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Category: Telecom

  • Karix Mobile Gearing to Send a ‘Message’ on World Stage

    Karix Mobile Gearing to Send a ‘Message’ on World Stage

    MUMBAI: Karix Mobile Pvt. Ltd. (formerly known as mGage India), world’s largest messaging solution and mobile engagement company, has announced its participation in the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 being organised by the GSMA (Groupe Spécial Mobile Association). The 2018 edition of MWC is being organized in Barcelona, Spain from 26th February –1st March 2018. Visitors can meet the Karix team at their stand located in – Hall 8.1 Stand B58.

    Excited on the participation, the company spokesperson says, “The Mobile World Congress is one of the biggest events of the mobile & technology industry and it is a grandstand for us to showcase our solutions alongside a host of companies from around the world. Being the market leader for Mobile engagement solutions for marketing and customer care, we look forward to connecting with marketers and application developers at the event and showcase our solutions for real-time communication.”

    Karix Mobile helps businesses connect seamlessly with their customers using communication channels such as SMS, email, voice and data. The company processes over 100 billion messages annually for its enterprise customers and the Govt. of India.

  • Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s latest ‘Yeh Zindagi’ available exclusively on Idea Music

    Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s latest ‘Yeh Zindagi’ available exclusively on Idea Music

    MUMBAI: Idea Music, the one-stop entertainment destination for all music lovers, from one of the leading telecom operators, Idea Cellular, has come out with a musical bonanza for all its listeners.

    Idea Music has got exclusive rights to release, the latest sensational song ‘Ye Zindagi’ sung by none other than the legendary award winning Rahat Fateh Ali Khan on its platform. The song will initially be available only on Idea Music and no other music streaming platform in India, starting 16th February; courtesy- Trendy Beat Records. Continuing with the string of hits by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, this love ballad ‘Ye Zindagi’ will truly strike a chord with the listeners.

    Moreover, talking about regional hits, Idea Music has also added the latest internet sensation, Priya Prakash Varrier’s viral hit song ‘Manikya Malaraya Poovi’ from the upcoming Malyalam movie Oru Adaar Love by Muzik 247. The song is with “Sing Along lyrics” on the app, so listeners can now sing the song with ease. The song which depicts the eventual state of being in love, will surely remind the listeners of their first love and take them down the memory lane.

    The song is sung by the versatile singer Vineeth Sreenivasan, actor and playback singer of Entammede Jimikki Kammal fame while the music is revisited by Shaan Rahman. Idea Music is home to millions of regional hit songs across 14 languages, apart from Bollywood and International music.

    Idea Music is a destination for customers to entertain and refresh themselves with an extensive library of more than 3.5 million songs across all genres, moods and occasions. The app allows users to create their own playlists, set musical alarms, experience the DJ effect, and sing along features. Idea is currently offering free subscription of Idea Music app to all Idea 4G/3G customers. With over 5 million downloads Idea Music app ranks amongst top music/entertainment apps on Playstore and is also available on iOS.

  • Mahindra Comviva Partners with Sacom Mediaworks to Enable content engagement through mobile operators

    Mahindra Comviva Partners with Sacom Mediaworks to Enable content engagement through mobile operators

    Mahindra Comviva, the global leader in mobility solutions, today announced that it has entered into a partnership with Sacom Mediaworks, a leading content aggregator in Middle East & Africa. This tie-up with Sacom Mediaworks will provide Mooditt Digital Store, Mahindra’s digital marketplace for content, with a broader range of digital VOD content – short and long format.

    . Provides access to high quality VOD content for mobile operator distribution

    . Content catering to emerging markets in LATAM, Asia Pacific, MENA, Africa 

    Mahindra Comviva, the global leader in mobility solutions, today announced that it has entered into a partnership with Sacom Mediaworks, a leading content aggregator in Middle East & Africa. This tie-up with Sacom Mediaworks will provide Mooditt Digital Store, Mahindra’s digital marketplace for content, with a broader range of digital VOD content – short and long format.

    Mahindra Comviva’s Mooditt Digital Store is a one-of-its-kind digital marketplace that brings the entire ecosystem of content providers, application providers and distribution channels on a single platform and leverages multiple channels of content distribution like web, mobile applications, WAP, DTH, Radio, TV, IPTV, Text, and IVR for seamless distribution. Besides enabling a robust content sharing ecosystem, the Mooditt Digital Store adds value by bringing automated partner management and data analytics to the table, enabling seamless content flows to various participants of the ecosystem.

    With the exponential growth of digital content, content discovery and distribution is becoming increasingly challenging in today’s world. In an increasingly fragmented environment, the challenge for distribution channels is to get access to right content in the minimal possible timeframe. On the other hand content providers, especially small time artists and independent content creators are struggling to maximize reach and dial up monetization.

    Speaking on the partnership, Atul Madan, Senior Vice President, Digital Lifestyle Solutions at Mahindra Comviva said, “We are very pleased with our partnership with Sacom Mediaworks as it puts us on a stronger footing in the Middle East and Africa. Mahindra Comviva’s expertise in end to end content management combined with Sacom’s robust catalogue of Arab, Asian and Hollywood video content will lead to new growth opportunities in the region. We are looking forward to working with Sacom Mediaworks and create mutually beneficial synergies.” 

    Dinesh Gupta, Director at Sacom Mediaworks said, “We’re excited to join forces with Mahindra Comviva that brings the pedigree of Mahindra & Bharti Airtel Group, having successfully consolidated their position as market leaders in Telecom & Mobility solutions domains with presence in 4 continents and 70+ countries. We will be working together to grow the reach and monetization potential of our content together and offer our entertainment IPs & VOD content in Hollywood, Arabic & Bollywood genres for Middle East, Africa, Russia, CIS countries & Asia Pacific. Mooddit Digital Store addresses the twin problems of reach and discoverability of content and deserves a more robust content library to implement at scale. Every story deserves an audience and this partnership will go a long way in taking the stories to their audiences.” 

    Sacom Mediaworks’ global content portfolio includes over 10,000 hours of video content spanning genres like Feature Films, Television Series, Short Films, Live Entertainment Events, Celebrity chat shows, and Health & Fitness shows. Sacom has a proven track record of producing & distributing content globally, it has successfully distributed over 30,000 hours of content to 40+ platforms in 5 continents and 15 languages. The company has collaborated with a number of production houses including local and international content providers, copyright bodies & artists and consistently works to add newer platforms and markets to optimise its content footprint. Sacom also owns and manages online platforms that have an aggregated annual traffic of over 100 million page views globally.

  • Jio now ready for IoT onslaught

    Jio now ready for IoT onslaught

    MUMBAI: Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio) is at it again and the competition better watch out. The company is gearing up to harness the internet of things (IoT). It is focussing first on enterprises and industries while also initiating talks with car manufacturers and consumer durable companies.

    The company has hired Ayush Sharma from the Silicon Valley as senior vice president of engineering and technology to drive the business around IoT and other technologies such as mobile edge computing, distributed artificial intelligence and blockchain.

    “Jio is looking at these technologies to enable the world’s largest programmable network with alternate technologies available,” Sharma said. “It will take at least around a year to enable consumer IoT but the large focus is on enterprise IoT. We are working on specific use cases.”

    Sharma has joined the company after working on his own venture, MotoJeannie, in the US. He has worked for telecom equipment makers Huawei, Ericsson and Cisco in the past in the US.

    Jio’s 4G network will complement IoT for enterprise and industrial use cases that require bandwidth and latency, he said. The company had recently said that it had started offering enterprise solutions along with fibre-to-the-home on a trial basis in a few locations.

    “The idea is not just to launch IoT products and solutions for consumer IoT but also for enterprise and industries,” Sharma said, adding that the parent company, Reliance Industries, is looking to use these technologies initially within in-house verticals such as retail and logistics to make them intelligent.
    For consumer IoT, Jio is working with a variety of technology vendors and bringing car manufacturers, consumer durables and appliances players, among others, on board to build a complete ecosystem. “We are building our own platform with big data strength,” he said.

    Also Read:

    RIL’s Rs 2.35 lakh crore investments in Jio start to payoff 

    ALTBalaji, Reliance Jio in content partnership deal

  • Bharti Airtel gets regulatory nod to buy Millicom’s Rwanda ops

    Bharti Airtel gets regulatory nod to buy Millicom’s Rwanda ops

    MUMBAI: Telecommunications behemoth Bharti Airtel Ltd (Airtel) has received approval for the acquisition of Tigo Rwanda Ltd (Tigo Rwanda), a subsidiary of Millicom International Cellular SA (Millicom), from the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA).

    According to Airtel’s release to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the  merged  entity  will  have  the  largest  customer  base  in  Rwanda  with  5.9  million subscribers.  The combined networks of the two companies will serve customers with voice/data services, global roaming and mobile banking services. It will also have Rwanda’s largest sales and distribution network.

    “The merger will result in the only negative ebitda opco [operating company] joining other 13 positive ebitda opcos in Africa,” the release stated.

    On completion, the acquisition is expected to strengthen Airtel’s market position in Rwanda.

    With presence in 14 countries across Africa, Airtel is one of the largest telecom service providers on the continent in terms of geographical reach, and had close to 84 million customers at the end of quarter ended December 30, 2017.

    Also Read:

    Airtel Digital TV revenue, PAT and EBITDA up in Q3 2018

    Airtel to transfer 25% stake in DTH arm to Nettle

    Eros Digital ropes in former Google exec Ali Hussein as COO

  • RIL’s Rs 2.35 lakh crore investments in Jio start to payoff

    RIL’s Rs 2.35 lakh crore investments in Jio start to payoff

    BENGALURU: Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani-run Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has invested a massive amount of money into the largest start-up in the world–Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (Jio). The RIL financials for the quarter ended 31 December 2017 (Q3 2018, quarter under review) showed that its digital services segment (Jio) had assets of Rs 234,986 crore, the largest asset block among any of the six segments (petrochemicals, refining, oil and gas, organised retail, digital services, and others) that the behemoth reports numbers for. And RIL reported net profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 504 crore for Q3 2018 as against net loss of Rs 271 crore during 2Q 2018, the immediate trailing quarter.

    The digital services segment’s operating revenue for Q3 2108 was Rs 6,879 crore, up 11.9 percent from the Rs 6,147 crore in the immediate trailing quarter. The value of services increased by 12.7 percent q-o-q to Rs 8,114 crore from Rs 7,197 crore, EBITDA almost doubled (increased by 82.1 percent) in the quarter under review to Rs 2,628 crore from Rs 1,443 crore in Q2 2018. EBIT almost quintupled (453.1 percent) to Rs 1,436 crore from Rs 260 crore.

    Jio added 2.15 million net subscribers in Q3 2018 with an ARPU of Rs 154 per customer. The RIL earnings release for its digital services says that average data traffic per customer for the quarter was 9.6 GB per month and total wireless data traffic has crossed 431 crore GB. Video consumption on the Jio network has crossed 200 crore hours per month, averaging 13.4 hours per subscriber per month.

    Commenting on the results, RIL chairman and managing director Ambani said, “I would like to thank all our customers for partnering with us in this revolution which has made India a global digital powerhouse. I congratulate all our employees and partners for the strong performance. Our commitment is to keep pushing newer innovative products which would radically transform customer lives and generate huge societal value.”

    “Jio’s strong financial result reflects the fundamental strength of the business, significant efficiencies and right strategic initiatives. Jio has demonstrated that it can sustain its strong financial performance,” he concluded.

    Organised retail business

    Revenues for Q3 2018 grew by 116.4 percent y-o-y to Rs 18,798 crore from Rs 8,688 crore. PBDIT for Q3 2018 increased by 82.0 percent y-o-y to Rs 606 crore from Rs 333 crore. Reliance Retail witnessed stellar performance across all consumption baskets during the period. During the quarter, Reliance Retail added 72 stores across various store concepts and increased the area operated to 14.5 million square feet from 13.2 million square feet in Q3 2017.

    RIL numbers

    RIL’s consolidated revenue increased by 30.5 percent to Rs 109,905 crore in Q3 2018 from Rs 84,194 crore in Q3 2017. Net profit increased by 25.1 percent to Rs 9,423 crore in the quarter under review as compared with Rs 7,533 crore in Q3 2017.

    Also Read :

    After telecom, Jio to bite into broadband and TV

    Comment: Reliance Industries’ telecom-media play fascinating, but complex & challenging too

    RIL to plan IPO for Reliance Jio: Bloomberg

  • Reliance Jio, China’s Omnicom fuel massive global mobile data traffic

    Reliance Jio, China’s Omnicom fuel massive global mobile data traffic

    NEW DELHI: Global mobile data traffic growth reached a six-year high in the third quarter of 2017, increasing by 115 per cent worldwide year-on-year with China and India—riding on Reliance Jio primarily—accounting for half of all traffic growth globally, according to new report released yesterday.

    According to Strategy Analytics’ latest `Wireless Operator Performance Benchmarking’ database and accompanying report, Reliance Jio, China Unicom and Vodafone drove accelerated mobile data traffic growth in Q3 2017.

    India and China accounted for half of all traffic growth globally with Jio’s continued disruption in India and strong growth in unlimited data plans in China driving both of those markets. In Europe, Vodafone has enjoyed healthy early traction for its zero-rated Passes, the report said.

    Strategy Analytics provides competitive edge with advisory services, consulting and actionable market intelligence for emerging technology, mobile and wireless, digital consumer and automotive electronics companies. With offices in North America, Europe and Asia, Strategy Analytics delivers insights for enterprise success.

    Other key findings of the report include:

    — Reliance Jio was carrying more data traffic than any mobile operator globally within six months of launch, but its disruptive impact on the market has meant profitable traffic growth has been hard to find.

    — Unlimited plans have accelerated traffic growth in China, up 166 per cent year-on-year in Q3 2017 and have generated a healthy recovery in both service revenue and EBITDA.

    — Vodafone had eight million customers using Passes by the end of September 2017, with a positive impact on ARPU and usage. It has delivered 2.6 times growth in traffic in Europe over the last two years with near-flat opex.

    Phil Kendall, report author and director, Service Provider Group, in a statement said, “It is encouraging to see more success stories from operators using unlimited or zero-rated pricing to unlock growth in both revenue and profitability. The success of China’s Unicom’s unlimited plans and collaborations with local internet giants highlights the importance of partnering with content providers to add value to data plans.”

  • Reliance Jio acquires RCom’s wireless infra assets

    Reliance Jio acquires RCom’s wireless infra assets

    Mumbai: Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJio), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), today signed a definitive agreement for the acquisition of the wireless infrastructure assets of Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom).

    An asset monetisation process for RCom assets was mandated by the lenders of RCom, who appointed SBI Capital Markets Ltd to run the process. The process was supervised by an independent group of industry experts. RJio emerged as the successful bidder in the two-stage bidding process.

    Consequent to the agreement, RJio will acquire assets under four categories–towers, optic fibre cable network, spectrum and media convergence nodes from RCom and its affiliates. These assets are strategic in nature and are expected to contribute significantly to the large scale roll-out of wireless and fibre to home and enterprise services by RJio.

    The acquisition is subject to receipt of requisite approvals from governmental and regulatory authorities, consent from all lenders, release of all encumbrances on the said assets and other conditions precedent. 

    Consolidation has been the buzzword in the telecommunications industry. From as many as 13 players at one point in time, we are now left with just four major contenders.  Earlier this year, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular decided to merge operations to create India’s largest telecom operator worth more than $23 billion beating Sunil Bharti Mittal-led Airtel. 

    RJio is being advised by Goldman Sachs, Citigroup Global Markets, JM Financial Private Limited, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Khaitan & Co and Ernst & Young on this transaction.

    Also Read:

    The year the telecom sector quaked

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

  • Bharti Airtel to acquire Millicom’s Rwanda operations

    Bharti Airtel to acquire Millicom’s Rwanda operations

    MUMBAI: Telecommunications services provider Bharti Airtel Limited, through its subsidiary Airtel Rwanda, has entered into a definitive  agreement with Millicom  International  Cellular S.A. to acquire 100 per cent equity interest in Tigo Rwanda.

    The acquisition will consolidate the Rwandan telecom market and position  Airtel as a strong operator  in Rwanda.  The acquisition cost is approximately six times EBITDA multiple payable  over  two years.

    Bharti  Airtel  chairman Sunil  Bharti  Mittal said, “Airtel   has  taken  proactive   steps  in  Africa  to consolidate and  realign  the market  structure in the last few remaining  countries where  its operations are lagging on account of lower market share and presence of too many operators. Airtel and Tigo have already merged their operations to create a strong viable entity in Ghana. Today, it has taken yet another  important step to acquire  Tigo Rwanda  to become a profitable and a strong challenger in a two-player market.”

    Mittal added that Airtel Africa was committed to the long-term viability of the operations in Kenya  and Tanzania to ensure that in 2018 all its 15 operations in Africa started contributing positive  margins and cash flows towards a healthy and profitable Airtel Africa.

    The agreement aims to bring together the strengths of Airtel and Millicom in Rwanda and offer benefits to customers in the form of a wider network and affordable voice and data services. The existing customers of Tigo Rwanda will join Airtel’s global network, which currently serves over 370 million customers across 17 countries.

    Airtel Africa MD and CEO Raghunath Mandava said, “The acquisition reinforces our commitment to the Rwanda market and is a significant step towards creating a stronger presence in the country. It will create synergies with  our  existing  business and  help  boost  operational efficiencies in the  market.  The Rwandan  telecom  market  will significantly benefit  from this acquisition, further  reiterating our stand that in-market  consolidations do  not just  help  achieve better  market  positions  but  benefit  customers and  the industry  as a whole.”

    Also read:

    Airtel TV valuation at $1.75 bn as Warburg Pincus picks up 20% stake

    Airtel acquires strategic stake in Juggernaut Books

    Airtel Digital TV revenues, op profits rise in Q2 FY 2018

  • RIL to plan IPO for Reliance Jio: Bloomberg

    RIL to plan IPO for Reliance Jio: Bloomberg

    Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) may launch the initial public offering (IPO) for Reliance Jio by late 2018 or early 2019 to further challenge the collective might of Airtel and the Idea-Vodafone combine, according to a Bloomberg report. Reliance Jio, which hasn’t made a profit since its official launch last year, is targeting to improve its financial performance before diluting any stake.

    Reliance Jio reported net loss of Rs2.71 billion in the quarter ended 30 September 2017, though the business made profit before interest and taxes over the period. The wireless operator is “ahead of our schedule in terms of the returns” generated, Ambani said at a recent event.

    A Reliance Jio listing would cap a return to the mobile market for Ambani, more than a decade after a family feud that led him to cede control of a previous telecom venture to his younger brother. Reliance Jio, which is wholly owned by RIL, launched a free-for-life call service last year that triggered a price war and consolidation in one of the world’s most crowded mobile markets.

    Bharti Airtel Ltd this year agreed to absorb Tata Group’s mobile phone business, while Vodafone Group Plc and Idea Cellular Ltd announced they would merge their local operations to create the nation’s largest wireless operator. Despite being the newest entrant, Reliance Jio has accumulated more than 138.6 million subscribers, making it the fourth largest operator at the end of September, according to data from Trai.

    Deliberations about a Reliance Jio listing are at an early stage, and there’s no certainty they will lead to a transaction, Bloomberg’s sources said. A representative for Reliance Industries declined to comment.