BSNL, a state-owned telecom provider, has withdrawn the enormously popular Rs 449 Fiber Basic Plan with effect from today. The plan was put in place in November last year in response to the launch of a cut-throat, Rs 399 plan by Reliance Jio, India’s largest telecom operator. The 499 plan gave 3,300 GB of high-speed […]
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel said US-based payments processor Mastercard will invest $100 mln (Rs 730 cr) into its Africa mobile payments business. The announcement comes two weeks after TPG Group invested $200 mn in Airtel Money Africa. The latest agreement values Airtel Africa’s mobile money business at $2.65bn on a cash and debt free basis, […]
Kerala Cable TV Operators’ Association, the biggest organization of local cable operators in Kerala, will inaugurate its much-awaited voice calling service on Thursday, March 25. This will make it possibly the first cable TV operators’ association in the entire country to diversify into voice services. It was one of the first to branch out into […]
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd is all set to report its first improvement in finances after the entry of Reliance Jio into the market, and is on track to reduce its operating expenses by around half this year. For the first nine months of the current financial year, BSNL’s total losses plunged to just Rs 3,607 […]
Responding to question on whether Chinese companies like Huawei can purchase 5G spectrum in the upcoming auction, India’s communications ministry said any company of any country can participate in any spectrum auction in India. “..they [foreign companies] are allowed to participate in the auctions directly and apply for a Unified License subsequently through an Indian […]
BSNL subscribers waiting for faster wireless connectivity may have to wait for a year or more, as the government today clarified that the state-owned telecom operator has not given orders for 4G equipment for its much-delayed network expansion. Nearly 11 years after 3G and 4G spectrum was first handed over to the company, BSNL is […]
A Supreme Court bench of Ashok Bhushan and Subhash Reddy has asked to see the new regulations brought out by the central government on content apps. In an appeal for anticipatory bail for Amazon Prime creative head Aparna Purohit in a case of outraging Hindu sentiments, the bench asked the government what it plans to […]
The new rules for messaging apps announced as part of today’s digital/online media regulatory framework will make it impossible for WhatsApp to continue to operate in India in its present form. One of the key demands placed by the government in front of WhatsApp has always been that it should attach an origin-ID to all […]
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel has raised $1.25 billion (Rs 9,050 cr) via dollar-denominated bonds from a clutch of international investors, tying up funds ahead of impending auctions of 5G spectrum. The debt was raised at considerably low interest rates, though they carry the risk of the US currency appreciating in value against the Indian rupee. […]
Bharti Airtel has announced its entry into the lucrative, Rs 30,000 cr digital advertising market in India, making it the most serious competitor yet to Google and Facebook, which together control about 90% of the market at present. While Google leverages its access to search data and Facebook taps its access to behavioral data on […]
In a further commitment to rolling out Open RAN technologies, telecom operator Bharti Airtel announced a tie-up with hardware and chipset provider Qualcomm Inc. It said Qualcomm will provide technology to support the roll-out of 5G using the open technology. Qualcomm is a maker of semiconductors or chips that are used by other equipment makers, […]
Vodafone Idea, which is struggling to stave off bankruptcy after a Supreme Court bench heaped billions of dollars of extra liability on the company last year, indicated that it was not planning to sit out the 5G game. The company is currently racing to tie up funds to keep its business afloat as it lost […]
Indian IT services provider Wipro Ltd said it has refreshed its 15-year engagement with Telefonica Germany with a focus on enabling new services in the 5G era. The program “will ensure that Telefónica Germany / O2 is well positioned to modernise and launch a range of new offerings including 5G products and services,” the Indian […]
Government of India seems to have had a change of heart as far as its digitization strategy for radio is concerned, particularly on the choice of technology for the future. The first phase of India’s radio digitization — which has the potential to deliver CD-quality sound on radio receivers — was started around 11 years […]
TV Today, one of India’s largest news broadcasting companies, reported a strong set of numbers for the Oct-Dec quarter, indicating that the TV broadcasting business had more or less completely recovered from the impact of COVID-19. Revenue at the core TV broadcasting business returned to growth after a year, posting revenue of Rs 186 cr […]
India-based Dixon Technologies, one of the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturers, said it is in the final stages of operationalizing a deal with Chinese electronics maker Lenovo that will enable it to start export smartphones in coming months. This will mark the quickest move to exports for any category for Dixon Electronics. At present, the […]
Bharti Airtel, which has so far maintained that it will take two to three years for the 5G ecosystem to get ready in India, seemed to have had a change of heart, going by its latest statement on the upcoming wireless communication standard. Giving details of the ‘first ever successful demonstration’ of 5G on a […]
Reliance Jio, India’s largest telecom company, reported a new low in net subscriber additions during the Oct-Dec period, managing to add just about 4.4 million net new users during the final three months of the year. This is the lowest net addition for any three-month period since the company started commercial operations four years ago. […]
TV18 Broadcast, one of India’s top TV broadcasting companies, reported a whopping 84% jump in its net profit for the December quarter. The numbers were boosted by a sharp fall in operating and tax expenses, as well as by a steady recovery in revenue aided by festival spending. The company’s consolidated net profit for the […]
Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd, the publisher of popular Hindi newspaper Hindustan, revealed a financial performance that suggest that the company is bouncing back faster than expectations. In what could come as a surprise to many analysts, the company’s net profit for the Oct-Dec 2020 period was in fact higher than its net profit for the […]
