Telecom Companies

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

MTNL soars 9% as co plans 'not to shut shop' or go to NCLT, say reports

The government plans to keep MTNL as a 'going concern' as the company going to NCLT will not set the right precedent for other PSU companies

Telcom firms, Scindia discuss AGR, OTP apps exclusion from licensing rules

Telecom operators in a meeting with Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia expressed concerns over regulator Trai excluding messaging and calling apps like WhatsApp and Telegram in its recommendation on new licensing rules, sources aware of the development said. Operators also discussed issues concerning adjusted gross revenue payments, they added. The meeting was attended by Reliance Jio Chairman Akash Ambani, Vodafone Idea CEO Akshaya Moondra, Bharti Airtel MD and CEO Gopal Vittal and BSNL Chairman and Managing Director Robert J Ravi. "All telecom operators expressed concern over the exclusion of over-the-top apps by Trai in its recommendation on Service Authorisation. Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel raised the issue of adjusted gross revenue," a source said. Telecom operators have been demanding for a long time to bring calling and messaging apps, called as OTTs, under the ambit of telecom licences as they provide calling and messaging services like any telecom operator. The Telec

SC rejects telecom firms' pleas in AGR case; Vi shares plunge 10%

The rejection of the final legal remedy leaves Vodafone Idea with limited options, worsening its financial struggles amid fierce competition and heavy debt

Trai urges DoT to encash Rs 115 cr from telcos for spam-related violations

The telecom regulator maintains that telcos are responsible for controlling unsolicited commercial communications under the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations

Trai extends mandatory whitelisting deadline by a month to October 1

Telcos to submit status update to Trai in 15 days

Bharti Airtel Q1 FY25 results: Profit rises 158% on new 4G, 5G users

Continued growth in WiFi category helped Q1 gains; Arpu rises to Rs 211

Trai's service quality rules will raise compliance and costs, says telcos

Telecom companies said the new rules will impose additional costs on them, and the benefits to consumers will be minimal

Trai intensifies crackdown on spam, robocalls with new directive to telcos

Telecom firms are only allowed to use the 140 series to make calls to consumers, however, unregistered telemarketers continue to use 10-digit phone numbers, making identification a challenge

Telcos eye 6G rollout with AI-driven network amid ongoing 5G deployment

6G is expected to heavily depend on artificial intelligence, with experts predicting that artificial intelligence algorithms will play a central role in driving the 6G networks autonomously

DoT plans to update trade codes for telco gear for better tracking

Trai wants HSN codes updated to better identify products & trade

Jio, Airtel, Vodafone Idea deposit Rs 4,350 cr ahead of spectrum auctions

Reliance Jio had a net worth of Rs 2.31 trillion followed by Airtel with Rs 86,260 crore, DoT said. Vodafone Idea had a negative net worth of Rs 1.16 trillion

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise eyes €100 million revenue from India in 3-5 years

Headquartered in Paris, France, ALE has a presence in more than 50 countries globally. In India, the company has around 250 employees

Telecom subscriber base rises by 5.6 mn in March 2024, led by Jio, Airtel

Reliance Jio clocked in 3.6 million new subscribers and Bharti Airtel added 2.8 million subscribers in March 2024, while Vodafone Idea loss 0.6 million

Nokia India posts 69% decline in sales at Rs 2,360 cr in March quarter

Finnish telecom gear maker Nokia posted a 69 per cent decline in India sales to 265 million euros, about Rs 2,360 crore, in the March quarter due to moderating 5G rollout in the country. The company had posted net sales of 853 million euros in the year-ago period. "Net sales in APAC declined strongly in the quarter, mainly due to Mobile Networks and Network Infrastructure. Within APAC (Asia Pacific), India net sales declined reflecting the normalisation of 5G investments in the region after significant deployments in the year-ago quarter," Nokia said. The lower spending levels in India and North America led to a 37 per cent decline in sales of Nokia's mobile network at the global level. "A slower pace of spending in India was anticipated following the rapid 5G deployment seen in H1 (first half) 2023, and our expectations for India for the full year remain unchanged," Nokia President and CEO Pekka Lundmark said. Nokia's overall net sales fell 20 per cent to 4.6 billion euros during

Voda Idea gets board nod to raise Rs 2,075 cr from Aditya Birla group

Debt-ridden telecom firm Vodafone Idea on Saturday said its board has approved raising of Rs 2,075 crore from promoter Aditya Birla group and increasing its authorised share capital to Rs 1 lakh crore. The company will seek shareholders' approval at an extraordinary general meeting on May 8 on the proposals, it said in a regulatory filing. The Vodafone Idea board has approved "issuance of up to 1,395,427,034 equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each at an issue price of Rs 14.87 per equity share (including a premium of Rs 4.87 per equity share), aggregating to Rs 2,075 crore to Oriana Investments Pte. Ltd (Aditya Birla Group entity forming part of the promoter group), on a preferential basis," the filing said. The board also approved an increase in the authorised share capital of the company from existing Rs 75,000 crore, divided into Rs 70,000 crore equity share capital and Rs 5,000 crore preference share capital, to Rs 1 lakh crore, the filing said. The increased authorised share

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

Spectrum auction to be a muted affair as telcos already hold key bands

Loss of appetite: The spectrum auction this year could be a muted affair, with telcos' hunger for airwaves ebbing away after the feasts of 2010 and 2022

SC rules companies need not deduct tax for discounted SIM cards sales

This means that telecom companies need not deduct TDS for selling pre-paid SIM cards to their distributors at a rate below the market price

Here's how Centre is gearing up BSNL to compete with private telecom peers

The measures include network upgradation, employee cost rationalisation and a proposal to provide more value-added services