Covers the key trends and developments in the telecom sector; recent policy and regulatory developments; key issues and challenges; update on spectrum auctions; performance of telecom operators
Department of Telecommunications, TRAI, mobile, telecom operators, 3G, 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi, regulation, policy, spectrum auction, bandwidth, Bharti Airtel, RCOM, mobile wallets, IoT, cloud, big data
Telecom
Big Burden: Industry weighed down by a staggering Rs 4.6 trillion debt
Once seen as the poster boy of the country’s growth, the Indian telecom sector is today on the brink of a severe financial crisis. The industry’s debt has reached a staggering Rs 4.6 trillion, revenues […]
Interview with Rajat Mukarji: “Idea will remain nimble, agile and adaptive”
The past one year has been a challenging one for the incumbents in the Indian telecom sector as profitability took a serious hit following the entry of a new player and its offer of free […]
GST Impact: Implications of the new tax regime for telecom
The goods and services tax (GST), which will subsume all indirect taxes and integrate the country into a single market, is arguably the biggest tax reform to be undertaken since Independence. Under GST, the credit […]
Tracking BharatNet: Phase II to focus on improving last-mile connectivity
Under the BharatNet project, the government envisages providing high speed broadband connectivity (about 100 Mbps bandwidth) to 250,000 gram panchayats. The scope of the project involves laying of incremental fibre from the fibre point of […]
Tower Troubles: Industry perspective on infrastructure challenges
Infrastructure providers including tower companies have played a key role in establishing a robust telecom network in the country, making concerted efforts to enable seamless and ubiquitous connectivity. However, there are various challenges that plague […]
Building Partnerships: Changing times call for new operator-towerco relationships
Telecom operators’ migration to data networks is creating opportunities for infrastructure providers. Besides providing plain tower services, these companies are now exploring opportunities in the areas of in-building solutions (IBS), fiberisation of sites, microcells and […]
Operator Concerns: Recommendations to overcome industry challenges
The past year was an eventful one for the telecom infrastructure industry, with several positives on the policy front, and an exponential increase in data demand that led to an accelerated roll-out of towers and […]
Stressed Finances: Competitive pressures lead to record low profits for operators
Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited’s (RJIL) “freebie” effect was quite marked in the quarter ended December 2016 while demonetisation too had some negative impact. Even as RJIL offered free voice calls and data services and garnered […]
New RoW Rules: DoT eases processes for telecom infrastructure roll-out
In one of the key moves of this year in the telecom infrastructure sector, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued right-of-way (RoW) rules for the roll-out of communication networks to facilitate the installation of […]
Idea Cellular: New dynamics, new strategies
Idea Cellular’s journey to become the country’s third largest telecom operator in terms of subscriber market share has not been without challenges. The company has had to navigate through stiff competition to get ahead of […]
A Damp Squib: Spectrum auction fails to enthuse operators
While most observers were disappointed with the outcome of the 2016 spectrum auction, telecom minister Manoj Sinha said, “I think it was a successful auction and a big achievement. For some spectrum bands, telcos did […]
Debt Management: Operator strategies to deleverage their books
The Indian telecom industry has plunged into a price war, which means lower margins and a fresh round of investments. This will stress telecom operators who are already struggling to cope with their massive debt […]
Technology Makeover: Digital India aims to develop a knowledge economy
The Indian government is making commendable efforts to transform India into a knowledge economy by digitally bridging the urban-rural divide. In this context, the Digital India project aims to connect all gram panchayats through broadband […]
Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited: Combative strategy to take on incumbents
The launch of full-scale commercial services by Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL) has been a long time coming. […]
High Hopes: Sector growth to be driven by data uptake and 4G network roll-outs
The Indian telecom sector continued on a growth trajectory during the past year on the back of growth in the 3G and 4G markets and an improved policy and regulatory environment. However, some issues still […]
Ram Sewak Sharma: “A countrywide public Wi-Fi grid can be transformational”
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has been instrumental in aligning the interests of the industry with those of the government. It has actively engaged all the stakeholders through consultation processes on various issues […]
Trends and Outlook: Data to drive new growth in the sector
The Indian telecom industry continued on its growth path through the past year, adding about 58.03 million subscribers between May 2015 and May 2016. […]
Recent Developments: Industry witnesses key policy moves
The past year was a significant one for the Indian telecom industry. […]