Telecom Operators

Airtel Business inks pact with Sparkle to enhance connectivity with Europe

Airtel Business, the B2B arm of telecom major Bharti Airtel, has inked a pact with Italy-based global operator Sparkle to enhance connectivity between Asia and Europe. As part of the partnership, Airtel will take capacity from Sparkle on the Blue-Raman Submarine Cable Systems, which will connect India to Italy. Under Sparkle's Blue-Raman cable system, Blue is deployed across Italy, France, Greece and Israel, while Raman connects Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Oman and India. "With this additional capacity, Airtel will further diversify its global network across multiple international submarine cable systems to serve the growing demand for data services in India and neighbouring countries," a company statement said. The partnership will also work on the development of new business opportunities and projects in the Indian sub-continent, leveraging Airtel and Sparkle's respective cable infrastructures, the statement said. Airtel Business Global Business CEO Vani Venkatesh said the .

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

Supreme Court to hear curative pleas from telecom operators on AGR Dues

Supreme Court will consider curative petitions from Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, among other telcos, in a closed session on Friday

Call, messaging apps must comply with rules for nation's security: COAI

Telecom operators expect internet calling and messaging apps like WhatsApp, Google Meet, and Telegram to comply with rules in the same manner as all service providers do, industry body COAI said on Monday. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) -- whose members include Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, among others -- said it is misleading to demand to exclude over-the-top (OTT) communication apps from the Telecommunications Act 2023 as they are subject to other regulations because various non-sectoral rules apply on telecom operators as well. "COAI would like to state that the 'Security of the Country' is of utmost importance and in this regard, all communication service providers, including OTT-based communication services, should adhere to the requisite directives of the country as done by the Telecom Service Providers," COAI Director General SP Kochhar said. He said that telecom operators have invested heavily in setting up the infrastructure for lawful

India delays 6 GHz spectrum allocation used for 5G and WiFi services

Tech firms and telecom companies tussle of 6 GHz spectrum allocation, while DoT worries about potential impact on Isro satellite operations

Telco operators ask Trai to bring OTT apps under licensing framework

Telecom operators, in their latest submission to sector regulator Trai, have unanimously demanded to bring over-the-top apps like WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram within the ambit of the licensing regime under the new Telecommunication Act. Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and industry body COAI -- in their comments on the consultation paper issued by Trai, seeking views on the framework for service authorisations to be granted under the Telecommunications Act, 2023 -- have said that the calling and messaging apps should be brought under services to be provided through authorisation. "As per our understanding, OTT Communication services are covered under the new Telecom Act as an access service," Telecom operators industry body COAI said in its submission to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). Reliance Jio said the definition of 'message' and 'telecommunication service' under the newly enacted Telecommunication Act, 2023, includes all forms of telecommunication

War on spam: Trai directs telcos to curb misuse of bulk connections

Internet URLs or APK files which are not whitelisted can't be delivered by texts, TRAI directs

Telcos dial into caller ID service trials to combat rising spam calls

Telecom operators are assessing the feasibility of CNAP, where both number and caller name will be displayed during incoming calls

Telcos collaborate with tech partners to curb unwanted calls, messages

The Centre has currently designated the 140 number series for promotional voice calls, and the 160 number series for transactional and service-related voice calls

Telcos to snap 1.8 million mobile connections in cybercrime crackdown

The government believes that telcos need to be more proactive in detecting usage patterns of SIMs, particularly those purchased outside home circles

Vodafone reports slight rise in net profit helped by gains in UK, Germany

On Tuesday it said it expected core earnings this year to be broadly flat at around 11 billion euros, while free cash flow would be at least 2.4 bn euros, slightly ahead of current market forecasts

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

Telecom operators seek ban on illegal WiFi devices running on 6 GHz

The industry body argued that the utilization of such WiFi devices operating in the 6 GHz band will render customers responsible for these unauthorized transmissions, placing liability on consumers

Bank OTP frauds on the rise: Here's what govt is doing to tackle it

The govt is currently testing a system that will allow banks to securely track a customer's registered address and geolocation to ensure the secure delivery of OTPs

Vi deploys network to improve connectivity across Kolkata underwater metro

Telecom operator Vodafone Idea (Vi) on Wednesday said it has completed the deployment of network infrastructure across the East-West Metro corridor route of Kolkata's recently-inaugurated Underwater Metro Rail Service. Vi has deployed network infrastructure across all 17 stations on the Green Line route, the company said. With this, Vi customers travelling via the underwater metro rail service will experience uninterrupted connectivity across the entire 16.6-kilometre route of the Green Line metro.

Trai asks telecom operators to speed up roll out of anti-spam tech

DCA will take customers' consent for the brands or companies they would like to receive communication from

Spectrum auctions, high payments to help hit Rs 1.2 trn telco revenue goal

Non tax revenue from the telecom sector rose by 44 percent in FY24

Price wars: Startups, smaller OTTs may be exempted from fair share charge

Telecom industry body says 4-5 large traffic generators need to pay up

DoT asks telecom operators to block malicious overseas calls about bourses

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has cautioned the public about malicious calls from international numbers spreading false information about Indian stock exchanges, and advised people to report such cases to telecom operators. Such malicious calls are initiated by anti-national elements and are aimed at creating panic, an official release said, adding that the telecom operators have been directed to block malicious calls from such numbers. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), DoT cautioned the public about malicious calls from international numbers spreading false information about Indian stock exchanges. "The recorded message urges to sell Indian stocks before March 12, claiming impending destruction of BSE and NSE," as per a DoT social media alert. Regarding the malicious calls, the release said, "Citizens, on receiving such calls, are advised to report to DoT at help-sancharsaathi@gov.in or their telecom service providers.

Proposed US bill to charge large apps should be adopted in India: COAI

Telecom operators want the government to adopt a bill, similar to a proposal in the US Congress, that would make large internet apps contribute to infrastructure costs to help lower broadband costs for consumers, a senior industry official said. A bill sponsored by US Senators Markwayne Mullin, Mark Kelly and Mike Crapo in US Congress last month aimed at lowering broadband costs for consumers proposed a direction to telecom regulator Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to mandate social media platforms, streaming services apps, cloud computing service providers like WhatsApp, YouTube, Netflix, Google etc to contribute to universal fund that is used for building networks. The proposed bill named, Lowering Broadband Costs for Consumers Act of 2023, has classified social media platforms, streaming service, over-the-top messaging service, video gaming service, videoconferencing service, e-commerce platform, search engines under edge services providers. Telecom industry body Cellular