Page 18 - Telecom Services

Swisscom confirms talks to buy Vodafone's Italian unit for 8 bn euros

Telecoms operator Swisscom confirmed on Wednesday it's in talks with Vodafone Group toward a possible purchase of its Italian subsidiary for 8 billion euros (USD 8.65 billion). The Swiss company, which is majority owned by the Swiss government, said in a statement it's in advanced exclusive negotiations to buy all of Vodafone Italia and merge it with Swisscom's Italian subsidiary, Fastweb. Swisscom says it expects the purchase, if concluded, would add value and cash flow to the Swiss company and help improve its dividend policy. The Swiss telecoms operator says the deal would bring lower costs and pave the way for synergies, and comply with aims of the Swiss executive branch, the Federal Council.

Trai recommends introduction of CNAP service for caller name display

Trai on Friday recommended that Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) Supplementary Service be introduced in telecom network and that the service involving display of caller names on phones be offered by all telcos to subscribers on request -- a move that is expected to curb spam. The government should issue suitable instructions for making CNAP feature available in all devices sold in India after a suitable cut-off date, once recommendations are accepted, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) said. The name identity information provided by the telephone subscriber in the Customer Application Form (CAF) should be used for the purpose of the service, Trai said in its recommendations. "Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) Supplementary Service should be introduced in the Indian telecommunication network," Trai said. Put simply, CNAP is a supplementary service that enables the caller's name to flash on phone screens when someone calls. While native smartphone tools and third-party

DoT will not intervene in 2G network shutdown; parks decision with telcos

Around 50 million 2G handsets are sold annually, with over 500,000 2G base tower stations deployed throughout the country

Telecom subscriber base grows marginally to 1.19 bn in December: Trai data

Telecom subscriber base in the country grew marginally to 119 crore in December 2023 on account of new subscriber addition by Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, according to a Trai report published on Thursday. The broadband subscriber base also grew marginally to 90.4 crore, accounting for about 76 per cent of the total subscriber base, as per the monthly subscriber report published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). "The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,185.73 million at the end of November to 1,190.33 million at the end of December, showing a monthly growth rate of 0.39 per cent," the Trai report said. Reliance Jio added 39.94 lakh mobile subscribers while Bharti Airtel onboarded 18.5 lakh. However, the growth was mitigated with Vodafone Idea (VIL) losing 13.68 lakh mobile customers, state-run BSNL 1.5 lakh and MTNL 4,420 mobile customers. Wireline subscribers increased to 3.18 crore at the end of December 2023 from 3.15 crore at the end

Airtel launches in-flight roaming packs for customers at Rs 195. Details

The lowest postpaid plan at Rs 195 offers 250 MB data plan, 100 minutes of outgoing calls, 100 SMS and is valid for a period of 24 hours, Airtel said

Can Voda Idea play on the front foot in a market fast resembling a duopoly?

The UK telco's rough ride in India started in 2009, over a retrospective tax demand that was set aside later, but it has lately been in the news for a variety of reasons

Telecom licence fee collection up 8.23% at Rs 5,326 cr in quarter ended Sep

The government's licence fee collection from telecom service providers increased 8.23 per cent year-on-year to Rs 5,326 crore, while spectrum usage charge mop up declined about 40 per cent to Rs 836 crore in the September 2023 quarter, according to the latest Trai report. According to the performance indicator report released by regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), operators' gross revenue (GR) declined by 1.22 per cent to Rs 82,741 crore, but adjusted gross revenue (AGR) increased by 7.43 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 66,583 crore during the reported quarter. "On a YoY basis, GR decreased by 1.22 per cent, ApGR (applicable gross revenue) increased by 6.74 per cent, and AGR increased by 7.43 per cent in the quarter ended September 2023," the report released on Friday said. Reliance Jio recorded the highest AGR of Rs 24,217.13 crore with a 9.12 per cent year-on-year rise. Bharti Airtel posted the highest AGR growth rate of 10.88 per cent at Rs 19,840.84 crore

Cabinet approves telecom spectrum auctions at base price of Rs 96,317.65 cr

A committee, to be chaired by the Cabinet Secretary, will also be set up to finalise plans for re-farming of certain spectrum bands

Artisan Partners divests 1.2% stake in Indus Towers for Rs 717 crore

Asset management company Artisan Partners on Wednesday divested a 1.2 per cent stake in telecom infrastructure major Indus Towers for Rs 717 crore through an open market transaction. The US-based Artisan Partners through its affiliate Artisan International Value Fund sold shares of Indus Towers on the BSE. According to the bulk deal data available with the BSE, Artisan International Value Fund offloaded 3,33,46,663 shares, amounting to a 1.24 per cent stake in Indus Towers. The shares were disposed of at an average price of Rs 215.10 apiece, taking the deal value to Rs 717.29 crore. After the latest transaction, Artisan Partners' shareholding in Indus Towers declined to 0.47 per cent stake from 1.71 per cent. Details of the buyers could not be ascertained. On Wednesday, shares of Indus Towers rose 1.92 per cent to close at Rs 225.50 apiece on the BSE. Last week, private equity major KKR, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), and another entity sold Indus Towers' shares w

Real improvement in Arpu to come only with tariff repair: Airtel MD Vittal

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Tuesday said while there has been a clear rise in Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) on an 'organic basis', the "real improvement" in this metrics will come from "tariff repair". During the company's Q3 investor call, Bharti Airtel Managing Director Gopal Vittal asserted it is not a question of whether tariff repair will happen, but rather when it will happen. "The real improvement will come only if there is a tariff repair. As I have mentioned before it is not a question of if tariff repair will happen, it is a question of when it will happen," the Airtel top honcho said. There has been an improvement in ARPU in the absence of tariffs hikes too, he noted citing the organic levers. "We have seen improvement in ARPU in absence of tariffs hikes...yes, in some quarters it is higher, some quarters lower. But if you take slightly longer timeframe there is clearly a movement up in the ARPU on an organic basis, given the levers that I spoke about...post paid

Bharti Airtel Q3 results: Profit jumps 54% to Rs 2,442 cr; revenue up 5.8%

Airtel prepaid mobile customers are required to pay at least Rs 155 for about a month-long service as the company had raised rates by 56 per cent in January 2023

Reliance's Jio, Gortune pre-qualify for Sri Lanka Telecom stake bid: Report

This is a part of Sri Lanka's efforts to reduce government stake in state-owned firms under the $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme

Before 5G launch, we will have clarity on how to monetise it: Voda Idea CEO

Launching 5G in October 2022, Vi's two main competitors-Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel-have already launched 5G services in 7,764 and more than 5,000 cities, respectively

Jio cements market lead, adds 3.45 mn mobile subscribers in Nov: Trai data

Reliance Jio moved to a higher gear adding 34.5 lakh mobile subscribers in November, improving on its October gains, as rival Bharti Airtel garnered about 17.5 lakh new wireless users, according to TRAI data released on Monday. Vodafone Idea, however, slipped further losing 10.7 lakh subscribers in November, the monthly subscriber data by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) showed. The ailing telco's wireless subscriber base shrank to 22.44 crore in November. Reliance Jio's addition of 34.47 lakh mobile subscribers pushed up its wireless subscriber tally to 45.58 crore as on November. Mobile subscribers added by the country's largest telecom services provider Jio in November were higher than its user gains in October (about 31.6 lakh). After garnering mobile subscriber additions of 17.47 lakh, the subscriber count of Bharti Airtel in the wireless category stood at 37.98 crore.

Vodafone Idea Q3 results: Loss narrows to Rs 6,986 cr, revenue remains flat

Telecom operator Vodafone Idea (VIL) on Monday reported narrowing of losses to Rs 6,986 crore in the third quarter of the current fiscal. The losses stood at Rs 7,990 crore a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing. During the quarter under review, the revenue from operations for the ailing telco came in at Rs 10,673.1 crore, nearly flat over the corresponding period previous year. VIL's revenue from operations stood at Rs 10,620.6 crore in the third quarter of FY23. In a statement, the company said its ARPU (average revenue per user) in the reporting quarter stood at Rs 145 against Rs 135 in the third quarter of FY23. This translates into a year-on-year growth of 7.4 per cent. Akshaya Moondra, CEO of Vodafone Idea, said: "We are pleased to report highest EBITDA of Rs 21.4 billion in last 11 quarters. In line with the evolving industry landscape and changing customer needs, we have revamped our offerings as well as focusing on our execution to effectively compete in the

A rational call

Tariff revision can enable telcos to spend on infrastructure

Interim Budget 2024-25: Mobile tower companies seek input tax credit

The largest players in the industry, including American Towers, Indus Towers, and Summit Digitel, are members of DIPA

Budget wishlist: Telecom infra providers bat for availability of input tax

Telecom infrastructure providers are seeking availability of input tax credit on telecom towers, and have made a plea for an increase in tax depreciation rate and rationalisation of TDS provisions in their Budget wishlist. The players under the aegis of Digital Infrastructure Providers' Association (DIPA) said measures to facilitate ease of doing business will increase investment and contribute to the industry's long-term growth. Being a sunrise sector, telecom has been providing affordable-quality assured communication services, DIPA noted. The association counts Summit Digitel, American Towers, Indus Towers, Ascend Telecom, Cloud Extel, Pratap Technocrats, Crest Digitel, Signotox Towers, Applied Solar Technologies, iBUS Networks, and Suyog Telematics, among its members. DIPA in a release said the telecom infrastructure industry is seeking government support for the availability of input tax credit on telecom towers, increase in tax depreciation rate to 65 per cent from 15 per cen

Ram Mandir inauguration: Telcos enhance network connectivity in Ayodhya

DoT and other central, state, and municipal departments ensured speedy approvals in providing space for towers, movement of material, and manpower, thus enabling immediate execution, Vi said

HFCL bags Rs 623 cr contract from domestic telco to supply 5G components

HFCL Limited on Friday said it has bagged a Rs 623 crore order for the supply of indigenously manufactured 5G networking equipment. The contract is from a domestic telecom service provider, HFCL said in a release but did not name the company. HFCL said the order is required to be executed by December 2024. "HFCL Limited...has secured a purchase order of Rs 623 crore for the supply of indigenously manufactured 5G networking equipment," it said. This is the first such large order for 5G networking equipment placed on any Indian company by any telecom service provider, it added. "Our recent order wins are clearly a testament that our strategy of moving from projects to margin accretive products, launching new products, reaching out to new customers and new geographies is paying off well and will bolster our position even further in 2024," HFCL Managing Director Mahendra Nahata said. As per industry estimates, the global 5G last-mile equipment market is projected to reach USD 68 bill