Page 19 - Telecom Industry

Ericsson, Nokia not ready to supply 5G equipment to Vi on credit: Report

Recently, Ericsson provided the telco with 2G radios, but only after it made the entire payment

Musk eager to bring Starlink to India, but faces resistance from Ambani

Following a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the U.S. on Tuesday, Musk said he was keen to launch Starlink in India which "can be incredibly helpful" in remote villages

Govt spectrum usage charge collection halves to Rs 811 cr, AGR up 14%

Government's collection from spectrum usage charges more than halved to Rs 811 crore while telecom operators adjusted gross revenue grew by 14 per cent to Rs 62,904 crore in the October-December quarter 2022 over the year-ago period, sector regulator Trai said on Wednesday. The telecom service provider paid Rs 1,760 crore as spectrum usage charge in December 2021 quarter, according to performance indicator report released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). The total adjusted gross revenue (AGR), on which license fees and SUC are computed, of telecom service providers was Rs 55,151 crore in December and 2021 quarter. Reliance Jio led the market with the highest AGR of Rs 22,586.32 crore while Bharti Airtel with AGR of Rs 18,290 crore recorded the biggest growth of 26.27 per cent on YoY basis. The gross revenue of telecom service providers grew 26.5 per cent on YoY basis to Rs 88,166 crore during the reported quarter from Rs 69,695 crore in December and 2021 ...

Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel gaining equally at the expense of Vodafone Idea

Over 2 million wireless subscribers exited Vodafone Idea in February; Reliance Jio gained 1 million, and Airtel added 982,554 subscribers

Controversial calls on predatory pricing: Telecom industry awaits clarity

As fiercely competitive telcos trade charges again, the industry awaits clarity on the regulatory domain for the sector

Trai begins consultation process to define international traffic

The telecom regulator Trai on Tuesday floated a consultation paper to define international traffic. The definitions are required for clarity in existing rules particularly for rules around telemarketing messages. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) through a reference dated August 30, 2022, requested the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to provide its recommendations on definition of international SMS and domestic SMS. "The Authority noted that the term 'international traffic' has not been defined in the Unified License and that 'international SMS' is a type of 'international traffic'. Therefore, the Authority is of the view that instead of defining international SMS in the Unified License Agreement, it would be appropriate to define the term 'international traffic', instead," Trai said in a statement. The load carried on a telecommunication network is called traffic, or more specifically 'telecommunication traffic'. Telecommunication traffic comprises several t

Direct access of service providers' data to DoT for ease of doing biz: Trai

The Department of Telecom should create a secured system to seamlessly access service providers' data like command logs and supply chain documents to simplify existing security conditions prescribed under current permits, sector regulator Trai recommended on Tuesday. The telecom service providers are required to keep the records of all the operation and maintenance command logs for a period of 12 months, including the actual command given, who gave the command, when it was given with date and time and from where. The same set of information is further required to be stored for next 24 months in a non-online mode which becomes voluminous. In its recommendation on "Ease of Doing Business in Telecom and Broadcasting Sector", the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) recommended that the DoT should review and simplify the existing security conditions prescribed in the telecom licence agreement regarding maintaining command logs and supply chain documents. "Instead of seeking ever

Icra cuts telecom tower industry outlook to negative from stable

Fearing payment delays from key telcos to continue in FY24, domestic rating agency Icra on Tuesday cut its outlook on the telecom towers industry to 'negative' from 'stable'. In a note, the agency said delays in payments by some of the key customers have elongated the receivables cycle for the telecom tower companies to more than 80 days in FY23. The tower industry's dependence on weaker telcos in terms of tenancies remains high at around 34 per cent. Thus, till the time there are liquidity pressures on such customers, the tower industry's health is likely to remain affected, it said. "The elongation in receivables is likely to result in tower companies making sizeable provisions to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore in FY23, thereby denting their profitability," its sector head for corporate ratings Ankit Jain said. The agency expects the provisions to continue going forward, although the quantum is likely to moderate from the FY23 levels, Jain said, adding that increased reliance on ...

Airtel signs binding term sheet to merge Sri Lanka ops with Dialog Axiata

Airtel would accordingly be issued new shares in Dialog upon completion of the transaction

Adtech company Infomo appoints Himanka Das as country director India

Company that works with telecom firms promotes Rohit Verma as global chief of strategy and new initiatives

Fixed broadband may trigger next leg of growth for RJio, Airtel: Analysts

Near-term overhang of 5G related capex and subscriber churn should be watched by investors, they said

India will have its own big telecom equipment manufacturers soon: C-DOT CEO

Rajkumar Upadhyay said that the Centre's push for domestic design and manufacturing of telecom equipment will help India to compete with global majors

Need minimum 1200 MHz spectrum in 6GHz band for mobile communications: COAI

Industry body representing telcos argues 6GHz is the last remaining mid-band spectrum range available for effective 5G deployment

Amid tension with China, India looks to Taiwan for high-tech imports

India's overall imports from Taiwan during April-February rose by 34 per cent to $7.5 billion

India plans to get ahead of the curve in 6g telecom technology

The government is ready to put its money where its mouth is. The vision document has suggested a research and development fund of Rs 10,000 crore, led by the government for the next 10 years for 6G an

Telcos recorded Rs 4.17 trillion debt in 2021-22, says MoS Telecom

Six telecom companies -- including Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea -- had a total debt of Rs 4.17 lakh crore in fiscal 2021-22, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. Data submitted by Minister of State for Telecom Devusinh Chauhan in the Lok Sabha shows Vodafone Idea had a debt of Rs 1,91,073.9 crore, Airtel (Rs 1,03,408.1 crore), Reliance Jio (Rs 42,486 crore), BSNL (Rs 40,400.13 crore), Tata Teleservices (Rs 20,162.04 crore) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited (Rs 19,703.84 crore) in the financial year 2021-22. "The Government has approved various structural and procedural reforms in the telecom sector to promote healthy competition, protect interests of consumers, infuse liquidity, encourage investment and reduce the regulatory burden on Telecom Service Providers (TSPs)," Chauhan said.

Telecom industry's financial health needs to improve: Bharti Ent V-C

He also asserted that while consumers are ready, "but somehow, as an industry, we have not been able to come to an understanding of increasing ARPUs so that this industry can be healthy"

Telecom industry's financial health needs to improve: Bharti Enterprises

The telecom industry's financial health needs to improve if India's dream of digital connectivity across the country has to be fulfilled, Bharti Enterprises Vice-Chairman Akhil Gupta said on Tuesday. Very poor return on capital is a big hindrance in telecom development in India today and unless it changes, investments will dry up at some point or the other, he said while speaking at the Times Network India Digital Fest here. However, due to competitive reasons increasing average revenue per user (ARPU) has been difficult and the industry players need to work together so that the ARPU goes up to Rs 300 in a phased manner in the next few years. "The big hindrance in telecom development in India today is the very poor return on capital, which this industry has, and at some point in time, that will have to change because otherwise, the investments will dry up at some point or the other," Gupta said. Return on capital is a big hindrance today and that's the reason why "a very big and a

Telecom milestone: At 50 million, India has 5% of world's 5G subscribers

India is closing in on western Europe which has 63 million 5G subscribers; it is already ahead of Latin America and the GCC

Trai to again meet telecom firms next week to end spam call menace

Discussion will seek to end unsolicited communication using technology, regulations