Category: Editorial

The promotion of domestically manufactured telecom and electronic equipment has been a key priority for the government during the past months. On the electronic equipment manufacturing front, the government approved total...

Phased roll-outs of 5G services finally began in October 2022. Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio have since been rapidly expanding their 5G coverage to enable customers to access the services on their smartphones. This rapid...

October 2022 witnessed the milestone launch of 5G services in the country. The launch, indeed, was the highlight of the India Mobile Congress 2022, where telecom operators demonstrated key features of 5G technology such as low...

During the past month, India has made giant strides in the satellite communications space. In a major move, Hughes Communications India Private Limited announced the com­mer­cial launch of high-throughput satellite (HTS)...

The Indian telecom market is brimming with opportunity as the country is finally ready to step into the 5G era. After a successful round of 5G auctions, telcos are now vying with each other to get an early start in launching 5G...

With just about a week to go for the 5G spectrum auctions, industry stakeholders seem to be gearing up to grab a share of the airwaves. In addition to the three private telcos, the Adani Group has announced its participation in...

The government has finally set the ball rolling for the much-awaited 5G spectrum auctions. The move comes after the Union Cabinet gave the go-ahead for auctioning 72,097.85 MHz of spectrum by the end of July 2022. The auction...

The month of May 2022 has been an eventful one in shaping India’s 5G journey. A number of policy and regulatory decisions have been taken to speed up the delivery of 5G services in the country. For one, the Digital...

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has finally released its recommendations on 5G spectrum. TRAI has suggested a 35-36 per cent reduction in the base price of the 5G spectrum band (3300-3670 MHz) to Rs 3.17 billion...

In a significant move, the government has announced that the process of merging Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will be completed by March 31, 2022. Earlier, in January 2022, it...

The tide seems to be turning for Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi), which has been struggling to remain afloat in the market. First, the government’s telecom reform package brought a ray of hope as Vi opted for a four-year deferment of...

With this issue, we celebrate our twenty-second anniversary. As in previous years, we have produced a special anniversary issue for you, complete with sector reviews, segment analyses and industry perspective. And as in previous...

The Supreme Court’s recent ruling on AGR has dealt a big blow to the incumbents’ already strained finances. During the quarter ended September 2019, Vodafone Idea reported losses of almost half a trillion rupees on account of...

In an unprecedented move, Reliance Jio has decided to recover IUC of Re 0.06 per minute from its users. This means, it is now charging users for making voice calls to other telco networks, reneging on its promise of a lifetime...

Ravi Shankar Prasad has announced that the spectrum sale is likely to take place towards the end of 2019 or early 2020. The government hopes and expects telecom operators to pick up 5G spectrum during this auction in order to...

In a key move that will pave the way for a conducive 5G ecosystem in India, DoT has recently issued guidelines for 5G trials across all available spectrum bands. Besides telcos, Indian entities that are involved in R&D and...

Recently, a group of ministers met to discuss a revival plan for the ailing state-run telcos, BSNL and MTNL. A slew of measures are being considered, including the monetisation of land and building assets, to fund their...

Ravi Shankar Prasad has taken charge as the new communications minister. Soon after assuming office, he spelt out the key areas that he and his ministry would focus on. These include broadband, digital inclusion, public Wi-Fi,...

Recently, a telecom ministry panel recommended spectrum allocation to telcos for conducting 5G network trials in India. As such, 5G pilot runs could begin June onwards. Spectrum will be made available to Airtel, Vodafone Idea...

As the sector steps into the new financial year, it is hoping for some stabilisation and pricing discipline to return. A recent report by Edelweiss suggests that telcos may finally be able to raise prices in the second half of...