Vodafone Idea, one of India’s biggest telecom operators, today said that the dues that it has to pay pursuant to a recent Supreme Court decision works out to Rs 21,533 cr. This is about 60% less than the Rs 53,000 cr that Department of Telecom has calculated. “Following the approval of the Board of Directors […]
Ministry of Communications, Government of India today said that it was not aware of any speculations or reports about telecom operator Vodafone Idea shutting down its operations. This was stated by junior telecom minister Sanjay Dhotre when Member of Parliament Pratima Mondal sought government of India’s reaction to reports about the company being forced to […]
India Ratings, a unit of Fitch Group, downgraded the credit rating of Vodafone Idea and said it doesn’t see how the company can pay the money sought by the Department of Telecom as directed by the Supreme Court. A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra has asked companies such as Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel […]
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, which is in the middle of a massive turnaround program, has officially asked the government for the allotment of 5G spectrum, according to Sanjay Dhotre, junior minister for communications, Government of India. “Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has requested DoT to assign spectrum for 5G services on Pan India basis (except […]
Government of India has denied suggestions that India does not have enough spectrum to implement 5G wireless technologies. Replying to a question in parliament, communications minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said India has set apart 275 MHz of spectrum for 5G services. He, however, admitted that Broadband India Forum — a policy think tank headed by […]
Ravider Takkar, CEO of telecom operator Vodafone Idea, today said the government has been very supportive of his company’s requests for providing some kind of relief for the telecom sector to help it tide over a liquidity crunch. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ruled that the revenue share payable to the government by telecom […]
State-owned telecom operator Mahanagar Telefone Nigam Ltd or MTNL has released details of the voluntary retirement scheme or VRS that will be available to its employees as part of its merger with BSNL. The company said the VRS has been based on the ‘Gujarat Model’. Under this model, employees will get a sum equal to […]
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 […]
Anil Ambani Group’s Reliance Communications Ltd got a big relief today after the Supreme Court ordered the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India to approve the sale of the company’s spectrum lease to Reliance Jio. “The Spectrum trading transaction will now be completed and RCOM will pay-off Ericsson and minority investors of Reliance Infratel Limited […]
Idea Cellular said its had completed the sale of its 9,900 towers to American Tower Corp’s India unit at an ‘enterprise valuation’ of Rs 4,000 cr. The exact amount that ATC will pay to the telecom operator for the towers is not clear. Enterprise valuation includes the money payable to creditors as well as shareholders. […]
The problem of high debt levels faced by some telecom companies in India was of their own making and the government had a limited to role to play in resolving the same, the inter-ministerial group set up to address the concerns of telecom sector found. The cash flow issues faced by the companies is related […]
Reliance Communication Ltd said it received the approval of Department of Telecommunication (DoT) for its merger with Sistema Shyam Teleservices Limited or SSTL, which runs MTS branded services in India. With this, the Anil Ambani Group company has received all the major regulatory approvals for the merger. The closure of the transaction is expected by […]
Bharti Airtel’s attempts to avoid paying “voice conversion charge” on the spectrum that it is purchasing from internet service provider Tikona Digital could end up unintentionally benefiting arch rival Reliance Jio. Reliance Jio was forced to pay around Rs 1,650 cr four years ago to the government after telecom players protested that the company did […]
Government of India is yet to say ‘no’ to a request by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd for the allocation of one block of spectrum in the precious 700 MHz band to enable it to launch 4G services in rural areas. The company had sought one block of 700 MHz spectrum in return for issuing new shares […]
The Department of Telecom is considering the remove of local address requirements for people taking a new mobile connection using an Aadhaar card. “We are in final talks. It will take a few more days,” said a DoT official. At present, taking a mobile phone connection requires that the subscriber should either have proof of […]
The dispute over providing interconnection facility is set to end in the next two weeks, with Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone giving in to the demands of new operator Reliance Jio and the regulator. The decision to comply comes in the wake of a recommendation for a fine of Rs 3,050 cr to be […]
India is getting ready for a digital revolution by auctioning 700 MHz spectrum that has the potential to take high-speed Internet to every village in the country. However, telecom operators — who have to play the role of the enablers — are not popping open the bubbly quite yet. The reason for their misgivings is […]
Department of Telecom’s Committee on Net Neutrality said the use of data packs by consumers to make voice calls amounted to bypassing “existing licensing and regulatory regime”. The committee therefore said that such a state of affairs must be rectified. It did not specify how consumers were “bypassing regulations” by using their data packs for […]
India is likely to have pan-India mobile number portability from Friday, according to telecom industry sources. “Most of the glitches have been overcome, and all operators have implemented the technical changes,” said an industry source. The Department of Telecom had given a two month extension from May 3 — the last deadline — for the […]
