ITV

Tag: 5G spectrum

  • Airtel expands network in UP West, Uttarakhand for better connectivity

    Airtel expands network in UP West, Uttarakhand for better connectivity

    Mumbai: Bharti Airtel has turbocharged its network in Uttar Pradesh (West) and Uttarakhand, providing customers with superior voice and data connectivity across all 40 districts. The company announced on 18 October 2024, that it has successfully deployed additional spectrum acquired in July 2024, enhancing its 5G and 4G network capacities.

    The deployment of 5MHz on the 2100 band will significantly improve data speeds and indoor coverage for customers in urban and rural areas. Residents in cities such as Agra, Aligarh, Meerut, Bareilly, Moradabad, and Dehradun can now enjoy faster browsing speeds and improved call connectivity. Airtel’s enhanced services will also benefit those traveling along highways and rail routes, providing broader coverage and meeting the growing demand for connectivity in rural regions.

    Bharti Airtel, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, CEO, Sovan Mukharjee stated, “Airtel’s commitment to superior network performance is unwavering. With the integration of this new spectrum, customers across the state can now enjoy enhanced call connectivity, faster data speeds, and an overall improved experience.”

    Airtel secured 97 MHz of spectrum during the recent auction, solidifying its position as a leader in India’s telecommunications landscape. This deployment allows the company to expand its sub-GHz spectrum, consolidating fragmented spectrum blocks into a continuous spectrum, and positioning itself to meet growing data demands with its 5G and 4G services.

  • Telecom companies pay DoT Rs 17,876 crore up front for 5G spectrum

    Telecom companies pay DoT Rs 17,876 crore up front for 5G spectrum

    Mumbai: Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Adani Data Networks, and Vodafone Idea have paid the department of telecom an upfront sum of about Rs 17,876 crore for the spectrum they recently won in an auction.

    DoT has received a total payment of approximately Rs 17,876 crore. Only Bharti Airtel has made full payment for four annual instalments. Reliance Jio has made payments of Rs 7,864.78 crore, Vodafone Idea paid Rs 1,679.98 crore, and Adani Data Networks paid Rs 18.94 crore.

    Bharti Airtel has paid Rs 8,312.4 crore, or four annual instalments, while all telecom operators have chosen to pay in 20 annual instalments.

    With a bid of Rs 87,946.93 crore, Mukesh Ambani’s Jio secured nearly half of the airwaves sold in the nation’s largest-ever auction of telecom spectrum, which attracted bids totaling a record Rs 1.5 lakh crore.

    Gautam Adani’s group has bid Rs 211.86 crore for 400 MHz in a band that is not used for providing public telephony services.

    Bharti Airtel, owned by telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal, submitted a winning bid of Rs 43,039.63 crore, and Vodafone Idea purchased spectrum for Rs 18,786.25 crore.

  • Vodafone Idea Q1 FY23 revenue soars by 13.7 per cent; loss at Rs 7396.7 crore

    Vodafone Idea Q1 FY23 revenue soars by 13.7 per cent; loss at Rs 7396.7 crore

    Mumbai: Vodafone Idea announced its first quarter results for financial year 2022-2023. The company reported revenue of Rs 10,410 crore up by 13.7 per cent year-on-year (YoY). It reported a loss of Rs 7396.7 crore.

    The company reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of Rs 4330 crore and capital expenditure (capex) stood at Rs 8400 crore compared to Rs 12,100 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

    Vodafone Idea’s total gross debt as of 30 June stands at Rs 1,99,080 crore, comprising of deferred spectrum payment obligations of Rs 1,16,600 crore and AGR liability of Rs 67,270 crore that are due to the government, and debt from banks and financial institutions of Rs 15,200 crore.  Cash and cash equivalents were Rs 8600 crore.

    The company’s average revenue per user (ARPU) improved to Rs 128 up 3.6 per cent quarter on quarter (QoQ) from Rs 124 in Q4FY22. On a YoY basis, ARPU witnessed strong growth of 23.4 per cent aided by tariff hikes.

    Vodafone Idea’s subscriber base declined to 240.4 million as compared to 243.8 million in Q4 FY22, however, its 4G subscriber base continued to grow and with one million customers added in Q1, its 4G base now stands at 119 million.

    The company reported high data usage per 4G customer at ~14.3 Gb/month.

    Vodafone Idea Limited MD and CEO Ravinder Takkar said, “We continue to witness 4G subscriber growth on the back of superior data and voice experience offered by Vi GIGAnet as well as due to our focus on creating differentiated digital experience for our customers.

    He further said, “In the recently concluded spectrum auction, we have acquired sufficient spectrum in our key markets to offer superior 5G experience to our customers.”

    “We also completed the first tranche of fund raising in the form of preferential equity contribution of ~Rs. 49.4 billion from our promoters, including the incremental infusion of ~Rs. 4.4 billion by Vodafone Group in July 2022. We continue to remain engaged with lenders and investors for further fund raising.”

  • TRAI to begin groundwork on next spectrum auction, TSPs not too keen yet

    NEW DELHI: Although the Telecom Regulatory Authority will work on the request received from the Department of Telecom for suggesting at a reserve price for 5G spectrum, it is unlikely that the auction would take place over the next six months.

    A TRAI source, confirming that the DoT was keen to auction 3400 to 3600 MHz which is used for 5G apart from the unsold spectrum from the last e-auction, said that telecom companies at present were not too keen to invest in fresh spectrum as they claimed to have incurred huge losses in the third quarter of 2016-17.

    The government is also keen to sell the 700 MHz band, which remained unsold in the last auction due to its high base price of Rs 114.75 billion per unit.

    TRAI has been asked to set the reserve price for airwaves in the 4G bands of 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz, and for spectrum in the 3400 MHz to 3600 MHz bands that are used for 5G services.

    The 5G airwaves are expected to be used for services like machine-to-machine communication, Internet of Things and even connected smart cities.

    Though consultations may be held soon with stakeholders, the Cellular Operators Association of India has said auctions should not be held before 2018.

    Around 2354.55 MHz of spectrum was put on sale in 2016, but the government managed to earn just around Rs 65,789 billion from 965 MHz, mainly in the 1800 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz bands.