Telcos

Indian telecom market sees 36% value growth in offline retail in 2022

In 2022, India registered "a double-digit revenue growth in the same period over the previous year including smartphones, core wearables and TWS mobile headsets

Bharti Airtel announces launch of 5G Plus services in 125 cities

Powered by reliable Airtel network infrastructure, the 5G Plus services will provide superfast access to high-definition video streaming, gaming, multiple chatting, instant photo uploading and more

DoT to call OTT players, telcos to discuss usage charges, revenue sharing

Representations on the issue have been separate till now

Indian telcos surpass 3-year 5G rollout target in six months: Govt official

Indian telecom operators have surpassed the three- year 5G network rollout target given to them within six months and now the government is making efforts to enhance adoption of 5G applications across various key segments, a senior government official said here. Department of Telecom Additional Secretary VL Kantha Rao told PTI at "India Evening" event on the sidelines of Mobile World Congress 2023 that the government has hosted over 50 companies at the India pavilion and the delegation is here to showcase indigenously-developed 4G and 5G technology stack. "When the spectrum was allocated to telecom service providers for 5G rollout, we gave a minimum rollout obligation saying that within one year they have to cover a few cities within three years, a few towns and so on and so forth. I'm glad to say that in the first six months of 5G rollout, they have surpassed all the targets that we have given them for the next three years," Rao said. He said the rapid rollout of the 5G network in

Telcos' demand for 'usage charge' from OTTs fair: COAI hits back at IAMAI

The COAI said that there seems to be a lack of appreciation of the fact that net neutrality pertains to non-discriminatory treatment of content which has no nexus to the usage fee issue

IAMAI opposes demands to share revenue, pay compensation to telcos

COAI has been advocating for a model where online platforms are made to pay 'usage charges' to telecom operators

Trai to meet telcos on Feb 17 to discuss calls drops, service issues, 5G

Telecom regulator TRAI has called a meeting with telcos on February 17 to discuss measures and action plan for improving service quality, review of norms, benchmarks for 5G services, and unsolicited commercial communications. The meeting assumes significance as improvement in telecom service quality is bound to cheer mobile customers, irked by call drops and patchy networks. It also comes at a time when ultra high speed 5G services are rolling out across the country. So far, as many as 200 cities in India have seen launch of 5G services, the next generation of technology that promises turbocharged speeds (about 10 times faster than 4G) and low latency connectivity. Issues around service quality have been in the spotlight over the last few months. The Telecom Department back in December met operators to discuss rising instances of call drops and service quality-related issues, as it deliberated on policy measures that can be considered for improving call quality. In a statement on .

Big Tech's new reality in India: Stricter regulation, face-off with telcos

All of a sudden, global tech giants are grappling with the prospect of more stringent regulation and domestic telco's demands for a level playing field

DoT discusses fall in service quality issues, measures needed with telcos

The telecom department on Wednesday met operators to discuss rising instances of call drops and service quality-related issues, as it deliberated on policy interventions that can be considered for improving call quality. The meeting, which comes amid the rollout of massive 5G networks in the country, was chaired by Telecom Secretary K Rajaraman and attended by telecom service providers, including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea. The issue of interference from illegal boosters and Right of Way (RoW) challenges came up for discussion at the meeting, which lasted for almost two hours. Sources said that operators made a detailed presentation to the Department of Telecom on current levels of service quality against stipulated benchmarks. DoT sources said that the department is taking a long-term view of the service quality-related matters and has asked players to identify problem areas, and make suggestions on policy interventions that could improve the call connectivity.

Telcos seek tax credit refund, reduction in levies ahead of Budget 2023

The telecom sector says that over a third of their earnings is currently paid to the government as levies

Telecom firms get green signal for towers, services on railway land

The move is likely to give 5G network a boost

USOF successor to focus on indigenising tech, hiring global bandwidth

Govt plans to include fund in upcoming telecom Bill despite telcos' opposition, officials said

Free riders vs piggy-riders: A tale of two cities caught in an OTT debate

The debate over whether over-the-top services should pay telcos user revenues bids fair to overlap with the issue of net neutrality

Have OTT players pay telecom firms usage charges, COAI writes to DoT

Telcos point out that based on global estimates 56% of telco bandwidth is used by OTT communication platforms and in India it is even higher due to the proliferation of users which are over 400 mn

Airports, nearby areas may not get 5G network services anytime soon

DGCA asks telcos to ensure a buffer zone amid fears of C-band 5G interfering with aircraft altimeters

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OTT comms services should be licenced, compensate telecom firms: COAI

Telecom operators' body COAI on Tuesday made a strong pitch for OTT (over-the-top) communications services to directly compensate telcos for data traffic they are driving onto the networks, as it advocated a licencing and light-touch regulation framework for such services. Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), Director General, SP Kochhar said that the association, as part of draft telecom bill, has given its suggestions on how OTT communications services should be defined, to ensure there is no ambiguity. The other aspects like proposing a financial model for OTT communications services to compensate telecom service providers, through a possible revenue share model, will be made to the government going forward as and when the specifics of the framework for light-touch regulation is discussed, Kochhar told reporters at a briefing. In future, the same principle of revenue share basis data consumption, can be applied to other OTTs (all categories), as well, he added.

DoT may mandate local purchase of high-quality telecom equipment

Focus on high-quality products, indigenous manufacturers told

Telcos need to install atleast 10K 5G towers per week: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Vaishnaw said deadline for receiving comments on draft Telecom bill may be extended to November 10 but not beyond that.

Draft telecom Bill: Trai opposed to regulation of OTT platforms

Has communicated this to the telecom dept