TMS Ep 419: Telco wars, brand Sachin, power stocks, SpaceX's Starship

With Reliance Jio making a disruptive entry into the telecom sector, 2017 and 2018 saw Airtel, Vodafone, and Idea Cellular raise allegations of predatory pricing. But the CCI had rejected the allegation against Jio. And, by the time Airtel and Vodafone-Idea received some relief, it was too late. Jio had grabbed its targeted market share. Now, as the 5G services are being rolled out, the old allegations are again doing the rounds. So, why are Indian telcos pointing fingers at each other? 

Meanwhile, for cricket fans all over the world, Monday was an occasion for both celebration and nostalgia. It was Sachin Tendulkar’s 50th birthday. While the legend left the 22-yard about a decade ago, he continues to rule hearts, and screens even today. While most sportspersons have short shelf-life post retirement, Tendulkar still endorses 15 brands. We flip through old Pepsi ads and brush the dust off our Action shoes to see how brand Sachin still rules.   

Big brands like Dhoni and Kohli are sweating it out in the ongoing season of IPL, and their fans are flooding the stadiums to see them in action despite the searing summer heat. Meanwhile, heat is playing havoc off the field too. Power demand has already touched a record high of 216 gigawatts this month. And analysts project this will rise further. So, will this provide a fillip to shares of power distribution companies? Or are the positives already priced in by the markets? 

The heat is on in space as well. The private sector is rapidly increasing its space exploration efforts, and is tasting both success and failures. One of the space vehicles designed by Elon Musk-led space exploration company, SpaceX exploded soon after take off last week. But the engineers and scientists hailed it as an achievement. In today’s episode of the podcast we tell you more about this space vehicle.