L&T to provide network monitoring for Indian Army

Construction firm Larsen & Toubro said it has won a large deal — worth Rs 2,500-5,000 cr — to create a monitoring and management solution for Indian Army’s pan-India fiber-optic communications network. The network, part of India’s network for spectrum project, was envisioned almost ten years ago as a way for the armed forces to […]

COVID-19: Youtube, Hotstar, Netflix etc to stop HD streaming

Several video-on-demand services in India, including Youtube, Hotstar, Tiktok, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Zee5, have decided to suspend the streaming of high-definition content as long as the Coronavirus lockdown is in place. They will continue to offer HD content on wired broadband, such as fiber and copper networks. The move is to prevent the […]

Center refuses to intervene in blocking of Andhra news channels

Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar today refused to intervene in the alleged blocking of news channels critical of the state government of Andhra Pradesh. The unofficial ban on two news Telugu news channels — TV5 and ABN Andhra Jyothi — in the coastal state, allegedly for being critical of the YSRCP government — has […]

Kerala High Court okays TRAI tariff in interim order

In what has to come as a major disappointment to big cable operators in the country, the Kerala High Court has given an interim green signal for TRAI to apply nearly all the provisions of the tariff order as it continues to hear the case. Earlier, it had asked TRAI not to take any punitive […]

Jio blames rivals for low data price, seeks TRAI help

Reliance Jio, the country’s largest telecom operator by size, said attempts to increase telecom tariffs have failed due to competitive actions by rivals, and asked TRAI to intervene to raise data prices. Traditionally, it is Jio’s rivals such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea which make such allegations. Responding to a TRAI consultation paper on […]

Vodafone Idea says AGR dues 60% less than DoT estimate

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 […]

Not aware of Vodafone Idea shutting down, says Govt

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 […]

Pushed to the brink, Vodafone Idea gives Jio a fight

Vodafone Idea, an operator that is struggling to stay afloat, seems to have finally decided to abandon its long-held strategy of allowing Reliance Jio to undercut it on prices and lure away its customers. For the last four years, Vodafone and Idea always allowed Jio to price its offerings lower, thus helping the Mukesh Ambani […]

BSNL to launch Fiber-WiFi, IPTV service in Kerala tomorrow

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, the state-owned telecom operator, will launch WiFi-based Fiber broadband connections in Kerala tomorrow, starting with the Kochi business area. This will be the first time that BSNL is offering last-mile connectivity over Wifi under its fiber broadband service. So far, BSNL has been giving fiber broadband connections only in those locations […]

BSNL offers unlimited data for 1 year for FTTH upgrade in Kerala

State-owned telecom operator BSNL has unveiled a new promotional offer under which it will give unlimited data to landline and DSL customers willing to upgrade to its fiber-to-the-home service Bharat Fiber in Kerala. The plan, called CS340, entitles the user to unlimited data at 1 Mbps for 1 year on payment of Rs 1,200 (Rs […]

Hathway, Den to launch advanced, dual-tuner set-top-box

Reliance Jio, India’s largest telecom and cable company, has placed an order of around 5 lakh advanced set-top-boxes with Dixon Technologies, including those for deployment on Hathway and Den’s cable networks. Unlike the IPTV-enabled set-top-boxes being rolled out as part of the Jio Fiber network, many of these STBs sourced from Dixon are not meant […]

Jio reduces validity of long-term plans to 11 months

Reliance Jio, India’s largest telecom operator, has reduced the validity of its long-term recharges from 1 year to 11 months. Other operators continue to offer 1 year validity for their yearly plans. Jio used to offer two yearly plans – one priced at Rs 2,020 and another priced at Rs 1,299. The costlier plan was […]

Vodafone Idea cannot pay AGR dues – India Ratings

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 […]

AGR DUES: Why Vodafone Idea shutdown is unlikely

Vodafone Idea, one of the top telecom operators in India, is likely to deposit Rs 2,500 cr towards the demands raised by the Department of Telecom related to revenue share under India’s telecom license rules, according to industry sources. The company has been served with a total demand of over Rs 53,000 cr. Meanwhile, Bharti […]

Shutdown fears? Vodafone Idea is still expanding

Even as shares of Vodafone Idea tanked 17% over fears that the company may shut down or file for bankruptcy, the latest numbers posted by the company show that it continues to invest in its network. The correction in the stock price followed a renewed warning yesterday that the company may not be able to […]

Jio’s 6 paise charge led to massive shift in customers to Airtel

Reliance Jio’s decision to charge 6 paise per minute for outgoing calls to other networks had a massive impact on consumer behavior, according to indications from Bharti Airtel’s numbers and management commentary. Jio had, on October 9, announced that it was withdrawing all plans that came with free minutes to non-Jio networks, and from then […]

Who will get ISRO’s new capacity- Sun, Dish or Tata Sky?

Television enthusiasts in India are eagerly waiting to see which DTH provider will benefit from the recent launch of two powerful satellites by the Indian Space Research Organization or ISRO. The two satellites — called GSAT-30 and GSAT-31 — have been launched over the last 12 months. Originally, GSAT-30 was supposed to be placed in […]

Airtel keen for a second round of price increase

Bharti Airtel, the former No.1 telecom operator in India, said it is keen on having a second round of price increases in the year starting April, but can do it only if the rest of the industry follows suit. Airtel said it needs to get more money from its customers to ensure that its investors […]

BSNL asks for 5G spectrum from the Govt

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 […]