Page 12 - Telecom Industry

Vodafone Idea Q1 net loss widens to Rs 7,840 cr, revenue up by 2.3%

Debt-ridden telecom operator Vodafone Idea on Monday said its consolidated net loss widened to Rs 7,840 crore in the first quarter ended June 30. The company had posted a net loss of Rs 7,295.7 crore in the same period a year ago. The consolidated revenue from operations during the reported quarter increased marginally by 2.3 per cent to Rs 10,655.5 crore from Rs 10,406.8 crore in June 2022 quarter. VIL's average revenue per user (ARPU) of the company during the June quarter increased to Rs 139 from Rs 128 a year ago.

Vodafone Idea, Adani Data Networks may not get relaxations for 5G rollout

According to rules, a telco has to commercially launch service anywhere in each of the three metros and at least in one city in each of India's 22 telecom circles at the end of the first year

Telecom infra stocks in focus; Birla Cable, Sterlite Tech surge up to 20%

The Union Cabinet on Friday approved Rs 1.3 trillion ($17 billion) worth of investments to drive the next stage of the government's ambitious BharatNet project.

Top headlines: Govt defers laptop import curbs, Go First insolvency

Business Standard brings you the top headlines at this hour

Route Mobile promoters to sell entire 57.56% stake to Proximus Group

After the transaction, Proximus Opal will make an open offer to acquire another 1.64 crore shares or 26 per cent stake in Route Mobile

Telcos revenue from voice calls down 80%, SMS 94%, data revenue up 10 times

Telecom operators' revenue share from voice calls has declined by about 80 per cent and by 94 per cent from SMS in the last 10 years as the usage of internet-based calling and messaging apps grew, according to a Trai paper. However, revenue share per user from data usage grew over 10 times between June 2013 quarter to December 2022 quarter, according to the paper. Telecom regulator Trai in its latest paper to regulate internet messaging and callings app like WhatsApp, Google Meet, Facetime etc said that with growing usage of over-the-top (OTT) applications for messaging, voice communication, has led to a transition from voice and SMS towards data as a primary source of revenue for telecom service providers globally. "In India, composition of the revenue basket of wireless access service providers has undergone a sea-change in the period from the year 2013 to 2022," the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) said in its consultation paper on "Regulatory Mechanism for Over-The-T

Telecom secretary K Rajaraman calls for collaborative work for innovation

Telecom secretary K Rajaraman on Friday appealed to industry players to set aside their petty differences and work in collaboration for innovation. While speaking at the National Workshop on Enhancing Indian Participation in Telecom Global Standards Bodies, Rajaraman said that India needs to follow the path of frugal innovation as the company has limited resources. "We can extract far more outcome than what we are doing even now if we are able to put our heads and heart together. It is very important to set aside petty differences, put in place some framework for collaboration," he said. Rajaraman said India needs to do a lot of things to become a major producer of technology. He said that India is not a country that can afford to throw away tens and hundreds of billions of dollars as many other countries are doing. "Like in the case of America. America has borrowed tens of trillions of dollars in the world market and it is making available hundreds of billions of dollars to its .

Nokia renews patent license agreement with Apple, covering 5G, other tech

Network infrastructure and 5G technology provider Nokia has signed a new long-term patent license agreement with Apple to replace the current deal between the two companies that is set to expire at the end of 2023. The deal, which enables Apple to use the Finnish company's technology in its products, covers Nokia's inventions in 5G and other technologies. The terms of the agreement announced late Friday remain confidential. Nokia expects to recognize revenue related to the agreement starting January 2024, and the company said the deal is consistent with its long-term outlook disclosed in the first quarter. The agreement reflects the strength of Nokia's patent portfolio, decades-long investments in Rand D, and contributions to cellular standards and other technologies, Nokia Technologies President Jenni Lukander said in a statement. The previous license agreement between Apple and Nokia was announced in May 2017. Nokia said its patent portfolio is built on more than 140 billion eur

ZTE gets Centre's nod to help Vodafone Idea update its network: Report

ZTE and Huawei have also applied to the National Security Council Secretariat to become a 'trusted source'

UN telecom body ITU accepts India's inputs on 6G technology framework

UN body International Telecom Union has accepted India's inputs on the 6G technology framework, indicating the country's crucial role in the development of next-generation high-speed technology, an official statement said on Thursday. According to the ITU-APT Foundation of India (IAFI), the Indian administration has played a critical role in getting ubiquitous connectivity accepted as a key usage scenario. "India is emerging as a key player in the development of 6G technology. ITU has recently accepted India's contribution towards setting a global framework on 6G. It is Hon'ble PM Modi's clear vision that India must lead the world in 6G," Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in the statement. Modi released India's 6G Vision "Bharat 6G Vision" document in March 2023, envisaging India to be a front-line contributor in the design, development and deployment of 6G technology by 2030. The Department of Telecommunications worked on this ITU 6G framework with the involvement of major ..

Ericsson, Nokia not ready to supply 5G equipment to Vi on credit: Report

Recently, Ericsson provided the telco with 2G radios, but only after it made the entire payment

Musk eager to bring Starlink to India, but faces resistance from Ambani

Following a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the U.S. on Tuesday, Musk said he was keen to launch Starlink in India which "can be incredibly helpful" in remote villages

Govt spectrum usage charge collection halves to Rs 811 cr, AGR up 14%

Government's collection from spectrum usage charges more than halved to Rs 811 crore while telecom operators adjusted gross revenue grew by 14 per cent to Rs 62,904 crore in the October-December quarter 2022 over the year-ago period, sector regulator Trai said on Wednesday. The telecom service provider paid Rs 1,760 crore as spectrum usage charge in December 2021 quarter, according to performance indicator report released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). The total adjusted gross revenue (AGR), on which license fees and SUC are computed, of telecom service providers was Rs 55,151 crore in December and 2021 quarter. Reliance Jio led the market with the highest AGR of Rs 22,586.32 crore while Bharti Airtel with AGR of Rs 18,290 crore recorded the biggest growth of 26.27 per cent on YoY basis. The gross revenue of telecom service providers grew 26.5 per cent on YoY basis to Rs 88,166 crore during the reported quarter from Rs 69,695 crore in December and 2021 ...

Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel gaining equally at the expense of Vodafone Idea

Over 2 million wireless subscribers exited Vodafone Idea in February; Reliance Jio gained 1 million, and Airtel added 982,554 subscribers

Controversial calls on predatory pricing: Telecom industry awaits clarity

As fiercely competitive telcos trade charges again, the industry awaits clarity on the regulatory domain for the sector

Trai begins consultation process to define international traffic

The telecom regulator Trai on Tuesday floated a consultation paper to define international traffic. The definitions are required for clarity in existing rules particularly for rules around telemarketing messages. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) through a reference dated August 30, 2022, requested the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to provide its recommendations on definition of international SMS and domestic SMS. "The Authority noted that the term 'international traffic' has not been defined in the Unified License and that 'international SMS' is a type of 'international traffic'. Therefore, the Authority is of the view that instead of defining international SMS in the Unified License Agreement, it would be appropriate to define the term 'international traffic', instead," Trai said in a statement. The load carried on a telecommunication network is called traffic, or more specifically 'telecommunication traffic'. Telecommunication traffic comprises several t

Direct access of service providers' data to DoT for ease of doing biz: Trai

The Department of Telecom should create a secured system to seamlessly access service providers' data like command logs and supply chain documents to simplify existing security conditions prescribed under current permits, sector regulator Trai recommended on Tuesday. The telecom service providers are required to keep the records of all the operation and maintenance command logs for a period of 12 months, including the actual command given, who gave the command, when it was given with date and time and from where. The same set of information is further required to be stored for next 24 months in a non-online mode which becomes voluminous. In its recommendation on "Ease of Doing Business in Telecom and Broadcasting Sector", the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) recommended that the DoT should review and simplify the existing security conditions prescribed in the telecom licence agreement regarding maintaining command logs and supply chain documents. "Instead of seeking ever

Icra cuts telecom tower industry outlook to negative from stable

Fearing payment delays from key telcos to continue in FY24, domestic rating agency Icra on Tuesday cut its outlook on the telecom towers industry to 'negative' from 'stable'. In a note, the agency said delays in payments by some of the key customers have elongated the receivables cycle for the telecom tower companies to more than 80 days in FY23. The tower industry's dependence on weaker telcos in terms of tenancies remains high at around 34 per cent. Thus, till the time there are liquidity pressures on such customers, the tower industry's health is likely to remain affected, it said. "The elongation in receivables is likely to result in tower companies making sizeable provisions to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore in FY23, thereby denting their profitability," its sector head for corporate ratings Ankit Jain said. The agency expects the provisions to continue going forward, although the quantum is likely to moderate from the FY23 levels, Jain said, adding that increased reliance on ...

Airtel signs binding term sheet to merge Sri Lanka ops with Dialog Axiata

Airtel would accordingly be issued new shares in Dialog upon completion of the transaction

Adtech company Infomo appoints Himanka Das as country director India

Company that works with telecom firms promotes Rohit Verma as global chief of strategy and new initiatives