Ravi Shankar Prasad, India’s minister for law and information technology, said the government has got ‘good response’ from WhatsApp for its proposal to install a monitoring mechanism on the platform. The government has been pushing WhatsApp to put up a monitoring mechanism that would send out alerts when messages on any one subject starts going […]
The mysterious addition of the former hotline of UID Authority of India, which spooked out Android users by mysteriously appearing on their phones, was hardcoded into the Android set-up program, Google has said. Responding to concerns of users’ phones being hacked by some secret agency, which then ‘loaded’ UIDAI’s helpline number, a Google spokesperson apologized […]
Telecom operators and the Unique Identification Authority of India have denied having anything to do with the ‘mysterious’ addition of the UIDAI’s former helpline to the contact lists of Android phone users in India. That leaves only three candidates — Google, which makes Android, handset makers and any of the popular apps that has been […]
Bharti Airtel said it has deployed an extra block of spectrum to its 4G service in Uttar Pradesh East circle, improving the carrying capacity of the network. “The addition of fresh 5 MHz spectrum will significantly boost Airtel’s mobile network capacity across UP (East) and enable a superior 4G data and voice experience for customers […]
Reliance Jio and State Bank of India today announced further deepening of their financial relationship, including deeper penetration of SBI services into Jio’s customer care app MyJio. “MyJio, one of India’s largest over-the-top (OTT) mobile applications will now bring in financial services capabilities of SBI and Jio Payments Bank,” the telecom operator said. In return, […]
Samsung overtook Chinese challenger Xiaomi to retake the crown of India’s top smartphone brand in April-June period, according to market tracker CMR, even as Reliance Retail emerged as India’s biggest smartphone maker. A week ago, Counterpoint Research too had come to the same conclusion. Xiaomi had ended Samsung’s decade-long reign at the top of Indian […]
Mahindra & Mahindra’s passenger vehicle sales continued to be impacted by the success of Vitara Brezza and other SUV models from its biggest rival Maruti Suzuki. For the July quarter, total utility vehicle sales at Mahindra & Mahindra fell by 7% compared to a year ago to 17,879, even as sales of cars and vans continued […]
Outgoing Idea Cellular CEO Himanshu Kapania admitted today that his company understimated the impact that unlimited plans would have on the company’s finances. Reacting to concerns about Idea Cellular’s failure to keep up with the revenue growth of Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio in the last six months, Kapania identified two factors for the slowdown […]
Idea Cellular CEO Himanshu Kapania said his company has placed the order for radio equipment that will increase the company’s 4G capacity significantly in eight crucial circles as part of a massive network upgrade process for Vodafone Idea. “We have placed the order for TDD in both 2300 and 2500 MHz in eight circles… A large […]
Bharti Airtel, India’s largest telecom company be revenue, said it will increase the pace of expansion of its wired broadband service by four times this year as it responds to the launch of GigaFiber, the new pan-India fiber service from rival Reliance Jio. Speaking after announcing Airtel’s quarterly results, company officials said they would bring […]
Bharti Airtel said it expects prices in India’s telecom sector to start climbing again in around six months or so, and indicated it has no stomach for further price competition with newcomer Reliance Jio. The comments by company officials come a few months after Reliance Jio slashed its 4G prices citing actions from rivals such […]
Reliance Jio’s delays in ‘going pay’ with its content suite seems to be giving rivals like Bharti Airtel pause for thought as far as their content plans are concerned. Jio unveiled a large suite of content applications when it launched its telecom service two years ago, prompting rivals like Airtel and Idea Cellular to draw […]
Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of Reliance Industries, continued to post strong numbers. For the Apr-Jun quarter, Reliance Industries reported a 15% sequential jump in both revenue and EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) for its digital services division, which houses Jio operations. Digital services revenue for Reliance Industries rose to 9,653 cr for the […]
India’s Information Technology Department today unveiled a new plan of action to combat fake news that would require foreign social media firms like Facebook, Twitter and Google to establish offices in India and actively help in flagging and tracking down people who post troublesome messages online. Ravi Shankar Prasad also said WhatsApp, in particular, has […]
Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest carmaker, said it will recall 1,279 units of new Swift and new Dzire cars to check for a defect in the airbag system. These vehicles were manufactured between 7th May 2018 and 5th July 2018, the company added. The suspected defect is in the Airbag Controller Unit. The company said the recall is […]
Multiplex theaters in Maharashtra will have to allow customers to carry their own food items into the exhibition hall, Maharashtra government said in the legislative assembly. The statement by consumer affairs minister Ravindra Chavan in the assembly comes in the context of a public interest litigation being heard in the Mumbai High Court about ‘overcharging’ […]
Sun Direct, the No.1 direct-to-home service in South India, has threatened to remove all channels of India’s largest broadcasting company, Star India, from all its subscription packs from August 1. The channels will continue to be available on the platform, but users will have to purchase the channels individually at prices ranging from Rs 10 […]
Market tracker CyberMedia Research has called Reliance Jio’s 4G and GigaFiber broadband subscriber targets unrealistic, and said it did not see the company meeting the year-end target of 300 mln for its 4G service or the 50 mln target for its fiber broadband service. “We at CMR feel Jio might slow down around 260-275 million […]
China-based Xiaomi, India’s No.1 smartphone brand, has been forced to start an aggressive TV campaign after its biggest rival, BBK Electronics, introduced its own no-frills handset RealMe 1. With this, BBK Electronics — which owns brands such as Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus — has successfully used Xiaomi’s own strategy to challenge the No.1 smartphone brand. […]
India’s cable company stocks have fallen by about 15%-25% since Reliance Jio, India’s largest telecom company by volumes, yesterday announced the commencement of its long-awaited fiber broadband and TV service from August 15. It is feared that the company’s entry can lead to widespread shutdowns and losses in the cable and broadband industry, similar to […]
