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Category: Telecom

  • Feb-18: Mobile broadband numbers increase as wired internet subscribers decline

    Feb-18: Mobile broadband numbers increase as wired internet subscribers decline

    BENGALURU: The total number of broadband internet connections have increased by about eight per cent in the calendar year 2018 (year started 1 January 2018, CY-2018) until 28 February 2018 (Feb-18) as per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data. The period under review in this paper is the period between 1 January 2018 and 28 February 2018. CY-2017 closed with 362.87 million (36.287 crore) broadband connections as on 31 December 2017. The total number of broadband connections in Feb-18 was 392.06 million (39.206 crore). Broadband internet growth in the country was driven by mobile (phones and dongles) internet services which had about 8.5 per cent subscriber growth and closed February 2018 with 373.94 million (37.384 crore) subscribers. TRAI defines broadband internet speed as download speeds equal to or exceeding 512 kbps. TRAI data has been rounded off to the nearest 10,000, hence the accuracy of this report is limited to that extent.

    During the period under consideration, wired internet subscriber numbers declined 0.8 per cent to 17.72 million (1.772 crore) from the 17.86 million (1.786 crore) subscribers reported at the end of December 2017 or as at 1 January 2018. Fixed wireless (WiFi, Wi-Max, point-to-point radio and VSAT) subscriber numbers also declined 9.1 per cent during the period to 0.4 million (0.04 crore) from 0.44 million (0.044 crore).

    Among the top five internet players, Indian telecom major Bharti Airtel (Airtel) showed the highest growth rate during the period under review at about 13 per cent. However, in absolute numbers, it was Mukesh Ambani’s biggest startup in the world – Reliance Jio Infocomm or Jio that added the most number of subscribers in the two months of the current year at 17.04 million or 1.704 crore. During the period, Airtel added 9.15 million (0.915 crore) broadband internet subscribers.

    The top five service providers in India as on 28 February 2018 constituted 94.99 per cent market share of the total broadband subscribers. These service providers were Jio (177.13 million, 17.713 crore), Airtel (80.24 million 8.024 crore), Vodafone (55.54 million, 5.554 crore), Idea Cellular or Idea (38.52 million, 3.852 crore) and BSNL (21.00 million, 2.1 crore).

    While the first five players saw a growth of subscribers during the period under review, the government-owned BSNL or Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has been losing them. BSNL had 21.95 (2.195 million) broadband subscribers and lost about 0.95 million (0.095 crore) subscribers or de-grew by over four per cent.

    Top five wireless broadband internet players

    As mentioned above, broadband wireless aka mobile internet players have been the broadband internet subscriber numbers’ growth drivers. As on 28 February 2018, the top five wireless broadband service providers were Jio (177.13 million, 17.713 crore), Airtel (78.07 million, 7.807 crore), Vodafone (55.54 million, 5.554 crore), Idea (38.52 million 3.852 crore) and BSNL (11.71 million, 1.171 crore).

    Here also, Airtel has reported the largest growth in percentage terms – it grew by about 13 per cent, while Jio had the highest growth in absolute numbers – Jio grew by 17.04 million (1.704 crore) during the first two months of 2018. BSNL has been bleeding wireless broadband internet players during this period. It lost about 0.86 million (0.086 crore) subscribers or de-grew by approximately nine per cent.

    Top five wired broadband internet players

    As has also been mentioned above, wired internet subscriber numbers have declined during the first two months of 2018. As on 28 February 2018, the top five wired broadband service providers were BSNL (9.30 million, 0.93 crore), Airtel (2.17 million, 0.217 crore), Atria

    Convergence Technologies or ACT (1.30 million, 0.13 crore), MTNL (0.88 million, 0.088 crore) and Hathway Cable & Datacom (0.75 million, 0.075 crore).

    The top five wired internet players in the made up over 81 per cent of the total wired internet subscribers in India. Their share has grown during the period under consideration despite a slight drop in share in Jan-18. Except for BSNL and the other government-owned player Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Limited or MTNL, the other three players among the top five have grown the number of wired broadband internet subscribers. BSNL lost about 80,000 subscribers while MTNL lost about 30,000 subscribers during Jan-Feb 2018. The other three players among the top five have added about 60,000 subscribers (added about 20,000 subscribers each) during the period under review.

    Among the other wired broadband internet players, besides the five mentioned above, are television multi system operators (MSOs) and local cable TV operators (LCOs). The numbers provided by TRAI indicate that while during the period under review, the top five wired broadband internet players lost about 50,000 subscribers, the total number of wired broadband internet subscribers fell by about 0.14 million or 140,000. This means that the other players have lost about 90,000 subscribers.

    Also Read :

    Jio continues leading broadband subs addition while wireline internet loses subs in Oct

     TRAI bats for converged regulator & renaming of NTP’18

    SC could take up TRAI-Star case on tariff regulations

  • Delhi HC directs Airtel to modify IPL ads

    Delhi HC directs Airtel to modify IPL ads

    MUMBAI: Telecom operator Bharti Airtel, under instruction from the Delhi high court, has agreed to modify its ongoing ad campaign of promising “live and free access” to the coverage of the Indian Premier league (IPL).

    The change reflect the fact that the “free access” to the IPL would actually cost consumers the price of the data consumed while streaming the matches. In other words, the “free access” is not free after all.

    Airtel’s assurance was given in the court of Justice Yogesh Khanna after its newest competitor, Reliance Jio, moved court to ensure that a “large number of unsuspecting” consumers are not lured by the “misleading” campaign.

    Airtel committed to the court to make it abundantly clear that the service would cost them. It said it would include a bold disclaimer that only subscription to video-streaming platform Hotstar would be free and that data charges, according to the subscriber’s plan, would apply.

    Jio claimed that the advertisements “falsely proclaim” that Airtel was offering “live and free” access to T20 cricket coverage and “falsely represent that a subscriber need only to obtain a 4G sim from the defendant company and download the Airtel TV app to obtain a virtual season pass i.e live and free access to T20 coverage.”

    This would disadvantage other service providers such as Jio who have also come up special packages for the IPL season but by openly declaring the tariffs.

  • Airtel makes it easier for customers to upgrade to a 4G smartphone

    Airtel makes it easier for customers to upgrade to a 4G smartphone

    MUMBAI: Bharti  Airtel  India’s   largest  telecommunications   services provider,today rolled out another special initiative to help more Indians get on to the digital highway.

    Under  the initiative, Airtel customers  on 2G/3G mobile  devices will  be eligible  for  30 GB data FREE data when they upgrade to a 4G smartphone. Prepaid customers will get FREE 1GB data every day for 30 days over and above any pack they charge with. Postpaid customers will get FREE 30GB data (with rollover) in their first bill cycle over and above their  plan benefits.

    Bharti Airtel, CMO, Vani Venkatesh said: “While  4G smartphones are fast becoming the norm, for millions of  customers  with  feature phones/3G devices  the  upgrade  to  a 4G smartphone is a big decision  and a long term  investment. This is one of the largest customer  rewarding programs  & with this initiative our customers shall get an opportunity to experience  the online  world  at 4G speeds and fully unlock the potential of their  smartphones. We believe this will help millions of our customers  to fulfil their  aspiration of owning  a 4G smartphone by making the transition more  rewarding.”

    This programme will complement Airtel’s  ‘Mera  Pehla Smartphone’ initiative, under  which  Airtel is partnering multiple mobile  handset  manufacturers to  create  an open  ecosystem  of  affordable 4G smartphones and bring them to the market  for virtually the price of a feature phone. The initiative has received very positive response from customers  across India. Airtel has already  tied up with Samsung, lntex, Karbonn, Lava, Celkon, Motorola, Lenovo, Nokia, ltel, Zen, Karbonn  and Lephone. Under the program. All these smartphones come with exciting cash back benefits  and special bundled plans with data and unlimited calling.

    Customers  can check the  eligibility and claim the free  data benefits  by calling  the  toll  free  number 51111 or on My Airtel App. The 30GB FREE data benefit will be provisioned within 24 hours of making the claim. For more information, customers  can visit the website airtel.in/4gupgrade.

    Inline  with this initiative, Airtel also rolled out an integrated brand campaign that will run across digital and TV and can be viewed here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lew4-nBTniQ

  • Jio & Sodexo to accelerate digital transformation

    Jio & Sodexo to accelerate digital transformation

    MUMBAI: Reliance Jio and Sodexo, the leader in Employee Benefits today announced the partnership to accelerate India’s digital transformation. Jio and Sodexo will leverage complementary strengths and offerings to create an enriched digital life ecosystem for Indians.

    JioMoney, the PPI wallet offered by Jio Payments Bank Ltd., has enabled integration of Sodexo Meal Cards with a user’s JioMoney account to allow mobile-based payments via Sodexo Meal Card. The partnership will enable thousands of Sodexo Merchants like grocery shops, kiranas, restaurants and cafes across the country, to accept digital payments via Sodexo.

    Sodexo’s proprietary meal benefit solution, Sodexo Meal Pass can be linked to the JioMoney App for making quick payments on-the-go. It will also be an added digital transaction option for JioMoney’s rapidly growing user-base across India. Consumers no longer have to carry the Sodexo’s physical card for the purchase of food and non-alcoholic beverages. They can simply add the Sodexo Meal Card balance to the JioMoney app and start transacting on-the-go. Jio and Sodexo will continue to work together to accelerate adoption of services offered by both the brands.

    Speaking on the association, JioMoney, Business Head,  Anirban S Mukherjee said, “Jio’s partnership with Sodexo will further Jio’s endeavour to deliver the benefits of evolving digital technologies to every Indian and allow them to live Digital Life to the fullest. The integration will bring convenience and new digital transaction options for both JioMoney and Sodexo users in India. Going forward both brands will leverage core strengths, develop synergies and expand their reach and presence in India’s growing digital ecosystem.”

    Rewards Services India, CEO Sodexo Benefits, Stephane Michelin said, “At Sodexo, we constantly strive to enhance the consumer experience by expanding the ways to use the Sodexo Meal card within our proprietary network. Our endeavour has been to improve the retail experience for our 3 million daily users. With this partnership, JioMoney’s MPOS system will help segregate the food & non – food items among standalone, smaller merchants, which will further strengthen Sodexo’s position as a compliant meal benefit solution in the country.”

    The solution has already been launched in Mumbai and the consumer response has been excellent. The JioMoney solution will be enabled at all Sodexo accepting merchants nationally over a period of time. This partnership between JioMoney and Sodexo, both being leaders in their respective spaces brings high levels of domain expertise will bring about a radical change in the payments landscape across the country.

  • Jio announces significant benefits to existing jio prime members

    Jio announces significant benefits to existing jio prime members

    MUMBAI: After enabling an enriched Digital Life experience for over 175 million Jio Prime Members, Jio now brings another bonanza for its existing PRIME members.

    All Jio PRIME members who have subscribed to the exclusive membership benefits till 31st March 2018 will get another year of complimentary PRIME benefits at NO additional fee (LIMITED PERIOD OFFER). Jio deeply values its loyal PRIME members and will continue to deliver additional benefits and superior value to these founding members.

    For new Jio users, the Jio Prime Membership continues to be available at an annual membership fees of Rs 99.

    The continued availability of the Jio Prime Membership to new subscribers reiterates Jio’s commitment to deliver a differentiated Digital Life experience to Indians and will propel this into the world’s largest loyalty programme.

    In the past year, PRIME customers have experienced:

    1.           BEST TARIFFS IN THE INDUSTRY
    a.           Highest quality service at the best rates in the industry
    b.           Everyday More Value (EDMV) promise to provide 20% – 50% more value to Jio PRIME users ALWAYS

    2.           COMPLIMENTARY ACCESS TO THE BEST CONTENT LIBRARY
    a.    550+ Live TV Channels b.    6,000+ movies
    c.    Lacs of Videos/TV shows d.    1.4+ Cr Songs
    e.           5,000+ magazines
    f.            500+ newspapers and so on…

    3.           MYJIO – THE DIGITAL GATEWAY
    a.    Single click access to 24*7 self-service and account management 
    b.    Access to all Jio applications and other innovations
    c.                 Access to the best deals and offers

    4.    ACCESS TO EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ONLY FOR JIO CUSTOMERS
    a.    Winter Olympics 2018 exclusively on JioTV
    b.    Nidahas Cricket Trophy 2018 exclusively on JioTV
    c.    Carabao Cup exclusively on JioTV (Arsenal vs Manchester City), to name a few

    5.    ACCESS TO “MONEY CAN’T BUY” EXPERIENCE
    a.    Jio KBC Play Along – Play KBC with Sh. Amitabh Bachchan 
    b.    Meet and greet with celebrities & sports personalities
    c.    Platinum access to live shows and concerts – Filmfare, Justin Bieber Concert, Ed Sheeran Concert, Lakme Fashion Week, Jio MAMI Film Festival… and so on

    6.    ACCESS TO INDIA-FIRST INNOVATION
    a.    7 days Catch-Up of LiveTV
    b.    Interactivity on sports – 5 different camera views to choose from and commentary in 6 languages during Nidahas trophy

    HOW TO GET JIO PRIME BENEFITS

    1.    EXISTING JIO PRIME MEMBERS (Joining date on or before 31st March, 2018)

    Step 1: Download MyJio
    Step 2: Express your interest to get COMPLIMENTARY membership for next 12 months
    Step 3: Enjoy Jio Prime benefits This is a limited period offer.

    2.           NEW JIO PRIME MEMBERS (Joining date on or after 1st April, 2018)

    Pay Rs 99 during on-boarding, for Jio Prime membership for annual subscription.

    With the on-going augmentation of content offerings and consumer engagement programs, Jio is gearing up to bring new and superior experiences with the PRIME program and will ensure that PRIME members get substantially better benefits than the counterparts in the industry.

  • Mobile internet rates drop by 93% in three years

    Mobile internet rates drop by 93% in three years

    MUMBAI: Mobile internet rates witnessed a phenomenal drop of 93 per cent while data usage per user surged by more than 25 times in the three years ended 30 September 2017, the Department of Telecom (DoT) said in a tweet today.

    The mobile data consumption in India is now the highest in the world at 1.3 million GB per month–more than the combined data usage in the US and China. This trend has also been fueled by the penetration of smartphones—which has shot up from 190 million to 390 million—in the country.  Internet users have increased by about 66 per cent from 251 million to 429 million (in June 2017) between 2014 and 2017.

    “Cheapest tariff globally—Rs 33 per GB in 2014 to Rs 21 per GB as on September 2017, tariff reduction of 93 per cent,” the DoT tweeted. The data war started following the entry of Reliance Jio in 2016. The company this year slashed the prices to as low as Rs 4 per GB per day. With declining mobile internet rates, data usage also grew multi fold. “Average data usage per subscriber grew 25 times from 62 MB per month in 2014 to 1.6 GB per month in 2017,” the DoT said .

     

    The broadband access in the country increased from 61 million subscribers in March 2014 to 325 million subscribers in September 2017, the DoT said. According to latest performance indicator of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, there were 445.9 million internet subscribers at the end of December 2017.

    The DoT data showed that during the three-year period, the mobile base stations in the country more than doubled from 7.9 lakh in May 2014 to 16.8 lakh by 2017-end.

  • SC defers nod for RCom asset sale

    SC defers nod for RCom asset sale

    MUMBAI: The Supreme Court today did not grant permission to Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) to sell its wireless assets to Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, deferring the case for two weeks.

    The ruling marks a setback for RCom, which is trying to reduce its debt worth $6.8 billion and pay back its creditors. The Supreme Court set a hearing for April 5 to continue examining whether it will allow the sale to go through despite an ongoing legal challenge filed by Swedish telecom gearmaker Ericsson at an arbitration tribunal. The Swedish company had sought the court’s help to prevent RCom from selling assets without its permission.

    “In view of the intervening court holidays on 29th and 30th March 2018, the matter has been fixed for hearing in the subsequent week on Thursday, 5th April 2018,” RCom’s release to the BSE stated.

    State Bank of India, one of RCom’s biggest creditors, had filed a petition to the apex court to allow the sale to go through even as Ericsson’s case remained at the arbitration tribunal.

    RCom, controlled by Anil Ambani, had decided in December to sell its wireless assets to Jio in a deal pegged at $3.8 billion, according to market sources. 

    COMMENTS

    “As legally advised, RCom remains confident that its asset monetisation programme will be  completed  expeditiously  to protect  the  interests  of its secured  lenders,  much  in advance of the time limit of 31st August 2018 prescribed by the RBI for resolution of such cases,” the release added.

  • Bharti Airtel gets board nod to raise Rs 16,500 cr

    Bharti Airtel gets board nod to raise Rs 16,500 cr

    MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel’s board of directors has approved a plan to raise about Rs 16,500 crore through debt, including a fresh issue of $1 billion in overseas bonds, to help refinance loans and pay for spectrum. 

    The board approved the issue of foreign currency bonds of up to $1 billion (Rs 6,482 crore) and sought fresh shareholder approval for issuance of non-convertible debentures of up to Rs 10,000 crore on a private-placement basis, the company said in a release to the BSE. 

    At the meeting, the board also approved the transfer of 19 per cent equity stake in its direct-to-home (DTH) subsidiary Bharti Telemedia, which provides DTH services under the Airtel Digital TV brand, to Nettle Infrastructure Investments, a subsidiary company.

    A part of the stake will be utilised for the completion of stake sale in Bharti Telemedia to Warburg Pincus Group. In December 2017, Bharti Airtel had agreed to sell 20 per cent equity stake in Bharti Telemedia to Warburg Pincus for approximately $350 million.

    In January, the company had decided to transfer 25 per cent equity shares in Bharti Telemedia to its wholly owned subsidiary Nettle Infrastructure Investments. The company had also said that the stake transfer to Nettle does not include equity to be sold to private equity firm Warburg Pincus.

    “Pursuant to Regulation 30 of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, we wish to inform you that the Board in its meeting held on March 12, 2018, has approved the transfer of 19 per cent equity shares of Bharti Telemedia Limited (‘Telemedia’), a subsidiary Company to Nettle Infrastructure Investments Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary company,” the release to the BSE stated.

    Also Read:

    Recalibrating India’s DTH sector after Airtel DTH-Warburg Pincus deal

    TDSAT tells Airtel DTH, Star to negotiate

    Airtel Digital TV disconnects Star India channels

  • CCI okays RCom’s asset sale to Reliance Jio

    CCI okays RCom’s asset sale to Reliance Jio

    MUMBAI: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has cleared the proposals for the sale of assets of Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) to Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.

    “@CCI_India approves acquisition of RCOM’s towers, optic fiber cable, right to use spectrum and media convergence nodes by RJIO,” the anti-trust regulator tweeted. 

    The proposals cleared include RCom’s towers, India fibre, spectrum holdings and media convergence nodes. While neither Jio nor RCom had divulged the size of the deal, sources have pegged the transaction value at Rs 18,000 crore.
    The deal appears to be a win-win for both brothers as Jio gets most of RCom’s assets, giving it more firepower in its telecom business, while the Anil Ambani-promoted firm will reduce its debt overhang substantially.

    Anil Ambani on 26 December, 2017 said his company had agreed to a new debt resolution plan that will see RCom sell its assets—spectrum, fibre, telecom towers and real estate other than Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City—and did not entail lenders and bond-holders writing off dues or converting it into equity.

    Through this process, he hoped to cut RCom’s debt by Rs 39,000 crore from the Rs 45,000 crore it owed lenders at the end of October.

    According to the terms of the deal, Jio will buy RCom’s assets which include 122.4 MHz of 4G spectrum in the 800/900/1,800/2,100 MHz bands, over 43,000 towers, 178,000 RKM (route km) of fibre with a pan-India footprint and 248 media convergence nodes covering five million square feet, used for hosting telecom infrastructure. At the time of the deal announcement, the companies had also said that the transaction is likely to be completed in a phased manner by March 2018.

    RCom is also left with around 134 MHz of spectrum assets for which it is understood to have found other bidders.
    However, an arbitration panel in an interim order recently, restrained RCom from asset sale or transfer, without its “specific permission.”

    Also Read :

    RCom’s 3rd quarter numbers improve on Big TV, consumer business exit

    Reliance Jio acquires RCom’s wireless infra assets

    TV18 completes acquisition of Viacom shares

  • India’s jio wins “Best Mobile Operator Service for Consumers” at Global Mobile Awards 2018

    India’s jio wins “Best Mobile Operator Service for Consumers” at Global Mobile Awards 2018

    MUMBAI: Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. (Jio) announced today that along with its technology partner Cisco, Jio has won the “Best Mobile Operator Service for Consumers” award at the prestigious Global Mobile (GloMo) Awards 2018 at Mobile World Congress (MWC).  In addition, the company’s JioTV app won in the ‘Best Mobile Video Content’ category for JioTV enabling Jio Digital Life.

    The GSMA’s Global Mobile Awards (The GLOMO Awards) recognise and celebrate all contributions made to the evolving and developing mobile industry globally. Considered the Oscars of mobile industry, The GLOMO Awards are awarded for innovation and contribution across categories ranging from devices, technologies and applications to health, education and wearable technologies.

    Jio’s disruptive entry and relentless work in turning India into a digitally empowered nation by providing a nationwide 4G network, affordable data and digital services, and innovative technical and commercial approaches have been recognized on the global stage with this prestigious award.

    This would not have been possible without the commitment and active involvement of the Ministry and Department of Telecommunications which created the right platform and framework for operators to differentiate and innovate for delivering inclusive value to all of India.

    “It is a matter of national pride that an innovative new mobile service from India has been recognized at the most prestigious global platform,” said Mr. Manoj Sinha, India’s Minister of Communications. “We are particularly satisfied that India is being propelled to global digital leadership with this.” Mr. Sinha has been leading the Indian delegation at MWC representing and promoting India’s new global digital leadership initiatives.

    “I am pleased that India’s efforts to harness technology and digital platforms to bring inclusion and progress across the length and breadth of India is now a reality,” said Ms. Aruna Sundararajan, India’s Telecom Secretary, who is also present at MWC. “We are happy that the world acknowledges India’s technology leadership and hope it will inspire many more leading tech companies and innovators to join the digital India mission as we march towards 5G.”

    Jio’s comprehensive and innovative offerings across both urban and rural India transformed data consumption patterns in a very short time and turned India into the largest user of mobile data globally. Through Jio, millions of Indians were able to embrace a digital lifestyle for the first time.  Jio rapidly expanded its subscriber base to over 160 million by December 2017, within 16 months of launch.

    Cisco has been a partner in Jio’s broadband buildout. “We are honored to win the ‘Best Mobile Operator Service for Consumers’ award with Reliance Jio for Jio Mobile Broadband and Digital Services,” said Mr. Chuck Robbins, Chairman and CEO Cisco Systems. 

    “We are excited to have received this distinguished global recognition in joint effort with Cisco, this is truly a win for India” said Mr. Mathew Oommen, President of Jio. “We are committed to continuous innovation and ongoing leadership in the digital revolution in India.”