Rishi Ranjan Kala

Telcos use innovative marketing strategies to cash in on IPL popularity

To cash in on the popularity of the Indian Premier League (IPL), telecom operators are using innovative marketing strategies to give their subscribers the best possible experience of the matches.
Trai rule on tariff offers could cost telcos Rs 10-12,000 crore

The Trai regulation that telcos can no longer make an offer to select clients — segmented offers, in jargon — but have to extend them to all subscribers could potentially cost the industry Rs 10,000-12,000 crore in a year.
App-based voice calls on the rise

Customers increasingly using WhatsApp, Hike for domestic calls.
Cyber security: Telecom sector set to have own emergency response team

Considering the sensitive and strategic nature of communication networks, the government is working on creating a computer emergency response team (CERT) for the telecom sector. “Department of Telecom (DoT) is working on creating a CERT.
Policy for telecom infrastructure in defence areas notified

The government has notified the policy for establishing telecom towers and related infrastructure in areas under the Ministry of Defence (MoD). It will not only allow companies to easily set up towers, but also share infrastructure in these areas.
Data-centric: 4G takes the lead

Reliance Jio had a lion’s share of 67.2% of the 4G data user base but incumbents are slowly catching up.
Trai’s new portal to compare operator tariffs

As stated is the past too, under the principle of transparency, an operator has to report all the tariff plans it is offering, including segmented offers, to the regulator and on the company website.
Gross revenue of telcos in Oct-Dec lowest in 4 years

This is the lowest GR since the January-March quarter of FY14 when it stood at Rs 60,716 crore, whereas the AGR recorded in the third quarter of FY18 is a tad better than during the first quarter of FY14, when it stood at Rs 35,280 crore.
DoT wants BSNL, MTNL to work together to strengthen network

The department of telecom (DoT) wants BSNL and MTNL to join hands on not just ramping up the latter’s 3G network in the National Capital Region (NCR) to ramp up service experience for customers, but also wants both the operators to pitch together for enterprise customers on a pan-India basis, utilising each other’s networks across the country.
Predatory Pricing Controversy: Trai looks at escape route

Under attack by the incumbent operators such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone, which allege that its latest regulation on predatory pricing and significant market power favours only one operator —Reliance Jio, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) seems to be looking at ways to reconcile the interests of the two groups, but the task seems difficult.
Telecom push: Cabinet likely to take up relaxation in spectrum holding cap today

Proposal a part of recommendations made by Trai in November last year
Predatory pricing: ‘See you in court’ – Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal to TRAI

With Mittal’s statement, the contours have become clear: Incumbent operators will individually challenge the order while the Cellular Operators Association of India will also challenge it as an industry association.
Telcos free to take legal measures: Trai chairman RS Sharma

Reacting for the first time since Vodafone Global CEO Vittorio Colao and COAI director-general Rajan S Mathews said they would explore legal avenues to challenge Trai’s order, Sharma said that they (Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular) had in the past moved TDSAT alleging bias in one of the operator’s (Reliance Jio) tariff plans, but lost the case.
Vittorio Colao: Trai’s predatory pricing rule favours Jio

Industry body COAI, on February 20, had said that Trai’s latest regulations benefit a particular operator, and had hit out at the sector regulator, saying that the recent amendment has “deeply victimised” the industry.
Reliance Jio versus COAI: Rajan S Mathews of industry body rules out apology

With one of the largest delegations at the Mobile World Congress, India plans to highlight its readiness for 5G services and technology leadership, including its numero uno position globally in terms of mobile data usage, reports PTI.
Telco subscriber addition negative in January: COAI

Net addition of mobile subscribers lost steam in January, with the industry losing 1.2 million subscribers on a net basis, the latest figures by the Cellular Operators Association of India showed.
Govt working on developing system to track, analyse data from dark web

The government is working on a cyber security monitoring and interference model, which will help law enforcement agencies to track activities of cyber criminals and terrorists who use the dark web to communicate as well as to buy and sell various products and services.
Net Neutrality: COAI plans to play national objective card

More than two years after the net neutrality battle saw them fighting with their backs to the wall to counter the challenges mounted by the content service providers and over-the-top (OTT) players, they have accepted that they lost the perception battle in the first round.
Reliance Jio to DoT: Use 4G tech for mobile connectivity projects

Reliance Jio has urged the Department of Telecom (DoT) to use only 4G technology for providing mobile connectivity in uncovered villages and the north-east region against the currently mandated conditions in the tenders floated by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) to use 2G for voice and 4G for data.
Uttarakhand’s maiden investor summit in September

Uttarakhand will hold its first investor summit during September as the state aims to raise its investment profile, advertising the hilly region’s cheap electricity, good law and order condition and an environment-friendly image.
Monetising assets: BSNL wants to sell lands which it does not own

State-owned, loss-making telecom firm BSNL’s move to monetise its real estate assets in order to shore up its revenues has run into trouble as the department of telecommunications (DoT) has said since the ownership of the properties do not vest with the firm, its proposal cannot be processed.
Cartelisation case: CCI, Jio move Supreme Court against Bombay HC order

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) and Reliance Jio Infocomm have moved the Supreme Court against the Bombay High Court’s order that quashed the investigation ordered by the fair trade regulator into charges of cartelisation against three telecom companies —Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular.
Telecom companies’ subscriber addition lowest in December

Bharti’s eKYC for mobile subscribers was suspended for about a week in December by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for opening payment bank account of its subscribers without taking their consent.
Subscriber base: Is Jio the winner when it comes to number portability? Revealed here

Reliance Jio may have stormed the market, first with its free offers and then with low charges, forcing incumbents to follow suit. It also created a record by garnering the fastest 100-million subscriber base.
Dropping below target! Modi govt’s revenue from telecom to take a hit

The absence of an auction for spectrum and lower collection of licence fee and spectrum usage charge (SUC) from operators in the wake of lower revenue due to competitive pressure from Reliance Jio will see the government’s revenue for FY18 from telecom services fall 33% from the budgeted level to Rs 29,524 crore.
Sale of 773 acres of prime real estate: DoT to land Rs 10k-15k crore windfall

The department of telecommunications (DoT) is planning to monetise more than 773 acres of prime real estate worth around Rs 10,000-15,000 crore that it controls through Hemisphere Properties India (HPIL), the company created to take over surplus land from the erstwhile Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL).
Telcos report highest subscriber additions in November: COAI

Bharti Airtel added 4.3 million subscribers in the month while Vodafone and Idea added 2.7 million and 3.2 million subscribers, respectively.

Budget 2018

Horoscope: By Peter Vidal

Today ( 19 Apr )This Week ( 15 Apr - 21 Apr )

Rishi Ranjan Kala

latest News

Industry Sectors

FROM THE PRINT

MORE