Bharti Airtel said it has closed its deal to transfer CDMA spectrum to Reliance Jio Infocomm and received the money. “Airtel has received Rs. 1004.8 crores (net of tax) from Jio for the proposed transfer. In addition, Jio will assume future liabilities of Rs. 469.3 crores relating to the spectrum,” the Gurgaon-based company said. The […]
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 […]
Reliance Jio, India’s largest telecom operator, increased its spectrum holding by 55% after it spent over Rs 57,000 cr in the just concluded auction, and will seen an increase in its 4G speeds in coming days. The company emerged as the biggest spender in the auction, and has reportedly purchased spectrum worth nearly twice the […]
Vodafone Idea, the country’s third largest mobile operator, has started deploying a revolutionary new approach to creating its cellular network, but has also encountered several challenges in doing so. The company is experimenting with the so-called ‘open radio access network’ or Open RAN technology, which is a break from the traditional one-box technology promoted by […]
Despite the extreme disruption caused by the COVID-19, Bharti Airtel reported a decent set of numbers for the Apr-Jun period, though the pandemic clearly slowed down the growth of Airtel’s 4G service and exerted pressure on realizations. PANDEMIC FREEZE While the company has been reporting strong increases in the number of 4G users in recent […]
Even as Vodafone Idea announce big initiatives to expand their network and increase 4G speeds, new data released by telecom regulator TRAI shows that the telco has been left far, far behind by rivals Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio in 4G expansion over the last one year. While both Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea started […]
Bharti Airtel, one of the top three telecom companies in India, said it plans to shut down its 3G network across India over the next six months. “We intend to shut down 3G services by december,” said CEO Gopal Vittal today, speaking to investors. The company has already shut down the 3G network in Kolkata, […]
Vodafone Idea CEO Balesh Sharma today said the company had managed to increase the speeds of its 4G networks by 50-70% in around half of its circles where it has merged Idea and Vodafone networks together. However, said Sharma, the market is yet to fully appreciate the improvement in speeds because of the experience that […]
The government of India is exploring legal options to see if it can get back the spectrum assigned to bankrupt telecom operator Reliance Communications, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said. Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Communications has three types of spectrum — GSM spectrum in the 1800 MHz band that it got along with its license, spectrum […]
The total number of 4G base stations in India has more or less doubled in the last 18 months to 1.26 million, according to numbers from the Department of Telecom. Against 6,76,462 4G base stations as of December 1, 2017, India had 12,62,841 (1.26 million) 4G base stations as of June 1, 2019. During the same […]
Hotstar, India’s largest premium streaming platform, said 15.6 million (1.6 cr) people used its video streaming app at the same time on June 16, when India played Pakistan in the ICC World Cup in England. In all, 10 cr people logged into the service some time during that day. This is a record for the […]
Bharti Airtel today said it has become the first telecom operator to launch 4G services in Lakshadweep, a group of islands off the coast of Kerala. The company has launched its 4G network on the islands of Agatti, Bangaram and Kavaratti. “It will be gradually expanded to other islands of the archipelago,” it promised. It […]
Customers of Vodafone and Idea networks will notice an improvement in their 4G experience in coming weeks, especially in areas like Mumbai and Delhi, as the company starts deploying massive amounts of cash to improve the networks in such areas. The network improvement will be done via several methods — by deploying extra spectrum, technological […]
Bharti Airtel said it has become the first telecom operator to launch 4G services in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. “Airtel’s 4G services will enable local residents to enjoy digital services like HD quality video streaming, superfast downloads and uploads, high speeds internet browsing on Airtel’s state-of-the-art FDD 4G network,” the company said. Andaman and Nicobar […]
The government of India has given back the 4G spectrum surrendered by BSNL about seven years ago to enable the state-owned telecom operator to start 4G services. The telecom operator had surrendered 4G spectrum in six expensive circles such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh about seven years ago, in return for part […]
Vodafone Idea, India’s No.1 telecom operator by subscribers and revenue, said it will increase its 4G network capacity by 50% in four months, largely by redeploying existing 4G equipment to avoid duplication. The move would also increase the coverage of Vodafone Idea’s 4G signals by about 30% compared to the present. “We are looking at […]
Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom subsidiary of Reliance Industries, said it will take a loan of $1 bln from Korea Trade Insurance Corporation to purchase goods from Korean companies Samsung and Ace Technologies. “The Facility is K-SURE’s largest deal in India as well as the largest deal supported by K-SURE in the telecom sector globally,” […]
Bharti Airtel said it will increase the number of its telecom network sites in Tamil Nadu by 30% this year, while expanding its fiber network in the state by 21%. It said it will add 12,000 new mobile sites, taking the total to 52,000 by March The fiber capacity will be increased to 17,000 km […]
4G operator Bharti Airtel was clearly ahead of market leader Reliance Jio and challenger Idea Cellular in on-the-ground 4G speed tests conducted by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in ten cities in India this year. According to the data from these tests, Bharti Airtel scored an average download speed of 9.46 Mbps, 44% faster […]
CMR, part of CyberMedia, said a total of 14.83 cr 4G LTE devices were sold in India during 2017 — or one for every 5 adults in the country. The number of 4G devices sold in the country rose 80% compared to 2016, it added. This includes mobile phones, tablets and dongles and mifi devices. […]
