Budget 2018-19

  Company makes the first move to improve the financial sustainability of the telecom sector. Telecom firm Bharti Airtel has hiked by around 20 per cent its pre-paid plans, making the first move to improve the financial sustainability of the sector.  Vodafone Idea  ( Vi, is expected to follow suit, as its chief executive officer Ravinder Takkar indicated last week that tariff hikes will happen soon. The company however has not yet made an announcement. Airtel and Vi had hiked rates in entry-level pre-paid plans and certain postpaid and family packs a few months back. Airtel’s latest hikes will be for rates across all slabs (Rs 79 to Rs 2,498). It increased rates for data top-ups as well and said the new tariff plan will come into effect from November 26. Pre-paid customers account for 90-95 per cent of customer base for  Airtel  and Vi. “Bharti Airtel has always maintained that the mobile Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) needs to be at Rs 200 and ultimately at Rs...

  DoT requested Supreme Court to give it four weeks so that it can take an “informed decision” whether to proceed with its appeal against an order by Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal. The department of telecommunications (DoT) told the Supreme Court on Tuesday it is reconsidering its decision to proceed with an appeal filed against a tribunal order in April 2019 on the issue of recovery of one-time spectrum user charges (SUC) from companies to the tune of Rs 40,000 crore. It requested the court to give the government four weeks so that it can take an “informed decision” whether to proceed with its appeal against an order by Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal. The move is significant, as there are pending cases between  telecom companies  (telcos) and the government in various courts involving substantial amount of financial dues. According to sources, the number of cases go to over 200 in the Supreme Court itself. A DoT study done a few y...

  The nearest month any increase could occur is November since OPEC+’s last meeting decided the October volumes OPEC+ is considering going beyond its existing deal to boost production by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) when it meets next week, sources said, at a time when oil prices are near a three-year high and consumers are pressing for more supply. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries andallies led by Russia, known as  OPEC+ , meets on Monday to review output policy. In July, the group agreed to boost output by 400,000 bpd a month to phase out 5.8 million bpd in cuts. Four OPEC+ sources said producers were considering adding more than that deal envisaged, but none gave details on how much more, or when supply would increase. Another OPEC+ source suggested an increase of 800,000 bpd for one month was possible, with zero the next month. The nearest month any increase could occur is November since OPEC+’s last meeting decided the October volumes. “We cannot exc...

  Nick Read weighs the all-important question: Has India stopped being ‘the most painful market’ to operate a telecom? Just as Vodafone Idea Ltd. was about to drown under the weight of its $30 billion debt, India has thrown a lifeline to the U.K. operator’s local joint venture. The rescue is only one of the tea leaves Group CEO  Nick Read  will read as he weighs the all-important question: Has India stopped being what Deutsche Bank AG analysts recently described as “the most painful market” to operate a telecom? The answer will decide if it’s time to make a fresh play for the 1.4-billion-person market. A moratorium on New Delhi’s bloated back-fee claims, extra time to pay for the spectrum purchased in past auctions, and a relief from onerous bank guarantees add up to at least 316 billion rupees ($4.3 billion) in liquidity support, according to Investec Capital Services. That would keep  Vodafone Idea  going, though stabilizing a business that has lost more than ...