Customers in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Siliguri, Nagpur and Varanasi will start enjoying the Airtel 5G Plus services in a phased manner, said the company, as it continues to construct its network and complete the roll out.
The company promises between 20 to 30 times higher speeds than the current speed, coupled with brilliant voice experience and super-fast call connect.
Customers who have 5G smartphones will enjoy the high-speed Airtel 5G Plus on their existing data plans until the roll-out is more widespread.
"Our solution will work on any 5G handset and the existing SIM that customers have. Our obsession on customer experience is now embellished with a 5G solution that is kinder to the environment," said Gopal Vittal, Managing Director and CEO, Bharti Airtel.
"Airtel 5G Plus is all set to redefine the way people communicate, live, work, connect and play for years to come," Vittal added.
Airtel 5G Plus runs on a technology that has the widest acceptance in the world with the most developed ecosystem.
This will ensure that all 5G smartphones in India seamlessly work on the Airtel network.
Airtel 5G Plus will allow superfast access to high-definition video streaming, gaming, multiple chatting, instant uploading of photos and more.
Bharti Airtel last week showcased a 5G-connected ambulance to transform primary health care in emergency situations, along with smart farming solutions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 5G official launch in the country.
The announcement came as Reliance Jio plans to roll out 5G services by Diwali, which falls on October 24.
Vittal said in a statement that after December, the company will expand rapidly to cover the entire country.
"We expect to cover all of urban India by the end of 2023. If you want to know the availability of 5G in your town, you will be able to check it on the Airtel Thanks App and see whether your phone and city is 5G ready. This feature will be available on our app with the 5G launch," he said.
Airtel 5G will deliver dramatically higher speeds compared to a 4G network. It could be anywhere between 20 to 30 times the speed we get today.
Vittal said that Airtel 5G will also enable differential quality for special requirements, something called network slicing.
"So, if you are a gamer, and want a flawless experience, we will be able to slice the network for you. Or if you are working from home and want a consistent experience, we will deliver it for you," he noted.
Bharti Airtel last month paid Rs 8,312.4 crore to the Department of Telecom (DoT) towards dues for 5G spectrum acquired in the recently concluded 5G auctions. It said it has paid for four years of 2022 5G spectrum upfront.
According to Vittal, Airtel has chosen a specific 5G technology for smartphones that has the widest ecosystem in the world.
"This means that all 5G smartphones in India will work on the Airtel network without any glitch. This will be true even when you travel abroad with your Airtel 5G enabled phone. In other technologies, it is possible that as many as four out of ten 5G phones don't support 5G," he said.
Meanwhile, to build a pan-India true 5G network, Jio has committed a total investment of Rs 2 lakh crore.
To begin with, Jio announced the launch of 5G services in four metro cities -- Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai.
Just like 3G and 4G, telcos will soon announce dedicated 5G tariff plans and according to industry experts, consumers may pay more to access the 5G services on their devices.
However, the tariff plans will come down as usage increases, and more people embrace 5G networks especially in metros where the initial demand will come.
An immediate tariff war with the launch of 5G is unlikely, but it "will be competitive as India continues to be a price-conscious market".
Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the response on the first day of the auction exceeded all expectations and will surpass the records of 2015, when revenue collection from auction stood at Rs 1.09 lakh crore.
Even the 700 MHz band, which had not seen any takers in the 2016 and 2021 auctions, received bids this time. As per information put out by the telecom department, in the coveted 700 MHz band, provisional bids worth Rs 39,270 crore were received on day-one of auction, industry watchers said.
All four applicants -- Ambani's Reliance Jio, Mittal's Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and an Adani group firm "actively" participated in the auction of the 5G spectrum, which offers ultra-high speeds (about 10 times faster than 4G), lag-free connectivity, and can enable billions of connected devices to share data in real-time.
As per the process, it will not be known until the close which company got how much of airwaves. All the radiowaves sold on day one were at the reserve price.
Describing the participation by four bidders as 'strong', the minister said bids worth Rs 1.45 lakh crore came in on day one. The auction saw healthy participation, he said, adding the response shows that the industry has turned from its difficult time caused by litigation.
"Now industry is getting converted to sunrise industry...Bids of about Rs 1,45,000 crore show that the industry is moving towards positive territory, now new investments will come, service quality will improve, and new technology will be introduced," the minister said.
The bidding and demand seen on the first day is over 80 per cent more than government's internal estimates of Rs 80,000 crore. The minister acknowledged that response had gone "far beyond our expectations". He added that going by the current participation levels, auctions would surpass the budgeted provisions.
The government, he said, will allocate the spectrum in record time and 5G services are expected to start rolling out by September-October timeframe. The target is to allocate the spectrum by August 14-15, he said.
Four rounds of bidding were held on the opening day, with mid and high-end bands seeing keen interest. Bids were received for 7 out of 9 bands with more than half of the total bids (in value terms) coming in from 3,300 megahertz band - which is for 5G communications. As much as Rs 78,550 crore worth of bids were made for spectrum in the 3,300 MHz band, market experts analysing DoT data said.
The 700 MHz band, which is being widely used by the telcos in the West for a cost-efficient deployment, received Rs 39,270 crore worth of provisional bids while millimetre wave band 26 GHz, which allows for ultra-high-speed mobile broadband services, was the third most sought after band with bids worth Rs 14,632.50 crore.
No bids were received for 800 MHz and 2,300 MHz bands.
In addition to powering ultra-low latency connections, which allow downloading full-length high-quality video or movie to a mobile device in a matter of seconds (even in crowded areas), fifth generation or 5G would enable solutions such as e-health, connected vehicles, more immersive augmented reality and metaverse experiences, life-saving use cases, and advanced mobile cloud gaming, among others.
In all the auction is being held for spectrum in various low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHz), mid (3,300 MHz) and high (26 GHz) frequency bands.
A total of 72 GHz (gigahertz) of radiowaves worth at least Rs 4.3 lakh crore is up for bidding.
The auction will continue on Wednesday, and is likely to conclude tomorrow itself.
Asked how much will the bids go beyond Rs 1.45 lakh crore levels seen on day one, the minister said, "It looks like it will be at that level, but nothing can be said till the auction is ongoing".
The minister assured that consumers will be able to experience 5G services in many cities by 2022-end.
"Spectrum is basic raw material for telecom. Good spectrum can improve telecom services. In coming months and years, quality of service will improve significantly," Vaishnaw said, adding India's indigenous 5G stack too will be ready in a few months.
Prashant Singhal, EY Global TMT Emerging Markets Leader, said the first day of spectrum auction was in line with the expectations, particularly when it came to 3,300 MHz and 26 GHz bands.
"It clearly highlights that coveted 5G spectrum is much in demand. Bidding in the 700 MHz band was surprising considering the spectrum price. However, it is reflective of the need to provide pan-India coverage for 5G, especially in the rural areas," Singhal said.
There is no excess demand in any of the bands, Singhal said, adding if the trend continued, the bidding is expected to be over as soon as 100 per cent activity is reached.
"The auction is likely to witness higher than market estimates," he added.
In the auction conducted in 2021 - that had lasted two days - Reliance Jio had picked up spectrum worth Rs 57,122.65 crore, Bharti Airtel bid about Rs 18,699 crore, and Vodafone Idea bought spectrum worth Rs 1,993.40 crore.
The custom-designed state-of-the-art 5G-connected ambulance is equipped with the latest medical equipment, patient monitoring applications, and telemetry devices that transmit the patient health data to the hospital in real-time.
In addition, it is also equipped with onboard cameras, camera-based headgear, and body cams for paramedic staff - all connected to the ultra-fast and low latency Airtel 5G network.
It will be further enabled with technologies like Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality, which will help the ambulance to act as an extension of the emergency room by remaining always connected to the hospital. This may also help transport doctors virtually to the ambulance.
A demonstration was conducted in Bengaluru over the 5G trial spectrum allotted to Airtel by the Department of Telecom.
"5G is a transformational technology and healthcare is one of the most promising use cases for 5G," said Ajay Chitkara, Director & CEO, Airtel Business, Bharti Airtel in a statement.
Studies show that an increased journey distance to the hospital is associated with an increased risk of mortality, with a 10-km increase in straight-line distance associated with around a 1 per cent absolute increase in mortality.
Studies also indicate that prehospital time management should become a management objective.
"These insights propelled us to collaborate with Airtel on the 5G connected ambulance project and use 5G in order to utilise the disruption-free, lag-free connectivity it provides. This will help save many lives as timely treatment can be started even in the ambulance itself," said Dr Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group.
"5G will be a game-changer in enabling new use cases and improving efficiency across every industry and specifically in the healthcare sector, as 5G will arm doctors with actionable insights to augment patient monitoring and treatment," added Anand Bhaskar, Managing Director, Service Provider Business, Cisco India & SAARC
Low latency helps in streaming a very high volume of data with minimal delay.
Besides, some IoT solutions such as cloud gaming, wearable devices which can access workplaces remotely, and drones for inventory management in warehouses were displayed at the telecom operator's Network Experience Center in Haryana's Manesar.
It also demonstrated immersive video experiences and India's first 5G-powered hologram of former India cricketer Kapil Dev, and recreated the in-stadia experience of his unbeaten 175 not out against Zimbabwe during the 1983 World Cup. Reportedly, there is no video footage available for that particular match due to a strike by TV technicians at that particular time.
With speeds of over 1 gbps and latency of under 20 ms, more than 50 users seamlessly enjoyed a highly personalized 4K video experience of the re-created match on 5G smartphones, with real-time access to multiple camera angles, 360-degree in-stadia view, and shot analysis.
It is expected that an auction for 5G spectrum would be conducted within the next two months and the formal launch of the service later this year - possibly around Independence Day.
"With today's demonstration, we have only scratched the surface of the infinite possibilities of 5G and highly personalised immersive experiences in the digital world. With 5G based holograms, we will be able to transport virtual avatars to any location and this will be a game changer for meetings and conferences, LIVE news and will have so many other use cases," said Randeep Sekhon, Chief Technology Officer of Bharti Airtel.
"Airtel is fully prepared for 5G in this emerging digital world and is building a solid pipeline of innovative use cases for India," he added.
The revised tariffs will come into effect from December 1, the telecom major said.
The announcement by Reliance Jio comes few days after Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel announced a hike in their respective prepaid tariffs.
"These plans will provide the best value in the industry. Upholding the Jio promise of providing the best-quality service at the lowest price globally, Jio customers will continue to be the biggest beneficiaries."
"The new unlimited plans will go-live on 1st December 2021 and can be opted from all existing touchpoints and channels," Jio said.
On Tuesday, Vodafone Idea had announced that it would raise tariffs for its prepaid users by around 20 per cent, which came into effect on Thursday.
It maintained that the revision in plans will start the process of ARPU (Average Revenue Per Unit) improvement and help address the financial stress faced by the industry.
Earlier on Monday, Bharti Airtel had also raised the prepaid tariffs by around 20 per cent, which came into effect from Friday.
Recently, Airtel, one of the oldest mobile service providers in the country, had announced to increase the tariff of pre-paid connections by 20 to 25 per cent from November 26. And, other telecom companies are also expected to follow the suit.
"Bharti Airtel has always maintained that the mobile Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) needs to be at Rs 200 and ultimately at Rs 300, so as to provide a reasonable return on capital that allows for a financially healthy business model," the telecom operator said in a regulatory filing.
"We also believe that this level of ARPU will enable the substantial investments required in networks and spectrum. Even more important, this will give Airtel the elbow room to roll out 5G in India," the company had stated.
This revision is part of their "rebalancing" of tariffs, the filing said.
Airtel has increased the minimum voice tariff plan to Rs 99 from Rs 79. The plan comes with 28 days validity and benefits like 50 per cent more talk time worth Rs 99, 200MB data, 1p/sec voice tariff.
Vodafone Idea CEO Ravinder Takkar, during a recent post-earnings investor call of the company, had asserted that tariff hike remains critical for continued revival of the sector.
Takkar said the company has started working on raising mobile tariffs, and it is expected to be in place very soon.
"Some activity on tariff hikes has started to happen. Tariff hikes which are the next important step will also take (place) soon. For us, particularly as a company, we will not shy away from raising tariffs," Takkar had said.
The telecom sector is buoyant and upbeat after the government recently approved a blockbuster revival package that includes a four-year break for companies from paying statutory dues, permission to share scarce airwaves, change in the definition of revenue on which levies are paid and 100 per cent foreign investment through the automatic route.
The measures -- aimed at providing relief to telecom service providers that have to pay thousands of crores of rupees in unprovisioned past statutory dues -- also include the scrapping of Spectrum Usage Charge (SUC) for airwaves acquired in future spectrum auctions.
(With agency input)
Airtel is joining forces with technology companies such as Accenture, AWS, CISCO, Ericsson, Google Cloud, Nokia, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to work with industry leading brands such as Apollo Hospitals, Flipkart and several leading manufacturing companies to test 5G-based solutions.
"The 5G ecosystem will open limitless possibilities for enterprises to enhance productivity and serve their customers even better with digitally enabled applications," said Randeep Singh Sekhon, CTO, Bharti Airtel.
These solutions, said the company, will be deployed on 5G test spectrum allotted to Airtel and include use cases like smart factory, smart healthcare, 5G-powered quality inspection, digital twin, connected frontline workforce and AR/VR based use cases, among others.
The use case demonstrations will be conducted both at end-user locations and at Airtel's advanced 5G lab in Network Experience Centre at Manesar in Gurgaon.
Earlier this year Airtel demonstrated India's first 5G experience over a Live 4G network.
It has also demonstrated India's first rural 5G trial as well as the first cloud gaming experience on 5G.
Airtel is also spearheading the O-RAN Alliance initiatives in India to build 5G solutions and has announced partnerships with Tata Group, Qualcomm, Intel, Mavenir and Altiostar.
Both the companies are already in advanced stage of discussions and negotiations since last year, media reports said.
These reports suggest the investment from Google into Airtel can be quite large in amount.
It remains to be seen what are the underlying dynamics because the Jio and Google partnership might have come with a restriction for the latter to invest in any of its rival companies, including Airtel or Vodafone Idea.
Google had invested Rs 34,000 crore into Jio Platforms.
Bharti Airtel is already looking to raise capital so that it can invest it on its 4G networks around the country to increase capacity. Jefferies believe that since there's no urgent need of raising cash, the telco is likely assuming that it will need a larger capacity network to hold all the Vodafone Idea (Vi) customers that come its way, Telecom Talk reported.
Thus a large investment from Google into the company can set a lot of things in order for Bharti Airtel. It will allow the telco to smoothly pay off its debt to the government and also keep investing in 4G and 5G networks.
Bhubaneswar: With the approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to e-commerce and payment system company Paytm to start payments bank services in the beginning of 2017 followed by the launch of Airtel Payments Bank services across the country, the Indian financial ecosystem is ready to offer its citizens a wide array of options to carry out banking transactions, including deposit money and make payments, earn interests on their savings and undertake remittances at kiosks located closer to their home instead of going to bank branches mostly in urban and semi-urban areas.
As per banker Ramesh Chandra Khadanga, “The payments bank will operate in a brick-and-mortar manner, instead of acting as a virtual bank. RBI has given a licence for setting up of payments bank with the sole purpose to extend banking services in unbanked areas, thereby bringing more people of the country under the financial system.”
Seeing lots of opportunities for payments bank to do business, IDBI general manager Anirudha Behera states, “In banking sector, any new entrant can eye for a pie of the untapped business scopes in the country estimated to be 60%.”
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Behera adds, “Despite the fact that the Indian financial market is robust, banks operating in India are yet to tap the wealth of many people residing in the country. Undoubtedly many transactions are happening outside the purview of the Indian banking system.”
In this backdrop, someone gets a sense that payments bank will do a brisk business in days ahead while adding a new chapter to the Indian financial system.
Begging to differ, Behera opines, “To expect that payments bank will earn a handful profit in next 5-7 years is a daydream only. To establish its business model only, a payments bank will take considerable time due to the limitations imposed on them by the RBI including no lending power and Rs 1 lakh cap on deposits for each account holder,” adding that usually commercial banks get a significant chunk of their revenue from interests paid by customers including corporates on loans taken.
The move of the leading broadband provider will certainly be a competition with Reliance Jio’s Rs 1,999 plan which offers 125GB data and comes with a validity of 180 days along with 100 SMS per day and unlimited voice calls.
The special BSNL prepaid data plan offers long-term benefits to the users. As per sources, the plan comes with a validity of 150 days while its users will get a maximum of 2GB daily 3G data along with unlimited voice calls even while roaming. The plan also offers as many as 100 SMS per day.
For the entire validity period, the prepaid users will get a total of up to 300GB data and up to 15,000 SMS for the entire validity period.
This apart, BSNL has introduced a FIFA special plan priced at Rs 149, which offers 4GB daily data for 28 days. However, the plan does not include any voice call or SMS benefits.
A few days back, BSNL had launched four new non-FTTH broadband plans that start from Rs 99 to Rs 399, where the users can get a data ranging from 45GB to mega 600GB.
These plans come with daily data benefit like the unlimited prepaid combo plans that are being offered by telecom majors these days and some of these broadband plans have voice combo-inbuilt, which makes them attractive for the end user.
Also Read: Reliance Jio’s 3 new plans to beat Airtel, BSNL: Get 5GB daily data for 196 days
BSNL has introduced Rs 99 with 45GB data per month, Rs 199 will provide 150GB per month, Rs 299 with 300GB data per month and Rs 399 BBG ULD Combo will give the users a 600GB data, which is the highest plan under this segment.
All these new broadband plans will give 20 Mbps speed, and after the allocated data is consumed, the speed will be reduced to 1 Mbps, which is again a decent speed.
Giving another offer to its customers, Reliance Jio has once again come up with three different plans.
Reliance Jio is now offering something called JioLink, which is an indoor 4G Wi-Fi hotspot offering high-speed internet access and best for use in homes, shops, malls and offices, BGR India reported.
The first plan is at Rs 699 with 28 days validity, where one get 140GB data with a daily limit of 5GB.
The second plan is at Rs 2,099 which offers 5GB daily data with a validity of 98 days. In case you each your daily limit, here you can continue browsing at reduced speed of 64Kbps.
The third plan is at Rs 4,199 and which ensures 5GB daily data with a validity of 196 days.
It is important to note that all plans come with complimentary subscription to Jio apps. However, the plans don’t include any voice and SMS benefits, BGR India reported.
The Airtel Big Byte Offer, which was introduced in May last year, was earlier valid till March 2018.
Under plans for Rs 1,099 and Rs 1,799, Airtel will offer 100 GB data per month at 100 Mbps speed and 1,000 GB as bonus data to broadband users.
In Mumbai, the service provider will offer bonus data to customers who have chosen Rs 699 and up to Rs 1,799 monthly plan. Similarly, in Delhi, Airtel will offer the data to customers who choose Rs 699 and up to Rs 1,299 monthly plan.
This offer is available to customers who have availed Airtel’s broadband services on or after June 12, 2017 after visiting www.airtel.in/broadband.
The data can be carried forward each month till October 31, or till the data is finished.
The Rs 93 pack comes with 'unlimited' local and STD calls, free calls on roaming, 100 SMS messages per day, and 1GB of 4G/ 3G data for the entire 28-day validity period.
As part of its Republic Day 2018 offer, Reliance Jio introduced Rs. 98 pack for prepaid customers with 28-day validity, making it the cheapest recharge with month-long validity it has to offer. Jio's Rs.98 prepaid recharge plan offers 2 GB of 4G high speed data for a period of 28 days with no daily cap.
Recently, Airtel had started offering 1GB data per day for 28 days with the Rs. 149 recharge pack, as a response to Jio offering the same benefits at the time.
The new recharge pack from Idea targets consumers having call requirements rather than internet data.
The Rs 93 prepaid pack offer unlimited local and STD calls and 1GB of 3G data for 10 days.
However, calls are limited to 250 minutes per day and 1,000 minutes per week. Subscribers will have to pay 1 paisa per second for calls beyond this.
Meanwhile, consumers should check official website or app to be sure that the Rs 93-prepaid plan is available to their number.
On the other hand, Airtel’s Rs. 93 recharge pack offers similar benefits. Jio’s Rs 98 prepaid pack also gives consumers more validity, free calls on roaming, 140 SMSes and 150 MB per day data.
The revised Airtel’s Rs 799 pack offers a total of 98GB 3G/4G data, unlimited local, STD, and roaming voice calls. Besides users can avail facilities of 100 local and national SMS daily for 28 days.
Earlier, the Rs 799 pack of Airtel was offering 3GB data per day.
However, the revised pack of Airtel has a cap on calls for 250 minutes a day and 1,000 minutes per week.
Last week, Airtel declared free subscription to its content for Airtel prepaid and postpaid subscribers until on the Airtel TV app.
Reliance Jio currently offers 1.05 GB of data in its Rs 52 recharge prepaid plan which comes bundled with free voice calls and free messages with a validity of seven days.
The Airtel's new Rs 49 prepaid data pack is available via My Airtel app as well as the company's website. The new data pack is in addition to another plan of Airtel that also offers 1GB 3G/ 4G data with 1-day validity but is priced at Rs 51. However, the Rs 49 data pack is currently only available for select mobile numbers and select circles in India.
Airtel prepaid users in metros, including New Delhi can now avail the prepaid data pack.
To avail the offer, subscribers can open 'My Airtel' app from their mobiles and click on 'View Best Offers' to have a look at all the new packs available under the Data section and choose accordingly.
Customers can also log on to Airtel's website and then click on prepaid recharge. Once done, they just have to add the mobile number and browse the plans.
The plan, priced at Rs 3,999 comes with a validity of 360 days, which is five days less than a year.
According to reports, the plan doesn't have a daily limit on the data usage which means users can either consume 300GB data in just a single day or use it across the validated 360 days.
While most of the telecom operators offer a validity of 28 days on their monthly plans, the Rs 3,999 plan of Airtel comes with a validity of 30 days and will cost the users only Rs 334 per month for 25GB of 4GB data along with unlimited free voice calls including outgoing roaming calls.
Airtel has also introduced a tariff plan of Rs 1,999 which gives the users a benefit of 180 days. The data plan offers 100 SMS per day and 125GB data without any daily Fair User Policy (FUP). The plan also gives unlimited voice calls including outgoing roaming calls.
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Airtel's another tariff plan of Rs 999, which gives benefits for 90 days gives its users unlimited voice calls including outgoing roaming calls. It also offers 100 SMS per day and 60GB data without any daily FUP.
This apart, Airtel has also introduced a new Rs 448 tariff plan for the prepaid subscribers where users will avail unlimited voice calls and 70GB 3G or 4G data with the FUP of 1GB data per day. Once the quota is exceeded, the speed of data is likely to reduce to 64kbps.
The offer is a special Diwali offer but the telecom operator is yet to reveal the expiry date of the offer.
Customers have to recharge using the Airtel Payments Bank to get the cashback.
According to sources, the offer differs from person to person and 100% cashback is not provided with a single recharge. The cashback on the first recharge will be Rs 75 and from the second recharge it will be just Rs 40.
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Notably, the Rs 349 plan from Airtel offers 300 minutes of voice calls per day and 1200 minutes per week and 1GB 4G data per day for 28 days.
Recently, Jio launched the special cashback offer giving customers full cashback in the form of vouchers, which one can use for future recharges. Moreover, Reliance Jio has recently updated its tariff plans and hiked the price of the Rs 399 plan to Rs 459 with same benefits of 1GB data per day and free unlimited voice calls for 84 days.
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However, the company has not confirmed whether the offer will continue after Diwali.
Vodafone’s move came after Reliance Jio and Airtel came up with similar plan to attract customers.
Reliance Jio also recently offered 100 per cent cashback on a recharge of Rs 399. Its Dhan Dhana Dhan plan will start from October 12 and will continue till October 18.
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In the cash-back offer, users will also get eight recharge vouchers worth Rs 50, which the users will be able to redeem in the future of Rs 309 or above and Rs 91 or above for data add-ons. However, users can only redeem these vouchers after November 15 only one at a time. The company is yet to announce the expiry date of these vouchers.
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Airtel provides free calling to all local/STD and 1GB of data which is valid for 28 days.
But the pack has some restrictions with cap on call limit of 300 minutes per day and 1200 minutes per week. Additionally, the company has introduced a new plan of Rs 178 for new customers. It doesn't allow free messages with the pack unlike Jio which offers 300 messages.
After 1GB data is used up, further usage will result in deduction from the main balance.
Previously, the telecom giant had introduced a new Rs 999 plan for exclusive customers which provide 112GB of data per month along with unlimited local + STD voice calls.
For all details customers can visit the operator’s website and apply.
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Launched in 2014 as an over-the-top (OTT) application, Wynk Music has emerged as India's leading music app with one of the highest numbers of active users, the company said in a statement.
"Our biggest obsession is user experience and we continue to invest and innovate to keep making it better," said Sameer Batra, CEO - Content and Apps, Bharti Airtel.
Wynk Music has partnered with leading record labels including Hungama, Universal Music, Sony Music, Saregama, Zee Music among others to offer unmatched variety and top entertainment experience to users.
The latest version of Wynk Music was released in May 2018.
Google was the first smartphone vendor to support built-in eSIMs with its Project Fi -- now called Google Fi -- network last year.
"Sprint in the US, EE in the UK, Airtel and Reliance Jio in India, and Truphone and Gigsky in various countries will also roll out eSIM support for Pixel 3 in the coming months," Kerrie Lenhart Hogan, Director, Partnerships at Google, said in a statement.
"If you're in Germany, look out for the ability to purchase Pixel 3 with eSIM functionality from Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone soon."
Pixel 2 was the first major smartphone with eSIM -- an embedded SIM that lets you instantly connect to a carrier network with the tap of a button.
With eSIM, users can connect across devices in the Google ecosystem -- from Android smartphones to Chromebooks to Wear OS smartwatches.
"To enable a consistent and simple experience across the ecosystem, we're also creating a programme that allows Android device makers to build eSIM-capable smartphones," said Google.
Launched in October, "Pixel 3" costs Rs 71,000 for the 64GB variant in India and up to Rs 80,000 for the 128GB storage variant.
The "Pixel 3 XL" is available at Rs 83,000 for the 64GB variant and up to Rs 92,000 for the 128GB model.
Currently available in English, the feature will also be rolled out in regional languages to deliver a personalised experience to millions of smartphone users, the company said in a statement.
Airtel will track what questions customer are asking and enable responses to them via Google Assistant.
"With smartphones fast becoming the norm for every Indian, this will make digital self-care much more interactive and step up the customer experience. We will continue to bring more of such exciting solutions for 'Digital India,'" said Sarang Kanade, Director, Customer Experience and Retail, Bharti Airtel.
Airtel customers can ask Google Assistant questions about data and account balance, current outstanding, best offers, recharge, bill summary and pay bills, current data usage and available Airtel postpaid plans, among others.
The initiative is part of "Project Next" -- Airtel's digital innovation programme aimed at transforming customer experience across its services and touch points.
To get account details, the Airtel assistant will ask to link your Airtel account with Google.
If you click yes, you will be asked to enter your mobile number, accept the Terms of Service.
"Once you accept the Terms of service, you will receive an OTP. Enter the OTP to complete linking your account," said the company.
"This will further expand Airtel TV app's wide range of offerings and expand the footprint for Hotstar's content across Airtel's large mobile customer base," the telecom service provider said in a statement.
According to the company, all content on Airtel TV app will be free for its prepaid and postpaid customers on a promotional basis till June 2018.
Sameer Batra, CEO-Wynk, Airtel said that Hotstar's "rich content library will add immense value to our content play and add to the user experience."
The statement added that the Hotstar catalogue available to Airtel TV users will include shows from channels across multiple genres, popular movies and shows in Hindi and regional languages, along with access to sports content and live matches.
"Further to our statement dated December 16, 2017, we would like to confirm that the UIDAI has allowed Bharti Airtel to resume Aadhaar based e-KYC services. We continue to engage with the authorities," a Airtel spokesperson said.
The UIDAI had temporarily suspended Airtel's Aadhaar-based e-KYC service on December 16.
The UIDAI's interim order came after some customers of the telecom major alleged that the company had opened their bank account in Airtel Payments Bank when they used the "Aadhaar linked e-KYC services" without their consent.
The "Aadhaar linked e-KYC" service of UIDAI provides an instant, electronic, non-repudiable proof of identity and proof of address along with date of birth and gender, resident's mobile number and email address to the service provider.
This work is to be undertaken under an agreement with the Department of Telecom (DoT), a company release said here.
"Bharti Airtel has signed an agreement with DoT and the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) for provision of mobile services in identified uncovered villages and national highways in the northeastern states of Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh," the Airtel statement said.
As the largest operator in the northeastern states, Airtel will set up over 2,000 mobile towers and sites in unconnected pockets of the region to deliver telecom connectivity in over 2,100 villages over the next 18 months, it said.
For executing the project, Airtel would receive about Rs 1,610 crore from the DoT's Universal Service Obligation Fund to provide telecom services in rural and remote areas, the statement added.
The telecom giant said the infrastructure set up by it will also enable other service providers to offer services in a region characterised by tough terrain, as well as lower population density and connectivity.
"iPhone X" costs Rs 89,000 for the 64GB variant while the 256GB version comes for Rs 102,000. The device was made available on the store, starting 8 p.m.
The first batch of the "iPhone X" on Airtel's online store was sold out within minutes of going on sale on November 3, the company said in a statement.
The device on Airtel's Online Store is available exclusively to postpaid customers as an unlocked device on a first come first serve and full-payment basis, till stocks last, the company added.
The company will also deliver the device free of charge to customers' doorstep.
The acquisition is subject to requisite regulatory approvals, the statement said without revealing the acquisition amount.
The merger is being done on a debt-free cash-free basis, except for Bharti Airtel assuming a small portion of the unpaid spectrum liability of Tata's towards DoT, which is to be paid on deferred basis, the joint-statement added.
As part of the agreement, Bharti Airtel will absorb Consumer Mobile Businesses (CMB) of TTSL and TTML across the country in 19 circles (17 under TTSL and two under TTML).
"This is a significant development towards further consolidation in the Indian mobile industry and reinforces our commitment to lead India's digital revolution by offering world-class and affordable telecom services through a robust technology and solid spectrum portfolio," said Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal.
"On completion, the proposed acquisition will undergo seamless integration, both on the customer as well as the network side, and further strengthen our market position in several key circles. The customers of Tata will be able to enjoy India's widest and fastest voice & data network, and bouquet of Airtel's best-in-class products and services," he said.
"The acquisition of additional spectrum made an attractive business proposition. It will further strengthen our already solid portfolio and create substantial long term value for our shareholders given the significant synergies," Mittal added.
The Bharti Board, which met on Thursday afternoon, has approved this transaction. The Boards of Tata Sons, TTSL and TTML, too, have given their approval.
According to earlier reports, TTSL has seen its net worth fall by over Rs 11,600 crore in FY17, and losses increase from Rs 2,409 crore to Rs 4,617 crore year-on-year. Revenues, meanwhile were down 10 per cent to under Rs 10,000 crore.
According to sources, Tata Sons is saddled with over Rs.66,500 Crore of debt and liabilities as a result of Tata Teleservices merger with Bharti.
Industry sources said out of this merger deal, Bharti Airtel got over 40 million customers with high churn rate and over 5,000 employees.
Sources said TTSL owes the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) over Rs.10,140 crore of deferred spectrum payments and also has regulatory contingent liabilities to an estimated tune of around Rs 10,900 crore.
"It has bank guarantees of Rs 3,700 crore submitted with DoT. It is beset with a liability of Rs 7,200 Crore which is to be paid to NTT Docomo as arbitration award for the latter's 21.6 per cent stake in Tata Teleservices. NTT Docomo had exercised option on its stake owing to the non-compliance with agreed operational and financial milestones," sources said.
However, N Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons said it was a most optimal solution.
"We believe today's agreement is the best and most optimal solution for the Tata Group and its stakeholders. Finding the right home for our longstanding customers and our employees has been the priority for us. We have evaluated multiple options and are pleased to have this agreement with Bharti," Chandrasekaran said in the joint statement.
Goldman Sachs (India) Securities Private Limited is financial advisor to Tata.
The transaction will also provide Bharti Airtel with an indefeasible right to use (IRU) part of the existing fibre network of Tata.
Tata is also in initial stages of exploring combination of its Enterprise Business with Tata Communications and its Retail Fixed Line and Broadband business with Tata Sky. Any such transaction will be subject to respective boards and other requisite approvals, the statement added.
Tata will retain its stake in Viom, and will take care of the liabilities associated with it.
The proposed merger will include transfer of all the customers and assets of Tata CMB to Bharti Airtel, further augmenting Bharti Airtel's overall customer base and network. It will also enable Bharti Airtel to add 178.5 MHz spectrum (of which 71.3 MHz is liberalised) in the 850, 1800 and 2100 MHz bands.
"This merger is pretty much in line with industry expectations. According to speculations, TTSL either needed to exit the industry or being merged with another entity. It is a win-win deal for both," Rajan S Mathews, Director General, Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), told IANS.
Bharti Airtel will get additional 40 million customers out of this deal.
"This deal will bring in more stability for Airtel. It will gain additional customers and also spectrum," he added.
Mathews indicated that with this deal three big telecom players have emerged in the industry -- Airtel-TTSL, Vodafone-Idea and Reliance Jio.
"While the fate of employees is not clear, the consideration that manpower planning will be done based on business lines is good. Tata Group has the appetite to absorb some employees in Tata Communication, Tata Sky and their other operating companies too. And possibly, they will enable the rest to move to other opportunities," said Amresh Nandan, Research Director, Gartner.
"Under the partnership, the Karbonn A40 Indian now comes at an effective price of just Rs 1,399 (compared to its current market price of approximately Rs 3,499). The 4G smartphone is bundled with a monthly pack of Rs 169 from Airtel, which offers generous data and calling benefit," the statement said.
The statement added that this is the first of several partnerships that Airtel plans to have with mobile handset manufacturers to bring highly affordable bundled 4G smartphone options to the market.
"We are delighted to partner with Karbonn to remove barriers to smartphone adoption and enable millions of Indians to leapfrog to a full touchscreen smartphone experience. We plan to partner with multiple manufacturers to bring affordable smartphone options to the market and build an ‘open ecosystem' of low cost devices. This is yet another step in our ongoing journey to deeply understand customers and bring innovation that delights them," said Raj Pudipeddi, Director - Consumer Business & CMO, Bharti Airtel.
The customer needs to make a down payment of Rs 2,899 for the 4G smartphone and make 36 continuous monthly recharges of Rs 169. The customer will get a cash refund of Rs 500 after 18 months and another Rs 1,000 after 36 months, taking the total cash benefit to Rs 1,500, the company said.
"In case the customer does not wish to opt for the Rs 169 bundled plan, she/he has the flexibility of doing recharges of any denomination and validity as per individual requirements. However, to claim the cash refund benefit, recharges worth Rs 3,000 must be done within the first 18 months (to claim the first refund installment of Rs 500) and another Rs 3,000 over the next 18 months (to claim the second refund installment of Rs 1,000)," it added.
The company further clarified that the ownership of the smartphone is completely with the customer and there is no need to return the device to Airtel/Karbonn at any point to claim the cash benefit.
With a total prize money of $275,000, this year's edition is expected to witness over 34,000 participants, pound the wide long stretches of the capital on the third Sunday of November.
The registrations for the half marathon can be done till October 3, the organisers said at a press conference at a city hotel.
This year the event has received the merit of a Gold Label Race -- a rare distinction from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) classifying the half marathon as one of ‘leading road races around the world'.
The organisers have also introduced a new category -- 10K Run -- alongside the main event.
Airtel Payments Banks will now integrate with Ola app to offer convenient digital payments solutions to customers for their rides.
Ola Money will be integrated as a digital payment solution within MyAirtel App and the Airtel website to enable recharge of Airtel prepaid mobile/DTH and payment of Airtel mobile/broadband bills through Ola Money.
"Ola will also benefit from Airtel's extensive retail network and our integrated suite of world-class connectivity solutions for businesses that help them drive growth through better efficiency," said Gopal Vittal, Managing Director and CEO (India & South Asia) Bharti Airtel.
Airtel retail points will now assist customers looking to book an Ola ride through kiosks in these locations.
The partnership will also have Airtel and Ola build content solutions for the customers of Ola Play, the connected car platform for ridesharing.
"Airtel will integrate its offerings across payments, content, PoS networks and more with Ola's offerings for its large customer and partner base," added Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO and Co-founder at Ola.
Airtel will also facilitate migration of the Ola devices to Airtel 4G network.
The minister also reiterated about the government's recent initiative to check the mobile tower radiation to allay fears about its adverse effect on health.
The minister was speaking to Zee Regional channels' CEO Jagdish Chandra in the "A DIALOGUE WITH JC" show on Thursday.
Sinha was referring to the government's Tarang Sanchar portal that will provide information on mobile towers and and whether they comply with the electromagnetic field emission norms. It will also have information about mobile towers in a particular locality, besides the option to get the details via email.
The portal will allow anybody to request for electro-magnetic field emission measurement at a location by paying Rs 4,000 online.
He also said people nowadays are using data more than voice calls. This, according to him, is an indication that India is heading towards a less-cash economy.
Nettle is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bharti Airtel.
"The company has today completed an inter-se transfer of 11.32 per cent stake in Bharti Infratel to Nettle Infrastructure Investments," the filing with the BSE said.
"Post the said inter-se transfer, Bharti Airtel will hold 50.33 per cent while Nettle will hold 11.32 per cent stake in Bharti Infratel, the remaining 38.35 per cent shall be held by public/other shareholders," it added.
"The FTTH (Fibre-To-the-Home) based plan (300 mbps download speed) comes at a monthly rental of Rs 2,199 and offers 1,200GB of ultra-high speed data along with unlimited STD and local calling benefits," Airtel said in a statement.
Customers opting for the plan also get free subscription to Airtel's OTT apps - Wynk Music and Airtel TV.
Following the resounding success of our V-Fiber home broadband offering, we are delighted to introduce the new FTTH based plans for customers looking for higher speeds," George Mathen, CEO Homes, Bharti Airtel said
He further said that Airtel will plan to expand FTTH offerings over the coming days and provide customers the choice of home broadband plans across a wide range of price points and speeds.
Also Read: BSNL Counters Jio! Offers Bumper 153 GB At Just Rs 248
In India, broadband service provider Spectra claims to provide 1 gigabit per second (gbps) download speed to its customers in select cities where it operates.
Airtel offers home broadband and fixed line services in 89 cities across India and is the second largest broadband service provider in the country after Reliance Jio.
What's special in this recharge pack is that it offers unlimited data, unlimited voice calls and unlimited video calls to subscribers and it comes with a validity of 10 days.
The pack was specially introduced during the festive season so that users can connect with their family and friends across different parts of the country. Sources said customers can avail the offer at all eligible telecom circles from October 15.
However, the pack comes with a data limit of 2GB per day and the speed will be reduced to 80 kbps after the exhaustion of the data.
It may be noted here that BSNL provides 4G services only in Kerala while all other telecom circles of the operator provide 3G connectivity. Sources have claimed that the operator is all set to get 4G spectrum later this month.
In yet another such plan, BSNL decided to revamp its Rs 29 and Rs 9 recharge packs.
In the Rs 29 pack, BSNL is offering unlimited local/STD voice calling benefits to any network in home circle and national roaming, except Delhi and Mumbai. This apart, users can avail 1GB data and 300 SMS messages for seven days in the pack. It also includes free access to PRBT (Personalised Ringback Tone) throughout the validity period of seven days, reported Techiyogiz.
In the Rs 9 pack, users will get unlimited local and STD calls to any network in home circle and national roaming except Delhi and Mumbai, but for a day. Also, this pack offers 100MB data and 100 SMS messages for a day.
In yet another such plan, the BSNL decided to revamp its Rs 29 and Rs 9 recharge packs.
In the Rs 29 pack, BSNL is offering unlimited local/STD voice calling benefits to any network in home circle and national roaming, except Delhi and Mumbai. This apart, users can avail 1GB data and 300 SMS messages for seven days in the pack. It also includes free access to PRBT (Personalised Ringback Tone) throughout the validity period of seven days, reported Techiyogiz.
In the Rs 9 pack, users will get unlimited local and STD calls to any network in home circle and national roaming except Delhi and Mumbai, but for a day. Also, this pack offers 100MB data and 100 SMS messages for a day.
Reliance Jio, in contrary to BSNL’s Rs 29 and Rs 9 packs, in its Rs 52 plan offers 0.15GB data per day along with unlimited voice calls and 70 SMSes for a period of seven days.
Reliance Jio’s mini-pack of Rs 19 offers similar benefits, but the validity is for one day only.
Airtel’s strong 4G presence across Bengal and Sikkim will enable seamless connectivity for VoLTE services, offering customers parallel sessions of seamless voice calling and superfast data. Airtel has also been consistently ramping up its 4G capacity in both the states to serve the fast growing customer demand for high-speed data.
Over 200 4G smartphones now support Airtel VoLTE, enabling customers to experience HD quality voice calling and superfast data on a wide range of smartphones on Airtel’s nationwide 4G network. All popular 4G smartphones are now shipped with default Airtel VoLTE support. Users of the bestselling 4G smartphones from major brands like Oppo, Vivo, Apple, Samsung, OnePlus, Nokia, Panasonic, Xiaomi, Karbonn, Lava and Panasonic can now converse on the HD quality voice calling offered on Airtel VoLTE.
Sameer Anjaria, CEO, West Bengal & Odisha, Bharti Airtel said, “We are delighted to extend our VoLTE footprint to Bengal and Sikkim, complementing our world class 4G network, VoLTE will add to customer’s experience and enable them to make the most of their smartphone.”
There will be no additional data charges for VoLTE and calls will be billed as per existing plan or pack benefits. In case of non-availability of 4G network, Airtel VoLTE calls automatically fall back on 3G/2G network to ensure that customers continue to stay connected at all times.
Customers can get started on Airtel VoLTE services by following a few quick steps:
Customers with Dual-SIM handsets have to ensure that the Airtel 4G USIM has been inserted in the data SIM slot 1 and network mode has been set as “4G/3G/2G (Auto)”.
The new packs have been designed on the basis of extensive research and feedback from customers, who highlighted the need for talk time, tariff and data built into one single pack instead of the need to do separate recharges.
The packs will initially be launched in Punjab, Tamil Nadu & UP West and will be rolled out in other parts of the country over the next few weeks.
Commenting on the launch Ajai Puri, COO – India & South Asia, Bharti Airtel said: “We are constantly listening to our customers and working towards improving their experience through exciting innovations and process re-engineering. These revolutionary prepaid packs are designed to truly simplify the customer experience and offer great value. All this will continue to be backed by world-class customer services on India’s best mobile network.”
Recently, in an industry first move, Airtel launched affordable international roaming voice packs, ‘Foreign Pass’, for prepaid customers in India.
While Airtel in its Rs 448 plan is offering 1.4GB data benefit per day for 82 days, Jio is providing two prepaid plans of Rs 448 and Rs 449 with benefits of 2GB data per day and 1.5GB data per day for 84 days and 91 days respectively.
However, Vodafone's Rs 458 prepaid plan is offering a massive 235.2GB for a period of 84 days, which means users can avail up to 2.8GB data per day.
Vodafone has also refreshed its Rs 199 prepaid pack to now offer 2.8GB data per day, reported TelecomTalk. The Rs 199 Vodafone recharge is also said to come with unlimited voice calls with daily and weekly FUP limits, but no SMS benefits.
Vodafone's Rs. 199 recharge is now said to come with benefits of up to 2.8GB data per day with a validity of 28 days. This gives users a data limit of 78.4GB for the entire period.
A few days back, BSNL had launched four new non-FTTH broadband plans that start from Rs 99 to Rs 399, where the users can get a data ranging from 45GB to mega 600GB.
These plans come with daily data benefit like the unlimited prepaid combo plans that are being offered by telecom majors these days and some of these broadband plans have voice combo-inbuilt, which makes them attractive for the end user.
BSNL has introduced Rs 99 with 45GB data per month, Rs 199 will provide 150GB per month, Rs 299 with 300GB data per month and Rs 399 BBG ULD Combo will give the users a 600GB data, which is the highest plan under this segment.
While Airtel is going with Amazon Prime and Jio with Jio TV, Vodafone has gone one step ahead by offering free Netflix subscription to its postpaid users. Vodafone RED plans introduced last year by the company start at Rs 399 per month and are available only for Vodafone’s postpaid users.
The channel, presently available via Doordarshan's DTH (direct to home) service, was launched Saturday, exclusively for the northeast states. Modi dedicated the channel to the people of Arunachal Pradesh.
Doordarshan Director General Supriya Sahu said Arun Prabha, once linked to Airtel and Dish TV, will give global viewers an opportunity to learn about the diverse culture of northeast India.
The region already has another exclusive channel, 'DD North-East,which telecasts entertainment and information- based programmes in Assamese, Bengali, English among other local languages.
We have written to the central government and measures will be taken to ensure that viewers across the world get to learn about the Land of Rising Sun and other states in the region, Sahu told PTI.
The channel, presently available via Doordarshan's DTH (direct to home) service, was launched Saturday, exclusively for the northeast states. Modi dedicated the channel to the people of Arunachal Pradesh.
Doordarshan Director General Supriya Sahu said Arun Prabha, once linked to Airtel and Dish TV, will give global viewers an opportunity to learn about the diverse culture of northeast India.
The region already has another exclusive channel, 'DD North-East,which telecasts entertainment and information- based programmes in Assamese, Bengali, English among other local languages.
We have written to the central government and measures will be taken to ensure that viewers across the world get to learn about the Land of Rising Sun and other states in the region, Sahu told PTI.
In a statement, Airtel said that it plans to roll out 10 Next-Gen stores across Kolkata and other major cities across West Bengal over the coming months.
"The Next-Gen Airtel stores have been conceptualized by the UK based 8 Inc. The stores are open and minimalistic by design and do away with all barriers between the customer and the brand, and use cutting-edge digital technologies to make the customer experience highly interactive through the concept of 'Share, Create, Experience'," it said.
Next-Gen Airtel stores are part of "Project Next", Airtel's digital innovation programme aimed at transforming and simplifying customer experience across all of its services and touch points.
Bharti Airtel has already initiated the efforts and is likely to make a formal proposal soon, sources said while Reliance Jio Infocomm is also considering a bid.
This comes amid reports that the Japanese media major Sony Corporation's bid to acquire Zee Entertainment Enterprises has been put off due to differences of valuation. This has helped US cable company Comcast-Atairos become the frontrunner in the acquisition talks.
However, a spokesperson with Bharti Airtel said: "Airtel is not in the race to acquire Zee."
Zee Entertainment could not be reached for comment while call to a spokesperson in Reliance Industries remained unanswered.
Zee Entertainment is also said to be considering getting in private equity (PE) investors as part of their stake sale process. Apple is the other contender in the acquistion race after Comcast-Atairos, sources said.
Sony had initially proposed a merger of its existing operations with Zee Entertainment and was also open to a cash buyout.
This comes as a major blow to the Subhash Chandra-led Essel Group which is looking to sell its its stake in Zee Entertainment due to its financial stress. Essel Group's promoters have been selling shares of its group companies since its crises started earlier this year.
Zee is also present in the over-the-top video content space with Zee5, while Sony runs the SonyLiv OTT platform and both these platfroms compete with Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Zee Entertainment's promoters has been in talks with multiple investors to sell around 25 per cent stake from their shareholding of around 40 per cent, in order to pay off loans taken against their shares. As or December 2018, around 59 per cent of the promoters' stake in Zee Entertainment was pledged to lenders.
Airtel will deploy the Ericsson Cloud VoLTE solution to deliver VoLTE services onto a customer data centre.
"We remain committed to building a future-ready network as part of our network transformation programme 'Project Leap' and deliver best-in-class digital experience to our smartphone customers," said Randeep Sekhon, CTO, Bharti Airtel.
As part of "Project Leap", Airtel is offering innovative communication services.
The Ericsson Cloud VoLTE solution enables high-definition voice (HD voice) and provides modern communication service experiences across many types of devices, over LTE, Wi-Fi, and future 5G access.
According to the latest "Ericsson Mobility Report", India is expected to have more than 780 million VoLTE subscriptions by 2023.
VoLTE technology will also be the foundation for enabling 5G voice calls on different types of 5G devices.
"We are delighted to support Airtel by delivering our Ericsson Cloud VoLTE solution. We start today with expanding HD voice over LTE services across India, which will establish a platform to easily introduce new innovative services in the future," informed Nunzio Mirtillo, Ericsson's Head of Market Area, South-East Asia, Oceania and India.
Ericsson Cloud VoLTE is an industrialised solution to deliver VoLTE services onto a customer data centre Cloud.
Available to both Airtel and non-Airtel customers in iOS and Android, Airtel Books will initially offer over 70,000 titles from leading Indian and international authors. Latest launches like Mind Without Fear from Rajat Gupta are part of the exciting collection. Airtel Books plans to rapidly expand its e-books collection by partnering with leading publishers as well as leveraging its strategic partnership with Juggernaut Books.
All Airtel Books users will get a complimentary 30 day trial to experience the app and can access ‘Free’ titles from the Readers Club. Airtel smartphone customers will also enjoy a one-time special benefit of being able to access any five ‘Paid’ titles from the Readers Club, which has a collection of over 5000 e-books.
Airtel Books has a subscription service called, Reader's Club which is priced at Rs 129 for 6 months and Rs 199 for 12 months. Customers can also buy books on a per book basis with best-in-class offers.
Sameer Batra, CEO – Content & Apps, Bharti Airtel said: “Airtel Books is another major milestone in our journey towards building a world-class digital content portfolio. E-books is a fast growing segment along with music and video, thanks to large screen smartphones becoming the cornerstone of digital lifestyle. We are delighted to roll out this initiative and take it to the smartphone users across India through our deep distribution reach. As we have demonstrated with Wynk Music and Airtel TV, our aim is to use deep customer science to curate great reading content for our users and add to their smartphone experience on our best-in-class network.”
Chiki Sarkar, Co-Founder, Juggernaut Books said, “Reaching the growing smartphone users in the country and getting them phone friendly books at low prices has been the reason Juggernaut was set up. Our association with Airtel has helped really make this vision come alive.”
Some of the popular authors on Airtel Books are Twinkle Khanna, Sourav Ganguly, Rajdeep Sardesai, Sunny Leone, Arundhati Roy, Devdutt Pattnaik, Preeti Shenoy, Yashwant Sinha, Kanhaiya Kumar, Raghuram Rajan, Rujuta Diwekar, Perumal Murugan, Benyamin and Rajat Gupta.
Alongside these names, Airtel Books also offers a large catalogue of stories from as short as five pages across a range of genres - crime, love, sex and romance, business, history and politics, fitness, diet, spirituality and classics.
Reliance Jio was the fastest 4G operator in 2018 with the highest average download speed all through the year.
Performance of Bharti Airtel dipped marginally in March to 9.3 Mbps from 9.4 Mbps in February, according to the data published by the telecom regulator.
Though Vodafone and Idea Cellular have merged and operate as Vodafone Idea, the TRAI published their network performance separately.
Average 4G download speed on Vodafone network improved marginally to 7 Mbps in March from 6.8 Mbps in February. Idea registered a marginal decline in average download speed from 5.7 Mbps in February to 5.6 Mbps in March.
Vodafone topped the average 4G upload speed chart in March with 6 Mbps, which is same as February.
Idea and Airtel network registered slight decline in average 4G upload speed at 5.5 Mbps and 3.6 Mbps, respectively, in March, while Jio witnessed improvement with 4.6 Mbps average upload speed.
The average speed is computed on the basis of data collected by the TRAI with the help of its MySpeed application on a real-time basis.
In its India Telecom report, CLSA said Indian mobile subscribers in February increased by 2 million to 1,184 million, with Reliance Jio adding 8 million, while Bharti Airtel subscribers remained flat and Vodafone Idea lost 6 million, month-on-month (m-o-m).
Over the past year, Jio's active subscriber market share has gone up to 24 per cent, gaining 9 percentage points (ppts), Bharti has maintained its share at 32 per cent and Vodafone Idea lost 5 percentage point to fall to 37 per cent, CLSA said.
The number of 3G and 4G subscribers increased by 10 million to 532 million, the report added.
According to the report, mobile number portability (MNP) requests declined 10 per cent MoM and this, along with the increase in Jio's subscribers in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal, could imply that a part of the dual-SIM users are shifting usage back to incumbent networks.
"With the India mobile being a three-player oligopoly and rising data adoption, we remain positive on Jio which will emerge as a leading telco in 2019, and also Bharti, given its strong market-share defence and inevitable turn in revenues," CLSA said.
Subscriber market-share gains for Jio will continue, the report forecast.
The m-o-m active subscriber base for the sector was flat as Jio's gains were offset by MoM declines of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea. The divergence between active and reported subscribers for Jio remains high at 16 per cent against four to eight per cent for Bharti and Vodafone Idea, the report stated.
It said the 3G/4G subscriber additions have now normalised on a monthly basis.
After rising sharply to 21 million in January this year, the 3G/4G subscriber additions normalised to 10 million, taking the 3G/4G subscriber base to 532 million.
The subsribers of 3G and 4G now form 45 per cent of the reported industry mobile subscriber base, the report added.
"Of the 10 million additions, we estimate that 0.5 million additions were from smartphone users and remaining were JioPhone additions," CLSA said.
According to the brokerage, Vodafone Idea added 0.4 million 3G/4G subscribers in February 2019. Over the past year, Bharti's push on bundled plans helped the operator take its 3G/4G smartphone subscribers share to 24 per cent, gaining 3 ppts.
Reliance Jio was the fastest 4G operator in 2018 with highest average download speed in all 12 months.
However, performance of Bharti Airtel dipped marginally in March to 9.3 Mbps from 9.4 Mbps in February, according to the data published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
Though Vodafone and Idea Cellular have merged their businesses and now operate as Vodafone Idea, TRAI published their network performance separately.
Reports claim that the average 4G download speed on Vodafone network improved marginally to 7.0 Mbps in March from 6.8 Mbps in February.
Idea registered marginal decline in average download speed from 5.7 Mbps in February to 5.6Mbps in the month of March.
Vodafone topped the average 4G upload speed chart with 6.0 Mbps in March, the company registered the same upload speed in January.
Idea and Airtel network registered slight decline in average 4G upload speed at 5.5 Mbps and 3.6 Mbps respectively in March, while Jio witnessed improvement with 4.6Mbps average upload speed.
It may be noted that the download speed plays an important role when a user watches any video, browse the internet, access e-mails; and a good upload speed is required when a user wants to share data such as images, videos and any other files through e-mail or social media applications.
The average speed is computed by TRAI based on data it collects with help of its MySpeed application on a real-time basis.