ITV

Category: Telecom

  • DoT supports auction as the preferred method for allocation of satcom spectrum

    DoT supports auction as the preferred method for allocation of satcom spectrum

    Mumbai: Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has supported auction as the preferred method for allocation of satcom spectrum, backing the stance of telecom firms Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea (VI) against satcom companies seeking allocation without bidding, according to media reports.

    Most telecom firms have opposed offering spectrum for satellite communications at an administered price as it may lead to an uneven playing field, as they would be offering the same services. However, satellite companies, led by OneWeb have opposed this, saying that globally, it is given administratively.

    DoT officials were quoted as saying that sitcom airwaves should be given to the highest bidder since several firms are trying to enter the market and that the bandwidth should be utilised for commercial purposes. An auction would be a better way to allocate the airwaves as the satellite spectrum will be used in accessing customers, just like mobile networks, the officials added.

  • Jio Bharat: Bridging the gap between ‘Bharat’ and ‘India’

    Jio Bharat: Bridging the gap between ‘Bharat’ and ‘India’

    Mumbai: Earlier this week, Reliance Jio launched India’s most affordable 4G phone ‘Jio Bharat’, at an unprecedented Rs 999 price point. The development comes on the back of Jio’s ambition to make India 2G free. Why is that important, you ask?

    At a time when the 5G network roll out is picking pace in the country, we still have an estimated 250 million mobile subscribers trapped in the 2G era with feature phones. These users currently have no internet access, digital payment or entertainment options. And this results into a big digital divide in the country, predominantly existing between urban and rural India. It has increased over the years because of the inability of the rural, low income population to afford basic digital services.

    According to a new report by Emkay Global Financial Services, with the recent increase in 2G tariff by telecom operators and limited availability of affordable feature phones, JioBharat is coming at the right time to accelerate the 2G to 4G transition and enable digital experiences for masses. The Jio Bharat phone is expected to democratise internet access, enhancing these users’ economic prospects. With Jio’s network and distribution strength along with the device, Jio would be able to capture over 40 per cent market share.

    With the government’s consistent push for digital payments, we have seen a significant behavioural shift in our cash-driven economy. The UPI system has grown rapidly and is now used by close to 300 million individuals and 50 million merchants. It is already announced that all panchayats across the country will mandatorily use digital payments for development work and revenue collection from 15th August. Therefore, Jio Bharat’s entry with JioPay, a UPI-based digital payments app is poised to propel the growth of digital payments in rural India.

    Jio Bharat is not only the cheapest 4G phone, but also 30 per cent cheaper than competition in terms of service cost. A recharge of Rs 123 per month will provide users with unlimited voice calls and 14 GB data, compared to other operators’ Rs 179 plan for voice calls and only 2 GB data.

    According to the India Telecom report by JP Morgan, ‘Jio Bharat’ has the potential to disrupt the entry-level market. “We believe with this phone Jio can take market share at the lower end of the market. This also puts Bharti at risk as it can see increased churn from its recent 2G price action of increasing the Rs 99 plan to Rs 155 plan,” said the JP Morgan report.

    The launch of the Jio Bharat phone is a significant step towards digital inclusion in India. It promises to make quality, affordable internet accessible to everyone. This could transform the lives of people who have previously been restricted to 2G due to financial limitations and help bridge the gap between ‘India’ and ‘Bharat’.

  • Trai seeks comments on its consultation paper on regulating converged digital technologies and services

    Trai seeks comments on its consultation paper on regulating converged digital technologies and services

    Mumbai: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Tuesday issued the consultation paper on “regulating converged digital technologies and services -enabling the convergence of carriage of broadcasting and telecommunication services.”

    Over the period of time, various technological developments in digital markets have resulted in the convergence of devices, services, and networks.

    Trai has asked stockholders to submit comments and counter comments on the consultation paper.

    The last date for submission of comments is 27 February 2023 and counter comments by 13 March 2023.

    The paper examines the challenges posed by converging technologies and seeks the views of the stakeholders on any changes required, if any, in the legal, administrative, and licensing frameworks to deal with them.

    The release said, “The convergence of digital and physical products through the use of machine-to-machine (M2M), the internet of things (loT), artificial intelligence and other technologies is paving the way for the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0).”

    It further added, “Efficient utilisation of resources, an increased level of competition, more innovative user applications and technological developments are the main drivers of convergence. Convergence has been intensified by the emerging use of digital technologies across the sectors.”

  • Reliance Jio added 0.2 mn wireless subscribers in November 2022: Trai

    Reliance Jio added 0.2 mn wireless subscribers in November 2022: Trai

    Mumbai: As per subscription data by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), Reliance Jio added 0.2 million wireless subscribers at the end of November. Bharti Airtel added 0.1 million during the same period. In November, Vodafone Idea lost 20735 wireless subscribers.

    The total number of wireless subscribers decreased from 1,143.63 million to 1,143.04 million in November. The number of wireless subscribers in urban areas increased from 625.18 million to 626.60 million. However, wireless subscriptions in rural areas decreased from 518.45 million to 516.45 million.

    As per Trai data, there were 1012.33 active wireless subscribers during the month. Reliance Jio had the highest number of active wireless subscribers at 388.00 million, followed by Bharti Airtel at 359.00 million and Vodafone Idea at 209.70 million. BSNL had 54.96 million active wireless subscribers.

    As per information received from 887 operators in November, Trai found that total broadband subscribers increased from 821.49 million to 825.38 million. The broadband subscribers comprised 792.47 million mobile device users, 31.83 million wired subscribers, and 1.08 million fixed wireless subscribers.

    The top five broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm with 430.18 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel (230.56 million), Vodafone Idea (123.48 million), BSNL (25.85 million), and Atria Convergence (2.14 million).

    The top five wired broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm with 7.38 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel (5.56 million), BSNL (4.02 million), Atria Convergence (2.14 million) and Hathway Cable & Datacom (1.13 million).

    The top five wireless broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm (422.81 million), Bharti Airtel (225 million), Vodafone Idea (123.47 million), BSNL (21.83 million) and Intech Online (0.23 million).

    The number of wireline subscribers increased from 26.82 million to 27.13 million in November.

    The number of telephone subscribers in India decreased from 1,170.45 million to 1,170.18 million. Urban telephone subscriptions decreased from 649.99 million to  651.68 million. However, rural subscriptions also increased from 520.46 million to 518.50  million.

    During November, a total of 12.02 million requests were received for mobile number portability (MNP).

  • Trai releases consultation paper on telecommunication infrastructure sharing, spectrum sharing, and spectrum leasing

    Trai releases consultation paper on telecommunication infrastructure sharing, spectrum sharing, and spectrum leasing

    Mumbai: The department of telecommunications (DoT) informed Trai in a letter dated 10 February 2022 that it is proposed to allow sharing of all types of telecom infrastructure and network elements among all categories of service providers licenced under section 4 of the Indian telegraph act, 1885, for provision of authorised telecom services in order to promote optimum resource utilisation among licensees. Through the said letter, DoT sought Trai’s recommendations under section 11(1)(a) of Trai Act, 1997 (as amended) on this issue.

    The issues relating to spectrum sharing and leasing have been discussed alongside the concerns relating to infrastructure sharing in light of the stakeholders’ proposal to permit inter-band spectrum sharing and leasing.

    In 2020, during the Trai’s consultation process on ‘methodology of applying spectrum usage charges (SUC) under the weighted average method of SUC assessment, in cases of spectrum sharing’, a few stakeholders had requested the authority that inter-band spectrum sharing as well as leasing of four spectrum should be permitted in the country.

    Written comments on the issues raised in the consultation paper are invited from the stakeholders by 10 February 2023 and counter-comments by 24 February 2023.

  • Telcos’ gross revenue slips 0.01% to Rs 76,408 cr in Apr-Jun’2022: Trai

    Telcos’ gross revenue slips 0.01% to Rs 76,408 cr in Apr-Jun’2022: Trai

    Mumbai: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has released the latest edition, for the quarter ending 20 June 2022, of its report “Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator” on Wednesday.

    The report provides a broad view of telecom services, including key parameters and growth trends, as well as cable TV, DTH, and radio broadcasting services in India from April 1 to June 30.

    According to the report, the number of telephone subscribers has increased from 1,166.93 million at the end of March 22 to 1,172.96 million at the end of June 22, registering a growth rate of 0.52 per cent over the previous quarter. This reflects a year-on-year (YoY) decline rate of 2.46 per cent over the same quarter of the last year. Overall teledensity in India increased from 84.88 per cent on March 22 to 85.13 per cent on June 22.

    Trends in Telephone subscribers and Tele-density in India

    Telephone subscribers in urban areas increased to 649.09 million at the end of Jun-22, in comparison to 647.11 million at the end of Mar-22. During the same time period, however, urban tele-density fell from 134.94 per cent to 134.72 per cent.

    Rural telephone subscribers increased from 519.82 million at the end of Mar-22 to 523.27 million at the end of Jun-22 and rural tele-density also increased from 58.07 per cent to 58.46 per cent during the same period.

    Out of the total subscriptions, the share of rural subscriptions increased from 44.55 per cent at the end of Mar-22 to 44.66 per cent at the end of Jun-22.

    Composition of Telephone Subscribers

    With a net increase of 5.30 million subscribers during the quarter, the total wireless subscriber base increased from 1,142.09 million at the end of Mar-22 to 1,147.39 million at the end of Jun-22, registering a growth rate of 0.46 per cent over the previous quarter. On Y-O-Y basis, wireless subscriptions decreased at the rate of 2.83 per cent during the year. 

    Wireless tele-density increased from 83.07 per cent at the end of Mar-22 to 83.27 per cent at the end of Jun-22 with quarterly growth rate of 0.24 per cent.

    Wireline subscribers increased from 24.84 million at the end of Mar-22 to 25.57 million at the end of Jun-22, representing a quarterly growth rate of 2.92 per cent, and wireline subscriptions increased by 17.62 per cent year-on-year at the end of quarter ended Jun-22.

    Wireline tele-density increased from 1.81 per cent at the end of Mar-22 to 1.86 per cent at the end of Jun-22 with quarterly growth rate of 2.69 per cent.

    Total number of internet subscribers increased from 824.89 million at the end of Mar-22 to 836.86 million at the end of Jun-22, registering a quarterly growth rate of 1.45 per cent. Out of 836.86 million internet subscribers, the number of wired subscribers is 28.73 million, and the number of wireless subscribers is 808.13 million.

    Composition of internet subscription

    There are 800,94 million broadband internet subscribers and 35.92 million narrowband internet subscribers in the internet subscriber base.

    The broadband internet subscriber base increased by 1.60 per cent from 788.30 million at the end of Mar-22 to 800.94 million at the end of Jun-22. The narrowband internet subscriber base declined by 1.84 per cent from 36.59 million at the end of Mar-22 to 35.92 million at the end of Jun-22.  

    Monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) for wireless service increased by 5.02 per cent, from Rs 127.17 in Mar-22 to Rs 133.55 in Jun-22. On a YoY basis, monthly ARPU for wireless service increased by 27.61 per cent in this quarter.

    Prepaid ARPU per month increased from Rs 121.91 in Mar-22 to Rs 128.61 in Jun-22, however, postpaid ARPU per month decreased from Rs 200.56 in Mar-22 to Rs 197.55 in Jun-22.

    On an all-India average, the overall MOU per subscriber per month decreased by 4.38 per cent from 955 in March 2022 to 914 in June 2022.

    Prepaid MOU per subscriber per month fell from 972 in March to 936 in June. Postpaid MOU per subscriber per month fell from 721 in March to 621 in June.

    The telecom service sector’s gross revenue (GR) and adjusted gross revenue (AGR) for the quarter ended June 22 were Rs 76,408 crore and Rs 60,530 crore, respectively. GR decreased by 0.01 per cent and AGR increased by 2.79 per cent in Jun-22, as compared to the previous quarter.

    The YoY growth in GR and AGR in Jun-22 over the same quarter last year has been 17.91 per cent and 17.91 per cent, respectively.

    Pass-through charges decreased from Rs 13,568 crore in Mar-22 to Rs 13,415 crore in Jun-22, with a quarterly decline rate of 1.12 per cent. Pass-through charges for the quarter ended June 22 have decreased by 0.38 per cent YoY.

    The licence fee increased from Rs 4,712 crore to Rs 4,844 crore for the QE Mar-22 to QE Jun-22. The quarterly and the YoY growth rates of the licence fee are 2.79 per cent and 18.05 per cent, respectively, in this quarter.

    Service-wise composition of Adjusted Gross Revenue

    Access services contributed 80.95 per cent of the total adjusted gross revenue of telecom services. In access services, gross revenue (GR), adjusted gross revenue (AGR), license fee, spectrum usage charges (SUC) and pass through charges increased by 1.67 per cent, 5.55 per cent, 5.53 per cent, 3.82 per cent and -3.41 per cent, respectively in QE Jun-22.

    The performance of cellular mobile service providers in terms of quality of service performance in all the parameters remains the same, i.e., neither performance has improved nor deteriorated in this quarter as compared to the previous quarter.

    A total of approximately 892 private satellite TV channels have been permitted by the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) for uplinking only/downlinking only/both uplinking & downlinking.  

    As per the reporting done by broadcasters in pursuance of the tariff order dated 3 March 2017 as amended, out of 879 permitted satellite TV channels which are available for downlinking in India, there are 347 satellite pay TV channels as on 30 June 2022. Out of 347 pay channels, 249 are SD satellite pay TV channels and 98 are HD satellite pay TV channels.

    Since the introduction of the DTH sector in 2003, Indian DTH (direct-to-home) services have displayed phenomenal growth. There were four pay DTH service providers in the country during the quarter that ended in June 2022.

    As of June 30, 2022, Pay DTH had approximately 67.04 million active subscribers. This is in addition to the DD Free Dish (free DTH services from Doordarshan) subscribers.

  • Vodafone Idea lost 4 mn wireless subscribers in September 2022: Trai

    Vodafone Idea lost 4 mn wireless subscribers in September 2022: Trai

    Mumbai: As per subscription data by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), Reliance Jio added 0.72 million wireless subscribers at the end of September 2022. Bharti Airtel added 0.41 million subscribers during the same period. Vodafone Idea, on the other hand, lost 4 million wireless subscribers.

    The total number of wireless subscribers decreased to 1,145.45 million at the end of September 2022, in comparison to 1,149.11 million at the end of August 2022.

    The number of wireless subscribers in urban areas increased from 627.09 million to 627.14 million for the same period, while in rural areas it decreased from 522.02 million to 518.31 million.

    In September 2022, as per Trai data, there were 1,013.97 million active wireless subscribers. Reliance Jio had the highest number of active wireless subscribers at 386.08 million during the period, followed by Bharti Airtel at 358.99 million and Vodafone Idea at 212.19 million. From public-sector units, BSNL had 56.23 million active wireless subscribers.

    As per information received from 846 operators in September 2022, Trai found that total broadband subscribers increased from 813.94 million to 816.24 million. In September 2022, the broadband subscribers comprised 783.99 million mobile device users, 31.09 million wired subscribers, and 1.15 million fixed wireless subscribers.

    The top five service providers constituted 98.36 per cent of the total broadband subscribers at the end of September 2022. These service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm with 426.80 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel (225.09 million), Vodafone Idea (123.20 million), BSNL (25.62 million), and Atria Convergence (2.14 million).

    The top wired broadband service providers included are Reliance Jio Infocomm with 6.83 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel (5.27 million), BSNL (3.91 million), Atria Convergence (2.14 million), and Hathway Cable & Datacom (1.13 million).

    Reliance Jio Infocomm, with 419.97 million subscribers, is followed by Bharti Airtel (219.82 million), Vodafone Idea (123.20 million), BSNL (21.71 million), and Intech Online (0.23 million) in the list of the top five wireless broadband service providers.

    The number of wireline subscribers increased from 25.97 million in September 2022 compared to 26.47 million in August 2022.

    The number of telephone subscribers decreased from 1,175.08 million to 1,171.92 million during the same period.

    Both urban and rural telephone subscribers recorded increases in numbers from 651.07 million to 651.61 million and 524.01 million to 520.30 million, respectively, at the end of September 2022.

    Also, during the same period, a total of 11.97 million requests were received for mobile number portability (MNP).

  • Trai recommends an apex body for data governance to promote data economy 

    Trai recommends an apex body for data governance to promote data economy 

    Mumbai: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has advocated for an apex body for data governance and to guide India’s digital economy as soon as the government introduced the new Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022.

    Trai noted that a statutory body should be established at the centre, with suitable representation from the department of telecommunications (DoT) and the ministry of electronics and information and technology (MeitY).

    Trai, after receiving comments from stakeholders on the consultation paper, has finalised recommendations for the establishment of data centres (DCs), content delivery networks (CDNs), and interconnect exchanges (IXPs) in India.

    The recommendations were made by the telecom watchdog at a time when the government suggested creating a Data Protection Board to address data-related issues.

    Also Read: Government announces draft bill on personal data protection; proposes penalty of up to Rs 500 cr

    To manage all matters relating to data, including digitisation, monetisation, sharing, and storage, a top organisation known as the Data Digitisation and Monetisation Council (DDMC) would be established by either changing the current law or creating a new one.

    The authority recommends that trusted source procurement, which is applicable for licensees under Section 4 of the India Telegraph Act 1885, be made applicable for DCs (data centres) for security-sensitive equipment.

    It might happen very soon that DCs companies will have to source equipment from trusted sources only. The government has designated the National Cyber Security Coordinator as the body in charge of determining whether or not a source is trustworthy. In addition, the regulatory body has said that the government should define certain fiscal and non-fiscal incentives for the data centre sector. These incentives should be applicable to all the states while giving the states further flexibility to announce additional incentives.

    The regulator further suggested CDN players should be registered with the department of telecommunications through a simple online registration process. DCs hosting CDNs are connected to each other and the internet cloud via internet exchange points (IXPs).

    Trai has recommended bringing IXPs under a separate authorization in a unified licence that is much less onerous than internet service providers’ licence authorization.

    The authority also recommends that any entity that intends to provide IXP services in India can do so either under an ISP licence or UL-ISP authorization or under standalone UL-IXP authorization.

    The authority also recommends that all existing players, including NIXI, be brought within this licensing framework in a stipulated time not exceeding six months.

  • Watcho presents an original-thriller ‘Wajah’ based on true-life events

    Watcho presents an original-thriller ‘Wajah’ based on true-life events

    Mumbai: Watcho has premiered a brand-new nail-biting thriller series called Wajah. The plot is based on the murder of Gauri Saxena, a young, innocent girl from a small town who befriends the son of fashion mogul Rakesh Mehra.

    In her pursuit of the killer, Inspector Sanjana causes havoc for the fashion industry’s power brokers and begins to uncover numerous hidden truths.

    Sanjay Swaraj, Navina Bole, Nishikant Dixit, Ayesha Kapoor, Aruna Giri, and Nikhil Parmar are among the series’ notable cast members. 

    Written by Kumar Siddharth, the series is directed by Satish Shukla and produced by Aashish Vishwakarma, Satish Shukla, and Darshan Khandelwal.

    Samar Goyal and the talented filmmakers Anik R. Verma and Pushkar Bhaskar Pant join forces as co-producers of this real-life-based, stylishly written murder mystery with a touch of fashion.

    Commenting on the launch, Dish TV India Ltd. & WATCHO corporate head of marketing Sukhpreet Singh said, “At Watcho, we believe in introducing unique and snackable content to our viewers. Looking at the overwhelming response that our previously released series in this genre have received, we thought of bringing Wajah to our audiences. This fascinating thriller, inspired by true events, features an amazing ensemble, hard-hitting performances, and an exciting storyline.”

  • DoT extends PLI Scheme for telecom and networking products to 42 beneficiaries

    DoT extends PLI Scheme for telecom and networking products to 42 beneficiaries

    Mumbai: The Ministry of Communications has approved 42 companies, including 28 MSMEs, under the PLI Scheme for telecom and networking products, providing a significant boost to prime minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. Design-led manufacturing will build a strong ecosystem for 5G.  

    17 companies have applied for an additional 1 per cent incentive under design-led manufacturing criteria. These 42 companies have committed Rs 4,115 crores in investment. This is expected to generate additional sales of Rs 2.45 lakh crores and create more than 44,000 new jobs over the course of the scheme.

    The Union budget for FY’22-23 announced a design-led PLI Scheme for telecom and networking products in order to build a strong domestic value chain.  

    It provided an additional 1 per cent incentive on top of the existing incentives for products designed and manufactured in India. The design-led PLI scheme was launched in June 2022, and applications were invited from design-led manufacturers and others to take advantage of the incentive under the PLI Scheme for five years beginning on 1 April.

    Existing PLI scheme companies for telecom and networking products were allowed to add more products and apply for the design-led PLI scheme. They also received the advantage of extending their 5-year PLI Scheme period by one year. This opportunity to shift their first year was taken advantage of by 22 companies, including 13 new applicants.  

    The enthusiastic response from domestic and global manufacturers to the concrete steps taken by the Government of India to encourage telecom equipment manufacturing demonstrates the Government’s strong confidence in its initiatives. India is on track to become a design and manufacturing center for telecom and networking equipment.

    The approved applicants under the PLI Scheme for telecom and networking products are Alphion India , Candid Optronix, Coral Telecom, Design and Manufacturing Vista Electronics , Ehoome IOT, Elcom Innovations, Frog Cellsat, GDN Enterprises , GO IP Global Services ,GX India, Huber + Suhner Electronics, Kaynes International Design & Manufacturing , Lekha Wireless Solutions, Matrix Comsec, Netlink ICT, Netweb Technologies, Panache Digilife, Priyaraj Electronics,Samriddhi Automations ,Sansap Technology , Sixth Energy Technologies , Skyquad Electronics and Appliances Private Limited, Surbhi Satcom Private Limited, Synegra EMS, Systrome Technologies, Tecniqua India, Tianyin Worldtech India , Vihaan Networks , Dixon Electro Appliances, HFCL, ITI ,Neolync Tele Communications, Syrma SGS Technology, Tejas Networks , VVDN Technologies, Commscope India , Flextronics Technologies (India), Jabil Circuit India, Nokia Solutions and Networks India, Rising Stars Hi-Tech , Samsung India Electronics and Sanmina-Sci India.