Article Type: Research Article

 

Article Citation: Dr Zubair Ahmad. (2020). TELECOM TANGLED WIRES. International Journal of Research -GRANTHAALAYAH, 8(12), 295-305. https://doi.org/10.29121/granthaalayah.v8.i12.2020.2762

 

Received Date: 13 November 2020

 

Accepted Date: 31 December 2020

 

Keywords:

Wires

Telephones

Companies

Employees
ABSTRACT

In India upto 1995 landline telephones are using by people of India. The connection of telephone is very limited to the general public and many times user approaches to the M.P., M.L.A. for himself to write a letter in favour for them to get the permission for the telephone connection. In the year 1995 the mobile network was started.  Sixteen years later 4G services were launched in Kolkata in 2012. When the mobile network launches in India there are two companies who work separately in the field named Usha & Essar

The outgoing and incoming call both are chargeable Rs 15 should spent for a minute by every customer who wish to call or receive a call by someone. Years after years the competition in the companies to give less rate calls to the customers increases and many more companies notice their presence in mobile network sector. Airtel, BSNL, Idea, Hutch, Vodafone, Aircel are the big players in the telecom industry. They provide quality network at affordable price.

In mobile industry Jio India do many changes in competitor company and customer lives

Jio soft launched on December 2015 with a beta for partners and employees, and became publicly available on September 2016. As of 31 December 2019, it is the largest mobile network operator in India and the third largest mobile network operator in the world with over 40.56 crore (405.6 million) subscribers.

1.     INTRODUCTION

 

With higher average revenue per user (ARPU), that may well suit Vodafone-Idea’s long-term plan to focus on high-end, high-ARPU, post-paid subscribers, positioning itself as a premium service and working its way back to profit.

 

 

Whichever way the current mess in India’s telecom industry ends, we can be sure of three things: one, the days of ultra-low tariffs are over; two, there will be a private sector duopoly after the dust settles; and three, the government has just shot itself in the foot.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) erred grievously by petitioning the Court on Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR). In its haste to mop up as much revenue as it could, DoT has jeopardised the future of mobile telephony in India. With over one billion mobile phone subscribers, the correct approach should have been to clamp down years ago on predatory pricing.

Reliance Jio built its subscription base on the back of unsustainable tariffs. In the process, it has mortally wounded the industry, driven Reliance Telecom into bankruptcy and forced Vodafone and Idea to merge. With the Supreme Court’s AGR verdict, the die is cast. Even if the government works out an instalment scheme for Vodafone-Idea to pay its humongous dues, the joint venture between the Aditya Birla Group and Britain’s Vodafone plc has a bleak future. 

In the end, we could be left with two strong mobile operators – Jio and Airtel – one weak operator (Vodafone-Idea) and one merged MTNL-BSNL public sector unit. The two major private sector operators will eventually raise tariffs – as they have started doing. Without a strong countervailing third private operator, cartelisation of tariffs becomes an attractive possibility. 

Tariffs, of course, are where the government has erred. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) could have acted as early as 2018 to stop predatory pricing. It did not. By allowing the ground to be cut beneath the feet of an independent Vodafone, Idea and Reliance Telecom, the government stands to lose significant revenue. The 5G auctions will be delayed. Spectrum revenue that could have accrued to the exchequer will not. No private – or public – operator has the money to pay the high 5G auction rates the government has proposed. Even Jio has a mountain of debt acquired in its race to become India’s biggest mobile operator. Airtel has wisely diversified in Africa. It is making healthy profits in what is among the world’s fastest-growing telecom markets. But Airtel too is struggling with debt after paying what it regards as its self-assessed AGR dues. 

The key metric in all this is average revenue per user (ARPU). In India, it is between Rs. 108 and Rs. 128 per month – by far the lowest in the world (China’s ARPU is Rs. 504 while Brazil’s is Rs 405). Consider the math of raising ARPU by even Rs. 10 per month per operator. With one billion subscribers between them, telecom operators would garner an additional Rs. 10 billion a month or Rs. 120 billion a year. That’s Rs. 12,000 crores in extra revenue a year. Thus, for every rise of Rs. 10 per month in ARPU, the telecom industry would collectively gain Rs. 12,000 crores. The government’s revenue share (5-8 per cent) would increase. 

A healthy telecom industry is good for all stakeholders – consumers, operators and the government. IF ARPUs settle at an average of Rs. 175 per month – still minuscule by world standards – the telecom industry would be in the pink of health. Its annual revenue would have risen by Rs. 60 billion. 

 Users are unlikely to complain if, by paying an extra Rs. 50 per month, they would get fewer dropped calls, faster data access, higher quality video streaming and better connectivity. The government would benefit not only from its revenue-sharing model but from a more successful 5G auction, perhaps early next year. 5G networks are up and running in several countries. India is a laggard. Reliance Jio’s proposal to develop a self-designed 5G network could be a positive development, giving India a wider choice among 5G network providers.

The government meanwhile is finally trying to untie the Gordian knot. Apart from offering telcos an installment payment plan and forgiving penalties as well as interest on penalties, it is considering setting up a “stress fund”. The idea is to get banks to lend to distressed telcos on relatively easy terms. Cabinet Secretary Rajeev Gauba heads a committee to sort things out. But putting an additional burden on banks, already reeling under toxic NPAs, will not be met with enthusiasm by lenders who look at the state of the telecom industry with barely concealed alarm.  

Airtel’s Sunil Mittal has said he wants ARPUs to rise to Rs. 200 a month “initially” and then eventually to Rs. 300 a month to restore health to the telecom industry. Airtel’s current average revenue per user is Rs. 135 per month. An increase of Rs. 65 per month for its 300 million users would increase revenue by Rs. 2,000 crore a month. That would put Airtel firmly in the black.

Vodafone-Idea is the sick man of the industry. In a letter to the telecom secretary, Vodafone-Idea’s chief regulatory and corporate affairs officer said “. In the present financial situation, we would be in a position to do so only if the department of Telecommunications and the government can kindly take up the steps we are requesting.”

 For users of Vodafone-Idea, the problem is one of uncertainty. The operator has traditionally attracted high-end users while Airtel has the middle market and Reliance Jio the lower end. If Vodafone-Idea ceases operations – though, in the final analysis, that’s unlikely given the stakes involved – portability becomes an issue. Both Jio and Airtel have limitations on how many of Vodafone-Idea’s 300 million-plus subscribers they can absorb per day. It could clinch the argument in favour of the government saving Vodafone-Idea, though the operator’s subscriber base could shrink significantly.

With higher ARPUs, that may well suit Vodafone-Idea’s long-term plan to focus on high-end, high-ARPU, post-paid subscribers, positioning itself as a premium service and working its way back to profit. After all, no one wants to abandon the world’s second-largest mobile telecom market with a tempting upside on future ARPUs.

 India is the world’s fastest growing industry in the world in terms of a number of wireless connections after China, with 811.59 million mobile phone subscribers.

According to the world telecommunications industry, India will have 1.200 billion mobile subscribers by 2013.Furthermore, projections by several leading global consultancies indicate that the total number of subscribers in India will exceed the total subscriber count in the China by 2013. How Telecommunication started in India Well, Postal means of communication was the only mean communication until the year 1850. In 1850 experimental electric telegraph started for first time in India between Calcutta (Kolkata) and Diamond Harbor (southern suburbs of Kolkata, on the banks of the Hooghly River).

In 1851, it was opened for the use of the British East India Company. Subsequently, construction of telegraph started throughout India. A separate department was opened to the public in 1854. Dr. William O’Shaughnessy, who pioneered the telegraph and telephone in India, belonged to the Public Works Department and worked towards the development of telecom. Calcutta or the then Kolkata was chosen as it was the capital of British India.

In early1881, Oriental Telephone Company Limited of England opened telephone exchanges at Calcutta (Kolkata), Bombay (Mumbai), Madras (Chennai) and Ahmedabad. On the 28th January 1882, the first formal telephone service was established with a total of 93 subscribers. From the year 1902, India drastically changes from cable telegraph to wireless telegraph, radio telegraph, radio telephone, trunk dialling. Trunk dialling used in India for more than a decade were system allowed subscribers to dial calls with operator assistance. Later moved to digital microwave, optical fiber, satellite earth station. During British period all major cities and towns in India were linked with telephones.

In the year 1975 Department of Telecom (DoT) was responsible for telecom services in the entire country after separation from Indian Post & Telecommunication. A decade later Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) was chipped out of DoT to run the telecom services of Delhi and Mumbai. In the 1990s the telecom sector was opened up by the Government for private investment. In1995 TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) was set up. This reduced the interference of Government in deciding tariffs and policy making. The Government of India corporatized the operations wing of DoT in 2000 and renamed Department of Telecom as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).

In last 10 years, many private operator’s especially foreign investors successfully entered the high potential Indian telecom market. Globally acclaimed operators like Telenor, NTT Docomo, Vodafone, Sistema, SingTel, Maxis, Etisalat invested in India mobile operators.

 

1.1. WIRELESS COMMUNICATION ERA

 

1.1.1. PAGER SERVICES

 

Pager communication successful launched in India in the year 1995. Pagers were looked upon as devices that offered the much-needed mobility in communication, especially for businesses. Motorola was a major player with nearly 80 percent of the market share. The other companies included Mobilink, Page link, BPL, Usha Martin telecom and Easy call. Pagers were generally worn on the belt or carried in the pocket.

The business peaked in 1998 with the subscriber base reaching nearly 2 million. However, the number dropped to less than 500,000 in 2002. The pager companies in India were soon struggling to maintain their business. While 2-way pagers could have buffered the fall, the pager companies were not in a position to upgrade their infrastructure to improve the ailing market. The Indian Paging Services Association was unable to support the industry.

Pager companies in India also offered their services in regional languages also.  However, the end had begun already. By 2002, Motorola stops making or servicing pagers. When mobile phones were commercially launched in India, the pager had many advantages to boast. Pagers were smaller, had a longer battery life and were considerably cheaper. However, the mobile phones got better with time and continuously upgraded themselves.

1.1.2. MOBILE COMMUNICATION

 

First mobile telephone service on non-commercial basis started in India on 48th Independence Day at country’s capital Delhi. The first cellular call was made in India on July 31st, 1995 over Modi Telstra’s Mobile Net GSM network of Kolkata. Later mobile telephone services are divided into multiple zones known as circles. Competition has caused prices to drop and calls across India are one of the cheapest in the world.

Most of the operator follows GSM mobile system operate under 900MHz bandwidth few recent players started operating under 1800MHz bandwidth. CDMA operators operate under the 800Mhz band, they are first to introduce EVDO based high-speed wireless data services via USB dongle. In spite of this huge growth, Indian telecom sector is hit by severe spectrum crunch, corruption by India Govt. officials and financial troubles. In 2008, India entered the 3G arena with the launch of 3G enabled Mobile and Data services by Government owned MTNL and BSNL. Later from November 2010 private operators started to launch their services.

1.1.3. BROADBAND COMMUNICATION

 

After US, Japan, India stands in third largest Internet users of which 40% of Internet used via mobile phones. India ranks one of the lowest providers of broadband speed as compared countries such as Japan, India and Norway. The minimum broadband speed of 256kbit/s but speed above 2Mbits is still in a nascent stage.

The year 2007 had been declared as “Year of Broadband” in India. Telcos based on ADSL/VDSL in India generally have sped up to 24Mbit max while those based on newer Optical Fiber technology offer up to 100Mbits in some plans Fiber-optic communication (FTTx). Broadband growth has been plagued by many problems. Complicated tariff structure, metered billing, High charges for the right of way, Lack of domestic content, non-implementation of Local-loop unbundling have all resulted in hindrance to the growth of broadband. Many experts think future of broadband is in the hands of a wireless factor. BWA auction winners are expected to roll out LTE and WiMAX in India in 2012.

1.1.4. NEXT GENERATION NETWORK (NGN)

 

Next Generation Networks, multiple access networks can connect customers to a core network based on IP technology. These access networks include fibre optics or coaxial cable networks connected to fixed locations or customers connected through Wi-Fi as well as to 3G networks connected to mobile users.

As a result, in the future, it would be impossible to identify whether the next generation network is a fixed or mobile network and the wireless access broadband would be used both for fixed and mobile services. It would then be futile to differentiate between fixed and mobile networks both fixed and mobile users will access services through a single core network. Cloud-based data services are expected to come.

1.1.5. INDIAN SATELLITES

 

India has launched more than 50 satellites of various types, since its first attempt in 1975. The organisation responsible for Indian satellites is the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Most Satellites have been launched from various vehicles, including American, Russian, European satellite-launch rockets, and the U.S. Space Shuttle. First Indian satellite Aryabhata on 19th April 1975, later Bhaskara, Rohini, INSAT, Edusat, IRS, GSAT, Kalpana, Cartosat, IMS, Chandrayaan, ResourceSat, RiSat, AnuSat, etc. This is how telecom Industry is growing in India, hope to see India far ahead of other countries in near future.

2.     OBJECTIVES

 

The following are the main objectives of the study:

1)     To know about the position of telecom industry in present scenario,

2)     To find out the ways of making telecom industry profitable.

3)     To recommend the ways through which the benefits of telecom industry will be enhanced.

 

3.     NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF TELECOMMUNICATION

 

Telecommunication serves as an important tool for businesses. Owing to it companies are experiencing more success and many benefits. Telephones are still used by most companies. ... They can use telecommunication devices to receive and send messages, access data, participate in conferences, and work on documents. Telecommunication is the transmission of text, images, sounds, and messages, by radio, wire, optical, or other types of electromagnetic systems. When there is a need to exchange appropriate information between two sender/receivers, telecommunication is used widely. It has helped us grow and become more connected globally. Currently, 98% of the world uses telecommunication to connect each other and it is used by most of us on a daily basis for more than just receiving personal information but also entertainment, business, and education.

In Education

With the help of telecommunication systems, children are no longer only able to learn in school. In the era of information, we are able to research and learn about any and everything with a couple of clicks on devices. Thanks to modern technology, people are able to attend school without leaving their homes due to family, illness or comfort reasons.

In Healthcare

Telecommunication systems also come in handy in healthcare, helping patients to get in touch with places with proper medicine or equipment to heal and comfort the sick without having to travel miles and miles away. Hospitals are also benefitting from telecommunications with the help of getting details of a patient from another doctor, checking vital statistics that need to be monitored and keeping the wait times shorter since it is easier to reschedule over an e-mail or phone than to come in, waste your time and reschedule in person.

In Business

Telecommunication serves as an important tool for businesses. Thanks to it, companies are able to grow faster, do more business and control their products, market, and staff better. Calling to schedule a meeting, being able to set up an employee network, and be present at meetings over the internet or phone are all incredible luxuries we would not have even dreamt of a century ago.

In Economic Growth

We have all experienced the importance and the benefits of telecommunication in our society and daily lives. It has become a non-negotiable part of our lives and we continue to discover the importance it has on agriculture, transportation, and administration. Detecting earthquakes before they happen to warn farmers, figuring out that there is going to be a hurricane or severe weather conditions, or other natural disasters are all thanks to this technology. Other than agriculture, telecommunication is also used to fly and land airplanes, manage vehicles and control passenger information for safety reasons in transportation. By having an impact on all aspects of life, telecommunication helps change the world for the better. Being able to contact anyone that uses it over the world is amazing on its own even without the other social benefits of it. Making life easier, one connection at the time, telecommunication is a sector we all wish grows only for good and brings the world together, peacefully.

 

4.     MARKET SHARE OF TELECOM COMPANIES IN INDIA

 

The data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) tracks the changes in the telecom market between June and July 2019. Vodafone-Idea led the market with 32.53% market share, followed by Jio in the second position with 29.8% and Bharti Airtel at third with 28.12% market share. The Indian Telecom market is dominated by 3 Operators – Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Reliance JIO. These three Telecom operators own 89.9% of the total subscriber market share as of August 2019.

The Government-owned BSNL is the only other player present in the market with a significant 10.1% share. Notably, the TRAI data is available till September 2019, according to which Vodafone-Idea is the largest player followed by Airtel and JIO respectively. However, based on the reported numbers by the company’s Reliance JIO is number 1, followed by Airtel and then Vodafone-Idea.

OPERATOR WISE MARKET SHARE TELCOM COMPANIES (OCTOBER 2019)

 

 

Reliance JIO (owned by Mr. Mukesh Ambani) is the largest telecom company with 30.5% subscriber market share and 331.1 million subscribers.

Bharti Airtel, owned by Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal is the second largest telecom company in India with a 29.8% market share and 322 Million subscribers.

Vodafone-idea is the third biggest Telecom company in India with 320 million subscribers and has a 29.5% Telecom subscriber market share. Vodafone-Idea is doing badly and is on the verge of collapse in the absence of relief from the government.

 

5.     SERVICES FOR TELECOMMUNICATION COMPANIES

 

Recently the communication service providers faced relevant tasks connected to optimization of existing business and search of new niches to develop innovation services. The market changes cardinally due to change of essence and approaches to provisioning of new services. The service providers actively look for ways to balance their business models and work mechanisms under new market conditions.

Constant growth of the last mile bandwidth and high competition as well as reduction of prices for the final consumers decreases investment potential of telecommunication projects. That is why solutions are required which will help to increase profitability under these new conditions. Telecommunication companies face necessity to increase business performance under conditions of slower subscriber base growth, more acute competition and significant reduction of ARPU. The main advantage of the competition in this situation is the volume of additional services provided to subscribers and cardinal optimization of operation activity.

Open Technologies strives to create and offer a package of vertically-oriented solutions covering all activity fields of the service provider: from optimization of business processes to development of new service ranges.

 

Today this package includes the following fundamental groups of solutions:

 

Construction of carrier-grade networks and communication systems

·        Wireless communication network construction/update

·        Transport network construction/upgrade

·        Broadband access network construction/upgrade

·        Construction/ upgrade of engineering infrastructure

 

OSS/BSS

·        Consolidated information area solution (Network Management Center)

·        Complex sales efficiency management system

·        Complex Key Quality and Key Performance Indicator (KQI/KPI) management system

·        Client Experience Management (CEM)

·        Field solution to work with Big Data

Development and integration of new ranges of services within the innovation business models

·        Service supply environment

·        The successful integration and operation of offered solution are ensured the following Open Technologies advantages:

·        in-house Telecommunication Solutions Center allowing fast assessment of market changes and developing and offering new services and solutions in the shortest possible time complying with certain customer's business tasks;

·        possibility to execute the whole range of works (service development and feasibility study of its introduction, designing of technological solution, hardware and software supplies, installation and construction works, commissioning, trainings for specialists and advanced support of the solution installed, including outsourcing);

·        compliance of the solutions, projects offered and works implemented to the industry GOSTs, requirements of Federal Communications Control Service upon the system and facility commissioning;

·        in-house service center working 24x7 and employing over 40 highly professional engineers;

·        possibility to test solutions offered on the basis of in-house laboratories and Central Research Institute of Communication (CRIC);

·        wide regional chain.

Open Technologies specialists have all required resources, technologies and qualification to ensure effective high-end implementation of projects of any degree of complexity for communication service providers of any size.

Our company has in-house Competency Center allowing modeling work situations and typical user actions thus contributing to planning and construction, detection of the solution narrow points. Application of these models allows more fast and accurate response to queries and provisioning of after-sales and service support of the solutions installed at the customers' facilities.

6.     DATA PLANS OF TELECOM COMPANIES FOR CUSTOMERS IN INDIA

 

The move comes after the recent Supreme Court judgment on Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) which has left the telecom majors saddled with government dues of more than Rs 92,000 crore.

India's telecom majors have decided to hike their tariffs by around 40%. While the new tariffs announced by Airtel and Vodafone Idea will take effect from midnight of December 3, 2019, Reliance Jio has decided to raise its tariffs from the midnight of December 6, 2019. State-owned BSNL has also announced plans to increase tariffs, but is yet to announce the date for the same.

The move comes after the recent Supreme Court judgment on Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) which has left the telecom majors saddled with government dues of more than Rs 92,000 crore.

      Airtel and Vodafone Idea have ended their Rs 169 and 199 plans that offer 1GB and 1.5GB data per day, respectively, for 28 days. Airtel will provide access to its premium content on Airtel Xtream. Jio will be introducing All-in-One plans which will cost 40% higher, but will offer 300% more benefits to customers, the company said.

Vodafone Idea and Airtel customers have time until midnight of December 3, 2019 to recharge at old rates before new tariffs kick in.

 

6.1. HERE ARE ALL THE PLANS AND OFFERS FROM VODAFONE IDEA, AIRTEL, JIO AND BSNL

 

Airtel

Airtel has scrapped its Rs 169 and Rs 199 plans and will now offer a new plan for Rs 248. Under the new plan, customers will get 1.5 GB data every day. The plan will have a validity of 28 days. The unlimited call offer now applies only to Airtel-to-Airtel calls whereas calls to other networks will have a Fair Usage Policy limit. For the plan which allows customers 2 GB data per day, Airtel has increased the price to Rs 298. This plan offers unlimited calling with an FUP limit and 100 SMS per day. These plans also provide exclusive benefits as part of the Airtel Thanks platform, which enables access to premium content from Airtel Xstream (10,000 movies, exclusive shows, and 400 TV channels), Wynk Music, device protection, anti-virus protection and much more. Airtel’s new plans, represent tariff increases in the range of a mere 50 paise/day to Rs 2.85/day.

 

 

Vodafone Idea

Vodafone has also scrapped its Rs 169 and Rs 199 plans. The company, instead, is offering Rs 249 plan which offers benefits of 1.5 GB data per day and 100 SMS per day for 28 days. Customers who want more data can opt for the Rs 299 plan which offers 2GB per day and the Rs 399 plan which offers 3 GB data per day.

Reliance Jio

Reliance Jio has announced new rates with effect from midnight of December 6, 2019. The new tariff, up to 39 per cent higher than before, might pinch your pocket. The company has, however, assured that the new All-in-One plans will come with 300 per cent more benefits, including access to JioTV, JioCinema and JioSaavn, for the user.

Reliance Jio’s tariff hike plan follows rival Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea’s rate-revision announcements earlier.

Here are all details of the new Jio All-in-One plans, applicable from December 6 midnight.

Under the new plan, the Rs 149 package will now cost Rs 199 and offer 1.5 GB of data per day, with a fair usage policy (FUP) limit — non-Jio call limit — of 1,000 minutes, and a validiy of 28 days. By comparison, Vodafone and Airtel are offering their 1.5 GB data plans for Rs 249 and Rs 248, respectively. Jio's three-month plan with 1.5 GB data will now cost Rs 555, a 39 per cent jump over Rs 399 earlier. It will come with an FUP limit of 3,000 minutes and a validity of 84 days.

The price of Jio's 2GB daily data plan has increased from Rs 198 to Rs 249, with a non-Jio call limit of 1,000 minutes. The three-month 2GB plan will cost Rs 599, Rs 151 more than the earlier rate of Rs 448.

Jio has increased its rates for affordable plans, too. The Rs 98 plan with 2 GB of data for 28 days will now cost 129. The rate of a 6GB data limit with 84 days of validity has been revised to Rs 329.

Here is how the new All-in-One plan looks like:

 

 

BSNL

BSNL has also announced its decision to increase tariffs. However, it is yet to announce the date from which the new rates will kick in.

BSNL has introduced two new plans for Rs 999 and Rs 1,999. The Rs 999 plan will offer 250 minutes of free calling every day and will come with a validity of 220 days. But this plan does not include free data or free SMS along with it. The Rs 1,999 plan also has 250 minutes calling limit but it comes with 3GB data every day and Caller Ring Back Tone facility. It also offers free subscription of SonylIve for a year.

 

7.     GOVERNMENT REFORMS FOR TELECOM INDUSTRY

 

The telecom department is working on a plan to provide a two-year holiday from spectrum payments, a longer payment tenure and lower rates of interest. All these steps could provide an urgent relief to the debt-laden telecom sector.

NEW DELHI: To revive the stressed telecom sector, the government is considering a two-year holiday from spectrum payments, a longer payment tenure and lower rates of interest, a top official said.“We're looking at all aspects, reforms could be in the form of number of installments, the rate of interest and spectrum caps,” telecom secretary Anshu Prakash told reporters on Wednesday, on the third day of the India Mobile Congress 2019.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) i .ET reported on October 16 that the DoT was mulling a two-year moratorium on spectrum payments, as part of relief measures for the sector. The department held meetings with industry group Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), infrastructure providers and companies over the past two months to understand the issues being faced by them, and ‘what can be done more to enable them to actualise their potential’, he said.“Whatever is decided will be done keeping in mind the realities

 

8.     INDUSTRY SEEKS RELIEF

 

Over the first three days of the IMC, largest player Reliance Jio, second ranked Bharti Airtel NSE -4.62 % and Vodafone Idea urged the government to provide urgent relief to a sector that is reportedly battling Rs 7 lakh crore of debt, falling revenue and shrinking profitability due to the ongoing price war. Of the three, only Jio is making profits. Vodafone Idea — created a year ago due to expanding losses at both Vodafone India and Idea Cellular NSE -1.54 % — has been the worst hit, with many experts saying they were worried about its survival. Market watchers say India’s telecom sector can ill-afford a third operator exiting the market or going bankrupt as this will hurt all stakeholders, including consumers, equipment vendors and tower companies and lead to huge job losses. The government has now indicated it would step in.

On Monday, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad raised the possibility of relief for the sector, referring to plans that included ‘reforms on spectrum pricing’, comments which were welcomed by the industry.“By reform, what I would understand is having a package with some parameters which make it good for the telecom industry to achieve its objectives,” Prakash said. When asked specifically on the possibility of reducing spectrum usage charge (SUC) for the upcoming auctions, from 3% currently, the secretary said, “...for this current auction, what will be the SUC is a decision which remains to be taken.” two years ago, the government increased the number of instalments for payments of spectrum bought in auctions, to 16 years from 10 years in 2017. It also lowered the rate of interest on delayed payment penalties.

As industry continued to face financial pressure, Prasad wrote to the finance minister a couple of months back, seeking more relief measures. He pointed out that AGR had shrunk to Rs 1.39 lakh crore in FY19 from Rs 1.85 lakh crore in FY17.

 

9.     CONCLUSION

 

It is good that Telecom companies should provide good network at affordable price. But the survival of the companies is must so for the survival companies will have to raise their call rates, internet pack rates and sms pack rates to cope up with the losses and other problems. Few months back telecom companies raise their call charges, internet pack and sms pack rates. The people of the country accepted these steps and now they spent more in call charges, internet packs and sms packs.

 

SOURCES OF FUNDING

 

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

 

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

 

The author have declared that no competing interests exist.

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

 

None.

 

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