To track your gifted subscription, go to your Account Settings 
We’ve emailed your gift link. Want us to send some more?
0 of 0 Subscription available
Not now, thanks
FILTERS
Big names, numbers, and narratives don’t equal big returns
Airtel is banking on its deep distribution network to do what many fintechs in India would give an arm and leg for
The CEO is driving a rejig at India’s #2 telco by infusing an internal board with some young blood
The enterprise revenue, $2.2B in the past year, stems from providing connectivity to giants and small and medium businesses. But future growth driven by tech solutions is a path also aggressively pursued by rival Reliance Jio and Tata Communications
Telecom secretary K Rajaraman says from a national-security perspective, the country needs a healthy mix of mobile, broadband, and satellite connectivity to withstand any form of difficulties and disruptions
In Round 1, Jio shook up the telecom sector with a $50B investment in 4G, creating virtually a duopoly with Airtel. Now, the rivals are busy outdoing each other to reign supreme in 120M households
Jio and Airtel, have called in Qualcomm and Mediatek to conquer 5G wireless home broadband. With trial runs expected in the coming weeks, the quartet is gearing up for a showdown
Google placed a major wager on India's biggest telco to bring 4G smartphones to half a billion people. The ambitious plan turned out to be an expensive misstep. Jio is now forging ahead with plans for 5G smartphones, and this time possibly without the tech giant
Indian firms have lacked the talent and means to succeed in the original-tech-design industry, dominated by Chinese and Taiwanese firms. But VVDN seems up for the challenge, with its revenue quadrupling over the past three years
The Indian government, which now owns 33% of the telco, has at least three good reasons for kicking the can down the road. How banks and promoters will throw good money after bad is an unfolding story
With Indus Towers, India pioneered the shared-telecom-infrastructure model. As its largest shareholder, Bharti Airtel, seeks out other infra providers, the telecom-tower company now faces an existential question: to share or not to share
India’s top telco is hoping to score big with a contract to provide phones to millions of women in Rajasthan, a state where it needs a shot in the arm
Several mid-to-senior-level regional executives have exited Airtel over the past couple of years. At the same time, Jio has been rethinking its local and regional strategy for the 5G rollout
If Cisco and RingCentral can come, Zoom may not be far behind. But the communications tech company’s entry into the sector has left Jio, Airtel, and Vi wondering
The hit retail telecom business can’t do much for Jio Platforms’ success or valuation. With two data centres ready to launch, a 10-year Microsoft partnership is kicking in gear as Reliance begins to assemble the pieces of its crown jewel US$65B Jio Platforms
On day 2, India secured 36% of the estimated revenues from the three-day 5G spectrum auctions. It was a better show than previous auctions, but Indian telcos bought at a price that the government set, even in important circles. Why call it an auction then
That’s the annual amount Amazon pays Indian telcos to send SMSes. Though the US e-commerce major has been lobbying India's telecom regulator for two years fearing ‘substantial financial implications’, it still finds itself paying increasing international SMS rates
In 2020, Amazon was looking to invest in Airtel. In 2021, it did serious due diligence on Vi, with the government as the matchmaker. Now that the telco is admittedly close to raising Rs 20K crore, could the Amazon-Vi match finally be made?
Trai’s attempts to stem the menace of spam calls and messages go back 15 years. In 2018, it finally implemented a blockchain-based system that was meant to be a silver bullet. Four years on, however, this silver bullet seems to have missed its target
With Jio largely done spending on its 4G network, Samsung has seen its telecoms revenue in the country drying up. Desperate to arrest this slide and having secured no 5G commitments from Jio, the South Korean major is looking to snag a slice of Airtel’s 5G spends instead
For years, India’s cash-strapped telcos have been bullish on 5G deployment. But with high spectrum prices and home-grown tech falling short, rivals are finding common cause in delaying the expensive transition to the new generation of mobile networks
India’s top telco, Reliance Jio, recently announced that its low-cost smartphone would be delayed until November. Having already suffered from inventory issues, it will be a tough task to reach its target of 300 million devices sold. Especially now that Bharti Airtel is mooting its own smartphone offering
Sunil Bharti Mittal’s US$1 billion, OneWeb’s swift progress, regulators’ new-found agility—India's skies are opening up for space companies. Airtel looks settled, but Jio, which hasn’t dabbled in satellites ever, must feel unsettled now that 5G mobile telephony is being integrated with satellite
India’s third largest telco already has one foot in the grave. To avoid a funeral, it needs help from the Indian government. The question now is whether the government believes it’s worth saving or whether it expects Vi to get itself out of this mess (or die trying)
After seeing the sort of riches Jio Platforms was able to unlock, Bharti Airtel hatched plans to hive off its own digital assets. While Bharti is hoping to recreate Jio Platforms’ funding Midas touch, the two entities couldn’t be more different.
After soaring high on the wings of its $27 billion fundraising blitz through most of 2020, Reliance Industries’ stock has slumped since September. Its results, announced on Friday, saw the stock lose a further 5%. Its Covid-hit oil-to-chemicals business is part of the reason, but hidden metrics, a lack of visible direction, and inflated claims are equally to blame
As price wars and survival struggles drew to an end in 2020, new plotlines have emerged for the year to come. Will 5G spectrum find any takers? What will Trai be like under its new chief? And what will India’s upcoming satellite communications policy look like?
After stints at rival telcos Jio, Bharti, even Indonesian player Smartfren, Singh is taking on Vodafone Idea version 2.0—Vi. But he'll need to do a lot more than any regular CTO would, starting with boosting the company's morale
India's two largest telcos are getting their hands dirty in the quest for a 5G solution. While both are weighing open source architecture, the way they're going about things couldn't be more different
After racing to become the largest Indian telco in just four years, Jio had plans to cross the 500 million-user mark this October. The 100 million users it needs to do this, though, may be more difficult to snag than the previous 400 million
Sterlite CEO Anand Agarwal believes that India’s largest fibre provider isn’t a fibre company at all. Its attempt to transition from telecom infra to a tech-first company, though, has already seen top-level exits, downsizing, and scepticism from telcos
A 25% tariff hike in 2019 allowed Vi to raise its average revenue per user (ARPU) to Rs 114. To remain in business, it must double this ARPU in the next two years. Its rivals, too, want higher tariffs, but doing so without losing users is a tough ask
Reliance Jio boasts the most mobile subscribers in the country, but its 4G-only network cuts it off from ~300 million 2G users. Desperate to convert them, Jio wants to get rid of India’s 2G networks altogether
In the last five years, telecom revenues are down, debts are up; litigation is high, trust is low. The new leadership at Trai has to ensure all telcos are treated fairly and the sector is nursed back to sanity
Bharti’s successful $500 million bid for bankrupt satellite startup OneWeb came out of the blue. The surprise acquisition could help Bharti both in its fight against Reliance Jio as well as globally
With a 1,000-strong team in place, India's largest telco is gearing up to conquer the country’s $3 billion enterprise telecom space
In only the second of a three-week lockdown, India’s telecom networks are running at almost 100% capacity. Telcos must either increase capacity or brace for bad service
Telecom tech companies have laid off an estimated 3,000 employees managing mobile networks in India over the last 12-18 months. If the 5G auction isn’t successful, tougher times lie ahead
Reliance Jio wanted to upend the broadband space the same way it changed the telecom game. Its old tricks, however, haven’t yielded similar success, leaving its sales teams struggling to meet internal targets
Loss-making telco BSNL has the largest land bank of any public sector company in the country. Parlaying this into the funds it needs, though, will be an uphill task in a cash-starved real estate market
By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
“There's no greater gift than thinking that you had some impact on the world, for the better.”
– Gloria Steinem
Our anti-piracy system has flagged your account for suspicious activity and has temporarily paused your account. This may happen due to a number of reasons.
If you think that this was done in error, please get in touch with us at [email protected].
