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 […]
DD Free Dish, the free direct-to-home service from Prasar Bharati, has bounced back from the impact of the boycott of the platform by major broadcasters like Star India, Zee Entertainment, Sony Pictures and Viacom18, according to industry sources. According to the CEO of a rival DTH agency, the number of subscribers of DD Free Dish […]
Vodafone Idea, one of the top three telecom players in the country, warned that it will be able to continue as ‘a going concern’ only if it is able to obtain relief from the government. Going concern refers to a company that has the ability to continue to operate and does not face the threat […]
DTH operators, who offer various programs and services on their in-house channels, may soon be prevented from carrying popular serials, films and other licensed content, going by TRAI’s latest recommendations. TRAI also recommended that the ministry of information and broadcasting should stop the broadcasting of delayed feeds of existing channels, branded as +1 channels, on […]
Royal Enfield, the country’s biggest maker of premium motorcycles, is unlikely to offer last minute, stock-clearance discounts as part of the BS-VI transition, given that strong festival sales helped clear out much of its inventory. According to company officials, the festival sales this year have been so strong that they have effectively cleared out any […]
With only a day remaining for the BJP to inform the Raj Bhawan of its final stand on forming the government in Maharashtra, the state-leadership of the Congress Party seems to have fully come around to the idea of lending support to a government involving rival Shiv Sena. Speaking to a TV channel from a […]
The Supreme Court of India has handed over the dispute site in Ayodhya to a trust for the purpose of constructing a temple to Ram, while Muslims have been given an alternate location ‘in a prominent location’ for the construction of a mosque. The judgement was based on historical and archaeological evidence that suggested that […]
Recent changes in how television channels are priced and distributed have given an advantage to large broadcasting companies, helping them push out smaller and regional channels, India’s biggest association of news broadcasters warned. If left unchecked, the current trends would result in a loss of plurality and the establishment of monopolistic market in the country, […]
Reliance Jio, India’s largest telecom operator by volume of traffic carried, has opposed any ‘bailout package’ for Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, claiming that the two companies have enough assets to pay the back taxes and other dues reinstated by the Supreme Court last week. Instead, Reliance Jio said the government should look at implementing […]
Bharti Airtel, the former No.1 telecom operator in India, has started bouncing off the bottom as far as its operational numbers are concerned. The numbers for the second quarter (July to September 2019) showed that the company has definitely turned the corner, at least far as broader operating numbers and revenue are concerned. However, the […]
Reliance Jio, India’s biggest telecom operator by volumes, has set a short-term target of signing on 3.5 cr (35 mln) subscribers for its fiber internet service by the end of 2020, said a stock analyst, quoting company sources. “Their immediate target is to sign up 20 mln [2 cr] homes in the next 12-15 months,” […]
Reliance Industries, India’s most valuable company by shareholding, has restructured its telecom investments and holdings to facilitate its “early monetization”. The oil-to-retail giant said it has decided to set up a new company exclusively for holding the digital business of RJIL — devoid of towers and fiber — and plans to sell stakes in this […]
Telecom services provider Bharti Airtel said it was launching a new ‘start-up accelerator’ program aimed at finding and investing in promising start-ups. The company said the first investment has been made in a blue-collar job-search software from Bengaluru based tech startup Vahan. The size of the investment was not revealed. “Founded in 2016 and backed […]
Reliance Jio, India’s No.1 wireless operator, has unveiled three new plans that come with built in IUC minutes. The three plans are priced at Rs 222, 333 and 444. The 222 plan comes with 1 month (28 day) validity and 1,000 minutes of calling to other networks and 2 GB of data per month. Calls […]
Hathway Cable and Datacom, one of India’s biggest cable feed providers, has again turned profitable, but it also reported an increase of Rs 87 mn in its pay channel costs while subscription revenue increased by only Rs 37 mn. Given that subscription revenue increased only 1% while pay channel costs increased 7%, it is likely […]
TV18 Broadcast, which operates channels like Colors and News18, has reported a dip of Rs 71 cr in its revenue after a shift from free to pay for some of its entertainment channels and a soft economy hurt advertising sales. “Macro-weakness and shift of channels from DD Freedish to Pay ecosystem continues to drag ad-revenues […]
Reliance Jio Infocomm, India’s largest telecom operator, said it tied up with Korea-based Samsung Electronics to demonstrate 5G technology at India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2019, even as rivals Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have sought DoT nod to demo with China-based Huawei. The choice of vendors could turn out to be more crucial in coming […]
Den Networks, one of India’s top cable feed providers, reported better profit margins for the three months ended September after it was able to keep a lid on payments made to broadcasters like Star, Zee and Sony. The company has been seeing a lot of volatility and uncertainty over its margins and financial performance after […]
In a big boost to Indian space technology and ISRO, Qualcomm, the world’s biggest independent provider of cellphone processors, has agreed to support Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) on some of its chipsets. The move will help these mobile phones use IRNSS-NavIC for pinpointing their location. This will be in addition to the current […]
Puliparambil Gopinath, a Hindutva activist who shot to fame last year after roughing up a team of Christian evangelists in Kodungallur in Kerala, has publicly expressed his regret at his past political choices and blamed Hindutva organizations for failing to support their workers in their hour of need. Gopinath, also known as Gopinath Kodungallur in […]
