ANALYSIS: Can Reliance Jio avoid increasing 4G data prices?

On Tuesday night, Reliance Jio — the telecom operator that has made wireless data accessible to crores of Indians for the first time — said it would adopt ‘appropriate increases’ in tariffs over the next few weeks to help generate enough money to fund investments. The comment came in the wake of similar statements by […]

Govt response encouraging: Vodafone Idea CEO on relief package

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 […]

Tejas Networks agrees to mentor Kerala students, start-ups

India-based telecom equipment maker Tejas Networks said it has signed an agreement to set up a ‘center of excellence’ in Kerala to mentor students and start-ups in the state. The center will focus on training, skills development and mentoring of college students, young entrepreneurs and high-potential electronics startups in the state. “Senior technologists from Tejas […]

BSNL could launch 5G within one year

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd could end up launching 5G services as early as the first half of 2019, going by comments made by a senior official at an industry forum today. Speaking at the Mobile Device Summit 2018 organized by ‘The Mobile Association’, Anil Jain, the company’s Chief General Manager in charge of New Generation Networks promised […]

Lakshadweep to get cheaper broadband thanks to new submarine cable plan

The government of India “has developed” a plan to improve Internet connectivity in Lakshadweep Islands, communications minister Manoj Sinha said today. Lakshadweep Islands, home to about 70,000 people, are currently connected by satellite, which restricts the bandwidth and increases the cost of connectivity. The move follows the approval given to a Rs 1,100 cr project […]

TRAI enters the 4G era, uses telecom to stream open house discussions

After regulating Internet and broadband services for years, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India seems to have decided to enter the broadband era by using technology to stream its ‘open house’ discussions to the public. The regulator is streaming its latest open house discussion on spam calls and SMSes to the public via its twitter […]

Boosted by Jio’s success, Mukesh Ambani unveils his future plans

Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, said telecom was the first of his big bet, and he will now use his resources to solve problems in three other difficult areas — agriculture, education and healthcare. Speaking at the HT Leadership Summit, Ambani said his primary motivation was not to make money. “Money has never meant much […]

TRAI Net Neutrality recommendations are a win for Open Internet advocates

India’s telecom regulator TRAI has issued its recommendations on Net Neutrality in India. The recommendations are largely along expected lines, and prevent telecom companies from slowing down the Internet to ease the traffic of their video apps, messengers and other ‘over-the-top’ services. The move comes even as an Indian-origin bureaucrat in the US is facing […]

TRAI to hear the public on net neutrality in open house this month

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has started registrations for an open house discussion on its upcoming recommendations on net neutrality. The open house discussion will be held on Wednesday, August 30 at 9:30 AM in New Delhi. The venue has not been finalized yet, and is likely to be fixed after the regulator gets […]

RCom says telcos facing cash flow issues due to ‘go slow’ approach by banks

Telecom operator Reliance Communications said companies in the sector are facing cash flow issues due to what it called a ‘go slow’ approach taken by banks in disbursing loans. In an update on its ‘standstill agreement’ with its lenders, which provides it a window of seven months to complete a merger with local units of […]

Reliance Jio carries 80% of traffic on next-gen Internet technology

Reliance Jio, the new entrant to India’s telecom landscape, is carrying nearly 80% of its traffic in the next-generation Internet technology, a senior official of the company said. Internet Protocol or IP is one of the languages used by machines to talk to each other. All machines on the Internet use this language to ‘talk’ […]

Reliance Jio says Vodafone’s increase in PoI inadequate

Reliance Jio Infocomm said the number of new interconnection points being put in place by Vodafone at its network junctions is “substantially less than the requirement”. Jio was responding to the announcement yesterday that India’s No.3 telecom company will increase interconnect points with the Ambani firm, which has been facing a virtual blockade from the […]

Reliance Jio: 15-minute SIM activation now available in most cities

Ten days after Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio, promised to roll out a superfast activation procedure for new SIMs within “2-4 weeks”, the facility is now available in several small towns, suggesting that the company may be running ahead of schedule on its e-KYC roll-out. The new system has been rolled out with the […]

BSNL offers unlimited calls and data for Rs 1199/month; costs just Rs 1.84/GB

With the launch of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio threatening to push BSNL into irretrievable losses, the state-owned telecom company has introduced a new landline plan with true unlimited internet and voice calls for Rs 1,199 across India. The internet speed will be 2 Mbps download, while voice calling will be truly unlimited to all networks […]