Discovery sues TRAI again over latest move to cut TV channel prices

Discovery Communications, India’s biggest provider of infotainment content, has taken broadcasting regulator TRAI to the Delhi High Court for the second time in three years for trying to bring down prices of individual TV channels. TRAI had earlier this month announced a move to force channel owners to bring the prices of their individual channels […]

TRAI asks Den, GTPL to let consumers to change their packs

Media regulator TRAI has shot off letters to most of the top cable TV feed providers in India, asking them to allow users to change their packs, and ensure that their business partners provide itemized billing to customers and pay tax to the government. It, however, remains to be seen how cable feed providers are […]

Reliance Jio will be 70% bigger than Airtel, Vod-Idea in 3 years-India Ratings

Reliance Jio, the start-up telecom operator, will become 70% bigger than current market leaders Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel in India in three years, India Ratings said. By FY22, Reliance Jio will have cornered 43.2% of the Indian telecom revenues, while Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel will have to be content with 25.4% each, the […]

SpiceJet announces sale on tickets to Bangkok, Mali, Dubai

SpiceJet, India’s most aggressive low-cost airline, has announced cheap tickets for international flights from Aug 30 to Mar 31. The all-inclusive one-way fares include Rs. 3999 for popular destinations such as Colombo from Chennai and Dhaka from Kolkata and Guwahati. Tickets from Kochi to Male are available for Rs 4299, Bangkok-Kolkata for Rs 4699, Dubai-Mumbai […]

Royal Enfield says BS-VI plans on track

Royal Enfield, one of the biggest manufacturers of premium motorcycles in India, today refuted reports that the company could face an increase in input costs if it does not source an electrical component from a Delhi-based autoparts maker. The Mint newspaper carried a report today claiming that most motorcycle makers source the electrical rectifier — […]

Arasu Cable cuts NCF to ₹35/month vs ₹130 by Tata Sky, Airtel Digital etc

Arasu Cable, the government-owned cable feed provider in Tamil Nadu, has become the first big player to drastically reduce the monthly network charge under TRAI’s new tariff order, throwing a challenge to the likes of Tata Sky, Dish TV, Hathway and Sun Direct. Arasu Cable’s new base plan of Rs 130 contains six broadcaster packs […]

Flipkart starts rolling out free Amazon Prime-like video service

Flipkart, Amazon’s biggest competitor in India, has started rolling out a video streaming service on its mobile app similar to Amazon Prime Video and Netflix. The service is very similar to other streaming apps, and offers videos classified into different sections based on genres and languages. Both movie and non-movie content are available. Non-movie content, […]

Jio Fiber to start off on Sept 5, tariff starts at Rs 700

Jio Fiber services will start in 1,600 cities across India on September 5, starting at Rs 700 per month. The plans will go up to Rs 10,000 per month. Voice and video calls will be free. Customers can buy Jio Fiber connections from September 5. Those who are willing to pay for one year under […]

Jio’s Gigafiber Box, built on Android, will support some apps

Jio Box, the heart of the new GigaFiber service from Reliance Jio, is built on Android TV operating system and will support some third party apps, according to sources. However, it is not clear whether the box will support all apps that run on Android TV operating system and whether it will come with Google […]

Watch Live: Mukesh Ambani AGM speech to unveil Reliance GigaFiber plans

Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm and Reliance Industries, is all set to unveil attractive broadband-cum-TV plans under Reliance Gigafiber at the annual general meeting of Reliance Industries at 11 AM. The plans have been a well kept secret, but according to early indications, the company will offer free cable TV and 200 […]

Reliance Jio GigaFiber to offer free cable TV + broadband at Rs 500/month

Reliance Jio GigaFiber, the new wired broadband and cable TV service from India’s biggest telecom operator by volumes, is likely to offer free cable TV and high-speed broadband for Rs 500 per month. The customer is likely to have to make an initial upfront payment of around Rs 3,000, which would enable him to avail […]

Tariff Order: TRAI unveils brahmastra to bring cable, DTH cos into line

Flooded by complaints about cable and DTH players not allowing consumers to change their channel packs and subscriptions, India’s media regulator has come up with a proposal to allow consumers to change their channels and packs using the TRAI website. This will be achieved through a single app — similar to TRAI’s existing ‘channel selector’ […]

Airtel to shut down 3G pan India, speed up 4G

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, […]

Maruti Suzuki releases ‘first sketch’ of Innova-rival XL6, launch soon

Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest carmaker, released the ‘first sketch’ of XL6 — its ‘premium three-row vehicle’ that is likely to take on the likes of XUV500 and Toyota Innova. The XL6 is based on the Ertiga platform, but offers upgraded features and is more ‘sporty’ with greater ground clearance than the Ertiga. The Ertiga itself […]

Vodafone Idea says 4G speed up 50-70%, but perception sticks

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 […]

Reliance Jio says Gigafiber testing hits ‘final stages’, launch soon

The wait for the nationwide launch of Reliance Jio’s wired broadband service, Gigafiber, continued to drag on, with the company today saying that it has reached the ‘final stages’ of its beta testing for the service. The service has been available to test users in cities like Mumbai nearly three years now. “Ongoing beta trials […]

We expect TRAI to tweak the new tariff order – GTPL

GTPL Hathway, one of the country’s largest cable feed providers and the biggest MSO in Gujarat, said it expects media regulator TRAI to make further changes to the TV tariff order introduced in February this year. Speaking to analysts after announcing the quarterly earnings of the cable feed provider, officials — including MD Aniruddhasinhji Jadega […]