TRAI rejects plea by Airtel, Idea and Jio to postpone 700 Mhz spectrum sale

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has rejected the request by three of India’s biggest 4G operators — Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Idea Cellular — to not sell any more 4G spectrum, especially in the strategic 700 MHz band. The move is likely to lead to a fast rollout of 4G services in rural […]

Reliance Jio users may be able to make calls from Airtel, Idea, Vodafone networks

Last year, when Bharti Airtel tried to block voice calling apps, everyone thought it was aimed at WhatsApp. But as it turns out, the move could also have been aimed at a new feature from Reliance Jio that ensures that you can make calls using RJio’s phone number using rivals’ networks. The Mukesh Ambani-owned telecom […]

Reliance Jio to go for limited 4G launch in days; LYF phones coming next week

Reliance Jio is not planning a big bang, all-at-once launch of its 4G commercial service, but will introduce it to the public in stages starting as early as the end of this month, a mid-level executive with the company revealed. “We’ve been told to work for a limited launch this month,” said the marketing executive. […]

Why Airtel should cut 4g tariff before, not after Reliance Jio 4G launch

This week saw the beginning of something interesting. Airtel, India’s biggest telecom company and the biggest rival of Reliance Jio, cut its 4G prices in select circles. The new tariff basically doubles the data on offer for each recharge till Rs 850 with the result that you now get 10 GB for Rs 850, instead of […]

What RCom – Reliance Jio spectrum trading deal means for the industry

According to media reports, Reliance Communications will convert nearly all of its CDMA spectrum into 4G spectrum by paying around Rs 7,000 cr to the government, and then sell it to Reliance Jio for Rs 4,500. Some are perplexed as to why a company would pay so much to the government to free up its spectrum and […]

It’s War: Airtel slashes 4G tariff one day before Reliance Jio’s rumored launch

It’s 4G war, and Bharti Airtel — India’s largest telecom operator — is not about to let new kid of the block Reliance Jio run away with its lunch. After steadfastly refusing to cut its 4G plan prices below 3G levels, the Sunil Mittal-led firm has finally decided to throw in the towel and slashed the […]

Railwire brings 10 Mbps broadband to rural India ahead of Reliance Jio

Railwire, the broadband arm of Indian Railways, has started operations in hundreds of cities across India ahead of the launch of Reliance Jio and is offering tariff that are less than half that of its main existing competitor BSNL. For example, BSNL offers only 8 GB of data at 4 Mbps speed for Rs 999 […]

Ortel offers free WiFi hotspots for broadband users ahead of Reliance Jio launch

Ortel Communications Ltd, a leading last-mile communications provider in India’s eastern states, has introduced free Wi-Fi Public Hotspot services for its Broadband subscribers in Bhubaneshwar. The Wi-Fi Hot Spot service has been launched as a special value added service and will be completely free of charge for those using its fiber and cable broadband services. […]

Reliance Jio commercial 4G launch on March 1? Rs 700 tariff for MiFi device plus 10 GB data

Reliance Jio is fast appointing distributors for its SIM cards across the country and giving them a working target of launching commercial 4G services early in March, according to one person who signed up as a distributor this week. “They’re promising supply of dongles and SIMs in February and saying that commercial launch will take place […]

Reliance Jio looming, Idea declares 4G tariff war, offers 20 GB at Rs 1350

Idea Cellular, which today became the third operator in the country to launch commercial 4G services, seems to have decided to pull out all stops to counter the launch of Reliance Jio next week. In doing so, Idea has decided to offer 4G tariff that is roughly 50% cheaper than its two closest competitors, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone. […]

RCom-Aircel merger would be a coup for Anil Ambani

After signing a merger deal with MTS, Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications is now targeting Aircel Cellular for a merger deal that will be a major coup for the younger Ambani brother. The Mumbai-based company it has entered into a 90-day exclusivity period with Maxis Communications Berhad (MCB) and Sindya Securities and Investments Private Limited, the […]

Idea offers 1 GB of free 4G data in 180 cities in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra

Idea Cellular, the country’s third biggest telecom operator and holder of 4G spectrum, is offering 1 GB of 4G data in 190 cities spread over eight states as part of a ‘pre-book’ offer. The scheme is applicable only to those who have Idea phone numbers. Subscribers will have to also change their SIMs to a […]

Idea 4G launch: Registrations started for a list of over 150 cities in MP, Karnataka, Kerala, Haryana

Idea Cellular, holder of the biggest amount of 4G spectrum in the 1800 MHz band, has opened registration for its 4G service in over 150 cities across eight of 12 circles where it plans to launch the service. These eight circles are the four southern states, Punjab & Haryana in the north and Orissa and […]

Jio Effect: Aircel slashes 3G rates; Will others follow?

Back in 2011, when 3G services were starting to be launched, there would be new announcements every three or four weeks from each operator on new tariff plans. Some would offer ‘free 3G’ along with voice recharge, some would offer combo plans, some heavy usage plans such as 10 GB for Rs 999 and so […]