📶 Mobile network operators - Discussion Thread 📶

[BangaloreaN]

96,317.65 കോടി അടിസ്ഥാനവിലയിൽ ടെലികോം ലേലംനടത്താൻ കേന്ദ്രം






ന്യൂഡല്*ഹി: ടെലികോം മേഖലയില്* എല്ലാവര്*ഷവും സ്*പെക്*ട്രം ലേലം നടത്താനുള്ള തീരുമാനത്തിന്റെ ഭാഗമായി 96,317.65 കോടി അടിസ്ഥാന വിലയില്* നടപ്പുവര്*ഷം ലേലംനടത്താന്* കേന്ദ്ര മന്ത്രിസഭാ യോഗത്തിന്റെ തീരുമാനം. മേഖല തിരിച്ചാവും ലേലമെന്നും നിലവിലുള്ള സര്*വീസ് പ്രൊവൈഡര്*മാര്* മാറുമ്പോള്* ഉപയോക്താക്കള്*ക്ക് ബുദ്ധിമുട്ടില്ലാതെയാവും മാറ്റം നടപ്പാക്കുകയെന്ന് മന്ത്രിസഭാ തീരുമാനം വിശദീകരിച്ച് കേന്ദ്രമന്ത്രി അനുരാഗ് സിങ് താക്കൂര്* പറഞ്ഞു.

800, 900, 1800, 2300, 2500, 3300 മെഗാ ഹെര്*ട്*സിലും 26 ജിഗാഹെര്*ട്*സിലും ഉള്ള ബാന്*ഡാണ് ലേലം ചെയ്യുന്നതെന്നും മന്ത്രി അറിയിച്ചു.

[BangaloreaN]

Vodafone Idea upgrades spectrum bandwidth to enhance 4G network across four circles

Across 14 districts in Kerala, Vi has deployed the 900MHz band at over 950 sites, and the telco is refarming 4G to enhance LTE 2100 from 5MHz to 10MHz at over 2,500 sites, according to a media statement.


NEW DELHI: Vodafone Idea (Vi) has upgraded its 4G network across four circles – Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, and Haryana – by refarming and upgrading its existing spectrum portfolio to offer an improved network experience and faster speeds for digital services. Of the four circles, Vi has shuttered its 3G network in Kerala and Punjab.

“This network upgrade reiterates Vi’s commitment to empower customers in a digital-first world by catalyzing the journey towards becoming a digital native,” Vi said in a statement.

Across 14 districts in Kerala, Vi has deployed the 900MHz band at over 950 sites, and the telco is refarming 4G to enhance LTE 2100 from 5MHz to 10MHz at over 2,500 sites, according to a media statement.

In Punjab, Vi has upgraded 4G spectrum bandwidth in LTE 2500 from 10MHz to 20MHz across over 1,200 sites, and it is refarming 4G to enhance LTE 2100 from 5MHz to 10MHz and LTE 1800 from 10MHz to 15MHz.

In Karnataka, Vi has upgraded the spectrum bandwidth in LTE 2100 from 5MHz to 10MHz across more than 1,000 sites.

In Haryana, Vi has upgraded the spectrum bandwidth in LTE 900 from 5MHz to 10MHz.

“The network upgrade across these four circles is a testament to our ongoing pan-national efforts to further empower our customers by unlocking the infinite benefits of the digital highway. With this development, we aim to address the growing digital needs of our customers, ensuring robust connectivity, faster data speeds, overall improved performance, and strengthening customer delight,” said Jagbir Singh, Chief Technology Officer, Vodafone Idea.

Harnessing the power of digital and empowering its customers to thrive in this digital era, Vi offers various services such as jobs, education, entertainment, leisure, lifestyle, among others. Vi customers can also explore Vi Movies & TV which provides access to more than 400 live TV channels, more than 60,000 hours of cinema, and access to all leading OTT platforms, at no cost.

[BangaloreaN]

Porting out: Airtel, Vodafone Idea oppose Jio pitch

Proposal made to Trai in discussions over portability regulations.



Currently, telcos can stop the mobile number portability process for a postpaid user if his or her dues are above Rs 10.

Telecom operators – Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea – on Thursday opposed peer Reliance Jio’s proposal that postpaid users’ pending dues of up to Rs 100 should be ignored while porting out.
The Reliance Industries-owned company made this proposal to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) in an open house discussion on the subject ‘Draft Telecommunication Mobile Number Portability (Ninth Amendment) Regulations, 2023’.

Currently, telcos can stop the mobile number portability process for a postpaid user if his or her dues are above Rs 10. However, as per directions from Trai, a telecom operator will have to ignore and allow for a seamless port out if dues are less than 10.
According to Airtel and Vodafone Idea, if the threshold of Rs 10 is increased to Rs 100, it will be hit their revenues and there will be an increase in bad debts from consumers who are porting out. Jio, however, said that a higher non-payment disconnection (NPD) threshold will be in the consumers’ interest as currently the process is cumbersome and time-consuming.
“The minimum charge for the postpaid connection is about Rs 200. The NPD threshold of Rs 10 is a small sum. We would say that at least raise it to Rs 100. We have examined that with this about 35% disconnection will not take place,” said Udai Kumar Srivastava, president at Reliance Jio.

NPD is a process by which dues are collected from a postpaid customer by the donor operator, which is the operator whose network the consumer is leaving.
“One thing we need to keep in mind is bad debt which is going to happen from that increase. This industry has one of the lowest ARPU (average revenue per user) in the world. How I can think about raising the amount to Rs 100 when the industry ARPU is just Rs 175?” said Manoj Mishra, vice president, regulatory at Bharti Airtel.
“We do not agree with the suggestion given by Jio on this,” Mishra added.

Lately, the overall mobile number portability requests have been increasing. In December, MNP requests were at 12.4 million, higher than 11.95 million in November. Lately, Jio has been leading the market in terms of user additions. In the October-December quarter, the company also dominated the market with net port at 2.5 times of nearest competitor, it had said during the analysts call.
Ajay Mehta, vice president, Trai policy and operations at Vodafone Idea, said, “If the recipient operator is taking business, let it pay the amount owed by the customer to the donor operator. Why should the donor operator bear the loss?”

Trai, however, is expected to issue a separate consultation on the subject before coming up with any conclusion. “Some useful inputs have come on the suggestions related to MNP, we will follow the due process,” said Anil Kumar Lahoti, chairman, Trai.
With regard to the amendment to MNP, the government is considering that if a mobile connection has undergone the process of SIM replacement, SIM swap and upgradation, the process shall not be allowed for 10 days.
The move is aimed at curbing SIM-swap frauds, and the telecom operators were in line with the government’s move.

[BangaloreaN]

Govt to work on developing Indian mobile phone brand: Ashwini Vaishnaw

The minister said that the government is looking to have at least three or four good, high volume fabrication plants, create a niche and take leadership in at least one product category within the next five years.

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New Delhi: The government is working on developing an Indian mobile phone brand based on learning from the success of large scale mobile manufacturing in the country, union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday. While speaking at the Indus App store launch event by PhonePe, Vaishnaw said the government is likely to approve 2-3 semiconductor plants very soon.

"We will work on developing our own Indian handset brand. We will work on creating the entire handset ecosystem in the country. Our initial success of having large scale mobile manufacturing has given us very good learning.

"It has given the industry a lot of confidence. It has given the impetus to the ecosystem partners to come to India. That will be the journey in the next five years," Vaishnaw said.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a very clear roadmap for development of the semiconductor ecosystem in the country over a period of 20 years.

"We started our India semiconductor mission and we have already had first very good success. The Micron plant is already under construction.

"Within a very short time frame we will see at least 2 more approvals or may be three more approvals. In that sense, we are moving from the design ecosystem to fab and (Assembly, Test, and Packaging) ATMP ecosystem," Vaishnaw said.

The minister said that the government is looking to have at least three or four good, high volume fabrication plants, create a niche and take leadership in at least one product category within the next five years.

The minister on Wednesday launched an indigenously developed app store -- Indus Appstore, which has been acquired by PhonePe.

Indus Appstore has over 2 lakh mobile apps and games, across 45 categories. Users will be able to discover these apps conveniently in 12 Indian languages. The apps on the support can be accessed in 12 Indian languages.

PhonePe, CEO and Founder, Sameer Nigam said the company is in discussion with mobile phone makers to pre-load it on the handset.

Unlike Google's Playstore or Apple's App store, the apps will not be required to pay commission on their earnings to Indus Appstore, Nigam said.

Also there will be no app listing fee until April 1, 2025 for developers.

"Anything that is allowed to operate under law of the land, will be allowed to be uploaded on the Indus Appstore. If we remove any app, then we will share the reason for removal of the app," Nigam said.

[BangaloreaN]

സേവ് ചെയ്തില്ലെങ്കിലും വിളിക്കുന്നയാളുടെ പേരും ഫോണിൽ തെളിയും; വൈകാതെ നടപ്പാക്കും


ന്യൂഡൽഹി ∙ മൊബൈൽ ഫോണിലെത്തുന്ന കോളുകളിൽ സേവ് ചെയ്തിട്ടില്ലെങ്കിലും വിളിക്കുന്നയാളുടെ പേരും കാണാം. നമ്പറിനൊപ്പം പേര് കൂടി കാണിക്കുന്ന കോളിങ് നെയിം പ്രസന്റേഷൻ (സിഎൻഎപി) രാജ്യത്ത് വൈകാതെ നടപ്പാക്കാൻ ടെലികോം വകുപ്പിനോട് ടെലികോം റെഗുലേറ്ററി അതോറിറ്റി (ട്രായ്) ശുപാർശ ചെയ്തു. തട്ടിപ്പ് കോളുകൾ തടയുകയാണ് ലക്ഷ്യം.


ഇത് നടപ്പാക്കിയാൽ ‘ട്രൂകോളർ’ ആപ്പില്ലാതെ തന്നെ, ഫോൺ വിളിക്കുന്നത് ആരെന്ന് നമുക്കറിയാം. ഉപയോക്താവ് ആവശ്യപ്പെട്ടാൽ മാത്രം സിഎൻഎപി സൗകര്യം പ്രവർത്തിപ്പിക്കുന്ന തരത്തിലായിരിക്കും സൗകര്യം. ഒരാൾക്ക് പേര് മറച്ചുവയ്ക്കണമെങ്കിൽ അതിനും സംവിധാനമുണ്ടാകും.


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കമ്പനികളുടെ ബൾക്ക് കോർപറേറ്റ് കണക*്ഷനുകളിൽ നിന്നുള്ള കോളുകളിൽ ട്രേഡ്മാർക്ക് പേര്, ട്രേഡ് നെയിം തുടങ്ങിയവ ദൃശ്യമാകും. ടെലികോം കമ്പനികളുമായി നീണ്ട കൂടിയാലോചന നടത്തിയാണ് ട്രായ് ശുപാർശ നൽകിയത്.

[BangaloreaN]

[BangaloreaN]

Vodafone looks to sell entire $2.3 bn stake in Indus Towers

Vodafone Group plans to divest its entire $2.3 billion stake in Indus Towers through stock market block deals next week to reduce debt. The British telecom giant currently owns 21.5% of Indus, with the final stake size dependent on market demand. Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and BNP Paribas are managing the sale




Vodafone Group is looking to sell its entire $2.3 billion stake in India's Indus Towers through stock market block deals next week, two sources with direct knowledge said, as part of the British firm's effort to repay debt.

Vodafone owns 21.5% of mobile-tower operator Indus via various group entities. As of Friday's closing stock price in Mumbai, the investment is worth $2.3 billion.

The final size of the stake sale is yet to be decided and could be lower than 21.5% if demand, which is still being assessed, is insufficient, said the sources, who declined to be named as the discussions were private.

Vodafone India and its UK parent did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Indus Towers declined to comment.

Vodafone has hired Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and BNP Paribas to manage the stake sale in Indian stock markets, the sources said.

Bank of America declined to comment while the others did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Vodafone in 2022 announced it would sell all of its then-28% stake, but has managed to sell only a small portion so far. The sources said the talks with rival telecom firms for a stake sale had not materialised.

Vodafone plans to repay part of its $42.17 billion net debt using proceeds from Indus stake sale, the sources said.

Indus, which says it is one of the world's biggest tower companies, also counts India's second biggest telecom firm, Bharti Airtel, as a shareholder. It has nearly 220,000 towers, with services also including providing power, space and green technology for tower equipment.

Private equity giant KKR and Canadian fund CPPIB were also investors in Indus, but sold their entire stakes in February.

Block deals, where investors sell shares in stock markets, have become increasingly popular in India as the market has surged to record highs.

In March, British American Tobacco sold its entire $2 billion stake in Indian tobacco firm ITC.

For the March 2024 quarter, Indus' net profit rose 20% to $221 million, while its revenue stayed flat at $860 million, according to regulatory filings.

[BangaloreaN]

Vodafone sells 18% stake in Indus Towers for Rs 15,300 crore


New Delhi: British telecom player Vodafone on Wednesday said it has sold an 18 per cent stake in Indus Towers for 1.7 billion euro (about Rs 15,300 crore).

The company will use the major portion of the proceeds to pay 1.8 billion euro (Rs 16,138 crore) outstanding bank borrowings taken against Vodafone's assets in India.

"Vodafone Group Plc...sold 484.7 million shares in Indus Towers Limited, representing 18 per cent of Indus' share capital through an accelerated book-build offering.

"The placing raised Rs 15,300 crores in gross proceeds, which will be used to substantially repay Vodafone's existing lenders in relation to the outstanding bank borrowings of 1.8 billion euro secured against Vodafone's Indian assets," Vodafone said in a note.

Following the transaction, Vodafone now holds 82.5 million shares or 3.1 per cent stake in Indus Towers.

Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel has increased its stake in Indus Towers by 1 per cent with the acquisition of around 26.95 million shares.

"Pursuant to the approval of Special Committee to acquire up to 27 million equity shares of Indus Towers, the Company has acquired around 26.95 million (i.e. 1 per cent) equity shares on-market today," Airtel said in a regulatory filing.

With this transaction, Airtel's stake in Indus Towers increased to 48.95 per cent from the 47.95 per cent stake it held earlier.

Shares of Indus Towers on Wednesday closed at Rs 334 apiece, down 2.88 per cent on BSE.


Vodafone Group trims stake in Indus Towers, Airtel stake nears 50%




Vodafone Group has sold a bigger-than-planned 18% stake in India's Indus Towers for $1.82 billion on Wednesday, with local telecom operator Bharti Airtel picking up shares to increase its stake to nearly 50%.

UK's Vodafone, which owns a 21.5% stake in mobile-tower operator Indus, had initially planned to sell a 10% stake but strong investor demand promoted it to nearly double the sale size, a banking source aware of the matter said, requesting anonymity as they are not allowed to speak to the media.

Vodafone said it sold 484.7 million Indus shares at 310-341 rupees per share, raising 153 billion rupees, or 1.7 billion euros, in gross proceeds that it will use to repay debt.

It has bank borrowings of 1.8 billion euros against its Indian assets, which also includes a stake in Vodafone Idea, the country's debt-saddled No.3 telecom operator by subscribers.

Indus's stock slid as much as 9.4%, before paring losses to trade down 4.3% at 329.60 rupees around midday in Mumbai, with more than 750 million shares traded, already their busiest-ever session.

Airtel, India's No.2 telecom operator, said it bought a roughly 1% stake in Indus, raising its stake to around 49%. It did not disclose the price.

Vodafone Group now has a 3.1% stake in Indus. Vodafone Idea also has a stake in Indus. Private equity giant KKR and Canadian fund CPPIB sold their entire stakes in February.

Vodafone Group sold its stake via so-called block deals, where investors sell shares in the market. They have risen in popularity in India with the stock market at record-high levels.

Vodafone Idea shares were mostly flat, while Bharti Airtel's shares were down 1%.

[BangaloreaN]

[BangaloreaN]

No recharge for MTNL, calls to be routed to BSNL

Government plans to restructure debt and transfer MTNL's operations to BSNL due to financial struggles. Staff may opt for VRS or be transferred. Lack of latest telecom tech has led to subscriber losses for both firms.




State-run Mahanagar Telephone Nigam is nearing the end of its independent existence with the government close to finalising a Rs 30,000-crore debt restructuring, after which the entire operations will be transferred to Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL).

Officials aware of the details told ET that while a call to officially close the company is yet to be taken, it will no longer function on its own.

“The entire operations of MNTL will be taken over by BSNL. Already, BSNL is managing the wireless operations but once the debt restructuring is completed, entire things will be looked after by BSNL,” one of the officials, aware of the details, said.

Another person said the government is finalising if the around 3,000 staff of MTNL should be offered a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) or transferred to BSNL. The government believes that once BSNL starts managing the entire operations in the country, there will be better outcomes.



Currently, MTNL offers services in Delhi and Mumbai while the remaining country is served by BSNL.

Originally, the government had planned to merge the two state-run entities but due to high debt levels, particularly of MTNL, the merger has not happened so far as doing so would further aggravate the financial problem.

So, in 2022, the Cabinet decided to restructure the debt of both the telecom firms. The plan was to provide sovereign guarantees to the firms allowing them to raise long-term loans and restructure their debt.

Both BSNL and MTNL have been unable to compete with private telcos, particularly due to lack of 4G and 5G services. The firms have been losing subscribers every month due to the lack of latest telecom technologies.

While BSNL has a 7.46% subscriber market share at the end of April this year, MTNL’s share was a miniscule 0.16%. In comparison, market leader Reliance Jio’s wireless subscriber share stood at 40.48% followed by second ranked Bharti Airtel with 33.12% and Vodafone Idea, at 18.77%.

BSNL reported a loss of Rs 5,378.78 crore for the 2023-24, MTNL net loss stood at Rs 3,267.5 crore during the financial year.

The government has been working since 2019 to provide a lifeline to the two telcos. Since it became clear that MTNL would not be able to sustain on its own, it was decided that BSNL would manage the operations. Since 2019, the government has provided support worth Rs 3.22 lakh crore to the state-run firms as part of three rescue packages.

In 2019, over 92,000 employees of the two firms took VRS as part of the revival package. It allowed the companies to lower its high salary bill, which used to be over 75% of their revenue.

The government has now shifted focus on making BSNL much more efficient, so that it can compete with private players such as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.

Several measures, including network upgradation, employee cost rationalisation, improving operational efficiencies etc in BSNL are being undertaken. While Delhi and Mumbai are lucrative markets, there is immense competition.

“We are looking to enhance the sales and distribution, so that BSNL can get good business in the metros. For the past many years, MTNL was not able to do much. It has a negligible share, but things might change going forward,” said a second official.

The focus will also be on fibre broadband in Mumbai and Delhi as it’s a lucrative segment, with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel the top players.

“BSNL is doing good in rest of the country with fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) connections,” noted the sole one official.