Page 9 - Telecom Industry

India advances in 6G race, ranks among top six in global patent filings

Starting Oct 15, Delhi will host the World Telecommunications Standardisation Assembly providing a forum for delegates from 190 countries

PM Modi likely to inaugurate ITU's telecom standard meet, IMC on Oct 15

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate the first-ever telecom standard conference to be organised by the UN's International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in India as well as the India Mobile Congress (IMC) on October 15, according to the invitation sent by organisers of both the events. The World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA) conference is held at a gap of four years. The recommendations and proposals approved at WTSA set the direction for development of communication technologies. "ITU is excited to announce that WTSA-24 will be inaugurated by His Excellency, the Honourable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, on Tuesday 15 October 2024," ITU said in an official note. Telecom department-backed India Mobile Congress 2024 eighth edition will also be held concurrently with WTSA 2024. The size of the annual India Mobile Congress (IMC) has almost doubled since last year in terms of participation from foreign countries, exhibitors, startups ...

PHD Chambers seeks revision of Trai satcom paper for level playing field

After Reliance Jio, the industry body PHD Chamber of Commerce has also demanded revision of telecom regulator Trai's consultation paper on rules for satellite spectrum allocation, alleging that it misses questions around the level playing field between Satcom and terrestrial networks. PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry Executive Director Ranjeet Mehta, in a letter to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Chairman AK Lahoti, said that not addressing the issue of a level playing field between terrestrial and satellite-based communication service violates Article 14 of the Constitution. "The absence of questions addressing the issue of a level playing field in the consultation paper prevents many stakeholders from considering these concerns and providing crucial inputs to Trai. "Moreover, not addressing the concerns to ensure a level playing field between satellite and terrestrial access services during the consultation process may violate Article 14 of the Indian Constitution

Ericsson bags 4 more telecom circles for 4G, 5G deployment on VIL network

Swedish telecom gear maker Ericsson has bagged four more telecom circles from Vodafone Idea for the deployment of 4G and 5G technology, the company said on Monday. Last month, debt-ridden Vodafone Idea (VIL) had awarded about Rs 30,000 crore telecom network contract to Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung for a period of three years. "Ericsson will upgrade 4G and deploy 5G across the Indian telecom circles it already powers for Vi. In addition, Ericsson will provide 4G and 5G services in the telecom circles of Delhi, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, thereby increasing its footprint and market share with Vi substantially," a company statement said. Under the deal, VIL also replaced its Chinese vendor in Chennai and Andhra with Nokia. Nokia has become the largest supplier to VIL covering circles that generate more than 50 per cent of the debt-ridden telco's revenue.

Jio urges Trai to review consultation paper on satellite spectrum

Reliance Jio has urged telecom regulator Trai to come up with a revised paper on spectrum allocation for satellite communication alleging that it ignores the key point of ensuring level-playing field between satellite and terrestrial services. In a letter to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Chairman, Anil Kumar Lahoti, Reliance Jio has sought revision of the consultation paper on recommending rules for "terms and conditions for the assignment of spectrum for certain satellite-based commercial communication services". "We are surprised that the consultation paper has completely overlooked the critical issue of ensuring level-playing field between satellite-based and terrestrial access services. This omission has resulted in the lack of any questions addressing the need to create a level-playing field between these services," Reliance Jio (RJIL) said in a letter dated October 4. Jio said that due to the omission of this point, stakeholders will not be able to adequately ..

DoT launches new system to stop fraudulent international calls with telcos

4.5 million or one-third of such calls being stopped

Airtel CEO pens note on spam-fighting network; says crackdown will continue

Bharti Airtel is combating the "growing menace" of cyber frauds with network intelligence and Al to analyse patterns and accurately identify spammers, CEO Gopal Vittal said as he asked customers to be vigilant on 'suspected spam' indicator, now available. The regulator TRAI and the industry have upped the ante to crack down on the spam menace, and the regulator's new missive on whitelisted (approved) URLs has also come into effect from October 1. An HDFC Bank spokesperson, in response to a specific query, told PTI that the bank is "compliant as of today" with norms, and does not expect any difficulties. Meanwhile, Vittal penned a note to subscribers promising that Airtel will continue to work on identifying verified scammers and permanently blocking them from its network. "Our new solution makes us India's 1st Spam Fighting Network and we hope you will feel more confident and secure every time you receive that spam call or message," Vittal told subscribers. Over the last six month

Telecom ministry to cut off 21.7 million mobile connections linked to fraud

Indians lost at least Rs 500 crore to fraud in the six months before March, prompting the Centre to form an inter-ministerial panel to address gaps in banking, immigration, and telecom

Time to move on: Telcos should build business plans sans govt relief

The industry must focus on further rationalisation of tariffs, which will possibly result in a much better ARPU - a metric that captures the health of the telecom sector and its stakeholders

Vodafone Idea begins fresh talks with govt on AGR dues: CEO Akshaya Moondra

Bank funding to conclude in 7-8 weeks, says Vi CEO

Indian telcos to join forces to tackle rising spam calls & messages menace

Telecom companies have traditionally been hesitant to share sensitive data because it could affect their business customers financially

DoT eases process to issue licences for trial, demo, equipment approvals

The Department of Telecom has eased the process to issue licences for experimental, demonstration and equipment-type approvals to reduce delays and simplify regulatory requirements to promote innovation and streamline operations for businesses, an official statement said on Tuesday. The changes have been made based on the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on ease of doing business and simplifying regulatory processes in the telecom sector. The department has induced deem approval process for experimental and demonstration licence while all the applications for equipment type approvals (ETA) for license-exempt wireless devices will now be granted on a self-declaration basis. "For Experimental Licences cases not requiring Inter-Ministerial Consultation, the licence will be deemed issued after 30 days if no decision is conveyed," the statement said. In cases requiring Inter-Ministerial Consultation, the DoT will seek comments within seven days of ...

No major tariff hike, but telecom companies' revenue up 7.2% in Q1

Jefferies says sector will maintain 15% CAGR till FY26

Verizon to buy Frontier in $20 billion deal to boost fibre network

Frontier shares, which had surged nearly 38 per cent in the previous session, fell below Verizon's offer price in premarket trading to $35.14, while Verizon climb­ed about 1 per cent

5G, 6G rollout will spur growth to become developed nation: DoT secretary

After 5G, India is now gearing up for 6G rollout which will spur the growth that is required to achieve the developed nation status, Telecom Secretary Neeraj Mittal said on Wednesday. Mittal said that the government has replaced 150 years old Telegraph Act with a new Telecommunications Act which is expected to stand the test of time for the next 20-30 years. "5G technology has been already rolled out. We are now planning for 6G. All of them will spur the growth in achieving the developed nation status that we are yearning for," he said while speaking at a public relations industry event Prana. Mittal said that the race of technology is not going to stop. He said policymakers need to visit global manufacturing hubs in countries like Vietnam and China and get their acts together to replicate the success stories in India. "I think the 12 (industrial) cities which the government has announced will be able to do that. I think if we can do that in 100th years, at 2047, we will not fail o

Rs 80,000 crore 'Digital Bharat Nidhi' fund to boost urban telecom services

To secure the funds, the projects have to meet certain criteria, such as improving telecom service affordability and security

Nokia to set up world's largest fixed network testbed in Chennai

The centre, involving an investment of about Rs 450 crore, will be one of Nokia's largest research and development (R&D) laboratories (labs)

Jio now world's largest data company, carries 8% of global traffic: Ambani

JioAirFiber, the company's 5G-based home Wi-Fi service launched in October last year, acquired 1 million customers in the first six months, and the next 1 million in succeeding 100 days, Ambani said

Union Bank freezes accounts of telecom firm MTNL over non-payment of dues

Union Bank of India has frozen all accounts of state-run telecom company MTNL for non-payment of dues, a regulatory filing said on Wednesday. Union Bank of India informed the company on August 21 about freezing of all its accounts over non-payment of loans, debt-ridden MTNL said. "This is to inform you that Union Bank of India vide its Letter... dated August 21, 2024 has informed MTNL that its account has slipped to NPA with effect from August 12, 2024 due to which all accounts of MTNL with Union Bank of India have been freezed automatically," MTNL said. Earlier this month, MTNL informed stock exchanges that it has defaulted on bank loan payments worth Rs 422.05 crore. According to the details shared by MTNL, it has defaulted on the payment of Rs 155.76 crore on debt raised from Union Bank of India, Rs 140.37 crore from State Bank of India, Rs 40.33 crore from Bank of India, Rs 40.01 crore from Punjab & Sind Bank, Rs 41.54 crore from Punjab National Bank, and Rs 4.04 crore from ...

Telecom regulator calls for thorough review of existing rules on spam

Fighting unprecedented incidence of spam calls and texts, Trai begins the process to review the definition of commercial communication