Telecos

Debt on major telcos hits Rs 4 trn in FY24; BSNL debt lowest at Rs 23.2k cr

The total debt on four major telecom operators in the country stood at Rs 4,09,905 crore in the financial year 2024, with state-owned BSNL recording the lowest debt among competitors at Rs 23,297 crore, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. According to data shared by Minister of State for Communications Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Vodafone Idea registered a debt of Rs 2.07 lakh crore, Bharti Airtel Rs 1.25 lakh crore and Jio Infocomm Rs 52,740 crore as of March 31, 2024. BSNL had a debt of Rs 40,400 crore in FY22, which was reduced to Rs 28,092 crore with the help of a revival package and financial support from the government. "In 2019, the first revival package amounting to around Rs 69 thousand crores was given that brought down the operating costs of BSNL/MTNL. In 2022, a revival package amounting to around Rs 1.64 Lakh crore was given. It focused on infusing fresh capital, restructuring debt, viability gap funding for rural telephony etc," Sekh

AT&T's equipment writedown hurts annual profit view, shares decline

The writedown of Nokia equipment will reduce annual earnings per share by nearly 17 cents and comes as AT&T shifts to new lower-cost ORAN technology, or open radio access network

Jio-Airtel battle for home Wi-Fi connections as they aim for higher Arpu

The mobile Arpu for Airtel stood at Rs 200 at the end of the first quarter of FY24. On the other hand, Airtels's Arpu for home services stood at Rs 608

Centre mulls proposal to allow satellite firms provide wireless service

According to experts, the move to provide mobility services authorisation to GMPCS licence holders will prepare the way for firms such as Elon Musk-owned Starlink to compete with telecom firms

Manipur govt reprimands Airtel over availability of mobile internet service

The Manipur government has served a show cause notice to a private telecom company over the availability "of internet data services in mobile phones in some areas of Churachandpur and adjoining Bishnupur district on September 20" while the suspension of mobile data service is still in force, an official said. Commissioner (Home) T Ranjit Singh, in a letter to Ashish Bansal, Chief Technical Officer, Airtel, Imphal on Thursday remarked it is "a serious lapse on the part of service provider and this lapse might have led to the dissemination of inflammatory and provocative clips and messages in various social media platforms leading to communal tension, hatred and rumours," the official said. The letter said, "Considering the very sensitive and volatile law and order situation currently prevailing in the state, the aforesaid lapses have been viewed very seriously by the state government, and this amounts to violation of the government orders." The state government has asked Airtel to gi

Trai directs annual audit for telcos, asks to refund overcharged tariff

The audit has to be conducted by a panel of auditors notified by Trai. Non-compliance or failure to submit the report can result in monetary penalties that can go up to Rs 50 lakh

Reliance, Vodafone, Airtel may increase their headcount by 25% in FY24

Reliance Jio's total headcount at FY23 end was 95,326; Airtel's headcount was 64,407; and Vodafone Idea's was 15,604

Vodafone Idea approaches banks for loans worth Rs 7,000 crore: Report

The lenders have, however, sought clarity from the telco on the Government's potential shareholding and its plans to infuse capital in Vi

Telecos divided over benefits of artificial intelligence, big data tech

Operators have taken up conflicting positions on the need to create common AI terminology standards before leveraging the new-age technology in the telecom industry

OTT players must pay to use the telecom service provider's network: COAI

COAI added that the government must provide a legal framework to enable the service providers to charge any user that uses their services

India second among 21 countries in H1 2022 Arpu rise, shows data

Also ranked 6th among 26 countries in data usage growth over same period

5G set to cover 80% of India by next October if chip supply is assured

Telcos to install over 1.5 million radios by then; all metros, and towns will be covered, say vendors

To improve ARPU, telcos to hike tariffs more frequently in FY23: Report

Reliance Jio is most likely to lead the hikes as it is now focussing on profitability and aims to launch an IPO in next couple of years

New telecom bill may clarify on insolvency norms for stressed firms: Report

With Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022, a spectrum will be held by a telco till it continues to pay the dues and provide the services. Once the service stops, the spectrum will go to the government

Six years of Jio: Tracing the telco's dominance in the Indian market

Jio, with 36 per cent market share, is the number one player in the segment

New rules allow Telcos to lay infra on private properties without approval

'Where the licensee proposes establishment of overground telegraph infrastructure over any private property, the licensee shall not require any permission from authority'

Banks call on government to ease pressure on debt-laden Vodafone Idea

Banks led by State Bank of India have called on the Indian government to give debt-laden Vodafone Idea more time to clear its tax dues and spectrum fees

Airtel takes a leaf out of Reliance Jio as telecom battle intensifies

This is not the first time that Bharti Airtel has followed its arch rival's strategy. Over 4G, it followed a similar policy too which differentiated them both from their legacy telecom rivals

Global vendors closely monitoring VIL situation, say it's business-as-usual

Global telecom gear makers are keeping a close watch on how things evolve for Vodafone Idea, which is in the grip of an existential crisis, but maintain that it is business-as-usual

Vodafone Idea's pre-tax loss rises 73% to Rs 11,742 crore in March quarter

The telecom firm had posted a pre-tax loss of Rs 6,758 crore in the same quarter last year.