Page 13 - Telecom Services

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 ..

Nxtra to invest Rs 5,000 cr to double its capacity to 400 MW in three years

In line with its mission to build future-ready data centre infrastructure that is intelligent by design and sustainable, Nxtra has deployed AI in its data centres to drive operational excellence

SAR Televenture to acquire Tikona Infinet for Rs 669 cr in cash, stock deal

Network infrastructure company SAR Televenture on Monday announced that it will acquire internet service provider Tikona Infinet for Rs 669 crore in a cash and stock deal. The two parties have entered into an agreement under which SAR will acquire a 91 per cent stake in Tikona for Rs 669.04 crore in cash and stock deal, a statement said. Tikona Infinet will become a significant subsidiary of SAR Televenture and Tikona shareholders will get SAR Televenture shares. SAR, which is listed on the SME platform of NSE, would be able to expand its business post-deal, especially those in the enterprise sector, the statement said, adding there are operational synergies between the two businesses which will create cost savings. Post deal completion, timelines for which were not revealed, the SAR group will become an integrated telecom services provider with a presence in ISP services, IP1 services, broadband and enterprise services, the statement said. In FY24, the registered sales of the ..

Blocked Vodacom merger derails S African telcos M&A push: Analysts

Dominant companies like Vodacom and MTN say mergers would allow them to leverage existing networks as a springboard to extending and improving coverage

Companies may require fresh licence for providing satcom services in India

Existing licence-holding satcom players unsure whether new authorisation would be automatic

To be a leader in telecom, you need to lead in AI: Chandru Sargor

He tells that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is solving real life challenges in telecom networks

SIM consolidation to normalise over 2 quarters: Airtel MD & CEO Vittal

Incumbent CEO Vittal to take up some roles of Bharti Enterprise Chairman Sunil Mittal

Airtel Africa Q2FY25 results: Net profit declines 80% to $24 million

Continuing devaluation of African currencies and higher finance costs remain drags

Fixed wireless access users go past FTTH, consume 600 GB data a month

Telcos report that FTTH services, which are more stable and offer higher speeds, have seen monthly consumption per subscriber home ranging from 250 to 300 GB

Telcos activate intra-circle roaming as Cyclone Dana set to hit Odisha

Telecom service providers in Odisha have activated intra-circle roaming in seven districts of the state which were put under red-warning' for cyclone Dana, a minister said on Thursday. State Electronic and IT Minister Mukesh Mahaling said the intra-circle roaming allows telecom operators to use each other's network and such an arrangement has been activated in Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur and Cuttack districts since 8 am. As per a circular issued by the Department of Telecommunication, the intra-circle roaming facility has been activated among all four service providersBSNL, Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone, he said. "With the activation of the facility, telecom users can avail uninterrupted service in the seven districts," he said. DG sets have been made available at all telecom towers to manage the situation if there is an electricity failure, the minister said. The telecom service providers have also kept their technical teams ready to repair any da

COAI urges licence fee cut, says telcos face double burden of AGR payments

Telecom industry body COAI on Thursday sought abolition or reduction of AGR-related fees for telcos at the earliest and pitched for lowering licence fee to 0.5-1 per cent of gross revenues. COAI argued that with the separation of spectrum from the license and its assignment at market price, the justification for imposing licence fee had ceased to exist long back. The license fee should "at best" cover the cost of administration of the license only, which is around 0.5 per cent to 1 per cent of the gross revenues, instead of the 8 per cent paid currently. COAI, whose members include Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, said payments charged on the basis of the AGR (Adjusted Gross Revenue) from telcos, ends up being a "double whammy" for players, who, as it is, incur huge investments towards procuring the spectrum. "It is evident that Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) buy the Spectrum for utilisation through transparent auction processes, paying a substantial amount for ...

Satellite spectrum wars: No auction, foreign companies likely to benefit

Despite domestic telcos' insistence, earlier legal judgements have only called auction 'preferable' in the case of natural resources

No tariff hike on cards, want to retain existing customers: BSNL CMD

State-run telco launches anti-spam network, direct to device satcom, intranet TV services, and a new logo

Generation gap: Will 6G find enough use cases to go where 5G hasn't?

Hope rises as a new generation of telecom technology knocks on our doors. Will it live up to expectations?

Prose Tech expects 10-12% growth in next 3 yrs, Rs 670 cr biz in India

Telecom gear maker Prose Technologies Prose expects its India business to grow in the range of 10-12 per cent year-on-year over the next three years and clock around Rs 670 crore revenue this fiscal, a senior official of the company said. Prose Technologies President for India Region, Arshad Fakhri, told PTI at the India Mobile Congress that the company expects current 4G expansion by all three operators - Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea followed by 5G will drive the company's growth in the country. "We are likely to grow in the range of 10-12 per cent year-on-year over the next three years. We expect to clock revenue of around USD 80 million (about Rs 670 crore) in the current financial year," he said. Fakhri said that the next generation of telecom networks will be dominated by artificial intelligence workload which is fuelling demand for green antennas. He said that the company has for the first time introduced green Protreem antennas that work at 85 per cent ...

Telcos revenue may cross Rs 5 trn in next 2 yrs, says DoT official

Telecom sector revenue may cross Rs 5 lakh crore in the next two years in line with the present growth trend fuelled by ease of doing business measures introduced by the government in the last 2-3 years, a senior Department of Telecom official said on Friday. The DoT's apex decision-making body Digital Communication Commission Member Manish Sinha mooted the idea of relooking at current practices of spectrum allocation and working on new methodologies like dynamic spectrum allocation, and for shorter duration to enhance spectrum usage efficiency and derive its economic value. "I can see that in the last 2 to 3 years, there has been much ease of business, and that reflects in the kind of revenues that the telecom sector is generating now. I hope it continues to grow like that in the next two years, it won't be surprising if we break the barrier of Rs 5 lakh crore in terms of gross revenue from this sector," Sinha said. According to a report by sector regulator Trai, telecom service ..

Need to frame rules on entry, exit of data from telecom network: COAI DG

The government needs to enforce rules on the entry and exit of data from Indian telecom networks, including that of Over-The-Top (OTT) players, a senior official of the industry body COAI said on Thursday. While lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call on cyber security framework during the inaugural session of India Mobile Congress and ITU's WTSA, COAI Director General SP Kochhar said the government has to take lead in setting up standards for security and industry will support it. He said that the joint proposition of the government and industry can be taken up with the World Telecommunications Standardisation Assembly (WTSA). "Several elements which use telecom networks cannot be forced to comply with Indian law. We have been saying this but it is a necessity. To do that we have to enforce entry and exit of data as well as entities from Indian networks through technology. Whom we allow to enter and exit from Indian telecom networks is the government right," Kochhar said. In

Telecom gear maker Ericsson maps out India's 5G dominance over the US

Projects Indian telcos will upgrade to 5G Advanced in two years

6G standards, regulations must ensure inclusivity: Union minister Scindia

Speaking at the India Mobile Congress, Scindia emphasised on the scope of India's tremendous opportunity in advancing 6G technology

Network issue: India still lags US and China in 5G rollout, shows data

The index assigns countries an overall score on the state of 5G development based on two broad categories: 5G infrastructure and 5G services, each given equal weight