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Category: Telecom

  • Reliance Jio adds 13.1 mn mobile subscribers

    Reliance Jio adds 13.1 mn mobile subscribers

    MUMBAI: Reliance Jio has added 13.1 million mobile subscribers in September where other telecom operators Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea lost 2.3 million, 2.6 million and 4 million respectively.

    Airtel, Vodafone Idea combined lost over 9 million subscribers in the month, according to telecom industry body, COAI’s data.

    COAI director general Rajan S Mathews said, “All the operators have expanded their services across the country, and have begun heavily diversifying their services beyond voice & data for the consumer.”

    As of September, Airtel, Vodafone and Idea held market shares of 33.75 per cent, 21.80 per cent and 20.94 per cent respectively, according to the reports. In August, Jio had over 239 million subscribers. Airtel continued to be at top position with 343.52 million subscribers followed by Reliance Jio which recently crossed the 250 million mark for its subscriber base, taking its total subscribers to over 252 million at the end of September. Moreover, Vodafone and Idea had subscriber base of over 221 million and 213 million respectively. The UP (East) circle remained at the top with a total of 87.53 million subscribers followed by Maharashtra at 84.70 million subscribers, the report said.

  • 250 mobile apps launched at the second edition of India Mobile Congress

    250 mobile apps launched at the second edition of India Mobile Congress

    New Delhi: Shri Manoj Sinha, Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Communications and Minister of State for Railways, launched 250 mobile apps at the India Mobile Congress, one of the biggest marquee Mobile, Internet, and Technology event for South-East Asia. These apps are related to artificial intelligence, integrated services, health, pharma, security, safety, food, sports, social networking, travel, education, and disaster management, among others.

    As the smartphone industry continues to grow, the adoption of apps has also grown over the past few years. IMC provided the perfect platform for these startups to launch their ventures in front of a global audience that constituted the who’s who of the telecom and technology industry.

    Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Rajan S Mathews, Director General, COAI said, “The second edition of IMC has received tremendous response and the participation has been overwhelming. It is a matter of great pride for us to provide such a large platform for young entrepreneurs to showcase their innovation. The flourishing smartphone industry opened new windows of opportunities and the app industry is definitely a frontrunner where new opportunities are concerned. With people increasingly becoming dependent on mobile apps, the prospect of innovative and relevant apps being launched becomes more real.”

    While apps offer a definite business case, many apps launched today are targeted at public welfare. Apps for blood donation and cleanliness point to the fact that today social welfare is at the helm for many and it augurs well for the nation at large.

    Some of the following apps were launched today – ONGO Framework, Build4Us, Dalmia BestPrice, Antariksh Technology Ventures (OPC) Pvt Ltd, khabar aap kaa, Reverie Language Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Flock, Rubique Technologies, CricDost (XSC Techsol Pvt Ltd), Get Set Go, GenieTalk, Interperso, KONNECT, V-Cloakroom, KOMPASS PRO, ISOMETRIK, Ride Lord, Goldbin, cleaneety, Fridel, Road Inspector, Blood bank, Davaorder, No Food Waste India, Online Teacher training, Web Cycle, Cyanodoc Healthcare, Abbidyn, Knowmad.app, Delhi Blood Bank, Vaani, Indovators, Titration ColorCam (Light Lab, IISER Kolkata), Urban Yogi, WildWatch, Oniv, Street Buddy, Budget Travel, PayJal, The Community Warehouse, Seehat, Sutras, Healthol, Heuro, Ohire, Smart Cities Wheel, Voice Verso, MIHI, BlockMark, DisasterAid, Nexgen Conferences Pvt. Ltd, Bigfix, Biztips, Seehat, Datacultr among others.

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  • “3-day India Mobile Congress 2018 concludes; showcasing the latest and the best in digital communications technologies, products, services, and applications; and establishing the future horizons for the digital communications sector in the country”: Manoj

    “3-day India Mobile Congress 2018 concludes; showcasing the latest and the best in digital communications technologies, products, services, and applications; and establishing the future horizons for the digital communications sector in the country”: Manoj

    India Mobile Congress(IMC) 2018 – a marquee event which provided a peep into the exciting future in the rapidly evolving area of digital communications – ended today, with participants and organisers promising to be back next year. This year’s event, with its’ theme of “New Digital Horizons – Connect. Create. Innovate.”, established the IMC as a regular platform for global and local stakeholders in the sector to collaborate in the cause of exploring opportunities and leveraging possibilities, with specific focus on South and South-East Asia.

    Addressing members of the press and media on the last day of IMC 2018, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Communications, Shri Manoj Sinha said – “Having participated in the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona earlier this year, I can assure you that IMC 2018 was no less – in terms of substance, scale, and style. The IMC is just a two-year old baby, and it has already acquired a personality of its’ own. It will now be an important annual event on everyone’s calendar.”

    The mega 3-day event was inaugurated on October 25 by Shri Manoj Sinha,Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Communications, in the august presence ofShri Suresh Prabhu, Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation; Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice, and Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing & Urban Affairs. Also gracing the inaugural function were captains of the telecom industry – Shri Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries; Shri Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group; and Shri Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Enterprises.

    The IMC 2018 conference and exhibition was held over a total area of more than 50,000 square-metres, with more than 5,000 delegates in attendance. Delegations from 20 countriesparticipated in the event, which saw more than 300 companies showcasing their latest and best technologies, products, services, and applications. According to the organisers, more than 50,000 curious visitors attended the various sessions and viewed the futuristic solutions on display at the exhibition stalls.

    An extremely relevant addition at this edition of the IMC was the presence of high-level ministerial delegations from several BIMSTEC and ASEAN countries. Hon’ble Ministers from the European Commission, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, and Lao PDR led their respective delegations, and participated in plenary sessions which were focused on the specific needs, challenges, and opportunities applicable to member countries of these regional forums. The presence of the high-level delegations also offered them an opportunity for bilateral meetings with their Indian counterparts, where topics of mutual interest were discussed, and possibilities of strengthening cooperation were explored.

    Among the companies whose participationcontributed to the success of IMC 2018 were global and local giants such as Samsung, Intel, Ericsson, Nokia, Cisco, NEC, Accenture, KPMG, E&Y, Facebook, Huawei, Sterlite, Vodafone Idea, Reliance Jio, Airtel, and BSNL. Several exhibition stalls set up by these companies attracted crowds of interested visitors, while leaders from the companies enriched the discourse through their participation in the various plenary sessions. The exhibition stalls covered a variety of interesting possibilities, hinged around 5G, Internet of Things, Augmented and Virtual Reality,Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Smart City Solutions, Fintech, Health-Tech, Autonomous Cars, and Cyber Security, amongst others.

    An interesting feature of this edition of the IMC was the focused attention on the critical Start-ups ecosystem. More than 200 start-ups marked their presence at the event, with their booths displaying ideas and innovations which seek to leverage the potential of digital communications to create and meet ever-changing consumer needs – in areas such as artificial intelligence, integrated services, healthcare, pharma, security, safety, food, sports, social networking, travel, education, and disaster management, among others. As Shri Manoj Sinha, while inaugurating the simultaneous release of 250 start-up applications at the IMC 2018 today, said – “The sheer volume and quality of what I see here is amazing. Who knows, we may right now be releasing the WhatsApp and Google Maps of tomorrow!”

    The event was also noteworthy for some very remarkable announcements which clearly established the direction of the Indian digital communications industry over the next several years. The Government of India announced the commitment of the industry to rollout One Million WiFiHotspots in the Country by December 2019. The National Frequency Allocation Plan (NFAP) 2018 was also unveiled at the event. NFAP 2018 frees up a total of 605 MHz spectrum in the 5-GHz band for Wi-Fi services. Several spectrum bands for Short Range Devices and Ultra WideBand Devices have been made license exempt, benefitting the public as well as industry. As Smt.Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary (Telecom) and Chairman, Telecom Commission, Government of India said – “These initiatives provide an excellent launchpad for achieving the goals such as Broadband for All, which are outlined in our recently released National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP) 2018.”

    In his concluding remarks, the Minister added – “Our Government, under the leadership of the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, remains committed to make the digital communications sector a core part of our national infrastructure. The initiatives and reforms we have announced here will provide a strong boost to employment generation and digital economic activity – especially in the rural and semi-rural areas of the country. We are determined to succeed in our endeavours, in partnership with industry, academia, regulators, and startups.”

    Shri Sinha thanked the Department of Telecommunications and the Cellular Operators Association of India for designing and successfully organising a best-in-class event.

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  • India Mobile Congress Day – 2 Run Down

    India Mobile Congress Day – 2 Run Down

    New Delhi: The second day of India Mobile Congress, which is one of the biggest marquee Mobile, Internet, and Technology event for South-East Asia, saw the overwhelming response and attended by more than 18000 people.

    Key Highlights of the Day- 2

    Sessions

    The 2nd day of IMC 2018 started on a high note with the Global CEOs Conclave, which included plenary sessions on subjects such as Networks of Tomorrow, Emerging Technologies, Power of Content, Open Source Technologies etc. Who’s who of the global technology arena came together to deliberate on the future of technology and how it will bring about paradigm shifts in the way we go about our day to day lives.

    The conversational sessions were attended by global speakers such as Mr. Durga Malladi, Senior Vice President, Engineering, Qualcomm, Mr. Sanjay Kaul, President, Asia Pacific and Japan, Service Provider Business, Cisco, Dr. Jay Kim, VP, Samsung Electronics, Mr. Jay Chen, CEO, Huawei India, Dr. Anand Agarwal, Group CEO and Whole-time Director, Sterlite Technologies Limited, Mr. Nunzio Mirtillo, Senior Vice President and Head of Market Area, South East Asia, Oceania & India, Ericsson. The session was moderated by Balesh Sharma, CEO, Vodafone India Limited. They talked about how 5G would be the key drivers for new technologies and innovations. 5G is not just about speed but more about adaptability and flexibility. 5G will enable us to connect many new devices and this will be supported by AI. The next generation networks will be very complex for humans to handle and therefore AI and machines will be needed to manage.

    Panelists included Mr. Pardeep Kohli, President and CEO, Mavenir, Mr. Jim Jefferies, President and CEO, IEEE, Mr. Phil Twist, VP, Networks Marketing and Communications, Nokia, Mrs. Nivruti Rai, VP, Data Center Group, Country Head, Intel India, Mr. Jimmy Mizrahi, GM Global Portfolio, ECI Telecom.

    “Power of Content” was the session which focused on how technology is driving exponential data creation and consumption and how content delivery is going to be paramount in the future. The speakers highlighted the growth in user generated content, even from Tier 2 & 3 cities, where the content is both produced and consumed by consumers themselves.

    The panelists for the session included Mr. Matteo Maga, Managing Director, CMT, Accenture, Mr. Hiren Gada, CEO, Shemaroo Entertainment Limited and Mr. Sameer Batra, CEO, Wynk.

    IEEE-TSDSI 5G Technology and Standards Workshop

    The IEEE-TSDSI 5G workshop brought together technology experts and stakeholders from the Government, Industry, Research and Development Organizations, Academia to discuss emerging trends in 5G technologies, the opportunities and challenges that these pose for a broad spectrum of verticals including tactical and first responder missions, and infrastructure and ecosystem preparedness. The workshop is expected to serve as a catalyst to help define various use cases, drive standards, and investigate deployment issues suitable for 5G networks.

    Mr. Jim Jefferies, President, IEEE mentioned that, "Given the complexity of 5G technology, a successful implementation of this technology would require deep expertise ranging from semiconductor physics, Massive MIMO, Software Defined Networks, Shared Spectrum Access, Wireless Backhaul, Security and Applications to name a few."

    Mr. Jim added that "IEEE through its research and technical depth across its societies and through the IEEE Future Networks along with strong expertise in standards development through IEEE Standards Association will play a key role in driving this next generation technology globally. IEEE is also focusing on the region specific use cases and applications, including specific requirements for success of 5G deployments in India".

    Attendees learnt about and discussed emerging trends in 5G technologies, and the opportunities and challenges that these pose for a broad spectrum of verticals including tactical and first responder missions, and infrastructure and ecosystem preparedness. Ultimately, this workshop will serve as a catalyst to help define various use cases, drive standards and investigate deployment issues suitable for 5G networks.

    Innovation sessions

    Similarly, there were sessions on pro-innovation regulation and privacy, The Emerging World of Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, E-tail – The need of the Future, HealthTech – Age of Cyborgs, Industry 4.0: Building Factories of the Future, M-Education, Value Creation through Digital Marketing, Future of Enterprise, Aadhaar etc.
    Other sessions of Day 2 included discussions around The Emerging World of Analytics: Creating Business Solutions, HealthTech – Age of Cyborgs, Value Creation through Digital Marketing, Artificial Intelligence: Innovation, Investments, Ethics and Responsibilities, Industry 4:0: Building Factories of the Future, Future of Enterprise – Serving the Millennials, Next Generation Devices. Panelists for these sessions included Mr. Sandeep Bhushan, Director and Head Global Marketing Solutions, Facebook, Dr. Praveen Chandra, Chairman of Interventional Cardiology, Medanta, Gurgaon, Ms Sumili Chatterjee, VP and Head Brand, BCCL, Mr. Santanu Bhattacharya, Chief Data Scientist, Bharti Airtel Limited among others.

    Huawei

    Huawei today announced the launch of its OpenLab in India to provide a one-stop ICT infrastructure support for smart city and enterprises digitisation transformation. A testimony to Huawei’s commitment to Government of India’s Digital India agenda, the OpenLab Delhi aims to establish an industry ecosystem and serve as a co-innovation platform for Huawei, its customers and partners, both in India and global, for incubating industry solutions to address the challenges of digital transformation.

    Sterlite Tech

    Sterlite Tech leverages Red Hat technology to enable Programmable Networks of the future

    Sterlite Tech, a global data networks solutions company, announced that it will develop and deliver software-enabled programmable solutions using Red Hat’s portfolio of open, enterprise-grade technologies. The solutions will enable communication service providers, enterprises and citizen networks to realise the full potential of web-scale Network Function Virtualisation Infrastructure (NFVI) platform, for their network automation and Software Defined Network (SDN) initiatives.

    Given the volume and variability in data demand by end users in today’s digital landscape, the networks of today and tomorrow need to be higher-speed, more secure, programmable and more reliable. To enable this, Sterlite Tech will leverage Red Hat’s suite to help develop a solution-stack that is more open and vendor agnostic. This will be set up at Sterlite Tech’s Centre for Smarter Networks (CSN), showcasing its SDN and NFV offerings and next-generation revenue-management software, which builds upon the Red Hat NFV solution.

    Sterlite Tech combines network design innovation, service engineering with FTTx MANTRA

    Sterlite Tech, a global data network solutions company, today launched all new – FTTx MANTRA – an end-to-end FTTx-as-a-service solution. This solution allows swift roll-out of Fibre-to-the-Point (FTTx) networks at the scale, latency and agility needed to suit all future requirements of 5G, Internet of Things (IoT) applications, for global communication service providers, data centres and citizen networks.

    Uniting design innovation and expertise in service engineering onto a single technology platform, the Company’s indigenously developed FTTx MANTRA – Massive Agile Network Transformation, brings together the power of five I’s: Ingenious optical-fibre products, Integrated network design, Innovative virtualisation, Inclusive approach to hyper-scale network deployment, Intelligent software solutions that use analytics and Big Data.

    As consumers’ expectations for a seamless user experience across all devices is on the rise, and with 5G, IoT, Virtual and Augmented Reality on the verge of disrupting the global data consumption, Sterlite Tech has developed this technology to ensure faster and easier fibre infrastructure roll-out to the customers’ end-point. This new hands-on technology assists early adopters to reduce time-to-market of consumer broadband services as well as capital and operational costs of network deployment.

    Sterlite Tech is showcasing its inventive data network capabilities that make up the FTTx MANTRA along with the world’s slimmest 432F Cable, LEAD360 Execution Approach, Network Virtualisation approach with Digital Commerce and Customer Management platform and many other exciting experiences and technologies in Hall B, Booth 1.4 at India Mobile Congress 2018, taking place at Aerocity, New Delhi, India until October 27, 2018.  

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  • Interoperable Bharat Wi-Fi to provide 1mn hotspots by ’19-end

    Interoperable Bharat Wi-Fi to provide 1mn hotspots by ’19-end

    NEW DELHI: Indian Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha has said the country will rollout one million Wi-Fi hotspots in the country by December 2019 via Bharat Wi-Fi, a country-wide common inter-operable platform. His colleague, IT and Electronics Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad later highlighted the government was also taking steps towards effective data protection as the country becomes more digital.

    Announcing the connectivity initiative at the inauguration of the second edition of the India Mobile Congress 2018 (IMC) yesterday here, the Telecom Minister said Bharat Wi-Fi will be owned and operated by telecom service providers, ISPs and virtual network operators (VNOs) and consumers will have access to Wi-Fi hotspots of any of the partnering operators.

    The interoperable Wi-Fi initiative is part of the Indian government’s fibre optic project BharatNet that aims to connect the country’s 250,000 gram panchayats or local village administrations and has “put mobility in the centre of next digital revolution”, the Minister highlighted, adding rise in convergence of services has led to adoption of new technologies.    

    Pointing out that revenue generation in India’s telecom sector has seen a rise of 220 per cent in the last four years, Sinha said, along with the information technology segment, the two sectors presently contribute approximately 6.5 per cent to the country’s GDP and has the potential to grow further.

    Sinha, along with his other ministerial colleagues and industry stalwarts, including Reliance Industries’ Mukesh Ambani and Bharti Airtel’s Sunil Mittal, also unveiled the National Frequency Allocation Plan 2018 (NFAP), a roadmap for the Indian digital communications industry.

    The NFAP released a quantum of 605 MHz license-exempt spectrum in 5GHz band for wireless access services and radio local area networks in outdoor to meet the ever-growing appetite for data (from a current figure of 50 MHz since 2007).

    The frequency allocation plan also offered over 30 license-exempt bandwidths for short range devices (SRDs), ultra-wideband devices (UWDs) and additional spectrum for M2M services, creating opportunities for the public to enjoy benefits from technologies and enabling the industry to build domestic manufacturing eco-system. India has signalled its spectrum plans for 5G services aspiring to adopt the next generation technology.

    “The country is at the cusp of a digital revolution with disruptions happening in each and every sector and industry. With growing smartphone and internet penetration and with the finalisation of National Digital Communication Policy 2018, these are exciting times for the telecom sector, and the society at large,” Sinha said, adding that the launch of several innovative products will pave the path to accomplish Prime Minister Modi’s “vision of a digitally connected India”.

    The three-day India Mobile Congress 2018 has been organised by Department of Telecoms and Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).

    Earlier in the day while RIL’s Mukesh Ambani said Jio is ready to again disrupt the market with its fixed-line broadband service, Bharti Airtel’s Sunil Mittal exhorted the government to make more telecom industry-friendly policies as the sector continues to be highly taxed, similar to the tobacco industry, which is proving to be detrimental.

    Among the key highlights of the first day of the IMC was the participation of 5G trials by companies like Reliance Jio InfoComm, Intel, Nokia and Qualcomm.

  • 5G stole the limelight at IMC 2018 Day 1, with Live Demonstrations

    5G stole the limelight at IMC 2018 Day 1, with Live Demonstrations

    New Delhi : India Mobile Congress 2018 (IMC 2018), South Asia’s biggest Mobile, Internet and Technology event, kicked-off today amidst much fan-fare at Aerocity, New Delhi. Chief Guest, Shri Manoj Sinha, Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Communications and Minister of State for Railways, inaugurated the event, which is jointly organised by the Department of Telecommunications and COAI. The event witnessed the presence of more than 15,000 people including international exhibitors, media, global speakers and other notable delegates, including several established and budding entrepreneurs.

    While addressing the gathering, Hon’ble Minister Shri Manoj Sinha, stated that the Government would leave no stone unturned in extending its support to India’s ICT and TMT sectors. Apart from showcasing India’s rich technology heritage and the road ahead, the three day event highlighted India’s massive ICT innovation potential and brought to light, several game-changing technologies that will shape India’s digital future in the coming times. The event, themed “New Digital Horizons: Connect, Create, Innovate”, witnessed exemplary participation and support from global information and communications technology companies. The platform saw an impressive international presence with over 300 exhibitors, 2000 CXOs and 190 global speakers.

    Key Highlights of the Day-1

    On Day 1, a number of exhibitors including Reliance Jio Infocomm, Intel, Nokia and Qualcomm participated in 5G trials. This was the first time people could get a glimpse of what is to be expected from 5G in the years to come and how it can affect the scope and development of futuristic technologies. A number of discussions were pivoted around how such technologies will shape India’s digital future. The sessions showcased India’s 5G potential and the numerous unique use cases 5G will have in India. There were live 5G demonstrations by companies such as Nokia, Ericsson, Qualcomm, Reliance Jio infocomm and the like.

    The introductory panel discussion, around the theme – The India Story (Stack 3.0) – Connect, Create, Innovate, was the pick of the conference sessions. The second-half of the day saw a number of interesting and vital discussions on The Evolving Regulatory Landscape in the New Digital Ecosystem-Regulatory Brief, Enabling Futuristic Networks – Reducing complexity to Redefine connectivity, Digital Identity – A revolution or a threat, Connecting the Unconnected – Building Next-Gen ICT Infrastructure for the Masses, Gadgets of Tomorrow – Connected Intelligence, graced by speakers such as Mr. Ajit Pai, Chairman, U.S. Federal Communications Commission, Mr. David Hammarwall, Head of Product Line 5G RAN, Product Area Networks, Ericsson, Mr. Vinayak Godse, Senior Director, Data Security Council of India, Mr. Bimal Dayal, CEO, Indus Towers and Mr. Jonathan Wood, Senior Director, Intel Next Generation and Standards, Intel.

    IMC 2018 also hosted the ASEAN & BIMSTEC Conclave which was addressed by delegates including Shri Manoj Sinha, Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Communications and Minister of State for Railways and 16 other Ministers from ASEAN & BIMSTEC Countries, H.E. Mr. Pichet Durongkaveroj, Hon’ble Minister of Digital Economy and Society, Govt. of Thailand, H.E. Khennavong Bounsaleumsay, Vice Minister, Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT), Lao PDR, H.E. Thant Sin Maung, Hon'ble, Union Minister of Transport and Communications, Govt. of Myanmar, H.E. Chea Manit, Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications (MPTC), H.E. Tram Iv Tek, Minister of Posts and Telecommunication, H.E. M Shahidul Islam, Secretary General, BIMSTEC. A number of topics curated for consumer interest garnered excitement and enthusiastic participation from the delegates. One such session involved a discussion on “Smart Cities: Automating the way we live”.

    Key highlights of the day:

    Nokia

    Nokia’s state-of-the-art manufacturing unit in Chennai has started manufacturing 5G New Radio (NR) based on the 3GPP 5G New Radio Release 15 standard. It is the factory to start manufacturing 5G radio equipment in India. The Chennai plant is one of the largest telecom equipment manufacturing plant in the country, recently reaching the 4 million units annual production milestone of 2G, 3G and 4G units. It serves both domestic as well as global customers, shipping to over 100 countries.  As part of an on-going program, known as the ‘Conscious** factory’, the Nokia Chennai plant recently implemented the first 'real-world' Smart Manufacturing application of Industry 4.0 in India leveraging solutions such as Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR), connected Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Analytics, and Internet of Things to enhance operations and increase productivity.  The plant is equipped with cutting-edge manufacturing technologies, such as the state-of-the-art surface mounting technology, with a capacity of 12.8 billion components every year, 3D automated optical inspection and X-Ray inspection capability.

    Huawei

    Huawei Reiterates Commitment to Bringing 5G to India with Full Range End-to-End Technology Showcase at IMC 2018 – Conducting industry’s first 5G use case demos in partnership with Airtel, Huawei paves ROADS to a fully connected and intelligent world.

    Mr. Randeep Sekhon, Chief Technology Officer, Bharti Airtel said, “Ubiquitous high speed networks will open doors to a digital world that will be full of exciting digital innovations. Having conducted India’s first in-lab 5G test with Huawei, we are delighted to extend our partnership to demonstrate cutting edge AR and VR based use cases for 5G.”

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  • Telecom sector continues to be highly taxed: Sunil Mittal

    Telecom sector continues to be highly taxed: Sunil Mittal

    MUMBAI: Speaking at India Mobile Congress 2018, Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal said telecom sector continues to be highly-taxed just like the tobacco industry. He also urged that the issue of high levy needs to be resolved and mentioned it as a deterrent to PM Narendra Modi’s digital India vision. He also added that the industry is a heavy capital-intensive industry, requires laying of fibre and heavy investment in networks.

    “Telecom levies are as high as 37 per cent. Spectrum fee and licence fee are very high coupled with GST at 18 per cent,” said Mittal.

    However, he thanked Telecom minister Manoj Sinha and secretary Aruna Sundararajan for the new telecom policy, NDCP 2018, as it includes all important elements. But he also mentioned that the policy clearly acknowledges that revenue maximisation is not the objective.

    "There is also one overarching objective of previous policy and also enshrined in NDCP that revenue maximisation is not the objective…Then why operators and Department of Telecom are under litigation for revenue maximisation," Mittal added.

    He also spoke about the consolidations happening in telecom sector across the world. The consolidation process hasn’t happened in an orderly way in India other than the Vodafone-Idea merger.

    “India's (telecom sector) consolidation hasn't happened in an orderly fashion with $59 billion wiped off, although the merger of Vodafone and Idea has happened and we are happy with that,” Mittal commented.

    Explaining the consolidation trends in other countries, he mentioned China and the US. While the upcoming merger of T-Mobile and Sprint would lead to three telecom players in the US, China is also moving towards a two-player market.

    While he believes India is not lagging behind in adopting 5G technology, he urged the government to come up with consultations on making fibre a national asset.

  • Jio juggernaut continued to add as Vodafone shed subs in Aug-18

    Jio juggernaut continued to add as Vodafone shed subs in Aug-18

    BENGALURU: MukeshDhirubhai Ambani’s largest startup in the world in the form of Reliance JioInfocomm Limited, or simply Jio, continued adding subscribers in the month of August 2018 (Aug-18, month under review) according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) Telecom subscription data. According to the available Trai data for Aug-18, Jio’s subscriber base had been growing at about 5 percent compounded rate month on month (m-o-m) in calendar year 2018. Aug-18 was no different. Jio’s subscriber base grew by 5.7 percent (5.2 percent in Jul-81) to 2,393.53lakh in Aug-18 from 2,270.50 lakh in Jul-18. Since December 31, 2017, Jiohad added 791.40 lakh subscribers until Aug-18– it grew 49.4 percent in the period.

    In the meantime, Vodafone lost 125.4 lakh (12.5 million, 1.25 crore) subscribers (20 percent) in Aug-18 as compared to Jul-18. Vodafone had a subscriber base of 637.90 lakh in Jul-18, while in Aug-18 the company had 512.5 lakh subscribers according to Trai data. The Vodafone India and Idea Cellular combine had to forego  about 140 lakh (14 million, 1.4 crore) subscribers in six circles and revenues of more than Rs2,000 crore in three circles as the merged Vodafone and Idea Cellular entity would breach the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)-prescribed 50 percent cap on subscribers and revenue in the respective States.

    Trai data for Aug-18 says thatas per the reports received from 296 operators, the number of broadband subscribers increased from 4,602.4 lakh (460.24 million, 46.042 crore) at the end of Jul-18 to 4,636.6 lakh (463.66 million, 46.366 crore) at the end of Aug-18 with a monthly growth rate of 0.74 percent.  Subscriber numbers for all the three broadband services segments – wireline or wired; mobile devices comprising of phones and dongles; and fixed wireless  (Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Point-to- Point Radio & VSAT) grew in Aug-18. Please refer to the figure below:

    The top five service providers constituted 97.80 percent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of Aug-18. These service providers were Jio( 2,392.3lakh, 239.23 million23.923 crore), Bharti Airtel or Airtel (983.6 lakh, 98.36 million, 9.836 crore), Vodafone (512.5 lakh, 51.25 million, 5.125 crore), Idea Cellular (442.4 lakh, 44.24million, 4.424 crore) and BSNL (203.5lakh, 20.35 million, 2.035 crore). 

    Wireless broadband internet

    Wireless broadband subscribers growth in absolute numbers was led by Jio, followed byAirtel, Idea Cellular and the public sector BSNL. Vodafone was the only player among the top 5 wireless broadband internet services providers that lost subscribers in Aug-18.

    As on 31Aug, 2018, the top five wireless broadband service providers were Jio (2,392.30 lakh, 239.23 million, 23.923 crore), Bharti Airtel (961.2 lakh, 96.12 million, 9.612 crore), Vodafone (512.5  lakh, 51.25 million, 5.125 crore), Idea Cellular (442.4 lakh, 44.24million, 4.424 crore) and BSNL (111.90 lakh, 11.19 million, 1.119 crore). Please refer to the figure below:

    Wired broadband internet

    Wired broadband internet subscribers grew by 70,000 in Aug-18 as compared to Jul-18 with four of the top 5 Wireline broadband services providers showing growth while one, Mahanagar Telcom Nigam Limited (MTNL) showing a decline in subscribers by 20,000. The top 5 wired broadband service providers added 50,000 subscribers during the month under review, 20,000 subscribers were added by other service providers.

    As on 31 August, 2018, the top five wired broadband serviceproviders were BSNL (91.6 lakh, 9.16million, 0.916 crore), Bharti Airtel (22.4 lakh, 2.24 million, 0.224 crore), Atria Convergence Technologies (13.6 lakh, 1.36 million, 0.13 crore), MTNL (8.10 lakh, 0.81 million, 0.081 crore) and Hathway Cable & Datacom (7.6 lakh, 0.76 million, 0.076 crore).

    Airtel added the highest number of wireline broadband subscribers in calendar year 2018 until Aug-18 with 90,000, followed by Atria Convergence Technologies (ACT) which added 80,000 subs during the period.

    Please refer to the figure below:

  • Airtel, Jio turn to AI to improve customer service

    Airtel, Jio turn to AI to improve customer service

    MUMBAI: Every industry and player is adapting to Artificial Intelligence (AI) in today’s time and the Indian telecom industry isn’t far behind. In order to offer better customer service and experience, telcos like Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio are turning to AI.

    Bharti Airtel has teamed up with technology company Google to remove the complexities from its customer service experience. It has integrated AI-powered Google Assistant which responds to voice commands. This modification is said to cut down costs. Airtel was already using AI and Machine Learning to enhance customer experience through its MyAirtel application and airtel.in

    Reliance Jio introduced the voice command feature on its MyJio application. In a recent report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, it said that voice AI is a focus area for the Mukesh Ambani-led telco, and the AI-based voice command feature is working well for the telco.

    According to an Economic Times report, Jio is also taking steps to develop AI-based products and solutions in-house. Jio's director and Mukesh Ambani's son, Akash Ambani, is building a team of professionals on AI and its multiple use cases for the telecom firm.

    Speaking to ET, Greyhound Research founder, CEO and chief analyst Sanchit Vir Gogia said, “Efforts to automate customer service is already visible through apps. Airtel has already made sizeable efforts on this front and is seeing a good response on its MyAirtel app. It makes a lot of sense to adopt AI technology to automate given the cost of human interaction has increased 20-30 per cent.”

    He added that Indian telcos need to make their subscribers use these features. “Airtel's app for self-service is well received. Jio's user base is different and they may not use such a feature as aggressively,” he said.

  • Airtel launches Google Assistant based Digital Customer Care

    Airtel launches Google Assistant based Digital Customer Care

    MUMBAI: Airtel smartphone customers will now able to get instant resolution to their frequent account related queries through the Google Assistant.

    In yet another industry first, Airtel has collaborated with Google to truly simplify its customer service experience by integrating its customer care with the Artificial Intelligence-powered Google Assistant.

    This new cutting-edge feature will allow customers to have rich conversational experiences with Airtel. 

    These features are right now available in English but going forward, Airtel will roll it out in multiple regional languages  to help deliver an even more personalized  experience to millions of Indians and encourage them to get online. Similarly, Airtel will continue to track what questions customer are asking and enable responses  to them via Google Assistant, thus improving the flexibility and robustness of the Airtel voice Action.

    The initiative is a part of Project Next- Airtel's digital innovation program, which is aimed at transforming customer experience  across all of its services  and touch points. Airtel plans to launch several exciting digital innovations to step change the simplicity and interactivity of its customer experience.

    Sarang  Kanade, Director- Customer Service Delivery, Bharti Airtel said:  "As part of our digital transformation journey, this is another yet innovation to empower our customers. With smartphones fast becoming the norm for every Indian, this will make digital self-care much more interactive and step up the customer experience. We will continue to bring more of such exciting solutions for 'Digital India'."

    What service related question can Airtel customers ask the Google Assistant?

    How  can Airtel customers use the Google Assistant?
    1. Android Users – Long press the Home Button to launch Assistant. iOS Users – Ensure you have downloaded Google Assistant on your phone.
    2. Speak into Assistant- "Talk to Airtel", "Ask Airtel" or "Get Airtel". Airtel assistant will open within Google Assistant.
    3. TO get your account  details, for the first time, the Airtel assistant  will ask to link your Airtel account with Google.
    4. If you click yes, you will be asked to enter your Mobile number,  accept the Terms of Service.
    Once you accept  the Terms of service,  you will receive an OTP. Enter the OTP to complete linking your account.
    5. Get Started. Start asking your Airtel account  related questions.