Category: iWorld

Jio signs up 16 million 4G subs; target, 100 million

MUMBAI: Think Big. Think Global. That’s been the motto of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani. And, now the world’s biggest start-up Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. (Jio) — which he has been incubating for more than half a decade — has announced that it has achieved a global first.

The number of registered sign-ups Jio has achieved in the first month of its 4G commercial launch – September 2016 — has crossed 16 million. That’s a faster adoption rate than that achieved by any telco or any start-up like Facebook, WhatsApp and Skype.

And, of course, Ambani is pleased as punch by the consumer response. Said he in a press release: “We are delighted and humbled by the overwhelming response across India to the Jio Welcome Offer. Jio is built to empower every Indian with the power of data. We are delighted that people have recognized this and are utilizing our services to the fullest. We are customer-obsessed and committed to improve every day to exceed expectations of our customers.”

Observers say Jio’s subscriber number could have been higher had Ambani and Jio managed to not run into a wall with older competitors like Airtel, Vodafone, Idea. Jio – which has made calls free – reported humungous amount of call failures because its rivals disallowed call connections by the newbie’s users.

Jio is looking to disrupt the entire Indian telecom ecosystem. While all Indian telcos charge for calls, Jio announced that it would not be charging for calls made using its network. And it announced cheaper data plans than rivals. It has been running its Jio Welcome Offer wherein all its services – including data and apps – are free for customers until 31 December 2016. Last week, it announced an offer for iPhone users wherein buyers of the 7, the 7 Plus, the 6, the 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, and the 5SE would not be charged for data and services for 12 months.

To top it all, Jio has introduced Aadhaar-based paper-less Jio SIM activation across 3,100 cities and towns. This enables the customer to complete the SIM activation process in a matter of minutes, with only his/her Aadhaar number.

The press release states that the “this process will be extended across the country and fully stabilized for satisfactory on-boarding experience in the next few weeks.”

Ambani announced at the company’s AGM at the beginning of this month that Jio had set its ambitions high. His goal was to have 100 million subscribers to its services within a year.

Rivals have been scrambling to ward off the Jio onslaught, dropping prices for data and bandwidth, as well as offering value added services at promotional rates.

The overall Indian telecom sector has been seeing shifts too. According to the latest telecom data up to 31 July 2016, the wireless telecom subscriber base shrank to 1034.2 million as against 1035.1 million in end June. Amongst the big losers in the month were Reliance Communications which shed 32.4 lakh customers, and Tata Teleservices and Sistema lost 6,96,325 and 2,28,626 subscribers.

Bharti Airtel led in the gainers table, adding a net 10.7 lakh new customers, taking its total sub base to 256.8 million, whereas Vodafone added 326,248 to take its tally to 199.7 million. Idea signed up 256,170 users taking its final number to 176.4 million.

With Jio expected to spread out its availability further in the coming months, observers are expecting the battles to continue.

October 10, 2016
Jio signs up 16 million 4G subs; target, 100 million

MUMBAI: Think Big. Think Global. That’s been the motto of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani. And, now the world’s biggest start-up Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. (Jio) — which he has been incubating for more than half a decade — has announced that it has achieved a global first.

The number of registered sign-ups Jio has achieved in the first month of its 4G commercial launch – September 2016 — has crossed 16 million. That’s a faster adoption rate than that achieved by any telco or any start-up like Facebook, WhatsApp and Skype.

And, of course, Ambani is pleased as punch by the consumer response. Said he in a press release: “We are delighted and humbled by the overwhelming response across India to the Jio Welcome Offer. Jio is built to empower every Indian with the power of data. We are delighted that people have recognized this and are utilizing our services to the fullest. We are customer-obsessed and committed to improve every day to exceed expectations of our customers.”

Observers say Jio’s subscriber number could have been higher had Ambani and Jio managed to not run into a wall with older competitors like Airtel, Vodafone, Idea. Jio – which has made calls free – reported humungous amount of call failures because its rivals disallowed call connections by the newbie’s users.

Jio is looking to disrupt the entire Indian telecom ecosystem. While all Indian telcos charge for calls, Jio announced that it would not be charging for calls made using its network. And it announced cheaper data plans than rivals. It has been running its Jio Welcome Offer wherein all its services – including data and apps – are free for customers until 31 December 2016. Last week, it announced an offer for iPhone users wherein buyers of the 7, the 7 Plus, the 6, the 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, and the 5SE would not be charged for data and services for 12 months.

To top it all, Jio has introduced Aadhaar-based paper-less Jio SIM activation across 3,100 cities and towns. This enables the customer to complete the SIM activation process in a matter of minutes, with only his/her Aadhaar number.

The press release states that the “this process will be extended across the country and fully stabilized for satisfactory on-boarding experience in the next few weeks.”

Ambani announced at the company’s AGM at the beginning of this month that Jio had set its ambitions high. His goal was to have 100 million subscribers to its services within a year.

Rivals have been scrambling to ward off the Jio onslaught, dropping prices for data and bandwidth, as well as offering value added services at promotional rates.

The overall Indian telecom sector has been seeing shifts too. According to the latest telecom data up to 31 July 2016, the wireless telecom subscriber base shrank to 1034.2 million as against 1035.1 million in end June. Amongst the big losers in the month were Reliance Communications which shed 32.4 lakh customers, and Tata Teleservices and Sistema lost 6,96,325 and 2,28,626 subscribers.

Bharti Airtel led in the gainers table, adding a net 10.7 lakh new customers, taking its total sub base to 256.8 million, whereas Vodafone added 326,248 to take its tally to 199.7 million. Idea signed up 256,170 users taking its final number to 176.4 million.

With Jio expected to spread out its availability further in the coming months, observers are expecting the battles to continue.

October 10, 2016
Netflix hires Indian origin TV exec Bela Bajaria as content VP

MUMBAI: Even as Netflix has been strengthening its Asia team by hiring locals with Asian and international experience, it has also been bolstering the talent at its HQ. Last week, the leading global video streaming site, announced that it had roped in former Universal Television (NBCUniversal’s TV unit) president Bela Bajaria as vice-president of content. She is slated to join Netflix from 1 November, replacing Sean Carey, who is leaving the company.

The London-born-but-raised-in-east-Africa-and-settled-in-Los-Angeles Bajaria is of Indian origin, At Universal Television, Bajaria supervised creative programming for the studio and producing such hit series as Master of None and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt for Netflix; Brooklyn Nine-Nine for FOX; The Mindy Project for FOX and Hulu; Superstore for NBC and Bates Motel for A&E, among several others. She developed Gypsy, starring Naomi Watts, for Netflix which will premiere in 2017 as well as Pure Genius for CBS and The Good Place for NBC, which are on the network’s 2016 fall schedules.

Bajaria has in the past been ranked amongst the top TV executives in the US when she headed Universal Television. She left the production outfit when she had a run-in with executives at NBC Studios for not buying enough content from her company, even though Fox and CBS were.

At Netflix, Bajaria has been mandated with leading the team focused on TV and film licensing from major U. studios, as well co-production relationships with major US networks. She will also oversee a new team developing original unscripted programs for Netflix.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and chief content officer Ted Sarandos have said time and time again that the company wants to keep showcase the best in class engaging content for its subscribers and a budget of $5 billion has been kept aside for this year to acquire and create content.

“Bela is a great creative television executive with broad experience and deep industry relationships,” said Sarandos. “Having worked closely with her on Master of None and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, we know we have found the perfect executive to lead this new effort.”

“I am looking forward to joining Netflix, an innovative company that supports creative vision and fosters risk-taking. Having worked closely with Ted, Cindy and the team, I know they are great creative partners and care deeply about the experience of talent, their partners and their members,” said Bela Bajaria. “They are a dynamic group and I’m looking forward to continue building new partnerships at Netflix with amazing talent and studio and network colleagues.”

October 9, 2016
Netflix hires Indian origin TV exec Bela Bajaria as content VP

MUMBAI: Even as Netflix has been strengthening its Asia team by hiring locals with Asian and international experience, it has also been bolstering the talent at its HQ. Last week, the leading global video streaming site, announced that it had roped in former Universal Television (NBCUniversal’s TV unit) president Bela Bajaria as vice-president of content. She is slated to join Netflix from 1 November, replacing Sean Carey, who is leaving the company.

The London-born-but-raised-in-east-Africa-and-settled-in-Los-Angeles Bajaria is of Indian origin, At Universal Television, Bajaria supervised creative programming for the studio and producing such hit series as Master of None and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt for Netflix; Brooklyn Nine-Nine for FOX; The Mindy Project for FOX and Hulu; Superstore for NBC and Bates Motel for A&E, among several others. She developed Gypsy, starring Naomi Watts, for Netflix which will premiere in 2017 as well as Pure Genius for CBS and The Good Place for NBC, which are on the network’s 2016 fall schedules.

Bajaria has in the past been ranked amongst the top TV executives in the US when she headed Universal Television. She left the production outfit when she had a run-in with executives at NBC Studios for not buying enough content from her company, even though Fox and CBS were.

At Netflix, Bajaria has been mandated with leading the team focused on TV and film licensing from major U. studios, as well co-production relationships with major US networks. She will also oversee a new team developing original unscripted programs for Netflix.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and chief content officer Ted Sarandos have said time and time again that the company wants to keep showcase the best in class engaging content for its subscribers and a budget of $5 billion has been kept aside for this year to acquire and create content.

“Bela is a great creative television executive with broad experience and deep industry relationships,” said Sarandos. “Having worked closely with her on Master of None and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, we know we have found the perfect executive to lead this new effort.”

“I am looking forward to joining Netflix, an innovative company that supports creative vision and fosters risk-taking. Having worked closely with Ted, Cindy and the team, I know they are great creative partners and care deeply about the experience of talent, their partners and their members,” said Bela Bajaria. “They are a dynamic group and I’m looking forward to continue building new partnerships at Netflix with amazing talent and studio and network colleagues.”

October 9, 2016
How VOKE is helping Hotstar to bring 3D VR to Kabaddi

MUMBAI: That India’s leading video streaming OTT player Hotstar is making its coverage of the World Kabaddi League available to viewers in 3D Virtual Reality(VR) is known to many now. But what’s not known by most is who is behind making this is a reality. Well, it’s a Silicon Valley based company called VOKE, which has helped stream the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four, the CBS Morning Show and live streams of concerts, NBA, NFL and college football games, courtesy its live TrueVR technology. It is ranked as amongst the best in the live event VR space and its focus is on building the next generation of fan engagement for live sports and entertainment.

“Star India is one of the most iconic media companies in the world and has been focused on transforming sports in India. This partnership will allow them to provide live, immersive virtual reality experiences to their users for the first time,” says VOKE co-founder & CEO Sankar Jayaram. The flexibility of our technology platform is unique and enables media companies to reach their audiences across a variety of mediums and deliver personalized VR experiences to all fans like never before.”

Adds Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan: “We owe our loyal and growing platform users the very best video experience in the world. Fans in India look to Hotstar to set the benchmark for video streaming. We are excited to collaborate with VOKE to bring a dramatic new live experience to sports fans.”

The flexibility of VOKE’s platform is significant and it enables media companies to host the VR content on their own sites and branded applications instead of requiring that it be aggregated on the VOKE VR site. Hotstar users will be able access the TrueVR™ stream by selecting the Google Cardboard feature in Hotstar’s iOS and Android apps or by downloading the Hotstar Gear VR app from the Oculus Store. Highlights and video on demand content will be available through the same outlets for those who are unable to watch it live.

The Voke Camera Pod

VOKE’s live TrueVR™ stream for the Kabaddi World Cup will be available to Hotstar users on both Google Cardboard and Gear VR headsets. In addition, a personalized, 2D user-controlled experience will also be available for viewers without headsets on Hotstar.com or on the Hotstar app. It is the first time TrueVR™ content from a live event of this magnitude will be available on multiple headsets and mobile operating systems.

Speaking to SportsVideoGroup in late August, Jayaram explaining the virtues of VOKE’s VR expertise had said: “So we put multiple pods on the field, and we allow users to choose where they want to be…. One, we can do a produced feed and take people where we think they might want to be. But we feel that, if a user really just wants to be sitting down by the players and coaches in VR, those are options and choices we want to give them. All of our cameras are completely synced, down to the frame level. Which means, when you want to do a replay or you pause one camera position, you can pick the action up from another camera at the exact same frame. Our cameras can go down to that level of detail if our viewers want to use it that way. So we provide full multi-POV, synchronized, DVR-capable streams, and that spans across VR, mobile, VOD, everything.”

VOKE says that the Hotstar partnership will continue for more live sporting events going forward. That should be good news for immersive virtual reality sporting event lovers.

October 8, 2016
How VOKE is helping Hotstar to bring 3D VR to Kabaddi

MUMBAI: That India’s leading video streaming OTT player Hotstar is making its coverage of the World Kabaddi League available to viewers in 3D Virtual Reality(VR) is known to many now. But what’s not known by most is who is behind making this is a reality. Well, it’s a Silicon Valley based company called VOKE, which has helped stream the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four, the CBS Morning Show and live streams of concerts, NBA, NFL and college football games, courtesy its live TrueVR technology. It is ranked as amongst the best in the live event VR space and its focus is on building the next generation of fan engagement for live sports and entertainment.

“Star India is one of the most iconic media companies in the world and has been focused on transforming sports in India. This partnership will allow them to provide live, immersive virtual reality experiences to their users for the first time,” says VOKE co-founder & CEO Sankar Jayaram. The flexibility of our technology platform is unique and enables media companies to reach their audiences across a variety of mediums and deliver personalized VR experiences to all fans like never before.”

Adds Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan: “We owe our loyal and growing platform users the very best video experience in the world. Fans in India look to Hotstar to set the benchmark for video streaming. We are excited to collaborate with VOKE to bring a dramatic new live experience to sports fans.”

The flexibility of VOKE’s platform is significant and it enables media companies to host the VR content on their own sites and branded applications instead of requiring that it be aggregated on the VOKE VR site. Hotstar users will be able access the TrueVR™ stream by selecting the Google Cardboard feature in Hotstar’s iOS and Android apps or by downloading the Hotstar Gear VR app from the Oculus Store. Highlights and video on demand content will be available through the same outlets for those who are unable to watch it live.

The Voke Camera Pod

VOKE’s live TrueVR™ stream for the Kabaddi World Cup will be available to Hotstar users on both Google Cardboard and Gear VR headsets. In addition, a personalized, 2D user-controlled experience will also be available for viewers without headsets on Hotstar.com or on the Hotstar app. It is the first time TrueVR™ content from a live event of this magnitude will be available on multiple headsets and mobile operating systems.

Speaking to SportsVideoGroup in late August, Jayaram explaining the virtues of VOKE’s VR expertise had said: “So we put multiple pods on the field, and we allow users to choose where they want to be…. One, we can do a produced feed and take people where we think they might want to be. But we feel that, if a user really just wants to be sitting down by the players and coaches in VR, those are options and choices we want to give them. All of our cameras are completely synced, down to the frame level. Which means, when you want to do a replay or you pause one camera position, you can pick the action up from another camera at the exact same frame. Our cameras can go down to that level of detail if our viewers want to use it that way. So we provide full multi-POV, synchronized, DVR-capable streams, and that spans across VR, mobile, VOD, everything.”

VOKE says that the Hotstar partnership will continue for more live sporting events going forward. That should be good news for immersive virtual reality sporting event lovers.

October 8, 2016
Jul-16: Airtel takes lead in wireline broadband subs additions in CY-16

BENGALURU: There’s action in the broadband space – both wireless and wired. Indian telecom major and DTH player Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel) has been on a net add spree in July 2016, overaking MSO and wireline broadband services player Atria Convergence Technologies Pvt Ltd (ACT) in wireline subscriber additions in the calendar year 2016 (CY-16) up to now. This is according to telecom subscription data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for the period ended 31 July 2016 (July-16).

The data, released on 7 October 2016, reveals that Airtel had added 2.1 lakh net broadband wireline subscribers as compared to 1.9 lakh net subscribers added by ACT since 31 December 2015 (Dec-15, or 1 January 2016). Until Jun-16, ACT lead in net subscriber additions in CY-16.

Among the five top wireline broadband internet players in India, the public sector telecom player Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) lead by far with 98.6 lakh total number of wireline broadband subscribers. However, BSNL has seen its broadband subscriber base shrink by 60,000 in CY-16.

The largest private sector wireline broadband internet services player Airtel had 18.8 lakh subscribers as on 31 July 2016, followed by another public sector player, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), with 10.8 lakh subscribers. Not far behind was ACT with 10.5 lakh subscribers, followed by You Broadband (You BB) with 5.6 lakh subscribers. MTNL has also seen a reduction of 40,000 subscribers in CY-16, while You BB has seen its wireline broadband subscriber base increase by 60,000 during the same period. Please refer to Fig 1 below for wireline subscriber data in CY-16.

Among these top five, only BSNL and Airtel could be termed as national players at present. BSNL, Airtel and MTNL also provide wireline telephony voice and data and mobile services while Airtel also has a direct to home (DTH) segment. ACT started off as an MSO with operations concentrated in a few major cities and towns located mainly in South India. It started internet services (ACT Broadband) a little later and has grown its broadband internet subscriber base over time thorough organic growth as well as through acquisitions to the extent that it is quite likely the biggest private wireline broadband player in South India. You BB offers broadband operations in a few cities in Maharashtra, Gujarat, the NCR region, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

In CY-16, the all-India wireline subscriber base has increased by 9.8 lakh, with the top five players contributing 3.6 lakh subscribers or a little more than a third at 36.73 percent. The subscriber share of the top five wireline broadband internet players has declined from 85.28 percent (142.8 lakh) as on Dec-15 to 82.56 percent (144.4 lakh) as on Jul-16. Please refer to Fig 2 for the month-on-month change in wired broadband internet subscribers during CY-16.

Other wireline broadband players in India

MSOs in India have started providing internet services on the back of their television cable networks using DOCSIS technology. In general, they have started reporting double digit year-over-year (y-o-y) increase in internet subscribers and revenue. The television cable players see broadband services improving their average revenue per user (ARPU) numbers.

Three of the major MSOs and a regional MSO, Hathway, Siti Cable, Den Networks and Ortel Communications, respectively whose financial results are available in the public, domain have been showing steady growth in their broadband segment over the past few quarters.

Overall broadband subscriber numbers for July 2016

Overall, as per the data received by TRAI from the service providers, the number of broadband subscribers (including wireless, mobile, dongles) remained stagnant at159.80 million (15.980 crore) at the end of both Jun-16 and Jul-16.

Wireless broadband subscriber numbers that use mobiles and dongles for internet access have increased month-on-month by 4.92 per cent to 148.93 million (14.893 crore) in July-16 from 141.94 million (14.194 crore) in June-16. Fixed wireless subscribers that access the internet through Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, point-to-point radio and VSAT have declined 1.06 percent in July-16 to to 0.54 million (5.4 lakh) from 0.55 million (5.5 lakh) June-16.

The top five service providers constituted 84.83 percent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of July-16. These service providers were Bharti Airtel (44.41 million or 4.441 crore), Vodafone (33.6 million or 3.36 crore), Idea Cellular (28.19 million 2.819 crore), BSNL (20.92 million 2.092 crore) and Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Communications (14.74 million 1.474 crore).

Decline in telephone subscribers in July 2016

It must, however, be noted that the number of telephone subscribers in India declined from 1,059.86 million (105.986 crore) at the end of June-16 to 1,058.85 million (105.885 crore) at the end of July-16, thereby showing a monthly decline rate of 0.10 percent.

The urban subscription increased from 609.45 million (60.945 crore) at the end of June-16 to 610.22 million (61.022 crore) at the end of July-16 whereas the rural subscription declined from 450.41 million (45.041 crore) to 448.63 million (44.863 crore) during the same period.

The monthly growth rates of urban and rural subscription were 0.13 percent and -0.40 per cent, respectively during the month of July-16.

The overall tele-density in India declined from 83.20 at the end of June- 16 to 83.04 at the end of Jul-16. The urban tele-density declined from 153.22 at the end of June-16 to 153.18 at the end of July-16, and the rural tele-density also declined from 51.41 during the same period. The share of urban subscribers and rural subscribers in total number of telephone subscribers at the end of July-16 was 57.63 per cent and 42.37 per cent, respectively.

TRAI’s definition of broadband is internet download speeds greater than or equal to 512 Kpbs.

October 8, 2016
Jul-16: Airtel takes lead in wireline broadband subs additions in CY-16

BENGALURU: There’s action in the broadband space – both wireless and wired. Indian telecom major and DTH player Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel) has been on a net add spree in July 2016, overaking MSO and wireline broadband services player Atria Convergence Technologies Pvt Ltd (ACT) in wireline subscriber additions in the calendar year 2016 (CY-16) up to now. This is according to telecom subscription data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for the period ended 31 July 2016 (July-16).

The data, released on 7 October 2016, reveals that Airtel had added 2.1 lakh net broadband wireline subscribers as compared to 1.9 lakh net subscribers added by ACT since 31 December 2015 (Dec-15, or 1 January 2016). Until Jun-16, ACT lead in net subscriber additions in CY-16.

Among the five top wireline broadband internet players in India, the public sector telecom player Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) lead by far with 98.6 lakh total number of wireline broadband subscribers. However, BSNL has seen its broadband subscriber base shrink by 60,000 in CY-16.

The largest private sector wireline broadband internet services player Airtel had 18.8 lakh subscribers as on 31 July 2016, followed by another public sector player, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), with 10.8 lakh subscribers. Not far behind was ACT with 10.5 lakh subscribers, followed by You Broadband (You BB) with 5.6 lakh subscribers. MTNL has also seen a reduction of 40,000 subscribers in CY-16, while You BB has seen its wireline broadband subscriber base increase by 60,000 during the same period. Please refer to Fig 1 below for wireline subscriber data in CY-16.

Among these top five, only BSNL and Airtel could be termed as national players at present. BSNL, Airtel and MTNL also provide wireline telephony voice and data and mobile services while Airtel also has a direct to home (DTH) segment. ACT started off as an MSO with operations concentrated in a few major cities and towns located mainly in South India. It started internet services (ACT Broadband) a little later and has grown its broadband internet subscriber base over time thorough organic growth as well as through acquisitions to the extent that it is quite likely the biggest private wireline broadband player in South India. You BB offers broadband operations in a few cities in Maharashtra, Gujarat, the NCR region, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

In CY-16, the all-India wireline subscriber base has increased by 9.8 lakh, with the top five players contributing 3.6 lakh subscribers or a little more than a third at 36.73 percent. The subscriber share of the top five wireline broadband internet players has declined from 85.28 percent (142.8 lakh) as on Dec-15 to 82.56 percent (144.4 lakh) as on Jul-16. Please refer to Fig 2 for the month-on-month change in wired broadband internet subscribers during CY-16.

Other wireline broadband players in India

MSOs in India have started providing internet services on the back of their television cable networks using DOCSIS technology. In general, they have started reporting double digit year-over-year (y-o-y) increase in internet subscribers and revenue. The television cable players see broadband services improving their average revenue per user (ARPU) numbers.

Three of the major MSOs and a regional MSO, Hathway, Siti Cable, Den Networks and Ortel Communications, respectively whose financial results are available in the public, domain have been showing steady growth in their broadband segment over the past few quarters.

Overall broadband subscriber numbers for July 2016

Overall, as per the data received by TRAI from the service providers, the number of broadband subscribers (including wireless, mobile, dongles) remained stagnant at159.80 million (15.980 crore) at the end of both Jun-16 and Jul-16.

Wireless broadband subscriber numbers that use mobiles and dongles for internet access have increased month-on-month by 4.92 per cent to 148.93 million (14.893 crore) in July-16 from 141.94 million (14.194 crore) in June-16. Fixed wireless subscribers that access the internet through Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, point-to-point radio and VSAT have declined 1.06 percent in July-16 to to 0.54 million (5.4 lakh) from 0.55 million (5.5 lakh) June-16.

The top five service providers constituted 84.83 percent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of July-16. These service providers were Bharti Airtel (44.41 million or 4.441 crore), Vodafone (33.6 million or 3.36 crore), Idea Cellular (28.19 million 2.819 crore), BSNL (20.92 million 2.092 crore) and Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Communications (14.74 million 1.474 crore).

Decline in telephone subscribers in July 2016

It must, however, be noted that the number of telephone subscribers in India declined from 1,059.86 million (105.986 crore) at the end of June-16 to 1,058.85 million (105.885 crore) at the end of July-16, thereby showing a monthly decline rate of 0.10 percent.

The urban subscription increased from 609.45 million (60.945 crore) at the end of June-16 to 610.22 million (61.022 crore) at the end of July-16 whereas the rural subscription declined from 450.41 million (45.041 crore) to 448.63 million (44.863 crore) during the same period.

The monthly growth rates of urban and rural subscription were 0.13 percent and -0.40 per cent, respectively during the month of July-16.

The overall tele-density in India declined from 83.20 at the end of June- 16 to 83.04 at the end of Jul-16. The urban tele-density declined from 153.22 at the end of June-16 to 153.18 at the end of July-16, and the rural tele-density also declined from 51.41 during the same period. The share of urban subscribers and rural subscribers in total number of telephone subscribers at the end of July-16 was 57.63 per cent and 42.37 per cent, respectively.

TRAI’s definition of broadband is internet download speeds greater than or equal to 512 Kpbs.

October 8, 2016
Jio, Reliance Retail offer freebies with iPhone7, 7+

MUMBAI: Even before the iPhone7 became available in retail stores, Apple had announced that the flood of pre-orders had resulted it being sold out in the US. The Cupertino – hqed company is pulling out all the stops to ensure that its debut in India generates as much of good news. And it’s tie ups with the Mukesh Ambai owned Reliance Retail and Jio are steps in that direction.

Buyers of a new iPhone7 and iPhone7 Plus, are being offered Rs 1,499 worth Jio Digital Life services complimentary for 12 months from 1 January 2017. This includes unlimited local, STD and national roaming voice, unlimited text, 20 GB of 4G Data, 40 GB of WiFi Data and Unlimited Night 4G Data, unlimited subscription to premium Jio Applications. The offer is valid in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru only.

And it has also been extended to new purchases of older iPhone models such as the 6s, 6s+, 6, 6+, 5SE across all Reliance Digital stores and select Apple Premium Resellers (APR) and Apple Authorized Resellers (AAR).

Plus of course, they are entitled to the three months of free data, voice and app services until 31 December 2016. Making it a total of 15 months of freebies if they buy one of the above iPhone models now.

“Today’s announcement brings together India’s best premium 4G network with the incredible iPhone experience,” said Jio president Mathew Oommen. “Jio is India’s 4G-only network, providing high-speed internet across India. The true power of iPhones can now be experienced by all Indian iPhone users on the Jio network.”

Reliance Retail is offering users the convenience of pre-ordering the iPhone models online and having them delivered, installed and activated with Jio services in their homes.

“It’s a great initiative by Apple, Jio and Reliance Retail,” says a marketing consultant. “It should lead to volume uptakes. However, With Jio’s calls now getting connected with other mobile telcos easier than before, one will have to wait and watch whether it can provide consistent service in both data speeds and in voice.”

Jio is currently under challenge from other mobile providers like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea who have also shaved their 4G wireless broadband prices, in line with it playing the volume and price warrior game.

October 8, 2016
Jio, Reliance Retail offer freebies with iPhone7, 7+

MUMBAI: Even before the iPhone7 became available in retail stores, Apple had announced that the flood of pre-orders had resulted it being sold out in the US. The Cupertino – hqed company is pulling out all the stops to ensure that its debut in India generates as much of good news. And it’s tie ups with the Mukesh Ambai owned Reliance Retail and Jio are steps in that direction.

Buyers of a new iPhone7 and iPhone7 Plus, are being offered Rs 1,499 worth Jio Digital Life services complimentary for 12 months from 1 January 2017. This includes unlimited local, STD and national roaming voice, unlimited text, 20 GB of 4G Data, 40 GB of WiFi Data and Unlimited Night 4G Data, unlimited subscription to premium Jio Applications. The offer is valid in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru only.

And it has also been extended to new purchases of older iPhone models such as the 6s, 6s+, 6, 6+, 5SE across all Reliance Digital stores and select Apple Premium Resellers (APR) and Apple Authorized Resellers (AAR).

Plus of course, they are entitled to the three months of free data, voice and app services until 31 December 2016. Making it a total of 15 months of freebies if they buy one of the above iPhone models now.

“Today’s announcement brings together India’s best premium 4G network with the incredible iPhone experience,” said Jio president Mathew Oommen. “Jio is India’s 4G-only network, providing high-speed internet across India. The true power of iPhones can now be experienced by all Indian iPhone users on the Jio network.”

Reliance Retail is offering users the convenience of pre-ordering the iPhone models online and having them delivered, installed and activated with Jio services in their homes.

“It’s a great initiative by Apple, Jio and Reliance Retail,” says a marketing consultant. “It should lead to volume uptakes. However, With Jio’s calls now getting connected with other mobile telcos easier than before, one will have to wait and watch whether it can provide consistent service in both data speeds and in voice.”

Jio is currently under challenge from other mobile providers like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea who have also shaved their 4G wireless broadband prices, in line with it playing the volume and price warrior game.

October 8, 2016