Tag: Idea Cellular

Broadband internet subs growth better in Jun-18 than May-18

BENGALURU: India witnessed 3.50 per cent growth in broadband internet customers in the month of June 2018 (Jun-18, month under review) according Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data for the month ended 30 June 2018. Hence, 151.18 lakh (15.118 million, 1.5118 crore) broadband subscribers were added in Jun-18. Comparatively, in May 2018, broadband internet customers grew 2.91 per cent (122.1 lakh, 12.21 million, 1.221 crore) vis-a-vis the previous month (April 18).

The smallest segment among broadband internet services providers – the Fixed wireless- WiFi, Wi Max, Point to Point, Radio, Vsat segment, lost about 1,000 subscribers – the segment’s subscriber base fell from 4.09 lakh (0.409 million or 0.0409 crore) to 4.08 lakh (0.408 million or 0.0408 crore) during the month of Jun-18. The wired broadband internet subscriber base dropped by 40,000 to 179 lakh (17.90 million, 1.790 crore) in Jun-18 from 179.40 lakh (17.94 million, 1.794 crore) in the previous month.

A major portion-100.28 per cent (151.60 lakh or 15.160 million or 1.5160 crore) of the new users opted for wireless broadband internet through mobile devices and dongles in Jun-18. The mobile devices and dongles segment grew 3.66 per cent in the month. It may be noted that TRAI considers download speeds equal to or in excess of 512 kbps as broadband internet. Also, TRAI subscriber numbers data is published in millions with 2 decimal places, hence the accuracy of this report is limited to the nearest 10,000 (Ten Thousand).

As on 30 Jun 2018, the top five broadband internet service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd or Jio with 2152.6 lakh (215.26 million, 21.526 crore), Bharti Airtel or Airtel with 953.1 lakh (95.31 million, 9.531 crore), Vodafone with 628.6 lakh (62.86 million, 6.286 crore), Idea Cellular with 429.5 lakh (42.95 million, 4.295 crore) and BSNL with 203.4 lakh (20.34 million, 2.034 crore) subscribers respectively. The top five service providers constituted 97.67 per cent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of Jun-18, as compared to 97.54 per cent at the end of May-18.

Wireless Internet

As on 30 June, 2018, the top five Wireless Broadband Service providers were Jio with 2152.6 lakh (215.26 million, 21.526 crore), Bharti Airtel with 931.1 lakh (93.11 million, 9.311 crore), Vodafone with 628.5 (62.85 million, 6.285 crore), Idea Cellular with 429.4 lakh (42.94 million, 4.294 crore) and BSNL with 111.9 lakh (11.19 million, 1.119 crore) subscribers each.

Jio showed the largest growth in terms of absolute numbers across all segments. Jio’s subscribers have grown by 34.46 per cent in calendar year 2018 (CY 2018) since 31 December 2017 (or 1 January 2018, Dec-17). Its subscriber base has grown from 1,600.9 lakh (160.09 million, 16.009 crore) as on 1 January 2017 to 2,152.6 lakh (215.26 million or 21.526 crore) on 30 June 2018. Jio subscribers grew by 97.20 lakh (9.72 million, 0.972 crore) or 4.52 per cent in June 2018, hence led the subscriber growth in Jun-18 At present, Jio provides only wireless broadband internet services through mobile devices including phones and dongles. BSNL has being losing subscribers on a regular basis – it has lost 49.02 per cent or 107.60 lakh (10.76 million or 1.076 crore) subscribers in CY 2018. Please refer to the figure below

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Wired Internet

The wired internet subscriber base has been bleeding – the segment lost 40,000 subscribers during the month of June 2018. Among the top 5 service providers, only Bharti Airtel (10,000) and Atra Convergence Technologies or ACT (20,000) have added subscribers. The other three players among the top 5 have lost subscribers.

Though growth of the wired internet subscribers until May-18 was led by Hathway Cable & Datacom Limited (Hathway), TRAI data shows that the company did not add any significant numbers in May-18 while it lost 40,000 subscribers in Jun-18. Its subscriber base for Apr-18 and May-18 was the same as per TRAI data. The company had added about 60,000 (grew by 8.22 per cent) subscribers in CY 2018 until May-18 and its subscriber base grew to 7.9 lakh (0.79 million, 0.079 crore) from 7.3 lakh (0.73 million, 0.073 crore) at the beginning of CY 2018.

In CY 2018, ACT has exhibited the highest growth at 4.69 per cent. Both AIrtel and ACT subscriber base has grown by 60,000 in CY 2018. In Jun-18, ACT had the highest subscriber growth – its base grew by 20,000 or 1.52 per cent.

In Jun-18, the top five Wired Broadband Service providers were BSNL with 91.5 lakh (9.15 million, 0.915 crore), Bharti Airtel with 22.1 lakh (2.21 million, 0.221 crore), ACT with 13.4 lakh (1.34 million, 0.134 crore), MTNL 8.3 lakh (0.83 million, 0.083 crore and Hathway with 7.5 lakh (0.75 million, 0.075 crore) subscribers respectively. The government’s BSNL and MTNL have in general being losing subscribers. Please refer to the figure below.

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Other broadband internet service providers

MSOs and (LCOs) or cable video service providers also provide wired broadband internet services in the country. These cable service providers have a number of subsidiaries and alliances, hence broadband numbers are split as applicable. The consolidated subscription numbers of these entities could be larger than the numbers of some of the wired internet services providers mentioned above. However, in general, quarterly results of the major MSOs until the quarter ended 30 June 2018 (Q1 2019) indicate that their wired broadband subscription addition efforts have been far below par, some have even had a drop in subscriber numbers as well as reduction in ARPUs.

August 21, 2018
Jio & Hathway continue to lead wireless and wired Internet subs growth in 2018

BENGALURU: India witnessed 1.74 percent growth in broadband internet customers in the month of April 2018 (Apr-18, month under review) according Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data for the month ended 30 April 2018. Hence, 71.90 lakh (7.19 million, 0.719 crore) broadband subscribers were added in Apr-18.

The smallest segment among broadband internet services providers – the Fixed wireless- WiFi, Wi Max, Point to Point, Radio, Vsat segment, lost about 40,000 subscribers – the segment’s subscriber base fell from 4.6 lakh (0.46 million or 0.046 crore) to 4.2 lakh (0.42 million or 0.042 crore) during the month. The wired broadband internet subscriber base grew by 20,000 to 179.70 lakh (17.97 million, 1.797 crore) in Apr-18 from 179.50 lakh (17.95 million, 1.795 crore) in the previous month.

A major portion-100.42 percent (72.20 lakh or 7.22 million or 0.722 crore) of the new users opted for wireless broadband internet through mobile devices and dongles in Apr-18. The mobile devices and dongles segment grew 1.83 percent in the month. It may be noted that TRAI considers download speeds equal to or in excess of 512 kbps as broadband internet. Also, TRAI subscriber numbers data is published in millions with 2 decimal places, hence the accuracy of this report is limited to the nearest 10,000 (Ten Thousand).

As on 30 April 2018, the top five Wireless Broadband Service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd with 1,961.9 lakh (196.19 million, 19.619 crore), Bharti Airtel or Airtel with 875.1 lakh (87.51 million, 8.751 crore), Vodafone with 599 lakh (59.9 million, 5.99 crore), Idea Cellular with 424 lakh (42.4 million, 4.24 crore) and BSNLwith 115.1 lakh (11.51 million, 1.151 crore) subscribers respectively.

Wireless Internet

Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio) showed the largest growth in terms of absolute numbers across all segments. Jio’s subscribers have grown by 17.32 percent in calendar year 2018 (CY 2018) since 31 December 2017 (or 1 January 2018, Dec-17). Its subscriber base has grown from 1,600.9 lakh (160.09 million, 16.009 crore) as on 1 January 2017 to 1,961.9 lakh (196.19 million or 19.619 crore) on 30 April 2018. Jio grew by 95.59 lakh (9.559 million, 0.9559 crore) in April 2018. At present, Jio provides only wireless broadband internet services through mobile devices including phones and dongles. The highest growth rate in CY 2018 until April 2018 was by Idea Cellular at 21.80 percent. Idea Cellular also led subscriber growth in Apr-18 with respect to Mar-18 with 6.45 percent growth. BSNL has being losing subscribers on a regular basis. Please refer to the figure below.

Wired Internet

Growth of the wired internet subscribers until Apr-18 was led by Hathway Cable & Datacom Limited (Hathway). The company added about 60,000 (grew by 8.22 percent) subscribers in CY 2018 until Apr-18 and its subscriber base grew to 7.9 lakh (0.79 million, 0.079 crore) in Apr-18 from 7.3 lakh (0.73 million, 0.073 crore) at the beginning of CY 2018. Hathway subs base grew by 1.28 percent (added 10,000 subscribers) in Apr- from 7.8 lakh (0.78 million, 0.078 crore) in Mar-18.

In Apr-18, the top five Wired Broadband Service providers were BSNL with 92.4 lakh (9.24 million, 0.924 crore), Bharti Airtel with 21.9 lakh (2.19 million, 0.219 crore), Atria Convergence Technologies or ACT with 13.1 lakh (1.31 million, 0.131 crore), MTNL 8.6 lakh (0.86 million, 0.086 crore and Hathway with 7.9 lakh (0.79 million, 0.079 crore) subscribers respectively. The government’s BSNL and MTNL have in general being losing subscribers. Please refer to the figure below.

All Internet

Top five service providers constituted 97.42 percent market share in Apr-18 as compared to 95.23 percent market share in Mar-18 of the total broadband subscribers at the end of Apr-18. These service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd with 1961.9 lakh (196.19 million, 19.619 crore), Bharti Airtel with 897 lakh (89.70 million, 8.970 crore), Vodafone with 599.1 lakh (59.91 million, 5.991 crore), Idea Cellular with 424.1 lakh (42.41 million 4.241 crore) and BSNL with 207.5 lakh (20.75 million, 2.075 crire) subscribers respectively.

July 4, 2018
Vodafone-Idea merger may be delayed beyond 30 June

MUMBAI: The mega-merger deal of Idea Cellular and Vodafone India may not meet the expected 30 June timeline as the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is looking to raise a fresh demand of around Rs 4700 crore. Idea Cellular stocks fell 6 per cent in intra-day trade at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

“Vodafone India had merged its all arm into one company and there are dues of around Rs 4700 crore related to one-time spectrum charges (OTSC) on the company. DoT will ask Vodafone to either clear dues or furnish bank guarantee before merger with Idea,” an official said as quoted by PTI.

According to a report from Economic Times, the shares of the company opened at Rs 60.05 and touched a high and low of Rs 60.05 and Rs 57.80, respectively, in trade so far. Benchmark BSE Sensex was down 50 points, or 0.14 per cent, at 35,639 at around the same time.

In 2015, Vodafone had merged its four subsidiaries Vodafone East, Vodafone South, Vodafone Cellular and Vodafone Digilink with Vodafone Mobile Services, which is now called Vodafone India.

The merged entity is proposed to be named Vodafone Idea Ltd if approved by shareholders of Idea Cellular. Vodafone Group and existing promoters of Idea will hold 45.1 and 26 per cent of the equity share capital of the merged company, respectively, and public shareholders will hold the balance 28.9 per cent.

Also Read :

DoT seeks legal view on the Vodafone-Idea merger

Vodafone to get new shine from Idea; merger on its last leg

June 25, 2018
Jio led broadband while Hathway led wired broadband subs growth in 2018

BENGALURU: India witnessed 5.24 percent growth in broadband internet customers in the month of March 2018 (Mar-18) according Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data for the month ended 31 March 2018. Hence, 205.4 lakh (20.54 million, 2.054 crore) broadband subscribers were added in March 2018. A major portion-98.59 percent of the new users opted for wireless broadband internet through mobile devices and dongles. The mobile devices and dongles segment grew 5.24 per cent in the month. It may be noted that TRAI considers download speeds in equal to or in excess of 512 kbps as broadband internet. Also, TRAI data is in millions with two decimal places, hence the accuracy of this report is limited to the nearest 10,000 (ten thousand).

The wireless broadband segment comprising of mobile devices – phones and dongles grew by 5.42 per cent or 202.5 lakh (20.025 million, 2.025 crore) to 3,941.9 lakh (394.19 million, 39.419 crore) from 3,739.4 lakh (373.94 million, 37.394 crore) in the previous month.

As on 31 March, 2018, the top five wireless broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd with 1865.6 lakh (186.56 million, 18.656 crore), Bharti Airtel or Airtel with 834.9 lakh (83.49 million, 8.349 crore), Vodafone with 597.6 lakh (59.76 million, 5.976 crore), Idea Cellular with 398.3 lakh (39.83 million, 3.983 crore) and BSNLwith 117.8 lakh (11.78 million, 1,178 crore) subscribers respectively.

Wireless Internet

Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio) showed the largest growth in terms of absolute numbers across all segments. Jio’s subscribers have grown by 5.32 per cent in calendar year 2018 (CY 2018) since 31 December 2017 (or 1 January 2018, Dec 2017). Its subscriber base has grown from 1,683.9 lakh (168.39 million, 16.839 crore) as on 1 January 2017 to 1,865.6 lakh (186.56 million or 18.656 lakh) ion 31 March 2018. Jio grew by 94.30 lakh (9.43 million, 0.943 crore) in March 2018 1771.3 lakh (177.13 million, 17.713 crore) in February 2018. At present, Jio provides only wireless broadband internet services through mobile devices including phones and dongles. The highest growth rate in CY 2018 until March 2018 was by Airtel at 14.97 per cent, while in the case of growth rate in the March 2018 with respect to Feb 2018, Vodafone was the leader with 7.6 per cent growth. BSNL has being losing subscribers on a regular basis. Please refer to the figure below.

Wired Internet

Growth of the wired internet subscribers until March 2018 was led by Hathway Cable & Datacom Limited (Hathway). The company added about 50,000 (grew by 6.85 per cent) subscribers in CY 2018 until March 2018 and its subscriber base grew to 7.8 lakh (0.78 million, 0.078 crore) in March 2018 from 7.3 lakh (0.73 million, 0.073 crore) at the beginning of CY 2018. Hathway subs base grew by fourper cent (added 30,000 subscribers) in March 2018 from 7.5 lakh (0.75 million, 0.075 crore) in Feb 2018.

In March, 2018, the top five wired broadband service providers were BSNL with 93 lakh (9.30 million, 0.93 crore), Bharti Airtel with 21.8 lakh (2.18 million, 0.218 crore), Atria Convergence Technologies or ACT with 13.1 lakh (1.31 million, 0.131 crore), MTNL (0.87 million) and Hathway with 7.8 lakh (0.78 million, 0.078 crore) subscribers respectively. The government’s BSNL and MTNL have in general bring losing subscribers. Please refer to the figure below

Fixed Wireless Internet

The highest growth rate of 13.04 per cent in March 2018 was by the smallest segment – fixed wireless segment comprising of wifi, wi max, point to point, radio, VSAT. Fixed wireless segment increased from four lakh (0.4 million, 0.04 crore) in Feb-2018 to 4.6 lakh (0.46 million, 0.046 crore) in March 2018.The wireline broadband segment grew 1.34 per cent in March 2018 by 2.3 lakh (0.23 million, 0.023 crore) to 179.5 lakh (17.95 crore, 1.795 crore) from 177.2 lakh (17.72 million, 1.772 crore) in the previous month. In March 2018 this segment grew, hence reversing the trend of declining subscriber numbers over the past few months.

All Internet

Top five service providers constituted 95.23 per cent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of March 2018. These service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd with 1865.6 lakh (186.56 million,18.656 crore), Bharti Airtel with 856.7 lakh (85.67 million, 8.567 crore), Vodafone with 597.7 lakh (59.77 million, 5.977 crore), Idea Cellular with 398.4 lakh (39.84 million 3.984 crore) and BSNL with 210.8 lakh (21.08 million, 2.108 crore) subscribers respectively.

Also Read:

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

Nov 2017: Wireline internet bleeds subscribers

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

May 24, 2018
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

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April 26, 2018
Balesh Sharma becomes CEO of merged Vodafone-Idea entity

MUMBAI: Vodafone Group and Aditya Birla Group have announced the proposed new leadership team of the merger between two major telecom operators of India – Vodafone India and Idea Cellular.

Balesh Sharma who is currently the chief operating officer of Vodafone India will become the CEO of the merged entity. He joined Vodafone in 2003 and over the years, has held several senior management positions in India and internationally.

Idea Cellular CEO Kumar Mangalam Birla will become the non-executive chairman of the merged Company.

Sashi Shankar, who is currently the chief marketing officer at Idea, will be responsible for marketing and brand strategy for the consumer business.

Anil Tandon and Rajat Mukherjee, currently head of technology and head of corporate affairs of Idea will be full time advisers to the merged business in their respective areas of expertise, working closely with Vishant Vora and P Balaji, respectively.

The appointments will come into effect after the merger is completed.

Vodafone Group Plc and Idea Cellular announced the proposed leadership team of the combined business, which will come into effect after the merger has been completed. This is in line with the original merger announcement of March 20, 2017, which said that the management team of the combined business would be confirmed prior to closing.

This is in line with the original merger announcement of 20 March 2017, which said that the management team of the combined business would be confirmed prior to closing.

The existing leadership teams of Idea Cellular and Vodafone India will continue to manage their separate businesses and be accountable for each company’s operational performance until the merger becomes effective.

It is only upon completion of the merger that the two businesses will cease to operate as distinct and competing entities.

Also Read:

Vodafone to get new shine from Idea; merger on its last leg

Is India ready for the impact of AI on marketing?

Vodafone brings back the Pug in AR

The rising trend of coopetition among brands

March 23, 2018
Idea Cellular shows how it can transform lives

MUMBAI: Idea cellular has rolled out its new campaign ‘A video can change your life’, which focuses on the transformative role of Idea 4G via the medium of videos.

The campaign aims at elevating the role of Idea 4G beyond the category conversation around speed, coverage, content and apps.

Idea Cellular chief marketing officer Sashi Shankar says, “Videos are a universal language that transcends literacy, and hence hold immense power to transform. The new Idea campaign is inspired by the many transformational stories that have been enabled by videos. Videos do not just entertain us, they influence us, stir emotions, inspire, move and lead us to positive actions. Videos on our mobile phones are a transformative force of good. Backed by the power of Idea 4G, it has the power to spread and transform our society for the better.”

The TVC captures the chain of change that is triggered through videos and the cascading effect that they have in transforming people’s lives. It shows how a video of kids waiting to be adopted makes a young professional pause and think and then decide to educate many such kids in his office, post working hours. A homemaker sees a video of an evening school and is infuriated on learning that unsafe streets are not allowing girls to benefit from education. Uploading a video teaching self-defence, the woman’s action thus inspires the next person in the chain.

Having established a pan-India wireless broadband network and on the back of rapid 4G proliferation, Idea has been building 4G credentials and brand stature through its advertising campaigns.

With 4G enabling better internet experience, Indians are now spending more than 28 hours a week on mobile phones. This mammoth increase in consumption of 4G data has been fuelled largely by video. The average time spent watching videos in India has doubled in the last couple of years. With affordable 4G pricing, approx 65 per cent of the audience is now watching videos with mobile internet and nearly 8.5 hours of video content every month.

“While bringing this idea to life, we knew the power of a video had to be felt through the emotion it evokes and the action it inspires. And our campaign needed to reflect that,” adds Shankar.

The TVC has been directed by filmmaker Shimit Amin and developed by BBDO India.

The new ad campaign went on-air on digital and television on New Year’s Eve, with the marquee shows Star Screen Awards and Ted Talks India Nayi Soch. It is on-air across 100+ TV channels and will also be seen during the India-South Africa matches as Idea is a co-sponsor for the series. The TVC has already garnered 2.3 million views on YouTube and will be amplified on digital and via other integrations.

January 4, 2018
Free Jio: TDSAT reserves order on appeal for stay

MUMBAI: Telecom tribunal TDSAT has reserved its decision on an interim appeal seeking a stay on Reliance Jio’s free promotional offer. TDSAT reserved its order after hearing all the parties concerned including the incumbent operators Idea Cellular, Bharti Airtel, Jio and the regulator TRAI. Jio, however, maintained that it did not violate any tariff orders in giving out two promotional offers.

Separately, Vodafone India had moved the Delhi High Court blaming TRAI to be acting as a mute spectator to Jio’s violations of regulations and IUC norms.

Before TDSAT, Airtel had sought a stay on TRAI’s sanction to Jio to continue with the free promotional offer. Airtel had also alleged that TRAI is “perpetuating illegality” by allowing the 4G entrant to game the IUC regime by allowing Jio to offer free data and voice services. Idea had subsequently moved the tribunal.

Both had also requested for a direction to TRAI to furnish records related to the authority’s decision. The appeal had also appealed for restraining Jio from offering its consumers the zero tariff plan and other promotional offers.

Jio commercially launched on 5 September 2016 with inaugural free services, which it extended in December till 31 March, 2017.

The regulator had on 31 January, 2017, said that Jio’s free plans were not the violation of the regulatory guidelines on promotional offers. It added that its examination found that the 4G entrant’s ‘Happy New Year Offer‘ launched on 4 December, 2016, is different from the Welcome Offer, thereby it could not be treated as an extension of the promotional offer as the benefits were different.

Jio will now however start charging its customers for its mobile services from 1 April, 2017. The telco had also launched 10 Prime packs of users that join the network before 31 March, 2017, and had also launched a buy one get one free offer for Jio Prime users.

March 10, 2017
Clarify Rs 3,050-cr PoI penalty norms, telecom panel asks TRAI

MUMBAI: The Telecom Commission as sought clarity from TRAI in the matter relating to the latter recommending Rs 50 crore per circle penalty on Vodafone India, Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular in October 2016. The panel directed the department of telecom (DoT) to seek clarity from TRAI on whether the regulator can impose the penalty for violation for interconnect norms.

The penalty was recommended by TRAI on the three telcos accused of denying interconnectivity to newcomer telco Reliance Jio. According to TRAI, the penalty for Airtel and Vodafone was at Rs 1,050 crore each, while for Idea it was around Rs 950 crore. DoT had earlier sought legal opinion from attorney-general on whether it had the powers to impose the penalty, to which he had opined that DoT could impose the penalty.

A senior government official reportedly said the panel now asked DoT to seek clarification from TRAI on 10-12 points, including whether the 90-day period was given to the operators for providing point of interconnection (PoI), method of calculating penalty of Rs 50 crore per circle etc.

Meanwhile, the panel has also okayed demand of Rs 2,834 crore to be raised from operators which provided services between February 2012, when Supreme Court cancelled their licences, and till the time they procured fresh permits after buying spectrum in auction.

Experts said other issues that needed clarification included whether the penalty was reached after calculating congestion in the network on a monthly average and the fine was based upon the license as contract and not on PoI pact between the operators. Jio had in August submitted to TRAI that it will need 12,727 PoIs for mobile services and 3,068 PoIs for STD facilities before its commercial launch.

Also Read:

http://www.indiantelevision.com/regulators/trai/trai-hc-asks-idea-dot-to-file-affidavit-on-plea-170124

http://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/telecom/rs-30k-cr-to-enhance-jio-coverage-a-g-clears-dots-power-to-penalise-telcos-170114

http://www.indiantelevision.com/regulators/tdsat/jio-hny-tdsat-raps-trai-as-contest-deepens-170106

http://www.indiantelevision.com/regulators/trai/respond-to-vodafones-trai-challenge-in-two-weeks-govt-directed-170104

February 7, 2017
dittoTV partners Idea to provide 90+ live channels

MUMBAI: Zee Digital Convergence Limited’s (ZDCL) live TV platform dittoTV has partnered with Idea Cellular for its entertainment app, Idea Movies Club. Through this, Idea subscribers will get access to a bouquet of 90+ premium live TV channels. Idea Cellular will also offer its subscribers a subscription of dittoTV bundled with its data recharges and Movie Club packs.

Idea Movie Club is a free video streaming app offering unlimited access to music videos, movies and Hollywood, Bollywood and regional TV shows across 10+ different languages. The live TV channels offered by the app can be accessed via ditto TV, which is featured as a separate tab in the app.

“With dittoTV, our aim is to bring Live TV within the reach of every Indian and help them access a rich portfolio of content across genres and languages. With this collaboration, Idea customers can watch their favorite TV shows live anytime, anywhere, on any internet enabled device, along with all the other wonderful video and movies content offered by the Idea Movie Club app. This is a fantastic option especially for working professionals who are constantly on-the-go and hostel students who may not have easy access to a TV set and would otherwise miss out on their favorite programmes,” said dittoTV business head Archana Anand.

Positioned as Desh ka TV, dittoTV has several strategic partnerships in place to strengthen its reach across the country. dittoTV is available to users on both Android and iOS platforms. The subscription charges for the platform start from INR 20 per month.

January 31, 2017