BROADBAND AIRWAVES
Airtel likely to be biggest 5G spectrum buyer in June 6 sale: Analysts
Bharti Airtel is expected to increase its sub-GHz airwave holdings in the 900 MHz band across multiple circles in the upcoming spectrum auction, potentially becoming the top buyer despite Reliance Jio submitting the highest earnest money deposit (EMD). Airtel aims to bolster its rural mobile broadband coverage by enhancing its low-band airwaves arsenal. While Jio leads in sub-GHz spectrum holdings, Airtel's recent focus on rural expansion and improved financial position suggests significant investments in 900 MHz spectrum across 12 circles.
Eutelsat OneWeb looks to pull ahead of Starlink, Jio in satellite broadband race
Top company officials said Eutelsat OneWeb has received the demo or 'trial' satellite spectrum in both the 'Ka' and 'Ku' bands for a 90-day span via the administrative route at a nominal application fee. To be sure, unlike rival Starlink, which will directly offer retail users satellite internet services, Eutelsat OneWeb will operate purely on a B2B model.
Base prices for 5G spectrum raised 9-12% for May 20 auction
The government has increased the pan-India base prices for 5G airwaves auction. The country's second auction of 5G spectrum begins on May 20. Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have concluded their 5G rollouts while Vodafone Idea is yet to close its pending fundraise.
Telcos may go easy on spectrum bidding
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi) merely have to renew airwaves worth only around ₹4,200 crore and ₹1,950 crore, respectively, while market leader Reliance Jio has no spectrum renewals this year.
Starlink launches satellite to connect mobile phones, but can’t compete with terrestrial networks: Musk
The latest developments come when Starlink is poised to receive a GMPCS permit soon from the government to launch satellite broadband services in India.
Non-auction allocation of airwaves to help companies unveil Satcom early: Experts
Bharti Group-backed OneWeb, Reliance Jio, and Elon Musk's Starlink could potentially launch satellite broadband services in India sooner than anticipated, as the Telecommunications Bill 2023 supports the 'non-auctions route' for satellite spectrum allocation. Industry executives suggest that with the bill's approval, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) can directly manage satellite spectrum allocations, expediting the process compared to potential delays through auctions.
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India to allot satellite internet airwaves without auction in win for Musk
The proposal was included in a new draft bill for the telecommunications sector, which seeks to replace the 138-year old Indian Telegraph Act that currently governs the sector. The bill was tabled for approval in parliament on Monday. While Starlink and its global peers like Amazon's Project Kuiper, and the British government-backed OneWeb would rejoice in the move, it is a setback to Mukesh Ambani, Asia's wealthiest, who runs Indian telecom giant Reliance Jio.
'Bharti's OneWeb should not underestimate Jio satellite'
The satellite communications market in India is at a nascent stage but the potential is substantial, particularly in rural and remote areas. As per an EY-ISpA report, India's space economy is set to rise to $13 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 6%. "I think they (Starlink) should come. In the US, there is an opportunity for Starlink, let them come in, they need to figure out what their business model in India could be," said Oommen, referring to global competition.
How India is preparing for 6G revolution which will transform connectivity as we know it
India is preparing for the arrival of 6G wireless broadband technology, with commercial deployment expected around 2030. 6G networks will offer data speeds up to 100 Gbps, almost 100 times faster than 5G, and improved network connectivity. The International Telecom Union (ITU) has backed India's call for ubiquitous 6G coverage, ensuring that network deployments will be affordable and provide fast broadband connectivity for the masses.
Jio AirFiber could be $4 billion-$9 billion in annual revenue opportunity for Reliance: Analysts
According to analysts, Reliance Jio's 5G-based fixed wireless access (FWA) service, Jio AirFiber, could generate annual revenues of $4 billion to $9 billion if it sees wide acceptance among 50 to 100 million homes. Jio has ambitious plans to connect 200 million homes with its FWA service, which uses airwaves instead of cables to provide fixed broadband access. India's low wireline broadband penetration presents a significant revenue growth opportunity for telcos via 5G-based FWA services.
SC junks PIL seeking cancellation of Centre's relief to stressed telcos from paying statutory dues
A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan said that no doubt, the apex court by its judgment had issued certain directions with regard to the telecom sector but in the backdrop of the COVID-19 challenges, with huge surge in data consumption, online education, work from home, etc., reform measures were found necessary to boost the proliferation and penetration of broadband and telecom connectivity.
OTT players may have been removed from new telecom bill
The government is likely to have removed over-the-top (OTT) players, or apps, from the definition of telecommunication services in the telecom bill, giving huge relief to communication service providers such as WhatsApp and Telegram who will thus remain out of telecom regulation.
Auction not best method to allocate satellite spectrum: Mukul Rohatgi
Broadband India Forum (BIF) had sought Rohatgi’s views on whether the law requires that the only way to allocate satellite spectrum is auction. He replied, “No.” BIF also asked whether allocation of satellite spectrum for space-based communication services through a non-auction, administrative route, be permissible in law. Rohatgi said, “Yes.” ET has seen a copy of the 18-page legal opinion.
India's global ranking on mobile speeds up three spots to 56 in May 2023: Ookla
India has improved in median mobile download speeds with 39.94 Mbps in May, compared to 36.78 Mbps in April, according to Ookla. However, the country’s overall median fixed download speeds increased only slightly from 51.12 Mbps in April to 52.53 Mbps in May. Ookla also recorded a decrease in India's ranking for fixed broadband speeds to 84th place in May from 83rd in April.
OneWeb may unveil satellite broadband services by September
OneWeb, the UK-based LEO satellite constellation operator, is seeking to expand its broadband-from-space services to India by September 2022. The company has received approval from the Indian Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to establish two satellite gateways in Mehsana and Chennai, from where it plans to deliver low-latency, high-speed broadband services.
DoT, Industry on opposite ends of satellite spectrum
Telecom operators Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea are backing DoT, while Bharti Enterprise-backed satcom firm OneWeb has joined the rest of the industry to demand administrative allocation of satellite spectrum. Satellite spectrum has no territorial limits, is a shared resource, and is international in character with International Telecommunication Union (ITU) managing and coordinating its usage, and hence it can't be auctioned, industry body Indian Space Association (ISpA) said on Wednesday.
6 GHz not used for 5G globally, should be delicensed: BIF to DoT
Stressing that the entire 6 GHz band should be delicensed for WiFi services, the tech industry has highlighted that enough spectrum in various bands has already been provided for 5G and for future needs. It added that the international telecommunication union (ITU) is deliberating on allocating spectrum in 7-24 GHz bands as well as in 4800 MHz band for 5G.
Telcos set to report 5G users separately
Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio have been offering 5G services since October but so far, the telcos have not started reporting the number of users using that technology. "Trai will soon issue a directive to telecom operators regarding reporting of 5G subscribers," an official privy to the details told ET. "Trai has also written to the Vodafone Idea, seeking information about their 5G launch plans."
Go Digit, Policybazaar served notices for fake invoices; telcos, tech firms battle for 6Hz airwaves
A law enforcement agency under the Ministry of Finance has served show cause notices to insurance companies, including new-age insurers such as Go Digit and Policybazaar, alleging a wrongful claim of input tax credit under Goods and Services Tax (GST) services. This and more in today’s ETtech Top 5.
6 GHz airwaves new battlefront for telco vs tech
At present, the 6 GHz band is partly used for Indian Space Research Organisation satellite operations. The prize 6 GHz offers is huge. It can support internet speeds of up to 10 Gbps, similar to 5G speeds, or up to 100 times faster internet speed than 4G. According to telcos, WiFi services offered by technology companies on 6 GHz would be similar to the connectivity services that telcos offer.
Jio corners 50% home broadband market
“Very encouragingly, the quality of the subscribers is improving on a day by day basis, with much high mix of postpaid customers coming on board, in addition to the adoption of our set-top-box (STB),” Reliance Industries Limited president Kiran Thomas said during the presentation.
Tata’s Nelco seeks to offer satellite broadband services
Nelco in partnership with Canada’s Telesat have done a trial but the company has not mentioned in its application as to how it will offer services through the partnership.
Satellite spectrum can't be auctioned on lines of 5G airwaves: Sunil Mittal
In case the government decides to auction the spectrum, these factors should be kept in mind while designing the process, otherwise India could potentially miss out on satellite services, said Mittal, who has historically been against auction of satellite airwaves.
DoT OKs interim allotment of E band spectrum to telcos for backhaul
The telcos - who will need to pay a spectrum usage charge on these airwaves - will need to take part in an auction or any other method of allocation that the DoT decides later. Carriers will also need to pay the difference when the final price for such airwaves is decided by the government, though without interest.
Satcom airwaves need to be allotted and not auctioned: Viasat executive
is comments come at a time when there is an ongoing battle in India between satcom players and telecom operators led by Reliance Jio Infocomm over the allocation of airwaves. Jio has maintained that all spectrum, even if for satcom services, should be auctioned as broadband-from-space companies will also be offering similar services as carriers.
Captive 5G networks: Now, Broadband India Forum wants level playing field
The BIF was countering the Cellular Operators Association of India’s call for a level playing field and the latter's worries that direct spectrum allotments for captive private networks would effectively give a backdoor entry to big tech players to provide 5G services and solutions to enterprises in India without equivalent regulatory compliance and payment of levies that TSPs are subjected to.
Direct allocation of 5G airwaves to tech cos will hit us: Telcos
India's top three telcos, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, have reiterated the importance of a level playing field when it comes to acquiring 5G spectrum for captive networks arguing direct allocation of 5G airwaves to enterprises for captive networks will kill the 5G business case of operators and facilitate backdoor entry to technology companies.
BIF says DoT rules hazy on pricing of airwaves for captive 5G networks
DoT’s new rules on captive private network rollouts say that an enterprise seeking spectrum directly from the government for building captive private 5G networks would be given a renewable permit for 10 years against a non-refundable application charge of Rs 50,000. The rules also state that enterprises won’t need to pay any entry or licence fees.
Tech cos oppose DCC call on E band allotment to telcos
Last week, the DCC, the highest decision-making body of the DoT, accepted Trai’s recommendations on base prices of 5G airwaves. Among other key decisions it has backed need-based, circle-wise allocation of E-band spectrum to telcos initially via the administrative route, with a rider that telcos would have to pay for these airwaves in future based on an auction-based pricing mechanism determined by the regulator.
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