Vodafone

Apple, Amazon, Cisco, Meta oppose Indian telcos on 6 GHz band spectrum

US tech majors Apple, Amazon, Cisco, Meta, HP, and Intel Corporation have jointly opposed Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea's demand to allocate spectrum in the 6 gigahertz (GHz) band for mobile services. The tech majors sought the entire 6GHz band to be allocated for wifi services instead. In a joint response to telecom regulator Trai's consultation paper for the next round of spectrum auction, the US technology giants have said the technical and commercial readiness in the 6 GHz band is not established for mobile services. "We do not recommend setting timelines for any future auction of the 6425-6725 MHz and 7025-7125 MHz ranges for IMT. TRAI, together with the Department of Telecommunications, should review the allocation of the upper 6 GHz band following the outcomes of WRC-27, including Agenda Item 1.7 concerning 7.125-8.4 GHz," the joint submission said. The tech giants said any upper 6 GHz spectrum that would otherwise remain unused should be made available for unlicensed use i

SC adjourns plea of Vodafone additional AGR case hearing to October 27

The plea of Vodafone sought directions to quash the additional demand of AGR dues, saying that it belonged to the pre-2016-17 period that had been settled by the Supreme Court's earlier ruling

Vi files amended petition, seeks waiver of interest, penalty on AGR dues

VIL sought additional relief, requesting the top court to direct that interest and penalties on the principal AGR dues should not be payable, citing another case as precedent

Indian techie shot dead in California, Vodafone Idea shares, Trump media crackdown

A 30-year-old Indian techie was shot dead by Santa Clara police in California on 3rd September. His family was informed about his death only 15 days later. The family has now appealed to India’s Minis

SC to hear on Sept 26 plea of Vodafone for quashing additional AGR demand

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear on September 26 a plea of telecom major Vodafone Idea Ltd seeking quashing of the additional adjusted gross revenue (AGR) demands for the period until 2016-17. A bench of Chief justice B R Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria fixed the plea for consideration on next Friday after taking note of submissions of senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the telecom firm, and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who represented the Centre. The law officer said that now the circumstances have changed and the parties wanted to find a solution. We will keep it on Friday, the CJI said. The company has filed a fresh plea on September 8 seeking a direction to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to "comprehensively re-assess and reconcile all AGR dues for the period up to FY 2016-17 following the 'Deduction Verification Guidelines'" dated February 3, 2020. Earlier this year, in a setback to telecom majors, including Bharti Airtel a

TCS to transform Vodafone Idea's biz support system via AI-driven platform

India's largest IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been selected by Vodafone Idea to transform its business support system through an AI-driven and future-ready platform, according to a release on Thursday. The five-year engagement will help the telecom service provider unlock new capabilities in customer experience by deploying a platform focused on intelligence, automation, personalisation and accelerated launch of new products and services. "Tata Consultancy Services...has partnered with Vodafone Idea to transform their business support system through an AI-driven and future ready platform," the release said but did not give the size of the deal. The transformation will be anchored on TCS' flagship products, TCS HOBS and TCS TwinX. "TCS HOBS will provide the digital backbone for business support systems, driving agility, stability, and seamless integration across customer touchpoints. TCS TwinX will complement this with AI/ML-powered intelligence and scenari

Airtel lags Jio in May net additions even as overall subscriber base rises

Jio added 2.7 million mobile and FWA users in May to reach 472.4 million, while Airtel gained just 275,000 subscribers, Trai data show

Duopoly not good, must have competition in every sector: Scindia

Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday said duopoly is not good and there must be competition in every sector. Speaking at an event of Broadband India Forum, the minister said there is intense competition in the country among internet service providers and the government will issue rules for delicensing 6 gigahertz spectrum before August 15 that will be used for wifi services and bridging of digital divide. "Our job is to provide as many avenues as possible and within each vertical as well, provide intense competition. It's not good enough having a duopoly of one carrier or two carriers," Scindia said. Earlier in the event, former telecom regulator Trai Chairman RS Sharma said there is almost a duopoly in the telecom sector with just two active service providers and there is need to provide more route for giving broadband access to consumers at affordable rates. At present, Indian telecom sector is being dominated by Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio who are actively .

Vodafone Idea to seek shareholder nod for ₹20,000 cr fundraise, AoA tweak

The planned fundraise is part of Vodafone Idea's broader effort to strengthen its balance sheet and support investments in network expansion and 5G rollout

SC rejects Vodafone, Airtel, Tata pleas for AGR dues waiver on interest

Calling the petitions 'misconceived', Supreme Court refused to waive penalties or interest on AGR dues for Airtel, Vodafone, and Tata Teleservices despite claims of financial distress

Vodafone Idea seeks Supreme Court help after govt rejects request on dues

The government on April 29 rejected the request by Vodafone Idea CEO Akshaya Moondra for a waiver on interest and penalties it owes on $9.76 billion in dues

Vodafone plans rollout of Starlink rival AST to connect remote areas

The technology will provide people in areas with poor mobile signal with 4G or 5G connectivity beamed straight from satellites connected to Vodafone's core network

SC upholds Rs 1,600 crore tax refund for Vodafone Idea, dismisses SLP

The court dismissed the SLP on grounds of delay, refusing to condone the same

Vodafone Plc exits Indus Towers, sells shares worth Rs 2,800 crore

The British telecom giant has paid back Rs 890 crore to lenders and acquired a stake worth Rs 1,910 crore in Vi

Vodafone exits Indus Towers, raises Rs 2,800 cr; clears Rs 890 cr dues

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

Vodafone Group clears about Rs 11,650 cr dues raised against VIL shares

UK-based Vodafone Group has cleared dues of around Rs 11,650 crore or about 109 million pound that it raised against shares of Vodafone Idea, according to a regulatory filing. Vodafone Group had pledged almost the entire stake in VIL to raise the debt. The pledge was created in favour of HSBC Corporate Trustee Company (UK) for the debt raised by Mauritius and India-based entities of Vodafone Group. "On 27 December 2024, HSBC Corporate Trustee Company (UK) Limited acting as the security trustee for the lenders has released the pledges pursuant to repayment of the outstanding dues owed to the lenders by the Vodafone Promoter Shareholders. "Consequently, the indirect encumbrance on 15,720,826,860 equity shares of the target company held by the Vodafone Promoter Shareholders representing 22.56 per cent of the equity share capital of the target company on a fully diluted basis has been released," the filing said. "Consequently, the indirect encumbrance on 15,720,826,860 equity shares o

Vi board approves plan to raise Rs 1,980 crore from promoter units

Omega Telecom Holdings and Usha Martin Telematics to hold nearly 3 per cent of Vi after issue

Debt-ridden Vodafone Idea to raise Rs 1,980 crore through share issue

Vodafone Idea said it will issue shares to Vodafone Group entities Omega Telecom Holdings and Usha Martin Telematics worth up to Rs 1,280 crore and Rs 700 crore, respectively

Vodafone-Three merger approval marks UK's shift to prioritise growth

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) antitrust regulator cleared the $19 billion Vodafone-Three UK deal on Thursday after it accepted the companies' argument

Britain approves $19 billion merger between Vodafone UK, Three mobile

Vodafone and Three have committed to spend $14 billion to build a better 5G network that will serve 50 million customers, including the subscribers of Vodafone's network partner Virgin Media O2