Telecom Sector In India

Internet vital for life, shutdowns hurt banking, education: Telcos to govt

Telecom firms urge the govt to limit internet shutdowns, citing their impact on essential services like banking, education, and digital payments, and stress exploring alternatives for law-and-or

Tariff hikes, consolidation may lead to further gains for telecom players

Industry likely to benefit further as full gains from tariff hikes seen over next two quarters; consolidation may lead to further increases

Vi board to consider Rs 2K crore preferential issue to Vodafone Group

The debt-laden telco's board will consider the issue of equity shares and/or convertible securities, Vi said in an exchange filing on Thursday

Debt-ridden Vodafone Idea to raise Rs 2,000 cr from Vodafone Group

Debt-ridden telecom firm Vodafone Idea on Thursday said its board will consider a proposal to raise Rs 2,000 crore from entities belonging to promoter Vodafone Group. The development follows Vodafone Group's announcement to sell a 3 per cent stake in Indus Towers to clear its debt of USD 101 million or about Rs 856 crore and use the residual amount to pay outstanding dues of its Indian venture Vodafone Idea. " a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company is scheduled to be held on Monday, 9 December 2024, inter-alia, to consider proposal for raising of funds not exceeding Rs 2,000 crore, by way of issuance of equity shares and / or convertible securities on a preferential basis to one or more entities belonging to Vodafone Group," the company said in a filing. British telecom firm Vodafone's 3 per cent stake in Indus Towers is valued at around Rs 2,800 crore. The company had announced that after settling the debt, it intends to contribute the residual proceeds from the placi

Govt blocks 669K SIM cards, 132K IMEIs to curb cybercrimes, Centre tells RS

The Centre has blocked 6.69 lakh SIM cards and 1.32 lakh International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers reported by police authorities to check cyber crimes in the country, Rajya Sabha was informed Wednesday. In a written reply to a question, Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar said the central government and Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have devised a system to identify and block incoming international spoofed calls displaying Indian mobile numbers appearing to be originating within India. "Such international spoofed calls have been made by cyber criminals in recent cases of fake digital arrests, fedex scams and impersonation as government and police officials," the minister said. Directions have been issued to the TSPs for blocking of such incoming international spoofed calls, he said. "Till November 15, 2024, more than 6.69 lakh fake SIM cards and 1.32 lakh IMEIs as reported by police authorities have been blocked by the government of India," he ...

How Donald Trump's win could boost Musk's & Bezos' India ambitions

Donald Trump's return to the White House may bring potential advantages for Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, as his policies favouring US companies could create a conducive environment for them

Telecom issue: NCLAT dismisses petitions, says IBC to prevail over Trai Act

Insolvency tribunal NCLAT has said that the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC) would prevail over the provision of the Telecom Service Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Act, as it dismissed two petitions filed by the sectoral regulator in the RCom matter. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) dismissed the plea by the telecom regulator TRAI against the classification of the balances of the customers of RCom as operational debt by the resolution professional in the insolvency proceedings of the defunct service provider. NCLAT also dismissed the second petition filed by TRAI, where it sought direction to the resolution professional of RCom for payments of statutory dues amounting to Rs 85.10 lakh. "The submission of the appellant (TRAI) that Act being a special law, would prevail over the provisions of IBC cannot be accepted." "The Supreme Court has already held that Section 238 of the IBC has overriding effect over any other law. Hence, IBC shall prevail over the ..

Telcos warn on OTP disruptions as Trai's new traceability rules begin Nov 1

Trai's new mandate, set to take effect on November 1, would require traceability of messages sent by principal entities, including banks, e-commerce platforms, and financial institutions

BSNL's 7 new offerings include spam blockers, auto SIM kiosks to woo users

State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) on Tuesday launched a slew of new offerings and initiatives - a lineup that ranges from spam blockers to automated SIM kiosks and direct-to-device services. BSNL also introduced low latency 5G connectivity for mining operations in partnership with CDAC, leveraging Made in India equipment and BSNL's technological expertise. The new services - 7 in all - were launched by Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. BSNL's spam-blocking solutions automatically filter out phishing attempts and malicious SMS and aim to create a safer communication environment for the telco's users. Automated SIM kiosks allow users to purchase, upgrade, port or replace SIMs on a 24X7 basis leveraging UPI or QR-enabled payments with seamless KYC integration and multi-lingual access. India's first direct-to-device connectivity solution converges satellite and terrestrial mobile networks to deliver "reliable connectivity", a release said adding the technology is

Musk's Starlink wins as Centre denies Ambani, Mittal spectrum auction pitch

Narendra Modi-led government faces task of luring foreign investment especially from heavyweights like Musk and balancing it with the demands placed by local wireless firms led by Ambani and Mittal

PM calls for global framework for digital tech at India Mobile Congress

At India Mobile Congress, he stressed on 'dos and don'ts' for technology on global level

India set to lead 6G revolution; our telecom sector aggressive: Scindia

India is resolved to lead the world in 6G, communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Tuesday, terming the telecom sector of the country as 'aggressive' and 'ambitious'. Scindia, speaking at the inauguration of India Mobile Congress and World Telecommunication Standardization (WTSA) 2024, said with the Bharat 6G Alliance, India hopes to contribute at least 10 per cent patents to 6G standardisation. "It is our belief and our commitment -- India followed the world in 4G, we marched with the world in 5G, but we shall lead the world in 6G," the minister asserted. With the fastest 5G rollout in India wherein 98 per cent of districts and 90 per cent of all villages were covered in a span of just 21 months, Scindia said it is the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's effort of not just embracing, but bracing the country to become the first-mover in 6G technology. "It is noteworthy that the Indian Mobile Congress and the International 6G Symposium demonstrates both local and global ...

PM Modi to inaugurate 8th telecom meet and India Mobile Congress today

It is a pivotal global event that will bring together more than 3,000 industry leaders, policy-makers and tech experts from over 190 countries, representing telecom, digital, and ICT sectors

Trai to discuss OTT apps regulation; expedite Satcom framework: Chairman

Telecom regulator Trai will expedite the process for satellite spectrum pricing before taking up the issue of regulation for over-the-top apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Google Meet, Trai chairman said on Wednesday. A consultation paper on pricing for Satellite Spectrum will issued in the next few days, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Chairman RC Lahoti said. "OTT was not part of this paper (Service Authorisation Framework under Telecommunications Act 2023). It is being discussed separately. Right now, we have to take up spectrum pricing on a priority basis," Lahoti said. He said that Trai will explore if OTT apps need to be regulated under the Telecommunications Act 2023. Telecom operators have expressed concern over Trai's recent recommendation on a new regime that proposes to allow the provisioning of telecom service using single authorisation instead of a license, which was the norm under the old regime. Lahoti said Trai has only recommended the framework that

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

Indian telecom players targeting 10% share in 6G patents in next 3 yrs

Indian telecom players are targeting a share of 10 per cent of all 6G patents and one-sixth contributions to global standards in the next three years, an official statement said on Saturday. Telecom industry players have proposed to systematically align research to 'India's needs' and put in place a vibrant "Standards Community". The proposal came up during the second meeting of Stakeholders Advisory Committee (SAC) on Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) which was chaired by union telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday. "Industry leaders proposed systematically aligning research to India's needs' and put in place a vibrant 'Standards Community' targeting a share of 10 per cent of all 6G patents and one-sixth contributions to global standards in the next 3 years," the statement said. During the first SAC on telecom operators, certain focus areas were identified. Deliberations on international standards and India's share in Intellectual Property and Standard Essential Patent .

Trai asks telcos to blacklist unregistered telemarketers' lines over spam

Sector regulator TRAI on Tuesday directed telcos to disconnect all telecom resources of unregistered telemarketers found making spam calls, and to blacklist them for up to two years. Further, TRAI has asked telcos to comply immediately with its latest directive and submit regular updates on action taken in this regard on a fortnightly basis. Issuing its directive to telcos, TRAI said this "decisive action" is expected to significantly reduce spam calls and provide relief to consumers. TRAI in a release said it has issued "directives to access providers to disconnect all telecom resources of unregistered senders for making spam calls and to blacklist such senders under the Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulations, 2018" regulations. Towards this, TRAI has mandated all access service providers to stop voice promotional calls whether pre-recorded or computer generated or otherwise from all unregistered senders or telemarketers (UTMs) using bulk connections or .

Voda Idea Q1 results: Net loss narrows to Rs 6,432 cr on reduced expenses

Vodafone Idea's revenue slipped 1.4 per cent to Rs 10,508 crore, below analysts' expectation of Rs 10,592 crore

Bharti Hexacom Q1 results: PAT almost doubles to Rs 511 cr, revenue up 14%

Telecom operator Bharti Hexacom, which operates under the Airtel brand, reported over two-fold jump in its profit to Rs 511.2 crore in the first quarter ended on June 30, 2024, compared to Rs 253.2 crore in the same period a year ago. Total revenues of Bharti Hexacom increased by 14 per cent on a year-over-year basis to Rs 1,910.6 crore during the reported quarter from Rs 1,681.7 crore a year ago. Mobile revenues grew by 12.9 per cent Y-o-Y on the back of improved realisation and sustained customer additions. The Average revenue per user (ARPU), a key matrix to determine telecom operators' growth, for the quarter increased to Rs 205 from Rs 194 a year ago driven by continued mix improvement and focus on quality acquisitions. "We added 2.8 million smartphone customers to our network over last year, an increase of 16.3 per cent YoY. We continue to deliver industry-leading ARPU along with growing average data usage per customer at 25.7 GB per month. We rolled out 268 network towers an

Call rates in India among lowest in world: Telecom minister Scindia

India now has 117 crore mobile connections and 93 crore internet connections, Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday while noting that call rates in the country are one of the lowest in the world. Scindia said the cost of call for every minute was 53 paisa and it has come down to just 3 paisa now, which is a 93 per cent reduction, one of the lowest rates in the world. At present, India has 117 crore mobile connectivity and 93 crore internet connections, he said. He said the cost of one GB data is Rs 9.12, which is cheapest in the world. The minister said under the Digital India Initiative, various technology-led startups and innovation schemes like Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE 2.0), Gen-Next Support for Innovative Startups (GENESIS), domain specific Centres of Excellence (CoEs) and Next Generation Incubation Scheme (NGIS) have been undertaken with a total funding outlay of around Rs 800 crore in tier-2 and tier-3 ...