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Tag: Airtel

  • Launch of Ladakhi Regional Service on DD-Kashir Channel

    Launch of Ladakhi Regional Service on DD-Kashir Channel

    MUMBAI: Ladakhi News Bulletins are extremely popular among the people in Leh and Ladakh region as there are hardly any private channels telecasting programmes in Ladakhi.  Doordarshan is the only source of Ladakhi news for the people of the region.  DDK, Leh which started its telecast in the year 2000 has been producing and telecasting several programmes in Ladakhi.  As the world’s highest TV station, DDK, Leh has been fulfilling regional aspirations in spite of many challenges in the region.  The regional telecast, which takes place everyday between 6.00 p.m to 7.30 p.m. in Ladakhi is transmitted through  a network of 92 Terrestrial transmitters including 13 HPTs, 13  LPTs and 66  VLPTs.  

    Programmes of DDK Leh cover various aspects of local News and Current Affairs as well as local cuisine, life style, culture and heritage.  With increase in the popularity of  satellite transmission, it has become important to augment the terrestrial transmission services with the availability of Ladakhi programmes on satellite mode also so that programmes get a national foot print and are accessible to a large number of people not only in Ladakh but also elsewhere in India.

    It has been a long pending demand of people from the region that the Ladakhi regional service be made available on satellite platform.  Doordarshan, Prasar Bharati has decided to fulfil this regional aspiration by providing a Prime time slot to Ladakhi News and Current Affairs and other programmes initially through a half-an-hour slot on DD-Kashir, which is a satellite channel from 10th September, 2018 from 6.30 p.m. to 7.00 p.m.  This would enable accessibility of Ladakhi regional service on all DTH Platforms viz., DD Freedish, Tatasky, Dish TV, Videocon d2h, Airtel, Reliance Digtial TV, Sun Direct and Cable Services etc. as DD Kashir is mandatorily carried on all these platforms as per the direction of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

    The Member of Parliament of the region Shri Thupstan Chhewang had met Smt. Supriya Sahu, Director General, Doordarshan during her visit to Leh and requested for providing a satellite platform to Ladakhi programmes for their wider dissemination.

    People of Leh and Ladakh can now tune in to watch their favourite Ladakhi regional service including Ladakhi News Bulletin from 6.30 p.m.  to 7.00 p.m. wherein 6.30 p.m. to 6.45 p.m. has been allocated for programmes of varied genres in Ladakhi and 6.45 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. has been earmarked for Ladakhi News Bulletin.

  • Airtel, Netflix enter strategic partnership

    Airtel, Netflix enter strategic partnership

    MUMBAI: Adding to the OTT-telecom deal list is the partnership between global Netflix and Airtel in India. Airtel subscribers of select postpaid and V-Fiber Home Broadband plans will be able to enjoy free streaming of Netflix for three months. After the free subscription period of three months, they will be able to pay for the platform using Airtel postpaid or home broadband bill.

    “Partnerships are at the core of Airtel’s DNA and we are delighted to expand our strategic relationship with Netflix. Affordable high speed data services and growing smart devices have created a massive opportunity, perhaps one of the biggest in the world, for the uptake of content – both local and global. We look forward to working closely with Netflix to leverage this huge potential and continue delighting customers with some amazing offerings,” Bharti Airtel MD and CEO Gopal Vittal said.

    Customers on eligible Airtel plans will be able to avail the opportunity through the Airtel TV app and the My Airtel app. Even customers not on plans eligible for this offer will be able to sign up or upgrade to claim this and pay for Netflix using their Airtel bill. It has also partnered to promote Netflix content through a dedicated row on the Airtel TV app.

    “We are delighted to expand our partnership with Airtel and combine the latest technologies and the best of entertainment. Be it Sacred Games, Ghoul or Stranger Things, more and more fans are watching on mobile so we’re bringing together Netflix’s award-winning TV shows and movies with Airtel’s amazing mobile and broadband networks. Airtel customers will enjoy the simplicity of one monthly bill for their Netflix subscription and Airtel postpaid/home broadband bill,” Netflix business development global head Bill Holmes said.

    Airtel, which is gradually losing ground to Jio is trying to get back in the race with several content deals. Recently, it struck an exclusive deal with ZEEL under which a select premium content from ZEE5 library will be available for Airtel consumers exclusively. The telco platform has an existing deal with Amazon Prime also. All these deals may bring more users to the network owing to the digital content portfolio. Meanwhile, Netflix is also trying to gain a stronger foothold in the Indian OTT market through new Indian originals and partnerships.

  • Revenue model of ZEE5-Airtel deal is cost per subscriber, duration viewed: Tarun Katial

    Revenue model of ZEE5-Airtel deal is cost per subscriber, duration viewed: Tarun Katial

    MUMBAI: The OTT players in India seem to have found telecom partnerships fruitful. Recently, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) struck a three year deal with Airtel. Under the deal, the partners will do a co-branded promotion while the revenue model will be based on cost per subscriber and duration viewed.

    “There is select premium content from ZEE5 library that will be available for Airtel consumers exclusively in addition to being available on the ZEE5 platform,” ZEE5 India CEO Tarun Katial says. Though this deal is unique, ZEE5 is open to striking deals with other telecom operators also.

    “Revenue model is based on cost per subscriber and duration viewed for both in the three buckets. In the first bucket, it’s for cost per subscriber and there’s a minimum guarantee, in the second bucket it’s about volume deal for a subscription for a high-end Airtel consumer and the third model is about upscaling ZEE5 subscription packages,” he adds.

    Katial thinks this co-branding promotion across platforms will enable to create an understanding of content among consumers of ZEE5 as well Airtel. “It’s also a really good opportunity to be able to do both consumer insight as well as big data and create a recommendation for Airtel TV consumers of ZEE5 premium content,” he says. The partners will leverage each other’s social media assets also.

    Under the partnership, other than ZEE5 premium content, video content produced by ZEEL, including TV shows and movies will be available exclusively on Airtel’s digital properties like Airtel TV. Since ZEE5 already streams content produced by ZEEL along with its originals some of the selected curated content may be available on ZEE5 first while some will be concurrently available on both platforms but “deeper premium library” will be available only on its own OTT platform.

    Recently ZEEL snipped its deal with Reliance Jio pulling off all its available content on Jio TV. Though this kind of incident happens due to the failure of negotiation of cost, both the companies remained tight-lipped about the problem.

    However, the deal can boost Airtel also which has had its dominance in the telecom industry threatened after Jio’s entry. Reliance is already in a better position as it holds stakes in production companies like Eros International, Balaji Telefilms and Roy Kapur Films.

    As ZEE5 is a late entrant in the market, it is still far behind other domestic players like Hotstar, Voot and Eros Now. Moreover, international rivals like Netflix and Amazon are also eying the same OTT market. Hence, the deal is very critical for ZEE5 to reach more consumers across the country as well as to increase the visibility of existing shows on the platform. The industry being in a nascent stage does not have any clear winner till now, hence, leaving enough scope for each of the players.

  • ZEEL enters into content partnership with Airtel

    ZEEL enters into content partnership with Airtel

    MUMBAI: Days after Bharti Airtel (Airtel) decided to cut ties with Reliance Jio, it has entered into a content partnership with ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL). The two companies will work closely to curate innovative and highly compelling digital video content solutions for customers across the country.

    Under the partnership, video content produced by ZEEL, including TV shows, original series and movies will be available exclusively on Airtel’s digital properties like Airtel TV, in addition to ZEE’s home-grown digital venture ZEE5. Moreover, the ZEE5 app will be bundled into the Airtel TV app, allowing customers to get its content for free.  

    The companies will also drive joint development and marketing of innovative content solutions for the Indian market and collaborate in areas such as digital advertising. There will be a strong focus on curating regional content also keeping in mind ZEEL’s strong regional portfolio.

    “Our endeavour is to build a world-class content ecosystem by partnering all players and enable a differentiated digital entertainment experience for our customers. In Airtel TV, we have built a solid digital platform to curate top content from India and across the world and offer it to customers at one place. We are extremely pleased to announce this exclusive partnership with ZEE and look forward to collaborating with them to unlock the potential of their vast content catalogue,” Bharti Airtel MD and CEO Gopal Vittal said.

    Recently, ZEE severed its content tie-up with Jio. The former removed all its content from Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio, including 35 live TV channels and more than 2 lakh hours of video-on-demand content. According to reports, it happened due to the failure to arrive at an agreement on price.  

    However, the deal can boost Airtel also which is gradually losing its hold in the telecom industry after Jio’s entry. Reliance is already in a better position as it holds stakes in production companies like Eros International, Balaji Telefilms and Roy Kapur Films.

    “As a media & entertainment powerhouse, keeping our consumers at the epicenter of our approach, we aim to be present across every platform which they wish to access and our alliance with Airtel as their lead content partner, is a firm and positive step in this direction. We look forward to this partnership, which will enable us to entertain the customers of Airtel through our thoughtfully curated content offering, leveraging our expertise in content and data. In line with our larger aim for ZEE5, to be a number one entertainment OTT player in the country, this alliance further compliments the access to our content for the overall digital consumers,” ZEEL MD and CEO Punit Goenka commented.

  • Airtel-Telenor to expand home broadband to 2 mn

    Airtel-Telenor to expand home broadband to 2 mn

    MUMBAI: Airtel’s acquisition of Telenor will provide the broadband business a boost. As India is an under-served market in broadband, the company is planning to expand its home pass footprint to 2 million in FY19.

    “For us, last couple of years we have been rolling out about 500,000 to 600,000 home passes. This year, our plan is to step it up to close to 2 million. We have begun this quarter in a slightly slower wicket, it takes time to ramp up, getting clearances and permissions and all. So you will see a step-up in our broadband, home broadband investment during the course of this year,” Bharti Airtel India CEO Gopal Vittal said.

    The company will also be looking at replacing in the marquee areas wherever they are in copper right now, to convert that into fiber. So that could be another 1 million-1.5 million home passes while all of it is planned in the next three, four to five quarters.

    Though APRUs are in constant pressure in the segment, the company thinks in long run this is an extremely profitable business to be in. In the home business segments, the company’s focus generally is highrises where the cost of rollout and capex is substantially lower than a flatbed. Moreover, it goes only for marquee flatbeds. Hence, the company is highly optimistic about this segment despite Jio’s recent GigaFiber rollout.

    In May, Department of Telecom’s (DoT) final nod completed Bharti Airtel and Telenor India’s fruitful merger and the company has net added 28 million customers from the acquisition. Though the overall number was approximately 31 million, it has lost 3-3.5 million customers, purely on account of dual simming or any other reason. While Reliance Jio’s entry in the market and ongoing tariff war has made the competition tough for the company, the merger may help it to stand in a better position.

    Vittal said the merger was very well planned. On the network side addition, the company knew exactly which site it needed and did not as there was no point of having a duplicate network. “The first 30 days (after the merger got approval), we actually shut off three circles. And then the next 30 days, we shut off another couple of circles. And we are now left with just one circle, which will be shut down very soon,” he said.

    Following DoT also nodded to Vodafone-Idea merger, the telecom industry in India is heading to a three players market largely. Vittal thinks the company is reaching a point where all the players are getting larger by the day. “There is a strong possibility that at the low levels of pricing, which are clearly sustainable in terms of return on capital and all the investments that have gone into the industry, also the fact that just an incredible amount of allowances that are being given to customers, I think some of this has to correct,” he commented.

  • Q1 earnings could make Reliance Jio second largest telco by RMS

    Q1 earnings could make Reliance Jio second largest telco by RMS

    MUMBAI: In the 1st quarter of FY 2018, Reliance Jio’s operating revenue increased 14.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q). On the back of its strong earnings number, the telco operator could emerge as the second-largest telco by revenue market share (RMS) in the April-June quarter displacing Vodafone India which is in the final stages of merging with Kumar Mangalam Birla-led Idea Cellular.

    As per brokerage CLSA’s estimation Jio’s RMS would have increased by 3 percentage points to 23 per cent in the April-June period, following the positive surprise on the average revenue per user (ARPU) front that was 13 per cent ahead of its estimates, according to a report from Economic Times.

    Amid the tarrif war started by Jio, both Vodafone and Idea Jio added 28.7 subscribers Q1 2019  are losing ground in the telecom market. The speedy closure of the merger would help the combined entity as it will emerge as the country’s largest telco with the highest RMS of 37 per cent. However, as Jio is unlikely to raise tarrif soon, analysts expect the bad financial phase of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone-Idea merged entity to continue.

    “Jio is in no mood to raise tariffs anytime soon as it’s adding 9-10 million subscribers per month, delivering strong minutes, data traffic and revenue growth, which is bad news for Bharti Airtel and the (emerging) Vodafone-Idea combined entity, who need to offer some resistance by raising large sums of capital to accelerate 4G network build and also start matching Jio on tariffs,” JM Financial said in a note to clients as mentioned by ET.

    Jio added 28.7 subscribers Q1 2019 and hence its subscriber base increased to 215.3 million in Q1 2019 from 186.6 million in Q4 2018. ARPU declined slightly q-o-q to Rs 135.50 per month in Q1 2019 from Rs 137.1 per month in Q4 2018. The company reported subscriber churn of 0.3 per cent per month in Q1 2019 as compared to a slightly lower 0.25 per cent per month in Q4 2018.

  • CTOs of telecom giants Airtel and Jio quit

    CTOs of telecom giants Airtel and Jio quit

    MUMBAI: Two top executives from the Indian telecom behemoths, Airtel and Jio, have resigned. Jagbir Singh and Shyam Mardikar were working as chief technology officers in Jio and Airtel respectively, according to a Press Trust of India report.

    Jagbir Singh joined Reliance Industrial Ltd’s (RIL) telecom venture Jio in May 2015 before the soft launch of 4G services. He also worked with Jio’s rival Airtel and Korean multinational conglomerate Samsung. His experience spans over 28 years.

    Shyam Mardikar who joined Airtel six years back has also put in papers. Since January 2017 he was working as the CTO of the company. However, before this stint also Mardikar worked with Airtel for almost a decade from 2001-2010.

    While Jio did not respond to the development, the report says an Airtel spokesperson has confirmed the development. It also claims Mardikar has resigned for further growth in career.

  • Airtel, Saavn got special access to users’ data even after 2015: Facebook

    Airtel, Saavn got special access to users’ data even after 2015: Facebook

    MUMBAI: Facebook’s data controversy is engulfing numerous companies including many renowned ones in India. India’s largest telecom Bharti Airtel and music streaming app Saavn were among the firms that could have accessed data of Facebook even after 2015. This revelation has come to light based on submissions made by Facebook to the US Congress.

    In the submission, Facebook named Airtel and 51 other companies for having an “integration partnership”. Facebook authorised those companies to access its user data in order to “recreate Facebook-like experiences”. However, Airtel has claimed the deal ended in 2013.

    “Integration partners were not permitted to use data received through Facebook APIs for independent purposes unrelated to the approved integration without user consent,” Facebook said in the reported submission.

    Saavn was also among the companies which could access details of Facebook users’ friends. While the social media platform announced that data access would be blocked from May 2015, Saavn along with some other app developers were given extra time to become compliant with Facebook’s more restrictive platform API (application programming interface) policy.

    “Such access to information about an app user’s friends required not only the consent of the app user, but also required that the friends whose data would be accessed have their own privacy settings set to permit such access by third-party apps,” Facebook said.

    Since the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, Facebook has been facing tough times regarding data security.

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  • TRAI fines Jio, Airtel, others for not meeting service quality norms

    TRAI fines Jio, Airtel, others for not meeting service quality norms

    MUMBAI: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) rapped leading operators, including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular on the knuckles for failing to meet the Quality of Service standards in the December quarter, reported news agency PTI.

    Data disruptor Reliance Jio was handed a fine of Rs 31 lakh based on the TRAI-defined service quality parameters such as Point of Interconnect congestion, accessibility of call centres and customer care. TRAI’s fine pertains to multiple circles or service areas in which Jio offers it service.

    Idea Cellular was fined Rs 28-29 lakh for the December quarter for its inability to match benchmarks on call drops, metering and billing, both pre-paid and post-paid, accessibility of call centre or customer care and its timelines for multiple circles.

    Bharti Airtel, the biggest player in the market, was slapped with a Rs 23 lakh for the same period for non-compliance on parameters entailing metering and billing (postpaid and prepaid) and accessibility of call centres, and stipulated response time on operators answering calls in certain circles.

    Vodafone was fined Rs 9 lakh for non-compliance of select criteria like time-bound refund of deposits after closure, response time for calls answered by operators, as well as call drops.

    Aircel and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) too were handed fines by the regulator.

    The fines were in line with TRAI’s renewed focus on quality benchmarks in the telecom sector.

    Last year, the regulator had ordered telcos to adhere to the quality of service benchmarks from October 1, 2017.

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  • Now, Reliance Jio coud set off broadband turf war with Airtel

    Now, Reliance Jio coud set off broadband turf war with Airtel

    MUMBAI: The entry of Reliance Jio in the telecom market disrupted mobile data pricing. Now, as the Mukesh Ambani-owned venture is set to enter the broadband service too, its competitor Bharti Airtel is also expected to bombard consumers with great offers. After telecom, the two companies are now prepping themselves for a war in the home broadband segment.

    According to media reports, the broadband service from Jio will offer data speeds of 100 Mbps, with massive data limit, starting at Rs 1,000-1,500 a month. Moreover, it’s expected to offer a combination of fast connectivity and unlimited video and voice calls through the Voice Over Internet Protocol (Vo-IP).

    To lure more customers, Jio may offer the initial service free of cost. Jio has already rolled out pilot services in few cities. Economic Times reported a person familiar with the development as stating that Jio might reveal the timing of commercial launch on 5 July, the day of Reliance Industry Ltd’s general meeting.

    Airtel is also gearing up efforts to revamp its existing wired broadband connection. The telco has set aside Rs 24,000 crore for the financial year 2019. From current 89 cities it wants to expand its service to 100 key cities targeting big data consumption zones.

    “We are closely watching the wired home broadband space and will combine innovation with aggressive investments and do whatever it takes to stay competitive on services and tariffs and grow our home customer base,” a senior Bharti Airtel executive said as quoted by ET.

    The entry of Jio may again disrupt home broadband pricing forcing its rivals, especially Airtel, to decrease rates, repeating the 2016 Jio 4G phenomenon.

    Also Read:

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