Telcos Change Tack as Net Neutrality Fight Enters Final Round in India

If you thought the fight over net neutrality was over with the sending of 1 mln emails to the TRAI two years ago, think again. The telecom service providers, who lost out that in the first round, are back. This time, however, their demands are more subtle, and focused on getting specific services exempted from […]

Amazon Fire TV Stick Launch: Airtel offers 100 GB data free

Bharti Airtel said it would provide 100 GB of free high-speed data to anyone who purchases Amazon’s Fire TV Stick in India. The offer is available to Airtel customers on broadband as well as ‘4G Home Wifi’, but not to normal, handset-based 4G users. The data quota can be availed in buckets of 35 GB […]

Spectranet enters NOIDA with truly unlimited 50 Mbps at Rs 1,199

Spectranet, which provides among the most affordable fiber-to-the-home services for high-volume users in India, said it had entered the Noida market. The company has started by providing broadband services in Sector 93 with more areas being added rapidly, it said. Among the plans being offered in NOIDA include a range of ‘truly unlimited plans’ that do […]

Complaints against telcos drop sharply as 4G takes off

Complaints against all telecom providers except Bharti Airtel dropped in 2016, possibly in reaction to the emergence of new operator Reliance Jio and the explosion of 4G data capacity. The total number of complaints lodged with the regulator TRAI against telecom firms dropped 15% in 2016 to 19,774 from 23,293 in 2015 and 20,386 in […]

Working Reliance Jio ‘DTH’ video uploaded by Gujarat-based test user

A video of a working Reliance Jio ‘DTH’ TV has been leaked by a Gujarat-based Youtube user, even as Airtel unveiled its own ‘Internet TV’ today. The Youtube user demonstrates a working set-top-box, complete with HD channels and various other features. Even though the uploader calls it Jio DTH, there is nothing in the video […]

Airtel Digital launches first-of-its-kind Android set-top-box with advanced features

Airtel Digital TV launched what it called India’s first hybrid set-top-box with built-in Android and a host of advanced gaming and Internet functions at a price of Rs 4999. Customers can also get one year of free subscription by paying Rs 3,000 extra. It will be available online exclusively on Amazon India starting April 12, […]

Reliance Jio launches Dhan Dhana Dhan offer with three times validity as Summer Surprise

Reliance Jio is all set to relaunch its earlier 303 and 499 plan, but with three-times the earlier validity, according to sources. This would help it side-step issues around continuing with free services. UPDATE: The new offer will be called Dhan Dhana Dhan and will have slightly different recharge values. The 303 offer has been […]

TRAI’s MySpeed app pulled from Google Play Store

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s network benchmarking app MySpeed is no longer listed on the Android Play Store. The link for the app throws an error saying ‘the requested URL was not found on this server’. It is not clear whether TRAI pulled the application or whether it was taken down by Google. It […]

Ortel Communications slashes broadband tariff as Reliance Jio threat looms

With the prospect of the entry of Reliance Jio into the cable and broadband market, Ortel Communications — the largest cable network in Orissa and an emerging player in neighboring states, has slashed its broadband rates. The company has removed all its sub-1 Mbps plans and replaced them with plans having speeds of 1 Mbps […]

Reliance Jio promises new plans in place of Summer Surprise

Reliance Jio has officially withdrawn its Summer Surprise offer on its website and put up a new banner saying that it will be introducing new plans soon. “We are updating our tariff packs and will be soon introducing more exciting offers,” the company says on its website in place of the Summer Surprise details, as […]

Reliance Jio could replace Summer Surprise with new offer after TRAI order

Reliance Jio’s withdrawal of its Summer Surprise Offer is unlikely to make any difference to most of its customers, and the company may even come up with a new version of the plan to comply with the ban. “The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has advised Jio to withdraw the 3 months complimentary benefits of Summer […]

India’s 3G networks creak under freebie overload; 4G also slows

MySpeed, the speedtesting platform operated by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, has revealed a sharp dip in wireless data speeds across operators in March compared to the previous month. The declines were visible in both 4G as well as 3G services, but were more pronounced in 3G networks, which typically have one-tenth the data […]

Reliance Jio seen preparing to launch cable TV, not DTH

Reliance Jio, the telecom services provider from the Reliance Industries group, is likely to launch its own cable TV services, according to photographs uploaded by anonymous users on web forums. The photographs were apparently taken at the demonstration of the new service, and come several months after rumors started circulating that the company will launch a […]

Reliance Jio Summer Surprise plan capped at 1GB/day till Apr 15

Many of those who were looking forward to using more data per day than the 1 GB allotted to them under Reliance Jio’s Happy New Year scheme are likely be disappointed as it looks like the 1 GB cap will remain under the Summer Surprise offer as well. Even those Prime Members who subscribe to the […]

Reliance Jio Prime Membership extended, 3 months free service offered

Reliance Jio, the telecom services provider from Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, has extended the period for its subscribers to sign up for its Membership program up to Apr 15. It will also provide three months of free service for any member who signs up for its monthly packages starting at Rs 303 per month. In […]

Reliance Jio Prime recharge rush takes down Billdesk payment gateway

The rush of last-minute recharges for availing Reliance Jio’s Prime Membership offer seems to have taken down Billdesk, one of India’s largest payment processing services. As of 10:40 AM, both the Billdesk website and the payment gateway service has been down for several minutes. Billdesk is the provider of payment processing services for Jio’s website […]

Reliance Jio Prime Membership closing in on 50 mln mark

Reliance Jio, India’s newest telecom operator is set to add almost 50 mln users to its Prime platform, according to reliable sources. As of now, the company has added close to 43.5 mln, with another 3-4 mln additions expected in the remaining 2.5 days. On average, the company added 1.55 mln Prime customers per day over […]

Reliance Jio allows ‘queuing’ of 303, 499 recharges for 1 year

With on four more days remaining before the start of paid services on Reliance Jio, India’s largest telecom operator by volume, the company has urged its sales agents to promote the idea of ‘queuing’ up recharges for a year. “We have been told to encourage users to do recharges for multiple months before the offer […]

Airtel buys high-capacity 4G spectrum from Tikona in five circles

Bharti Airtel said it has agreed to buy 4G spectrum from Tikona Digital Networks in five telecom circles, giving the company a pan-India footprint in the crucial capacity band and helping it compete on an even footing with Reliance Jio. Airtel plans to roll-out high speed 4G services on the newly acquired spectrum in the […]