrum, and the administrative allocation route will be used sparingly, only in those cases where it is technically not feasible to do so or for areas that are strategic in nature, sources said. The Department of Telecom (DoT) is gearing up to hold the next round of spectrum auction on June 6 for eight spectrum bands (800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz, 2,500 MHz, 3,300 MHz, and 26 GHz) meant for mobile phone services at a base price of about Rs 96,317 crore. The spectrum will be assigned for 20 years and successful bidders will be allowed to make payments in 20 equal annual instalments in the coming mega auction. Sources asserted that the spectrum for mobile services will continue to be given through the auction process. As enacted in the Telecom Act, 2023, only a very limited and narrowly defined cases, including spectrum for walkie-talkie for police organisations, radar for weather forecasting, radar and communicat

Jio Q4 results: Net up 12% at Rs 5.5K cr on strong subscriber growth

Jio claims to have highest 5G subscriber base of any telco outside China, but ARPU remains Rs 181.7

Sanjay Mashruwala resigns as MD of Reliance Jio with effect from June 9

Sanjay Mashruwala, one of the two managing directors at Reliance Jio, has resigned from the company, the firm said in a stock exchange filing. Mashruwala, 76, has been a key executive with Reliance since founder Dhirubhai Ambani's times and has been involved with several of its projects and business initiatives. He will leave Jio effective from June 9, the firm said. Pankaj Mohan Pawar, the other managing director, will continue, according to a BSE filing. "This is to inform that Sanjay Mashruwala, Managing Director, has tendered his resignation as Director of the company, effective from June 9, 2024," the filing said. Mashruwala, 76, is an accomplished professional and has been the Managing Director of the company since 2013. "The Board placed on record its appreciation for the contributions made by Sanjay Mashruwala in the transformative journey of the company," it said.

Over 50% internet users dissatisfied with data speeds, connectivity: Survey

Despite India's low-cost and expanding internet accessibility, a recent survey found that over half of internet users are dissatisfied with data speeds and experience connection issues. An overwhelming 70 per cent of these users expressed the desire to switch service providers, the survey said. According to the annual broadband survey by LocalCircles, 86 per cent of users in India primarily connect to the internet at home via fiber, broadband, DSL, or fixed-line connection. However, more than half of these users -- 56 per cent -- reported connection disruption or lower speeds than what they were promised or paying for. The survey, which gathered insights from over 70,000 broadband and fiber consumers across 286 Indian districts, revealed that 39 per cent of respondents said the the "speed received is much lower than what we are paying for", while 47 per cent claimed that it took over 24 hours for their service provider to resolve their complaints. As per the survey, "70 per cent ..

Centre to decide on Vodafone Idea's debt conversion after moratorium

The decision to convert principal dues into equity, according to sources, cannot be done automatically

Voda Idea CEO hopes to arrest telco's subscriber loss with FPO, fundraise

Buoyed by investors like GQG lapping up shares reserved for anchor investors, Vodafone Idea CEO Akshaya Moondra on Wednesday expressed confidence that the FPO will sail through, providing the loss-making telco funds for network expansion that he hoped will help arrest the loss of subscribers. In an interview with PTI, the top honcho said the just-concluded anchor book allocation that drew in big global and domestic names has been a "good start" and gives VIL confidence about the progress of the fundraising exercise. Moondra said he does not believe that Vodafone-Idea's "somewhat later entry" into 5G would impact the telco in the long run. In fact, the company has the benefit of learning from how the market has evolved in the last 1-1.5 years since the launch of 5G and accordingly calibrate and fine-tune its investments in this space. The VIL CEO asserted the significant need for a tariff correction, saying the industry has not been returning the cost of capital even in the 4G era, a

GQG looking to invest around $400 million in ailing Vodafone-Idea

The $2.2 billion share sale, which will start on April 18 and close April 22, has a floor price of 10 rupees (12 cents) per share and a ceiling price of 11 rupees

Vi expects 5G rollout in 6-9 months after FPO worth Rs 18,000 crore

Ahead of its Rs 18,000 crore further public offer (FPO), Vodafone Idea on Monday said it expects to roll out 5G services in select pockets in 6-9 months of the issue. Its Chief Executive Akshaya Moondra said rollout of the 5G services is one of the objectives of raising the capital from the public and once the funding comes, it will start work on the rollout. The 5G rollout will cover 40 per cent of the company's overall revenue base in the next 24-30 months, Moondra said, without sharing a specific target on when the rollout will happen. A sum of Rs 5,720 crore has been allocated for the rollout, he said, adding that testing and vendor conversations have already begun. However, he did not specify the locations where the rollout will happen. It can be noted that both its rivals Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio -- to whom it has ceded market share -- have been active on 5G for some months now. Moondra said the company has not been able to roll out 5G services because of lack of ...

DoT to seek Trai's view on satcom spectrum allocation, licensing process

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is expected to approach Trai this month to seek the regulator's views on method and pricing for allocation of spectrum and scope of licences to be issued for satcom services, according to sources. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had floated a consultation paper on "Assignment of Spectrum for Space-based Communication Services" on April 6, 2023 but returned the reference back to DoT after announcement of new Telecommunication Act. "DoT will seek views of Trai on pricing and methodology to allocate spectrum for space based communication services. It may also look to fine-tune existing licences to bring in full clarity on the kind of services that satcom companies with administratively allocated spectrum can provide," a source, who did not wish to be named, told PTI. Satcom or satellite communication technology enables service providers to ensure internet connectivity in remote areas or difficult terrain. Bharti Group-backed

Allow only Indian entities to participate in regulatory sandbox, says Trai

Only Indian nationals or entities should be eligible to participate in telecom regulatory sandboxes that can provide real-time but regulated access to networks and customer resources during product or technology tests, sector regulator Trai recommended on Friday. The Telecommunications Act, 2023, has introduced the provision of setting up multiple regulatory sandboxes. The regulatory sandbox (RS) will emphasise on testing of new products, services, processes, and business models in a live testing environment on a limited set of users for a specified period of time after obtaining certain regulatory relaxations. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) recommended that the Department of Telecom shall put in place an end-to-end digital process to handle RS applications and all related activities, including intimations, approvals, sharing of information, monitoring, reporting requirements etc. "Only Indian nationals or entities will be eligible," Trai said in its recommendatio

Vodafone Idea to launch country's largest $2.16 bn follow-on public offer

The public offering will open for bids on April 18 and close on April 22