TELECOM SECTOR

GROUP 5 | ABHISHEK GUPTA (37110), LAXMI SURESH

(37199), MOHAMMAD HAMID ANWARI (37210), SUBIN
SURESH BABU (37282) | JULY 1, 2015

100.76 million Broadband subscribers in India till April

2015: TRAI
The number of broadband subscribers went up from 99.20 million at the end of March
2015 to 100.76 million at the end of April 2015 with a monthly growth rate of 1.57
percent. These service providers Bharti Airtel (22.63 million), Vodafone (20.30
million), BSNL (18.02 million), Idea Cellular Ltd (15.01 million) and Reliance
Communications Group (8.08 million) constituted an 83.40 percent market share of
the total broadband subscribers.

How safe are Wireless Networks?

A Fortinet survey finding has revealed that wireless network is the weakest security
link in enterprise IT infrastructure. The respondents i.e., Information Technology
Decision Makers (ITDMs) from around the globe (including India) positioned wireless
as significantly more vulnerable than core networking infrastructure. Loss of
sensitive corporate/customer data, industrial espionage, followed by non-compliance
to industry regulations and service interruptions were cited as risks in operating in an
unsecured wireless environment

Wireless Calling! Indias telephone subscriber base ends

just short of 1 billion mark in April
Driven by wireless connections, the total telecom subscriber base (Wireless + Wireline) registered 6.83% growth on Y-o-Y basis at 999.71 million for the month of April,
2015 as compared to 935.81 million. Meanwhile, on monthly basis, telecom
subscribers registered 0.32%. Of the total, the urban subscription increased from
577.18 million at the end of March-15 to 580.13 million at the end of Apr-15, while
rural subscription increased from 419.31 million to 419.58 million during the same
period.

Telecom companies told to strengthen infra during the

Kumbh Mela
To ensure better communication facilities at Nashik during the Kumbh Mela, the
district administration has asked the telecom companies to strengthen the
infrastructure to cater to more than 80 lakh pilgrims expected during the 'parvani
snan' day. The official said seven companies are raising the 214 towers, of which 150
will be raised on permanent basis.

Government seeks mobile tower data to check telcos'

claims on call drops
The Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has sought information to check the truth
of telecom operators' claim that the paucity of mobile towers has led to frequent call
drops. The tower operators have been asked to share details of the number of mobile

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towers installed and dismantled across India between April 2013 and March 2015 to
penalise telecom operators for call drops. The telecom industry has blamed the call
drops on the continuing challenges of installing mobile towers coupled with spectrum
shortage amid surging data traffic growth.

Banks fear bad loans will spike in telecom

After the power sector, bankers fear that bad loans could rise in the telecom sector
following an expected disruption caused by the entry of Reliance Jio later this year.
Several bankers feel that the telecom industry, which has over Rs 2, 50,000 crore of
outstanding loans, does not have the revenues to support timely repayment and the
entry of Reliance Jio could bring down `their realizations even further and this might
trigger consolidation. Concerns over the industry's finances have been expressed in
capital markets as well.

Intense competition has helped Indian telecom users

enjoy some of the worlds lowest tariffs
About 10 to 12 telecom companies are present in each of the country's 22 telecom
circles. Such intense competition has helped Indian users enjoy some of the worlds
lowest tariffs. Such competition has brought immense pressure on the finite amount
of spectrum that must be shared amongst Indias numerous operators. There is a
strong case to facilitate consolidation in the sector to bring in economies of scale and
efficient use of resources. Indian telecom consumers have benefitted from the
intense competition in the sector. It is absolutely crucial to sustain it. There is an
urgent need for a framework that effectively reconciles technical, economic and
competition concerns. The current M&A policy does exactly that.

SoftBank exploring telecom joint venture with Foxconn in

India
Japanese telecom and Internet giant SoftBank and Taiwanese electronics firm
Foxconn are in discussion to set up a joint venture in India for manufacturing telecom
products to support the Make in India programme and vision. Vodafone, Bharti Global
joint venture Jersey Airtel in talks to acquire JT Global

Investments surge in Indias telecom industry

After India permitted 100% FDI in the sector in July 2013, the first 10 months of the
last fiscal saw the highest ever FDI inflows into telecom firms. With the explosive
growth in data consumption taking Indias telecom sector to its next stage of growth,
foreign investments have seen a surge.

Vodafone appoints Amit Pradhan as Chief Technology

Security Officer

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Amit Pradhan has been appointed as Vodafones Chief Technology Security

Officer, who previously served Cipla for almost three years as group chief information
security officer. He has close to two decades of experience and has spent most of his
career in the area of security operations, consulting, IT advisory and technology
audits.

Bharti buys stake in satellite company OneWeb

Bharti Enterprises has acquired a strategic minority stake in OneWeb, which is
supported by a global consortium of Qualcomm, Virgin Group, Airbus, Coca-Cola,
Intelsat and Group Salinas and aims to provide affordable internet access to all.

Government should vacate unused spectrum for

commercial use, says COAI
The Cellular Operators Association of India, a body of GSM and CDMA mobile service
providers, said that the government should take steps to vacate the unused
spectrum lying with various agencies under it.

India's telecom industry plans new spectrum bands for

its vision 2025
India's telecom industry, led by top lobby group GSM Association, is building a case
for four new spectrum bands as part of its 2025 vision in the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) forum, scheduled in November

Net Neutrality panel report will be made public soon

The telecom department panel that looked into the Net neutrality issue has
submitted its report to Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and the report will be
made public in a few days.

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