The company's consolidated profit skyrocketed 505.2 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 14,781.2 crore in Q3FY25 versus Rs 2,442.2 crore in the same quarter last year
Appreciation in key currencies give exceptional gain of $94 million to company
An expected gathering of 40 crore people at the world's largest religious gathering for over a month and no call drops and seamless internet streaming. Telecom service providers and the Maha Kumbh Mela administration are on their toes to ensure smooth connectivity at the grand event set to witness record teledensity. Laying down of additional optical fibre, installation of new towers and Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) and deploying Cells on Wheels (transportable towers), are among the various measures taken to ensure robust and uninterrupted connectivity in the mela area during the event. According to officials at the Integrated Control and Command Centre (ICCC), three disaster management centres have been established in the mela area to support emergency communications and ensure prompt response during any crisis situation. "Mostly, all telecom providers have augmented their services here to ensure seamless communication for the millions of devotees and visitors. "Three disaster
MeitY released the draft rules for the DPDP Act for public consultation on January 3 and invited feedback until February 18. However, the deadline is likely to be extended
Adjusted Gross Revenue is a crucial financial metric in India's telecom sector which represents the revenue telecom operators must share with the government under their licensing agreements
Telecom operators including Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have introduced new voice and SMS only plans for prepaid users in India. The move assumes significance as telecom regulator TRAI, last month, had amended tariff rules to mandate mobile service providers to issue a separate plan for voice calls and SMS, for customers who do not require data. Airtel has introduced a new Rs 499 plan, which offers unlimited voice calls, 900 SMS with 84 days validity. Another offering, Rs 1,959 plan, would offer prepaid users unlimited voice calls, 3,600 SMS and comes with a validity of 365 days. Jio too has unveiled two plans. According to information on Jio website, the Rs 458 plan - with 84 days validity - offers unlimited voice calls, and 1,000 SMSs. The Rs 1,958 plan offers unlimited voice calls and packs in 3,600 SMSs with 365 days pack validity.
The telecom services industry has batted for the abolition of levies and extension of carry forward of business losses to 16 years in its Budget wishlist, and argued that large traffic generators (LTG) should contribute to USO Fund/Digital Bharat Nidhi Fund. It has pitched for a cut in licence fee, and suggested that the definition of gross revenue (GR) be made more precise by stipulating that the revenue from activities that requires no licence, would not be a part of it. The suggestions are aimed at enhancing the financial stability of the telecom sector, COAI said in its recommendations. "Considering the huge capital that Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have to invest in the current scenario, especially for the deployment of 5G, COAI recommends that the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) levy be abolished. Alternatively, the government may consider the suspension of the USO contribution of 5 per cent of AGR, till the existing USO corpus of over Rs 86,000 crore is exhausted
DoT allows intra-circle roaming at Digital Bharat Nidhi-funded towers
With 83% of users, OTT streaming tops Internet use in India: IAMAI-Kantar report
British telecom firm Vodafone has sold its entire stake in Indus Towers for Rs 2,800 crore, the telecom infrastructure firm said on Friday. Vodafone has sold 7.92 crore or 3 per cent stake in Indus Towers and used Rs 890 crore from the proceeds to clear lenders dues, the company said in a regulatory filing. "Vodafone Group Plc announces that it has successfully completed the placing of its remaining 79.2 million shares in Indus Towers Limited ("Indus") representing 3.0 per cent of Indus' outstanding share capital through an accelerated book build offering on 5 December 2024," the filing said. The company held 3 per cent stake through its indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries, Omega Telecom Holdings Pvt Ltd and Usha Martin Telematics Limited. "Residual proceeds of Rs 19.1 billion (USD 225 million) have been used to acquire 1.7 billion equity shares in Vodafone Idea Limited through a preferential allotment of shares (a "Capital Raise"), increasing Vodafone's shareholding in Vi to 24.39
Last month, Trai recommended a clear definition for international traffic, classifying SMS messages originating or terminating on devices, servers, or apps outside India as international
Airtel, with industry-leading ARPU and subscriber growth, may also see a 60 basis points (bps) growth in operating profit margin
Italy's Premier Giorgia Meloni said Thursday that her government is in talks with several private companies, including Elon Musk's SpaceX, over the country's telecoms security system, but denied having discussed the issue privately with Musk. I never talked about this with Musk. It's not my habit to use my public role to do favors to friends, Meloni said, responding to reporters' questions during her start-of-the-year press conference on a possible deal with Musk's group over Italian telecoms security. Meloni stressed that national interest was the only lens through which she judged such potential contracts with SpaceX, the owner of satellite system Starlink. Reportedly worth 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) and spread over five years, the project sparked an outcry by Italy's opposition parties, questioning that the handling of such communications could be handed to a Musk company. If the deal is sealed, SpaceX would provide encryption services for the Italian government and ...
Reliance Jio targets one million monthly AirFiber additions to boost 5G monetisation, with ARPU growth and subscriber expansion driving momentum ahead of a potential late-2025 IPO
The Delhi High Court has set aside an order of the Central Information Commission directing the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to demand information from the phone service provider and give it to a customer under the RTI Act. Justice Sanjeev Narula said TRAI requesting information from telecom service providers (TSP) was confined to fulfilling its regulatory functions and did not extend to addressing individual grievances or accessing customer-specific information solely for dissemination under the RTI framework. The high court, in its order, said the CIC's observation requiring a customer to seek redressal before the consumer disputes redressal forum was misplaced and beyond its statutory mandate. "TRAI is not a service provider or a consumer under the Consumer Protection Act, and any grievance against TRAI's actions or inactions must be pursued before the TDSAT (Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal), as established under the TRAI Act. By making ...
Telco expects thousands of new sites by March under partnership with global vendors
Vodafone Idea announces plans for phased 5G rollout in 75 cities, offering tariffs reportedly 15% lower than market rates to boost customer acquisition
Meity is in the final stages of putting together a production linked incentives (PLI) scheme for electronic components
Private telecom operators face twin challenges on investment recovery in the New Year customers leaving their network after tariff hikes and satellite players mainly Elon Musk's Starlink eyeing a chunk of their bread and butter data business. Private operators have invested around Rs 70,000 crore in telecom infrastructure and radiowave assets this year to expand the coverage of next-generation 5G services which is one of the main highlights of 2024 for the sector. To recover investments and protect margins, private telcos resorted to tariff hikes in mid-year but that move backfired. Around 2 crore subscribers dropped their connections. Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea jointly lost 2.6 crore customers due to a 10-26 per cent price hike. Around 68 customers switched to state-run player BSNL which refrained from price hike. The loss-making PSU still offers generation-old 3G service and is on the path of rolling out 4G network across the country. Despite subscriber loss,
The telecom department has waived the requirement of bank guarantee to be submitted for spectrum auctions held prior to the reform package, telecom operator Vodafone Idea said on Saturday, adding that the latest "relief" will boost 4G and 5G investments in India. Prior to this reform, bank guarantees aggregating to about Rs 24,800 crore were required to be provided by VIL against each spectrum instalment, 13 months prior to the instalment falling due for the above auctions, the company said in a BSE filing. "As per our understanding of the terms and conditions, out of all the 5 auctions mentioned above, no BGs (bank guarantee) will be required to be provided by VIL for the 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2021 auctions," the telco said. There would, however, be a one-time partial shortfall, only for the 2015 auction, where the net present value or NPV of all payments made would be less than the pro-rated value of spectrum used, VIL said and informed that it is "in discussion with the DoT to ...