Page 4 - Telecom

Growing interest: FMCG, telcos on foreign portfolio investors hot list

Analysts said large part of the flows into the FMCG sector were due to the block deal in ITC, where the British American Tobacco (BAT) sold a 3.5 per cent stake for around Rs 17,000 crore

DoT imposes Rs 4 lakh fine on Airtel for violation of verification norms

The Department of Telecom has imposed a penalty of around Rs 4 lakh on Bharti Airtel for violation of subscriber verification norms in Delhi and Bihar circles. According to a regulatory filing by Bharti Airtel, the Department of Telecommunications, Delhi circle, has issued a notice imposing a penalty of Rs 2.55 lakh for alleged violation of subscriber verification norms. The Delhi circle has issued notice for "alleged violation of terms and conditions with respect to subscriber verification norms under the Licence Agreement, pursuant to Sample CAF Audit conducted by DoT for January 2023", the filing said. The department's Bihar circle has given a notice to the company, imposing a Rs 1.46 lakh fine for "alleged violation of subscriber verification norms", Bharti Airtel said in a separate filing. For Bihar circle, the notice has been issued "pursuant to Sample CAF Audit conducted by DoT for January 2024", the filing said. The company has, however, contested the penalty levied by DoT

Spectrum auction for eight bands to start from 20 May 2024: DoT notice

The upcoming spectrum auction will start from May 20, according to the notice inviting application released by the Department of Telecom on Friday. Government will auction eight spectrum bands for mobile phone services at a base price of Rs 96,317.65 crore. Spectrum which is held by certain companies undergoing insolvency processes as well as frequencies expiring this year will also be put on auction.

Geopolitical convergence on terrestrial broadcasting

Both ATSC 3.0 for BPS in the US and D2M in India have the potential to deliver communications of national importance during crises and disasters independent of satellite systems and cellular telephony

Telcos made Rs 10,000 crore extra capex to support large apps: COAI

Telecom operators are estimated to have spent an additional Rs 10,000 crore in 2022-23 to support traffic generated by large entertainment and communication apps, according to an estimate of telecom industry body COAI. Cellular Operators Association of India, Director General, SP Kochhar told PTI that the infrastructure support provided by telecom operators to top 4-5 apps large traffic generator apps also corresponds to their revenue growth and in the absence of fair share norms for large apps, the government has lost about Rs 800 crore revenue in 2023 alone. He said that the industry body has submitted a white paper to the Ministry of Finance in this regard in January. "The additional capex required to provide the infrastructure to carry the LTG-related data traffic for the year 2023 alone amounts to around Rs 10,000 crore. Accordingly, the proposed fair share to TSPs on the amount would have resulted in enhancing AGR-related licence fees and USOF levies (combined 8 per cent of A

Tarun Chhabra to replace Sanjay Malik as Nokia India country manager

Finnish IT and tech firm Nokia on Tuesday announced the appointment of Tarun Chhabra as its country manager in India with effect from April 1, 2024. He will replace Sanjay Malik who retires on March 31, 2024. "Tarun Chhabra will continue in his role of Head of Mobile Networks Market India in addition to assuming India Country Manager responsibilities," the company said in a statement. "India is such an important market for Nokia and I believe that, in this new role, I will be able to help our customers to benefit from Nokia's leading technology across our portfolio, at a time when technology is playing a vital role than ever before in the lives of organizations, companies, individuals and societies," Chhabra said.

Farmers' protest: Internet suspended in 7 districts of Haryana till Feb 19

The Haryana government on Saturday extended the ban on mobile internet and bulk SMS services in seven districts by two more days till February 19 in the wake of the farmers' agitation. The affected districts are Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa. The government had earlier extended the suspension of mobile internet on February 13 and 15. Protesting farmers have stayed put at Shambhu and Khanauri points on Punjab's border with Haryana for the fifth day after their 'Delhi Chalo' march to press the Centre for various demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops, was stopped by security forces which led to clashes. Besides a legal guarantee of MSP, the farmers are demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, pension for farmers and farm labourers, farm debt waiver, no hike in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases and "justice" for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, ...

Ericsson expects decline in 5G demand from telcos despite Q4 earnings beat

After a few years of high demand for 5G equipment, buying by telecom providers slowed last year, prompting firms such as Ericsson and Nokia to lay off thousands of employees to save costs

India set to export indigenously-developed 4G, 5G stacks in 2024: Officials

Indian technology has garnered global interest amid govt's aggressive marketing

Jio continues to remain country's strongest brand for 2024: Report

Jio, the telecom and digital arm of billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance, continues to be the strongest Indian brand, ahead of likes of Life Insurance Corporation and State Bank of India, according to the latest report 'Global-500 2024' published by Brand Finance. Jio had topped India's strong brands in Brand Finance's 2023 rankings as well. In the 2024 ranking, Jio is placed at the 17th position among the world's strongest brands with a Brand Strength Index of 88.9 in the list led by WeChat, YouTube, Google, Deloitte, Coca Cola and Netflix. LIC is placed at the 23rd place on the list, followed by SBI at 24th rank. It is ahead of brands like EY, and Instagram. "Jio, a relatively new entrant in the telecommunications sector, emerges as the strongest brand with a notable 14 per cent increase in brand value to USD 6.1 billion, alongside a high brand strength index score of 89.0 and associated AAA brand rating," the report said. "Jio's meteoric rise in the telecom industry is benefiti

Govt bats for direct-to-mobile technology, pilots in 19 cities soon

Govt keen to launch by 2025 technology that can allow multimedia content on smartphones without active internet

Trai directs Jio, Airtel to clarify terms on unlimited 5G data offerings

Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio have both clarified that unlimited does not equate to infinity as data usage is restricted by speed and network

Centre to disburse Rs 400 cr to 20 firms under PLI scheme for telecom gear

All of these 20 companies, including Nokia and Jabil, have met their targets under the production-linked incentive scheme for manufacturing telecom goods

JioSpaceFiber: Jio previews satellite-based internet connectivity at IMC 23

Jio said the service has already been available in four remotest locations in India - Gir Gujarat, Korba Chattisgarh, Nabrangpur Odissa, and ONGC-Jorhat Assam

HBL Power soars 8%, hits new high on healthy outlook; up 208% in 6 months

CARE Ratings expects total operational income of HBL to grow over 25% YoY (backed by strong demand) in FY24 along with sustaining its operating margins.

OTTs vs telcos: Who will steal a march in 'Walled Garden' season 2?

As telecom companies and OTTs tussle over revenue-sharing for data usage, the jury is still out on who will prevail

Stock of this telecom equipment company has zoomed over 200% in 5 months

Shares of Avantel surged 20 per cent to hit a new high of Rs 306 on the BSE in Tuesday's intra-day trade, after the board recommended issue of bonus shares in the ratio of 2:1.

Fresh spectrum allocation plan in the works, may open up more bands

May provide clear direction on satellite spectrum

Trai recommends entry fee cut for mobile, other telecom service licences

Telecom regulator TRAI on Tuesday recommended a cut in the entry fee for mobile and other telecom service licences, and favoured merging of bank guarantees, in a bid to facilitate entry of new players and promote ease of business for existing ones. In a sweeping set of recommendations, the sector regulator has mooted that the entry fee for Unified Licence (UL) in case of access service be halved, which along with suggestions of merging bank guarantees and other measures will "facilitate the orderly growth of the sector". The measures will spur investment and growth, and in effect improve the quality of service and enhance consumer welfare, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). "Entry fee for following UL authorisations should be rationalised...Access service from Rs 1 crore to Rs 50 lakh for each telecom circle/ metro area; from 0.5 crore to 25 lakh for J&K and North east each," TRAI release said. For National and International Long Distance, TRAI has ...

No plan to share revenue of OTT platforms with telcos, says govt: Report

Telecom firms have been asking OTT platforms to share their revenues with the telecom service providers as some apps have begun to provide bandwidth-heavy offerings