Page 19 - Telecom Services

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

Aim to power 250 million smart meters in India: Airtel Business CEO

Airtel is leveraging NB-IoT tech and a suite of offerings, he says

4G launch in next 3-4 months once tower count hits 20,000: BSNL CMD

The company has mapped out large parts of these states for tower installation. This includes more than 4,200 4G sites in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

5G subscribers in India at 159 million: Bank of America global research

The report says this figure could grow to more than 490 million subscribers (42 per cent penetration) by 2028. 5G user growth has surpassed expectations over the past few months

Airtel gets notice from DoT for violation of subscriber verification norms

Bharti Airtel on Monday said it has received a notice from the telecom department for an alleged violation of subscriber verification norms, entailing a penalty of Rs 3.57 lakh. In a BSE filing, the telecom operator informed that the notice pertains to Bihar LSA and was received on January 8, 2024. "We submit the details of notice received by the company from the Department of Telecommunications," Airtel said, informing about the "notice imposing a penalty of Rs 3,57,000 for alleged violation of subscriber verification norms". Citing details, the company said it pertained to an alleged violation of terms and conditions with respect to subscriber verification norms under the Licence Agreement, pursuant to a sample customer application form (CAF) audit conducted by the Department of Telecom for September 2023.

USOF may be enlarged and used to boost telecom equipment manufacturing

Live since October 2022, the TTDF aims to fund R&D in rural-specific communications technology applications and develop the telecom ecosystem

Reliance Jio gained 3.15 mn users in October; Vi lost 2.04 mn: Trai

Bharti Airtel, the second-largest player in the market, saw its subscriber count increase by 0.35 million, much lower than the 1.32 million users the company added in September