BUSINESS
Qualcomm to launch a sub-$99 5G smartphone by this year-end; working with telcos, OEMs in India
The latest chipset could encourage 2G users to switch to a smartphone-enabled 5G environment in India, a top Qualcomm official said. Qualcomm executives expect that a sub-$99 5G smartphone could bring 5G to as many as 2.8 billion people globally, including India
TELECOM
MC Exclusive: Tariffs are going up, need to be at Rs 300 ARPU level, says Sunil Mittal
The Bharti group chairman said that while Elon Musk's Starlink poses competition, the company's business model targets the consumer segment, whereas OneWeb focuses on B2B use cases.
BUSINESS
India could be one of the key contributors of unicorns globally: Ericsson’s Börje Ekholm
The Ericsson top executive added that auctioning spectrum was the right way to go, as has been seen globally
TECHNOLOGY
Xiaomi 14 and 14 Ultra launched for global markets; India launch on March 7
The company will only bring its Xiaomi 14 smartphone to the Indian market, and is expected to price it at around Rs 75,000 to compete with Samsung, Apple, and OnePlus.
BUSINESS
Nokia phone maker HMD to launch smartphones under own brand by mid-2024
HMD Global, the licensor of Nokia phones, said it will introduce its own brand of smartphones by the middle of this year, possibly launching it in India first
BUSINESS
Vodafone Idea running commercial pilot of Open RAN 5G with Mavenir ahead of planned rollout
The cash-strapped telco is working with United States-based telecom gear maker Mavenir for this commercial phase of Open RAN network pilot deployment, which started in September 2023.
BUSINESS
Lava aims to 'decolonise' the smartphone market from Chinese brands: Interim MD
Indian handset brands had a 31% share in the Indian market till 2014, after which it fell to just 2% in 2023. Lava intends to turn that around by staying ahead of the competition, particularly Chinese brands, said Sunil Raina
BUSINESS
BSNL floats Rs 65,000-crore phase-3 tender for BharatNet
Industry experts said the tender will allow multinational and domestic telecom equipment makers to generate additional revenues.
BUSINESS
Tata Group in talks with Taiwan companies for Gujarat chip fabrication plant: Report
During an investment summit in Gujarat in January, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran announced that the group would build a massive semiconductor fab in Dholera to start operations in 2024.
BUSINESS
India aims to attract electronics component players from South Korea, Taiwan, US: MeitY sources
The scheme will try to attract key component players from China, South Korea, Taiwan and the US, which largely have manufacturing facilities in China, said an official
BUSINESS
MC Exclusive: Rakuten using India as a major global innovation hub for OpenRAN and 6G, says top executive
A majority of Rakuten’s 4,000 employees are in India. The company is working closely with the IITs on the development of 6G technology.
BUSINESS
BSNL employee union seeks nod to use Vodafone Idea network for 4G launch
Presently, the Government of India is Vodafone Idea Limited's (Vi) largest shareholder, with a 33.1 percent stake, after the accrued interest towards the AGR arrears of Vi was converted into equity in February 2023. UK's Vodafone PIc and India's Aditya Birla Group jointly own 50.4 percent of Vi.
BUSINESS
Offline retailers accuse OnePlus of offering lowest margins, delaying settlement claims
Retailers said tha the unauthorised diversion of products from e-commerce to retail channels disrupts fund rotation and denies the exchequer the opportunity to benefit from added rotational GST
BUSINESS
Telco body COAI seeks manufacturing incentives in AR/VR devices for Metaverse
Indian telecom operators want to tap the Metaverse opportunity with their 5G services. They want to partner with content providers and over-the-top players to enable several use cases.
BUSINESS
5G smartphones, offline expansion will drive Realme growth in India: Founder and CEO Sky Li
Li says 5G smartphones and offline expansion will drive most of the sales for the brand in India in 2024
BUSINESS
Spectrum Auction: Vodafone Idea may not bid for new airwaves, given funding crunch
Vi's spectrum renewal is due in the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh (West), worth over Rs 1,950 crore.
AUTOMOBILE
All you need to know about Spectrum Auction 2024-25
The cabinet on February 8 approved the auction of telecom spectrum across multiple bands. The reserve prices for various bands have been revised using suitable indexation, as recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
BUSINESS
Regulatory mandate for forceful 2G/3G shutdown could widen digital divide: Vodafone Idea to Trai
Vodafone Idea urged the TRAl to disregard "rhetoric comments" of sunset date for legacy technologies
BUSINESS
6 GHz band critically required for 5G growth and 6G introduction: Reliance Jio to Trai
Jio dismissed the demands made by tech companies to allocate airwaves in this band for WiFi services, and argued that it is not justified to delicense V band and 6 GHz for use in public WiFi networks.
BUSINESS
Lenovo plans to start local production of servers in India; aims to make India a global export hub
This will support the world's second-largest PC maker's data centre business in India. The company plans to leverage the government's PLI scheme to achieve this goal.
BUSINESS
ARPU increase, 5G monetisation will happen with tariff repair: Gopal Vittal, Airtel MD
Airtel currently has 65 million 5G users across the country. Vittal said that 25 percent of the total smartphones in the industry will be 5G-enabled by March 2025.
BUSINESS
Nokia India sees leadership change and layoffs due to a global restructuring
Tarun Chhabra succeeds Sanjay Malik, who will remain in the company till March 31, 2024.
BUSINESS
Apple set for robust 2024 in India as iPhone sales continue to soar: Analysts
Company has gained both mindshare and market share, they say. Focus on consumer and enterprise segments, and growth of content creators among reasons for iPhone’s growth.
BUSINESS
Apple India revenue hits record high in Dec quarter on strong iPhone sales: Tim Cook
Analysts have attributed Apple's strong growth to the robust demand for its latest and older iPhone models. This is mainly due to Apple's aggressive marketing strategies, which include consumer financing, trade-ins and discounts.
