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Tag: telecom

  • Reliance net profit jumps 41 % YoY to reach Rs 18,549 crores in Q3

    Reliance net profit jumps 41 % YoY to reach Rs 18,549 crores in Q3

    Mumbai: Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) continued its golden run, and posted a net profit of Rs 18,549 crores for the third quarter ended 31 December 2021. This is an increase of 41 per cent from ₹13,101 crore reported a year ago during the same period.

    The company had posted a profit of Rs 13,680 crore in the September 2021 quarter.

    “I am happy to announce that Reliance has posted best-ever quarterly performance in 3Q FY22 with a strong contribution from all our businesses. Both our consumer businesses, Retail, and Digital services have recorded the highest ever revenues and EBITDA,” said RIL chairman and MD Mukesh Ambani on Friday.

    Ambani said the company continued to focus on strategic investments and partnerships across its businesses to drive future growth in the last quarter. “Retail business activity has normalised with strong growth in key consumption baskets on the back of festive season and as lockdowns eased across the country. Our digital services business has delivered broad-based, sustainable, and profitable growth through improved customer engagement and subscriber mix,” he added.

    The consolidated revenue for the company by market-capitalisation grew to Rs 1,91,271 crore, up by 62 percent for the quarter from Rs 1,17,860 crore in the year-ago period. Revenues in the previous quarter stood at Rs 1,67,611 crore.

    Reliance Jio’s revenue rise five per cent at Rs 19,347 crore

    The net profit of Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of the company rose 10 per cent YoY to Rs 3,615 crore for Q3. It was Rs 3,291 crore in the last year period. The revenue rose five per cent at ₹19,347 crore as against ₹18,492 crore in the last year period. “Jio now has over five million connected wireline customers and has been consistently enhancing its FTTH product with new apps on STB, Society Centrex, 4K content on JioTV+, Home Secure, Home Automation, LiveTV and Gaming solutions,” the conglomerate said.

    Jio also undertook ~20 per cent hike across prepaid plans effective 1 December 2021 in line with other industry operators. According to the company, while the ARPU is set to improve to Rs 151.6 led by a better subscriber mix and recent tariff hike, the full impact of tariff hike will be reflected in ARPU and financials over the next few quarters. During 3Q FY22, average data and voice consumption per user per month increased to 18.4 GB and 901 minutes, respectively.

    Meanwhile, Jio continues to maintain its top position in the 4G speed chart with a 22.0 Mbps average download speed in December 2021, according to the latest Telecom Authority of India (Trai) report.

    Ambani also highlighted that the recovery in global oil and energy markets supported strong fuel margins and helped its O2C business deliver robust earnings. “Our Oil & Gas segment delivered strong growth in EBITDA with volume growth and improved realisation. We are making steady progress towards achieving our vision of Net Carbon Zero by 2035. Our recent partnerships and investments in technology leaders in the solar and green energy space is illustrative of our commitment to partner India and the World in the transition to clean and green energy. We continue to pursue growth initiatives and collaborate with global leaders who share our vision of a sustainable future for our planet,” he added.

  • Vi ties up with ‘Hungama Music’ to offer premium music streaming service

    Vi ties up with ‘Hungama Music’ to offer premium music streaming service

    Mumbai: Strengthening its OTT-based digital content offerings, the telecom major Vodafone Idea on Monday launched its music offering on the Vi App in association with Hungama Music.

    Vi’s music offering with Hungama was unveiled by the musician and composer duo – Salim Sulaiman, who also performed at the launch event. Under the partnership, Vi will offer a six months premium subscription of Hungama Music at no extra cost to all its post-paid and prepaid customers. As part of the offering, customers will be able to listen to ad-free music in as many as 20 languages across genres from Hungama’s library of songs, Bollywood news, and podcasts. Vi customers can also attend 52 Live Digital Concerts on the Vi App, said the teleco major.

    Vi CMO Avneesh Khosla said, “Vi strives constantly to enrich the lives of its consumers through its partnerships with brands that have experience and expertise in the field of entertainment, education, health and financial services. Vi is committed to work with partners across varied domains to provide unique and compelling digital offerings for its consumers with varied needs and preferences. In the near future we will continue to see a lot newer initiatives being launched as this agenda gains scale and momentum.”

    Khosla further added that the launch will fulfill the customers’ need for a comprehensive music streaming service. “Our association with Hungama will allow Vi users to get access to a rich repository of diverse music, across genres and in their preferred language,” he said.

    Hungama Media founder Neeraj Roy said, “Our association with Vi has seen us introduce a first-of-its-kind Pay Per View service model in India’s exploding Premium Video On Demand (PVOD) market, earlier this year. The partnership aligns with Hungama’s aim to explore and develop innovative ways to entertain and engage audiences across the world. Our repertoire is consistently expanding to include a diverse, and rich line-up of multi-genre, multi-lingual content across audio, video, and gaming.”

  • Rajendra Gupta joins Rediffusion as chief growth officer

    Rajendra Gupta joins Rediffusion as chief growth officer

    Mumbai: Rediffusion has announced the appointment of Rajendra Gupta as chief growth officer, based at its corporate office here.

    An engineer from BHU-IT and an MBA from FMS Delhi, Gupta has been in advertising, industrial solutioning and telecom for well over 35 years. This will be his second stint at Rediffusion. He earlier worked at Rediffusion Delhi and Mumbai from 1994 to 2002. “Rediffusion is my home. I have had some of my biggest professional successes and victories here. I hope that track record remains intact and unblemished in this innings too,” said Gupta.

    Gupta will be a group resource with growth and business development responsibilities across Rediffusion, Everest, Rediffusion Healthcare, Rediffusion Direct (recently rechristened Rediffusion FutureTech), Rediffusion SmartMedia, Mogae Media and the Indian Institute of Human Brands (IIHB), said the agency in a statement.

    Gupta had worked at Dunlop and Wipro before joining Rediffusion in the mid-’90s. He was seconded to Bharti twice by Rediffusion – first to Airtel Delhi and then to Bharti Madhya Pradesh to work as an expert implant in then growing, new company. He has also worked in telecom with Reliance for over a decade.

    In his earlier tenure at Rediffusion, Gupta was instrumental in bringing the coveted Bharti group business to the agency. He was part of the team that launched Airtel in 1995. During his previous stint, Rajendra led successful pitches to bring in Casio, Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Atlas cycles, Singer sewing machines, BPL, and many more accounts to the agency, said the statement.

    “Rajendra is special. He is also Rediffusion’s lucky mascot for new business and new horizons. He combines the aggressiveness of a good salesman with a very good understanding of technology. And over the years he has become excellent advertising professional. Such a combination of virtues and talent is rare,” stated Rediffusion managing director Sandeep Goyal.

  • Global pay-TV, telecom services to reach $1.5 trillion in 2021: report

    Global pay-TV, telecom services to reach $1.5 trillion in 2021: report

    Mumbai: Worldwide spending on telecommunications and pay-TV services is forecast to reach $1.5 trillion in 2021, representing an increase of one per cent over 2020, according to the latest report released by Intelligence Data Corporation (IDC).

    This growth will largely be driven by remote working, collaboration, and rising online media consumption said the market intelligence firm. The fastest expansion is still expected in the Asia-Pacific region.

    While the value of fixed voice and mobile voice services segments will gradually decline, the value of fixed data and mobile data services portions will slowly grow.

    As per the report, the major driver in the mobile segment will be a gradual recovery of roaming revenues fuelled by the recuperation of the global tourist industry. The market for traditional pay-TV services will continue to decline slowly due to the migration of customers to over-the-top (OTT) video services platforms, it added further.

    The overall market’s growth rates are expected to remain stable during the entire forecast period and even speed up slightly in 2025.

    5G will constitute 38.8 per cent of total mobile connections and 41.3 per cent of total mobile spending by the end of the forecast period in 2025.

    “The troubles related to Covid-19 are still not in the rear-view mirror as the worsening pandemic dynamics in some low-income countries and the global supply-chain disruptions threaten to harm the fragile recovery of the market,” said IDC research director, telecommunications Kresimir Alic. “But because of the resiliency the industry showed during 2020, we are convinced that the market will remain in a positive mood for at least the next couple of years.”a

  • TRAI makes recommendations on satellite-based connectivity for low bit-rate applications

    TRAI makes recommendations on satellite-based connectivity for low bit-rate applications

    New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has released the recommendations on “Licensing Framework for Satellite-based connectivity for low bit rate applications” for both commercial and captive usage.

    The recommendations come after the Department of Telecom (DoT) highlighted a need for a suitable licensing framework considering the constraints of the existing provisions in respect of proposed Satellite-based low bit-rate services. In its letter dated 23 November 2020, DoT had requested Trai to examine all the factors holistically and make recommendations.

    Low bit-rate applications and IoT devices require low cost, low power, and small size terminals that can effectively perform the task of signal transfer with minimum loss. Many sparsely populated areas with important economic activities suited for IoT-related services may not have terrestrial coverage or other forms of connectivity. Therefore, Satellites can help bridge this gap by providing coverage to even the most remote areas and will help in fulfilling connect India mission.

    Trai had initially issued a consultation paper on 12 March inviting comments and counter-comments from stakeholders by 7 May. “The authority received 29 comments and four counter comments from various stakeholders. An Open House Discussion (OHD) was also convened on the issues raised in the Consultation Paper on dated 2 June 2021 through video conferencing,” said Trai in a media statement.

    The regulator has recommended that for provision of satellite-based connectivity for IoT and low-bit-rate applications, the relevant service licensees may provide connectivity as per the scope of their authorisation for any kind of network topology model including hybrid model, aggregator model and direct-to-satellite model.

    All types of satellite – Geo Stationary Orbit (GSO) and Non-GSO (NGSO) satellites and any of the permitted satellite frequency bands may be used for providing satellite-based low-bit-rate connectivity. The Service Licensees should be permitted to obtain satellite bandwidth from foreign satellites in all the permitted satellite bands in order to provide satellite-based services.

    It also recommended that the relevant existing authorisations under the Unified Licensing framework may be suitably amended for enabling satellite-based low-bit-rate connectivity. “The government may come out with a road map detailing the schedule of the launch of communication satellites and availability of the domestic satellite capacities in India to facilitate the service licensees to plan and optimise their capacity procurement,” it added.

    Other recommendations include measures to make the services cheaper and affordable like permitting the hiring of foreign capacities for a longer period as per need instead of three to five years, removal of facilitation charges by the government when hiring foreign capacities from the approved list of foreign satellites/satellite systems, etc.

    According to Trai, DoT should also put in place a comprehensive, simplified, end-to-end coordinated, single window online common portal for all the agencies involved in the grant of various approvals/permissions etc, wherein the service licensees can place their request and the agencies respond online in a transparent and time-bound manner.

    Last September, the then chairman of Trai, R S Sharma, had also called for an urgent need to bring down the price of broadband services provided through satellites, asserting that its current high price could pose a challenge in its adoption in the country.

  • Airtel Business appoints Harish Laddha as CEO-emerging business

    Airtel Business appoints Harish Laddha as CEO-emerging business

    Mumbai: Airtel Business, the B2B unit of Bharti Airtel, announced the appointment of Harish Laddha as chief executive officer for emerging business. He will report to Ajay Chitkara, director and CEO – Airtel Business, the company said in a statement.

    Laddha will be responsible for identifying and leveraging growth opportunities in emerging categories such as the small and medium business (SMB) segment. He will lead a dedicated team to bring to market highly differentiated offerings for these emerging segments, it added.

    Welcoming Laddha on board, Chitakara said, “As the Indian economy evolves over the next decade, the SMB segment, in particular, offers a massive opportunity to enable the digital transformation of tens of millions of traditional businesses. Airtel Business with its end-to-end portfolio is well-positioned to serve the requirements of these businesses. I am delighted to welcome Harish on board and am confident that under his leadership we will create sharper focus on the emerging growth opportunities.”

    Laddha comes with over 25 years of experience, having worked in companies like Ingram Micro, Tata Communications, and Tech Pacific. He is an alumnus of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management and holds a bachelor’s degree in electronics and telecommunication from MIT, Pune.

  • V Raghunandan roped in as new TRAI secretary

    New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Monday announced the appointment of V Raghunandan as the new secretary of the regulatory body.

    Raghunandan was working as a deputy director general at the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

    The decision comes after the current TRAI secretary Sunil Kumar Gupta’s two-month extension comes to an end. Gupta was appointed the TRAI secretary in September, 2018, post the retirement of Sudhir Gupta. His tenure was extended till 31 May.

    Gupta has now been appointed as a senior deputy director general at the office of director general – Telecom in the DoT. He will oversee all field units under the 22 Licensed Service Areas (LSA).

  • TRAI seeks suggestions to prevent misuse of fixed broadband licence fee exemption

    TRAI seeks suggestions to prevent misuse of fixed broadband licence fee exemption

    KOLKATA: One of the sectors that received a rapid boost last year amid the work from home scenario was fixed-line broadband. After years of tepid growth, deep-pocketed players, as well as smaller cable operators began increasing focus on the segment as the demand escalated.

    On Wednesday, the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) issued a supplementary consultation paper in this regard. The paper titled ‘Roadmap to promote broadband connectivity and enhanced broadband’ sought feedback from stakeholders on issues such as incentivisation, licence fee exemption, how to prevent licence misuse and verify revenue from the segment.

    Back in March, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) wrote a letter seeking consolidated and updated recommendations from TRAI on the proliferation of fixed-line broadband in the country.

    “DoT has raised certain new issues like exemption of the licence fee on the revenues earned from fixed-line broadband keeping in view the current factual matrix and relevant issues, the likelihood of misuse by the licensees through misappropriation of revenues due to the proposed exemption,” TRAI said in an official statement.

    TRAI in 2015 had recommended that the licence fee on the revenues earned on fixed-line broadband should be exempted for at least five years. Apart from misuse of exemption, DoT has asked TRAI to give a reference on if the proliferation of fixed-line broadband services can be better promoted by providing direct benefit to consumers for usage of fixed-line broadband services.

    Although TRAI released two consultation papers on broadband-related issues in 2015, 2020, none of them discussed these issues. Hence, it started the supplementary consultation.

    The latest paper has also invited suggestions on how to permit the use of public places and street furniture for the effective rollout of 5G networks as it would play a significant role in offering good quality services by expanding the network coverage and going closer to the consumers.

    “It is also pertinent to understand the process which can be used by local bodies to grant permissions for use of street furniture and the associated policy and regulatory interventions,” it added.

  • Vodafone Idea appoints Reema Jain as chief digital officer

    Vodafone Idea appoints Reema Jain as chief digital officer

    New Delhi: Vodafone Idea Ltd has appointed Reema Jain as its chief digital officer. She will lead the company’s digital strategies, execution, and adoption.

    Jain will report directly to managing director and chief executive officer Ravinder Takkar.

    She was previously associated with FMCG major Unilever as head of IT where she was responsible for Supply Chain delivering Digital solutions. Jain spent five years at Unilever and has also served the company at the global level as IT Director – Digital Integration and IT Director –Application Management. Before Unilever, she worked as Oracle’s Technology Leader at GE.

    With over two decades of experience in the industry, Jain has expertise in IT Strategy, Technology Delivery, Digital Solutions, Transformation Project Management, Operational Excellence, and Agile Methodologies. 

  • Airtel reports growth for DTH, home broadband segment in Q4

    Airtel reports growth for DTH, home broadband segment in Q4

    KOLKATA: Airtel Digital TV, Bharti Airtel’s direct-to-home (DTH) segment has reported Rs 767.3 crore revenue in q4 FY21 compared to Rs 603.5 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year, clocking a 27 per cent year-on-year growth.

    The DTH segment has raked in Rs 248.3 crore profit in the quarter, up from Rs 152.8 crore in the same quarter a year ago. However, both profit and revenue have declined compared to the third quarter of FY21. The company deployed Rs 369 core capex for the quarter compared to 251.4 crore in Q4 FY20.

    Airtel Digital TV witnessed a decline in customer base by 156 K during the quarter from 17.9 million in Q3 to 17.7 million in Q4, despite a growth of 6.6 per cent from 16.6 million in the corresponding quarter last year. ARPU for the quarter was at Rs 144 as compared, down from Rs 154 in the corresponding quarter last year.

    Homes business segment witnessed revenue growth of five per cent year-on-year to reach 128.8 crore. The company’s focus on re-calibrated offerings and launch of Xstream bundles, with content and unlimited internet, to accelerate penetration has resulted in the highest ever net addition of 274K to reach a total base of 3.07 million, it stated. On a year-on-year basis, the customer base increased by 27 per cent.

    For the quarter, revenues from Homes operations were Rs 600.9 core as compared to Rs 572.5crore in the corresponding quarter last year and Rs 567.4 in the previous quarter.

    Overall, Airtel’s consolidated revenue stood at Rs 25,747 core, with India revenues at Rs 18,338 crore.

    “It is this relentless focus on customer obsession that has allowed us to deliver another consistent quarter in terms of performance. Our mobile revenues grew at 19.1% YoY backed by 13.7 Mn 4G customer additions. We are seeing strong momentum in our home business with 274k net adds. The Enterprise segment delivered double-digit growth. Our digital assets continue to scale and we are beginning to see strong traction in monetisation of these assets,” said Airtel India and South Asia MD & CEO Gopal Vittal