Bharti Airtel, formerly India’s No.1 telecom operator, said it has acquired a 4.7% stake in India’s largest tower company Indus Towers from Britain’s Vodafone Plc. The company is likely to have paid around Rs 2,650 cr for the stake, going by the current valuation of the tower company. It said the money it pays to […]
As Vodafone Idea unveils a new brand identity, the financial troubles facing the company has as thrown into question the very future of the Indian telecom operator. There has been speculation that American telco Verizon or online retail giant Amazon may infuse money into the operator, but such rumors have been quashed by the Indian […]
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 […]
A day after shocking consumers by increasing plan prices by around 20-40%, Reliance Jio has re-introduced the Rs 149 unlimited plan, but with a shorter validity and lower daily data allowance. The original Rs 149 plan used to offer 1.5 GB of daily data for four weeks (28 days) and was the most affordable monthly […]
Vodafone will invest Rs 11,000 cr into its Indian subsidiary Vodafone Idea, while its co-promoter Aditya Birla Group will chip in Rs 7,250 cr, the company said today. In total, Vodafone Idea plans to raise Rs 25,000 cr from all its shareholders by selling shares. In case any of the existing shareholders waives their right […]
Vodafone Idea, India’s No.1 telecom operator by subscribers and revenue, said it will increase its 4G network capacity by 50% in four months, largely by redeploying existing 4G equipment to avoid duplication. The move would also increase the coverage of Vodafone Idea’s 4G signals by about 30% compared to the present. “We are looking at […]
Vodafone Idea, India’s No.1 telecom operator, said it has decided to withdraw all existing recharges and replace them with five coupons with specific validity. The recharge balance has to be used within the validity period, or it will be lost. With this, a customer has to spend at least Rs 35 per month to keep […]
Bharti Airtel overtook the combined Vodafone-Idea entity in mobile broadband users in August due to a steep, 20% fall in Vodafone India’s wireless broadband users in the month. The sharp decline of 12.5 mln mobile broadband users on Vodafone’s network in August was at odds from the usual course, when the company used to add […]
Vodafone India and Idea Cellular have completed the merger of their operations in India, creating India’s largest telecom network with over 3.4 lakh 3G and 4G cell sites. In comparison, Bharti Airtel has around 3.2 lakh wireless broadband cell sites and Reliance Jio has an estimated 2.5 lakh 4G base station. In terms of subscribers […]
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, India’s fourth largest telecom company, officially confirmed the receipt of approval for its mega merger with Vodafone India. “We wish to inform you that the Department of Telecom has approved the merger of Vodafone India ltd and Vodafone Mobile Services Ltd with Idea Cellular Ltd,” the company said in a statement today morning. […]
Idea Cellular said its had completed the sale of its 9,900 towers to American Tower Corp’s India unit at an ‘enterprise valuation’ of Rs 4,000 cr. The exact amount that ATC will pay to the telecom operator for the towers is not clear. Enterprise valuation includes the money payable to creditors as well as shareholders. […]
Bharti Airtel announced the much-anticipated merger of its tower subsidiary with Indus Towers, a three-way tower venture controlled by Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular. Indus Towers is currently jointly owned by Bharti Infratel and Vodafone, who own 42% each, Idea Group (11.15%) and Providence Equity Partners, who hold4.85%. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Group will […]
Newly launched telecom operator Reliance Jio has overtaken market leader Bharti Airtel as the company with the largest telecom network in India. As of March 1, Reliance Jio had 4.48 lakh telecom base stations (towers) in India, compared to 4.31 lakh base stations for Bharti Airtel. At the same time, Idea Cellular had 2.79 lakh […]
Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone have announced the list of office bearers who will run the company resulting from the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular. Balesh Sharma, who is currently Chief Operating Officer of Vodafone India, has been chosen to head the new company, while the existing CEO of Vodafone India and Idea […]
4G operator Bharti Airtel was clearly ahead of market leader Reliance Jio and challenger Idea Cellular in on-the-ground 4G speed tests conducted by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in ten cities in India this year. According to the data from these tests, Bharti Airtel scored an average download speed of 9.46 Mbps, 44% faster […]
Idea Cellular, one of India’s largest telecom operators, said the recently concluded sale of its shares to institutional investors, along with a recent fund infusion by the promoter, will reduce its net debt by Rs 6,750 cr. “This equity raise of Rs. 3,500 crore along with recent infusion of Rs. 3,250 crore by Idea’s Promoter […]
The pain for Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular may be far from over as Reliance Jio is seen preparing a massive rollout of its low-cost smartphone that could deal yet another heavy blow to the incumbent telecom operators’ revenue. Speaking at the Uttar Pradesh Investors’ Forum in Lucknow today, Reliance Jio Chairman Mukesh […]
After advising restraint in the fight with new operator Reliance Jio, it seems to be the turn of Idea Cellular and its partner Vodafone to slash prices. Both operators have cut the price of the cheapest unlimited voice and data pack to the Rs 150 range from Rs 200 range, bringing them into direct competition […]
UK’s Vodafone is looking to combine its stake in Indus Towers, India’s largest tower company, with Bharti Infratel, the tower arm of market leader Bharti Airtel, on the basis of $5 bln valuation for its asset, the Economic Times reported, quoting unnamed sources. The move would seem to indicate an upcoming merger of Indus Towers and […]
