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Tag: Bharti Airtel

  • Airtel acquires strategic stake in blockchain company Aqilliz

    Airtel acquires strategic stake in blockchain company Aqilliz

    Mumbai: Bharti Airtel on Thursday announced that it has acquired a strategic stake in blockchain-as-a-service company Aqilliz under the Airtel Startup Accelerator Programme. The deal is subject to applicable statutory approvals.

    Singapore-based Aqilliz has developed a patented hybrid blockchain platform Atom, that integrates differential privacy and federated learning on a distributed digital ledger. This allows brands to create secure and consent-based solutions to engage with customers in a rapidly evolving digital economy that’s becoming increasingly decentralised.

    Airtel aims to deploy Aqilliz’s advanced blockchain technologies at scale across its fast-growing ad-tech (Airtel Ads), digital entertainment (Wynk Music and Airtel Xstream) and digital marketplace (Airtel Thanks App) offerings.

    “We, at Airtel, are deeply researching new technologies that drive the future of a digitally connected India,” said Airtel Digital CEO Adarsh Nair. “This relentless focus on innovation is also enabling us to unlock new growth engines within Airtel. Blockchain technology is maturing and we see its application across areas such as adtech, creator economy, and loyalty programs. We are thrilled to have Aqilliz join our Startup Accelerator Program and be part of Airtel’s digital innovation factory.”

    “We are extremely excited to be a part of Airtel’s digital innovation play and bring this first of its kind blockchain technology to India,” said Aqilliz founding CEO Gowthaman Ragothaman. “Legacy customer engagement, ad tech and marketing technologies are built for centralised databases. The future of the digital economy is already pivoting to managing value exchanges between brands, platforms and the consumer. Aqilliz’s patented technology will enable Airtel to capture and carry this value exchange in the form of consent and provenance across the digital supply chain. We look forward to working closely with the team at Airtel.”

    Airtel Startup Accelerator Programme invests in early-stage start-ups working on technologies that have adjacencies to Airtel’s business offerings.

  • Airtel joins undersea cable consortium SEA-ME-WE-6

    Airtel joins undersea cable consortium SEA-ME-WE-6

    Mumbai: Bharti Airtel has announced that it has joined the SEA-ME-WE-6 undersea cable consortium to scale up its high-speed global network capacity to serve India’s fast-growing digital economy.

    The 19,200 Rkm SEA-ME-WE-6 will connect Singapore and France and will be amongst the largest undersea cable systems globally. Airtel is participating as a major investor in the SEA-ME-WE-6 and is anchoring 20 per cent of the overall investment in the cable system, which will go live in 2025. The 12 other consortium members of SEA-ME-WE-6 include Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company, Dhiraagu (Maldives), Djibouti Telecom, Mobily (Saudi Arabia), Orange (France), Singtel (Singapore), Sri Lanka Telecom, Telecom Egypt, Telekom Malaysia, Telin (Indonesia).

    Through SEA-ME-WE-6 Airtel will add a significant amount of 100 TBps capacity to its global network. Airtel has acquired one Fiber Pair on the main SEA-ME-WE-6 system and will co-build four Fiber Pairs between Singapore–Chennai–Mumbai as part of the cable system. Airtel will land the SEA-ME-WE- 6 cable system in India at new landing stations in Mumbai and Chennai.

    SEA-ME-WE-6 will be fully integrated with Nxtra by Airtel’s large data centers in Mumbai and Chennai to enable global hyperscalers and businesses to access seamless integrated solutions and strengthen India’s position as an emerging data center hub in the region.

    “Undersea cable systems along with data centers are vital infrastructure for supporting 5G and the digital economy,” said Airtel Business director and CEO Ajay Chitkara. “Airtel has been ahead of the curve on this front and already operates the largest undersea cable network out of India in addition to the biggest network of data centers. Our investment in SEA-ME-WE-6 is another step in our journey to future-proof our network and build large integrated capacities to enable India’s digital ecosystem.”

    Airtel global network spans over 365,000 Rkms and reaches 50 countries across five continents. Nxtra by Airtel, the data center unit of Airtel, operates the largest network of data centers in India with 11 large and 120 edge data centers.

    Airtel Business serves over one million businesses through its integrated portfolio of – connectivity, conferencing, cloud and data centers, cyber security, IoT, Ad-tech, CPaaS (Airtel IQ), and more. It is the market leader in India’s enterprise connectivity segment.

  • Jio loses 12.9 mn wireless subs in Dec ‘21, Airtel gains 0.47 mn: Trai

    Jio loses 12.9 mn wireless subs in Dec ‘21, Airtel gains 0.47 mn: Trai

    Mumbai: Reliance Jio lost as many as 12.9 million wireless subscribers in December 2021, according to subscription data provided by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). Vodafone Idea also lost 1.6 million subscribers.

    However, Bharti Airtel emerged as a clear winner in December, as it went on to add 0.47 million subscribers during the same period, along with BSNL, which also saw wireless subscriber additions of 1.16 million.

    The total number of wireless subscribers decreased from 1167.50 million to 1154.62 million. Wireless subscriptions in urban areas decreased from 638.46 million to 633.34 million while in rural areas it also decreased from 529.04 million to 521.28 million.

    As per Trai data, Reliance Jio had 364.34 million active wireless subscribers followed by Bharti Airtel at 348.69 million and Vodafone Idea with 229.45.  

    In December, Trai received information from 616 broadband operators compared to 592 operators in the previous month. The total broadband subscribers decreased from 801.60 million to 792.08 million.

    In the broadband segment, wired subscribers increased from 24.42 million to 26.43 million, mobile device users decreased from 775.93 million to 764.52 million and fixed wireless subscribers decreased from 1.26 million to 1.13 million. The top five broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm at 420.28 million followed by Bharti Airtel at 210.07 million, Vodafone Idea at 122.62 million, BSNL at 25.54 million and Atria Convergence at 2.01 million.

    The top five wired broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm at 4.57 million, Bharti Airtel at 4.20 million, BSNL at 4.07 million, Atria Convergence at 2.01 million and Hathway Cable and Datacom at 1.08 million. The top five wireless broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm at 415.72 million, Bharti Airtel at 205.87 million, Vodafone Idea at 122.14 million, BSNL at 21.47 million and Intech Online at 0.20 million.

    The number of telephone subscribers decreased from 1191.05 million to 1178.41 million. Urban telephone subscription decreased from 660.08 million to 655.20 million and rural subscription also decreased from 530.96 million to 523.21 million during the same period.

    During the period, wireline subscribers increased from 23.55 million to 23.79 million.

  • Airtel Q3 FY22: 5.4% revenue growth QoQ led by ARPU increase

    Airtel Q3 FY22: 5.4% revenue growth QoQ led by ARPU increase

    Mumbai: Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Wednesday announced its third quarter FY 2022 results. The company has posted quarterly revenues of Rs 29,867 crore, up 18.3 per cent year-on-year backed by strong and consistent performance delivery across the portfolio. It reported net income (after exceptional items) of Rs 830 crore.

    The telecom company’s India business saw quarterly revenues of Rs 20,913 crore which was up by 17.9 per cent YoY. Its India customer base stands at ~356 million.

    Its mobile services revenues were up by 19.1 per cent YoY led by an increase in average revenue per user (ARPU). Its mobile ARPUs increased to Rs 163 during the quarter versus Rs 146 in the same quarter previous year. Mobile data consumption increased by 33.8 per cent YoY at a rate of 18.3 Gb per month.

    Additionally, Airtel’s 4G customers increased by three million on a quarter-on-quarter basis to reach 195.5 million and account for 61 per cent of its total base.

    The company’s home business saw 40.4 per cent YoY growth led by strong customer additions. Home business witnessed 341,000 customer net additions in the quarter to reach a total base of 4.16 million. Its Digital TV customer base stood at 18.1 million during the same period. “Digital TV continues to improve its market position with steady revenue and customer base,” said the statement.

    Airtel Business revenues were up by 13.4 per cent YoY backed by strong demand for data portfolio and emerging businesses.

    During the quarter, Google announced that it would invest $1 billion in Airtel as part of its Google for India Digitization Fund. Airtel also announced a joint venture with Hughes Communications to become the largest satellite service operator in India.  

    “We have delivered another quarter of sustained performance across all our business segments,” said Bharti Airtel India and South Asia MD and CEO Gopal Vittal. “Overall sequential revenue growth was at 5.4 per cent and EBITDA margins came in at 49.9 per cent. The recent tariff revision for mobile services has gone down well and we are exiting the quarter with an industry leading ARPU of Rs 163. The full impact of the revised mobile tariffs, however, will be visible in the fourth quarter. Our Enterprise, Homes and Africa business continue to deliver strongly, with steady increase in contribution to the overall mix of the portfolio. Our balance sheet is robust and we are now generating healthy free cash flows. This has enabled us to recently prepay some of our spectrum liabilities to the Government thereby reducing the interest burden.”

    He further stated, “Google’s recent investment is a strong validation of Airtel’s role in being a leading pioneer of India’s digital revolution. Our emerging digital services portfolio across Airtel IQ, AdTech, digital marketplace, Nxtra and digital banking positions us well to build an Airtel of the future.”

  • Google to invest $1 billion in Airtel

    Google to invest $1 billion in Airtel

    Mumbai: Bharti Airtel and Google on Friday announced that the latter intends to invest $ one billion in the telecom major as part of its Google for India Digitisation Fund which includes equity investment as well as a corpus.

    The investment will be for potential commercial agreements to be identified and agreed on mutually agreeable terms over the next five years. This will comprise a $700 million investment in Bharti Airtel at a price per share of Rs 734. Up to $300 million of that will go towards implementing commercial agreements which will include scaling Airtel’s offerings. Google will acquire a 1.2 per cent shareholding of Bharti Airtel including partly paid shares.

    The deal will be subject to regulatory approvals.

    “Airtel and Google share the vision to grow India’s digital dividend through innovative products,” said Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal. “With our future-ready network, digital platforms, last-mile distribution and payments ecosystem, we look forward to working closely with Google to increase the depth and breadth of India’s digital ecosystem.”

    Airtel and Google will work together to explore opportunities to bring down barriers of owning a smartphone in partnership with various device manufacturers, potentially co-create India-specific network domain use cases for 5G and other standards and focus on growing and shaping the cloud ecosystem in India.

    “Airtel is a leading pioneer shaping India’s digital future, and we are proud to partner on a shared vision for expanding connectivity and ensuring equitable access to the Internet for more Indians,” said Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. “Our commercial and equity investment in Airtel is a continuation of our Google for India Digitization Fund’s efforts to increase access to smartphones, enhance connectivity to support new business models, and help companies on their digital transformation journey.”

  • Vodafone loses 1.89 mn subs in Nov; Jio, Airtel post strong gains: Trai

    Vodafone loses 1.89 mn subs in Nov; Jio, Airtel post strong gains: Trai

    Mumbai: Reliance Jio added 2.01 million and Bharti Airtel added 1.31 million wireless subscribers in November 2021 according to subscription data by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). Vodafone Idea lost 1.89 million subscribers during the same period, the data revealed.

    The total number of wireless subscribers increased from 1166.30 million to 1167.50 million with a net addition of 1.19 million subscribers. Wireless subscription in urban areas increased from 637.44 million to 638.46 million and in rural areas it increased from 528.86 million to 529.04 million.

    Trai reported 996.38 million active wireless subscribers out of which Reliance Jio had 359.59 million followed by Bharti Airtel at 347.89, Vodafone Idea at 231.59 million and BSNL at 56.71 million.

    In November, Trai received information from 592 operators as compared to 577 operators last month, the total broadband subscribers increased from 798.95 million to 801.60 million. This comprised mobile device users at 775.93 million, wired subscribers at 24.42 million and fixed wireless subscribers at 1.26 million.

    The top five wireless broadband service providers were Reliance Jio at 428.62 million, Bharti Airtel at 206.02 million, Vodafone Idea at 122.39 million, BSNL at 19.41 million and Tikona Infinet at 0.30 million subscribers.

    The top five wired broadband service providers were Reliance Jio at 4.34 million, BSNL at 4.20 million, Bharti Airtel at 4.08 million, Atria Convergence Technologies at 1.98 million and Hathway Cable and Datacom at 1.07 million subscribers.

    The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1189.62 million to 1191.05 million. Urban subscription increased from 658.83 million to 660.08 million and rural subscription increased from 530.79 million to 530.96 million. The number of wireline subscribers increased from 23.32 million to 23.55 million at the end of November.

  • Reliance Jio prepays Rs 30,791 crore spectrum dues

    Reliance Jio prepays Rs 30,791 crore spectrum dues

    Mumbai: Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL) on Wednesday announced that it has paid Rs 30,791 crore (including accrued interest) to the Department of Telecom towards prepayment of the entire deferred liabilities pertaining to spectrum acquired in auctions of year 2014, 2015, 2016 and the spectrum acquired in year 2021 through trading of right to use with Bharti Airtel Ltd. 

    The company had acquired 585.3 MHz spectrum in the said auctions/trading.

    RJIL had executed the first tranche of prepayment on the anniversary date in the month of October 2021 pertaining to spectrum acquired in an auction in the year 2016. Subsequent to the Department of Telecom’s decision in the month of December 2021 providing the telcos the flexibility to prepay their deferred spectrum liabilities on any date, RJIL has now prepaid in the month of January 2022, the entire deferred liabilities acquired in an auction in the year 2014 and 2015 as well as spectrum acquired through trading.

    These liabilities were due in annual installments from FY 2022-23 to 2034-2035 and carried interest rates between 9.30 per cent to 10 per cent per annum with an average residual period of over seven years.

    The company estimates that the above prepayments will result in interest cost savings of around Rs 1,200 crore annually, at the current interest rates.

  • HCIPL, Airtel announce JV to provide satellite broadband in India

    HCIPL, Airtel announce JV to provide satellite broadband in India

    Mumbai: Hughes Communications India Pvt Ltd (HCIPL) and Bharti Airtel have announced the formation of a joint venture to provide satellite broadband services in India.

    The new entity operational as HCIPL combines the very small aperture terminal (VSAT) businesses of both companies to offer flexible and scalable enterprise network solutions using satellite connectivity for primary transport, back-up, and hybrid implementation. Now serving Airtel VSAT customers, HCIPL has a combined base of over 200,000 VSATs and is the largest satellite service operator in the country.

    The agreement, announced in May 2019, has received all statutory approvals, including those from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and Department of Telecom (Government of India) and the joint venture has been formed.

    “We are pleased to commence this joint venture, further delivering on our commitment to serving the growing demand for always on, always available network connectivity for enterprise and government customers,” said HCIPL president and managing director Partho Banerjee. “Combining the proven capabilities of both Hughes and Airtel, the partnership will bring synergies to the forefront – including multi-orbit solutions – for the benefit of customers across the length and breadth of India.”

    “We, at Airtel, are focused on supporting and accelerating the digital transformation journeys of our customers through an integrated solutions portfolio,” said Airtel Business director and chief executive officer Ajay Chitkara. “With the combined capabilities of Airtel and Hughes, customers will get access to next-generation satellite connectivity backed by proven enterprise-grade security and service support.”

  • Reliance Jio adds 1.76 million wireless subscribers in Oct

    Reliance Jio adds 1.76 million wireless subscribers in Oct

    Mumbai: Telecom giant Reliance Jio has added 1.76 million net wireless subscribers in October, according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) subscription data. Vodafone Idea lost 0.96 million subscribers followed by Bharti Airtel at 0.48 million, the data revealed.

    The total number of wireless subscribers increased from 1166.02 million to 1166.30 million. In urban areas, wireless penetration decreased from 637.89 million to 637.44 million. Wireless subscriptions in rural areas increased from 528.13 million to 528.86 million.

    Trai reported 996.47 million active wireless subscribers out of which Reliance Jio had the highest share with 358.49 million followed by Bharti Airtel at 346.11 million, Vodafone Idea at 234.33 million and BSNL at 56.93 million.

    The number of telephone subscribers increased from 1189.15 million to 1189.62 million. Urban subscription decreased from 659.09 million to 658.83 million whereas rural subscription increased from 530.06 million to 530.79 million.

    In October, Trai received information from 577 broadband operators viz-a-viz 522 in the previous month. It reported that total broadband subscribers increased from 794.88 million to 798.95 million. The number of mobile device users increased from 769.22 million to 773.09 million. Wired subscribers increased from 24.39 million to 24.55 million and fixed wireless subscribers increased from 1.28 million to 1.31 million.

    At the end of October, the top five broadband service providers stood as follows Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd at 430.75 million subscribers, Bharti Airtel at 208.71 million subscribers, Vodafone Idea at 122.47 million subscribers, BSNL at 24.57 million subscribers and Atria Convergence at 1.97 million subscribers.

    The top five wired broadband service providers were BSNL at 4.72 million subscribers, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd at 4.16 million subscribers, Bharti Airtel at 3.98 million subscribers, Atria Convergence Technologies at 1.97 million subscribers and Hathway Cable & Datacom at 1.07 million subscribers.

    The top five wireless broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd at 426.60 million subscribers, Bharti Airtel at 204.73 million subscribers, Vodafone Idea at 122.47 million subscribers, BSNL at 19.85 million subscribers and Tikona Infinet Ltd. at 0.30 million subscribers.

    The number of wireline subscribers increased from 23.13 million to 23.32 million with a net increase of 0.19 million. BSNL and MTNL held 45.07 per cent of the wireline market share.

  • Bharti Airtel in talks to buy out Dish TV: Report

    Bharti Airtel in talks to buy out Dish TV: Report

    Mumbai: Telecom operator Bharti Airtel is on the lookout to buy a majority stake in direct-to-home (DTH) company Dish TV India Ltd, promoted by Subhash Chandra’s Essel Group. The telecom company is in the early stages of talks at present.

    According to a Mint report, Airtel executives have been holding discussions with Dish TV parent Essel Group’s founder Subhash Chandra for the deal. The report added that accounting firm EY, hired by Airtel to inspect Dish TV’s financials, has submitted the due diligence report on 25 October.

    The announcement comes in the wake of the ongoing boardroom tussle between Dish TV and Yes Bank. Yes Bank holds a 25.63 per cent stake in the company. It has sought the removal of the present board of directors including managing director Jawaher Lal Goel and independent directors Dr Rashmi Aggarwal, Bhagwan Das Narang, Shankar Agarwal, and Ashok Mathai Kurien.