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<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=bharti+airtel&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Bharti Airtel</a> is going to acquire <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=telenor&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Telenor</a> India, which has operations in seven circles. 
 
These seven circles in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP (East), UP (West) and Assam represent a high population concentration, which will immensely benefit Airtel. 
 The acquisition will include transfer of all of <keyword id="904833" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Telenor-India">Telenor India</keyword>’s assets and customers, further augmenting Airtel’s overall customer base and network. It will also enable Airtel to further bolster its strong spectrum foot-print in these seven circles, with the addition of 43.4 MHz spectrum in the 1800 MHz band. 
 
In return, Airtel will ensure quality services to Telenor India’s customers, while offering them the added benefits of its innovative product portfolio, access to superior voice &amp; data services, mobile banking, VAS and domestic/ international roaming facilities. Telenor India’s operations and services will continue as normal until the completion of the transaction. 
 Gopal Vittal, Managing Director and CEO (India and South Asia), <keyword id="6354287" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bharti-Airtel">Bharti Airtel</keyword>, said, “The agreement underlines our commitment to lead India’s digital revolution by offering world-class and affordable telecom services through a robust spectrum portfolio spread across multiple bands..” 
 
“The acquisition of additional spectrum through this transaction, which made an attractive business proposition, has further enhanced our already solid spectrum portfolio. The proposed transaction will also create substantial long term value for our shareholders given the significant synergies.” added Gopal. 
 
Sigve Brekke, Chief Executive Officer of Telenor Group, said, “The decision to exit India has not been taken lightly. After thorough consideration, it is our view that the significant investments needed to secure Telenor India’s future business on a standalone basis will not give an acceptable level of return.”

Bharti Airtel to acquire Telenor India

<keyword id="6354287" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bharti-Airtel">Bharti Airtel</keyword> is said to be in advanced talks with <keyword id="6359476" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Telenor">Telenor</keyword> India as it looks forward to buying Telenor's India business in a deal that will involve taking on debt of Rs 1,500 crore while allowing India's biggest telecom company to add to its 4G spectrum and be better placed to take on <keyword id="1543410" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reliance-Jio-Infocomm">Reliance Jio Infocomm</keyword>. 
 "The talks are quite advanced. <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword> is just looking at taking over a part of Telenor India's debt while Telenor would need to take care of the balance loans," a person aware of the development told ET. 
 
Sources said the development follows Telenor's inability to strike a deal with its rivals. Reluctant to take on debt, No. 3 Idea is believed to have offered equity but that didn't appeal to Norway's Telenor, which wants a complete exit from India. 
 Before that, Telenor had started talks with various players including <keyword id="15492" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vodafone">Vodafone</keyword> and was seeking around $1 billion for its spectrum, which has fallen in value over time. Based on the last spectrum auction, this is now pegged at about Rs 5,519 crore ($810 million). 
 
Airtel, which had consolidated net debt of $12.23 billion (over Rs 83,000 crore) as of September, wouldn't want to increase this burden by too much, but 4G spectrum in seven circles is quite a lure, said the person cited above. 
 As per the annual report by Telenor, the company owes close to 2.4 billion Norwegian krone (Rs 1,900 crore) to the government in deferred spectrum payments, excluding any applicable penalties, and another 2.3 billion krone (Rs 1,800 crore) to financial institutions as debt. It has 4G bandwidth in the 1800 MHz band in the <keyword id="6357713" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Uttar-Pradesh">Uttar Pradesh</keyword> (West), Uttar Pradesh (East), Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, <keyword id="6354915" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Assam">Assam</keyword> and Gujarat circles, which cumulatively contribute 35% to Airtel's revenue. 
 Incidentally, Idea had in March pulled out of a deal to buy <keyword id="6354248" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Videocon">Videocon</keyword>'s spectrum in two circles. A day later, Airtel bought Videocon's airwaves in six circles. Bharti Airtel and Telenor declined to comment while Idea didn't respond to queries. 
 
Telenor has marked down value of its India business by 6.3 billion krone (Rs 5,000) crore since beginning of 2016 - a Rs 4,000 crore writedown of the value of licences alone - and didn't participate in the October spectrum auctions, signaling its intent to exit a market where it has been making losses and struggled to expand operations. 
 Buying Telenor makes sense as spectrum harmonisation has made the smaller telco's airwaves more attractive. The <keyword id="116246" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Department-of-Telecommunications">Department of Telecommunications</keyword> (DoT) has rejigged allocated frequencies so they are contiguous for operators as part of spectrum harmonisation. 5 Mhz of contiguous spectrum is needed for good quality 4G. Since all of Telenor's spectrum has been bought in auctions, airwaves have long validity and can be used for any technology. If it had been allotted, an acquirer would have to pay separately for the spectrum. Since there is 5 MHz or more in each of the seven circles - Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh (East and West) and Assam - Airtel can straight away use it all for 4G. 
 
Telenor has nearly 54 million subscribers, and its seven circles account for nearly 45% of subscriber share and nearly 40% of industry revenue. "Telenor records nearly Rs 5,000 crore top line annually. Even if Airtel gets around Rs 4,000 crore top line addition (taking into account some users choosing another operator), it would still net an ebitda of 70-80% of that. Moreover, Telenor has recently upgraded its network, so, it's practically brand new," said an analyst at a foreign brokerage asking not to be named.

Airtel planning to buy the Indian business of Telenor

Ever since <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=reliance+jio&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Reliance Jio</a> has entered the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=indian+telecom+sector&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">telecom space</a>, the industry went through a total make over- there were tariff battles, infighting, and of course consolidation. 
 
It was expected that the industry will see consolidation and now with major players taking in the smaller ones, the telecom industry is mainly a playground for three plus one major players, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=airtel&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Airtel</a>, <keyword id="6354504" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reliance-Jio">Reliance Jio</keyword>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=vodafone+idea+merger&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Idea+Voda</a>, and<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=bsnl&amp;sortorder=effectivedate"> BSNL</a>. 
 The additional spectrum that <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword> will acquire from <keyword id="6359476" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Telenor">Telenor</keyword> will help Airtel to increase its 4G presence across the country. Telenor’s exit from India will leave Bharti Airtel with 1800MHz in some of the most critical telecom circles including Bihar, UP West, and UP east. However the completion of the deal will take 6-9 months as it will have to go through regulatory clearances but it is likely to come through before <keyword id="4210744" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="idea-voda">Idea-Voda</keyword> merger due the complexities of the Idea-Voda merger. 
 
It is also expected that with Idea-Voda merger, Airtel will lose its number one position in the industry and buying Telenor will not change that as the Idea-Voda merged entity stands to become India’s largest telecom company with revenues of over Rs. 80,000 crore. 
 Although, all the consolidation is happening after the entry of <keyword id="3820" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mukesh-Ambani">Mukesh Ambani</keyword> led Reliance Jio but it is certainly not the reason for the consolidation, or at least the only reason, it was expected that the telecom industry will see consolidation and emergence of bigger players. 
 
With the entry of Jio and the consolidations, the telecom industry of India is expected to have smooth functioning in some time when the dust settles down. 
 
Here’s what Airtel’s deal is all about

Bharti Airtel buys Telenor before Idea-Voda merger, is this the Jio effect?

NEW DELHI: <keyword id="6354287" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Bharti-Airtel">Bharti Airtel</keyword> could raise basic call rates for the first time in five years as it battles increasing input costs, a move that would make it the second major telco to do so after <keyword id="46907" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Reliance-communications">Reliance Communications</keyword> raised them for prepaid users last month. 
 
On the back of a robust earnings performance by Bharti in the March quarter, this would strengthen the notion that the telecom industry is on firmer financial footing after a damaging tariff war in 2009-11. 
 
Analysts, however, said that while India's largest telco needs to raise call tariffs to improve its financial health, the scope of the increase could be limited as its two top rivals - No. 3 Idea Cellular and No. 2 Vodafone India - have clearly said they won't touch the basic rate, or the call rate without discounts, and are happy just cutting freebies offered to users. 
 "The fact is that these levels of voice pricing are absolutely unsustainable" with inputs costs going up, including those for rolling out <keyword id="50752" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="Networks">networks</keyword>, optical fibre, spectrum and diesel, Bharti Airtel's CEO for India and South Asia Gopal Vittal told reporters at a press conference. Diesel is needed to run generators at mobile tower sites. 
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"We have hitherto avoided taking headline tariffs (up) but at some point there may be an opportunity to raise headline tariffs," he said, adding however that the priority for the company remained reducing discounted minutes. 
 
Phone bills for postpaid users typically comprise basic call charges, also called headline rates, on which discounts such as free minutes are given to users based on their tariff plans. Prepaid users, who still make up over 95% of the mobile phone user base, typically get discount vouchers for a specific time period. 
 
By decreasing validity on prepaid vouchers, carriers force customers to use up talk time faster. By increasing headline voice tariffs, the minimum charge for a call paid by both prepaid and postpaid customers will rise. 
 
Higher rates allow operators to increase cash flow, thus allowing investments into improving networks and expanding operations. 
 
Several telcos have been quietly cutting discounts over the past three or four quarters, but have been leaving the basic rate untouched for fear of losing subscribers to competitors or smaller operators that offer cheaper tariff plans. However, the fourth-ranked Reliance Communications raised its headline tariffs in mid-April for prepaid customers by up to 20%, although it left postpaid headline rates untouched. 
 
Vittal's comments came a day after India's largest mobile phone company announced strong fourth-quarter results. Net profit jumped 89% from a year earlier on a 13.5% growth in revenue. 
 
While key parameters such as average revenue per user grew, the average realised rate from calls has been largely flat in the past two quarters, a trend seen in the Idea results as well, leaving some worried. 
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Analysts explained that while telcos, especially the major players, had been cutting discounts in circles where they are the leaders or the No. 2, they are loath to do the same, or have in fact given additional discounts, in areas where they aren't strong in a bid to attract or retain subscribers. Thus, the net effect on overall realised rates has been somewhat neutral to slightly lower in recent times. 
 
Realised rate is what a telco actually gets after all discounts and associated costs. 
 
Idea cut discounts last year, but this year in its weaker circles has once again leveraged pricing to acquire customers, CEO Himanshu Kapania said, due to which the overall realised rate was down by 2.5% across the country. 
 
"Over time we expect to fix that," he said, but ruled out raising basic rates. 
 
A Mumbai-based analyst said Bharti will be keeping a close eye on moves by Idea and Vodafone in the event of any move on headline rates. 
 
Vodafone declined comment but has said previously that it will work on discounts, without touching basic rates. 
 
To be sure, given that the industry seems to have put the tariff war behind it and is stabilising, the top telcos will eventually want to go ahead with increasing headline tariffs later this year, analysts said. 
 
The situation could change dramatically if Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio Infocomm enters the industry with a disruptive pricing offer. It's expected to launch voice and data services later this year. 
 
As things stand, "It's more of a do or die situation (for carriers) because this is the only industry which has seen the continuous downward movement of tariffs to a level that a per-minute call is cheaper than a glass of water," said Prashant Singhal, national telecom leader at Ernst &amp; Young. 
 
He expects headline tariffs to be higher by 15-20% by May 2015, though the increase would be gradual. "If headline tariffs are close to 60 paise per minute, the realised rate is around 30 paise, which is not sustainable," given the rising cost of operations. 
 
Bharti's strategy going forward is clear. It will focus on stripping out low revenue generating users, bringing in more postpaid customers who generate higher revenue and improve voice realisations, apart from investing in better data networks and driving cost efficiency, Vittal said. 
 
"With more rational competition, fewer competitors and rising data volume, I see headline tariffs going up marginally. I don't want to give a timeline to it but I don't see a reason why companies need to wait for a couple of quarters (to raise headline tariffs)," said Jaideep Ghosh, head of telecoms practice at KPMG. 
 Uninor, the Indian unit of Norway's <keyword id="6359476" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Telenor">Telenor</keyword>, said it will take note of any changes in industry tariffs and take appropriate steps if needed. 
 <keyword id="6365707" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="UBS">UBS</keyword> believes Bharti Airtel's stock could be re-rated significantly over the next 12 months if mobile voice rates continue to go up, data consumption and revenue rises thanks to cheaper smartphones and the "regulatory outlook continues to improve".

Bharti Airtel To Look At Raising Headline Call Rates

<keyword id="6354287" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bharti-Airtel">Bharti Airtel</keyword>, which is all <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/airtel-to-acquire-tikonas-4g-business-for-rs-1600-crore/articleshow/57794610.cms">set to acquire Tikona Digital</a>'s 4G airwaves for Rs 1,600 crore, has faced a roadblock in the form of legal charges by one of Tikona’s cofounders <keyword id="56383" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rajesh-Tiwari">Rajesh Tiwari</keyword>. 
 Tiwari has slapped a legal notice against both <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword> and Tikona for not providing details of how the proceeds will be split among shareholders. He said that the deal should be put on hold until his entitlements and interests were protected. 
 
Tiwari holds just over 1% in the Mumbai-based Internet services provider. 
 
Airtel, which is already engaged in a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/war-between-airtel-and-reliance-jio-has-intensified-and-this-time-it-is-about-broadband-services/articleshow/56620063.cms">fierce battle with Reliance Jio</a>, also has another problem in the form of a united <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/idea-vodafone-merger-dips-idea-stocks-by-15/articleshow/57729612.cms">Vodafone-Idea entity</a>, announced a few days earlier. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/airtel-and-jio-lock-horns-over-alleged-misleading-ads/articleshow/57767720.cms">Airtel and Jio lock horns over alleged misleading ads</a> 
 
The Airtel-Tikona deal includes taking on debt of Rs 500-600 crore, and will see Airtel net 100 MHz of 4G spectrum in the 2300 MHz (4G) band equally split across the five circles. The deal would also take its total 4G holding to close to 880 MHz (including Telenor India); however, it’d still be behind Jio (1,169 MHz) and Vodafone-Idea entity (1,089 MHz). 
 
The deal would be closed in the coming four to six weeks, after which Airtel’s high-speed 4G services will be rolled out on the newly acquired spectrum. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/reliance-jio-writes-to-asci-against-ooklas-network-speed-test-of-airtel/articleshow/57737170.cms">Reliance Jio writes to ASCI against Ookla's network speed test of Airtel</a> 
 
Tikona was founded in 2008 by former Reliance Communications executives Rajesh Tiwari and Prakash Bajpai, and is backed by investors like Goldman Sachs, Oak Capital, IFC and Everstone Capital. Tiwari, even after having left the company in 2009, holds a direct 1% stake while also being a shareholder of Tikona Trust, which owns a stake in the company as well. 
 
As per his conversation with ET, he took the legal action since he was not provided any information about the split of the share proceeds from the deal. 
 
(Image source: International Business Times)

Tikona co-founder sues Airtel post acquisition of its 4G business

<ul><li>According to the report, Google is looking to acquire a stake of 5% in <keyword id="1553175" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vodafone-Idea">Vodafone Idea</keyword>.</li><li>The news comes after Facebook picked up a 9.99% stake in leading telecom operator Reliance Jio for $5.7 billion.</li><li>Google’s interest in Vodafone Idea could be an after-thought, after it reportedly missed out on the Jio deal to Facebook.</li></ul>Shares of Vodafone Idea have surged by more than 30% on May 29 after reports suggested Google is exploring a stake purchase in struggling telecom operator. The move comes after Facebook picked up a 9.99% stake in Reliance Jio, India’s leading telecom operator. According to a <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/3f763918-d0b1-4a02-a581-e241753c75eb">report</a> by Financial Times, Google could pick up a 5% stake in Vodafone Idea. The report also adds that the talks are still in a “very early stage”, so the details of the deal could change. The report further adds that Google is also in talks to acquire a stake in Reliance Jio, and that the talks are still ongoing. However, since <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/why-facebook-owner-mark-zuckerberg-wants-stake-in-mukesh-ambani-owned-reliance-jio/articleshow/74803994.cms">Facebook has already joined Jio</a>, it might make sense for Google to pick up a stake in Vodafone Idea, which is the second largest telco in the country by number of subscribers. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="74964136" title="A new research report says Vodafone Idea has to increase tariff by 39% to survive – and that will be a bounty for Reliance Jio and Airtel" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[<div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/2615319" data-url="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/2615319/embed"></div>]]></cdata></div> Note: Vodafone Idea's share price on 29-05-2020 is taken at 12:10 pm. A deal with Vodafone Idea could also come at a comparatively discounted price. Even though its share price has increased by 84% since March, it is relatively cheaper when compared to rival telecom operators like Airtel. <table><tbody><tr><td>Company</td><td>Market capitalisation (in crore)</td></tr><tr><td>Reliance Jio</td><td>₹4,89,075</td></tr><tr><td>Airtel</td><td>₹3,07,000</td></tr><tr><td>Vodafone Idea</td><td>₹16,665</td></tr></tbody></table> Note: Reliance Jio's valuation is based on the latest investment made by KKR. Airtel and Vodafone Idea's valuations are based on the closing price as on May 28, 2020. Vodafone Idea and its timeline of woes Since the entry of Jio, Vodafone Idea has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/vodafone-idea-and-its-timeline-of-woes/articleshow/74577942.cms">posted cumulative losses</a> of ₹77,000 crore, with ₹50,922 crore coming in September 2019 alone. It was hit by a demand of ₹53,000 crore by the Supreme Court for recovery of adjusted gross revenue dues. In November 2019, the telco’s UK parent Vodafone Plc wrote down the value of its Indian entity to nil. It also lost 36 million subscribers in the same month. According to the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/mukesh-ambanis-reliance-jio-becomes-the-largest-telco-by-revenue-and-subscribers-as-industry-shows-signs-of-recovery/articleshow/73667566.cms">latest numbers</a> released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Vodafone Idea has 336 million subscribers, while Jio is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/microsoft-mukesh-ambani-reliance-jio-are-partners-but-satya-nadella-wants-more/articleshow/76057690.cms">said</a> to have 387 million subscribers. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="74577942" title="Vodafone Idea and its timeline of woes" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> The Indian telecom sector is too lucrative for the big tech companies to ignore The Indian telecom sector presents a good investment opportunity for big tech companies to expand their presence in the country. Although Vodafone Idea’s status is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/bharti-airtels-ceo-wants-vodafone-idea-to-survive-and-stay-on/articleshow/73973990.cms">critical right now</a>, the recent price hikes by all the three major telecom companies gives it a chance to survive in the market. Further, the Jio-Facebook deal has opened up the Indian telecom sector for investments. Since the deal with Zuckerberg’s company, Jio has found buyers in KKR, General Atlantic, Silver Lake and Vista Equity Partners. Airtel, the third-biggest telco, is also <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/airtel-parent-to-raise-1-billion-via-share-sale-today/articleshow/75989710.cms">looking to raise</a> $1 billion by selling a 2.75% stake to Fidelity, Segantii Capital, Norges Bank and others. Jio changed the face of Indian telecom sector India’s telecom sector has seen major upheaval since the entry of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio. After Jio’s entry, the Indian telecom sector has seen minor players like Tata Docomo, Aircel, Reliance Communications, Telenor either wind up or sell their business to Airtel. Amidst all this, Vodafone and Idea, which were two separate operators, decided to merge in 2018 to take on Reliance Jio. However, since then, the merged entity Vodafone Idea has been losing millions of customers due to multiple issues, including business uncertainty and a fall in its quality of service. Jio was the major beneficiary of this, going on to become the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/mukesh-ambanis-reliance-jio-becomes-the-largest-telco-by-revenue-and-subscribers-as-industry-shows-signs-of-recovery/articleshow/73667566.cms">largest telecom operator in India</a> both by revenue and number of subscribers. Update: Vodafone Idea in a statement to NSE has said, "As part of corporate strategy, the company constantly evaluates various opportunities for enhancing the stakeholders’ value. As and when such proposals are considered by the Board of Directors of the Company warranting disclosures, the Company shall comply with the disclosure obligations under the SEBI Regulations. Currently, there is no proposal as reported by the media that is being considered at the Board." SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/airtel-share-price-target-as-africa-unit-nears-a-billion-dollars-in-revenue/articleshow/75970641.cms">Airtel’s Africa unit is now a nearly-billion dollar business where every user pays 40% more than the one in India</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/if-vodafone-idea-increases-tariff-it-will-help-airtel-and-reliance-jio/articleshow/74964136.cms">A new research report says Vodafone Idea has to increase tariff by 39% to survive – and that will be a bounty for Reliance Jio and Airtel</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/india-is-changing-its-mobile-habits-and-that-can-help-airtel-and-vodafone/articleshow/75152973.cms">India is changing its mobile habits and that can help Airtel and Vodafone</a>

Vodafone Idea shares surge more than 30% after Google reportedly considers a stake in the debt-laden telco

<ul><li>The board of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (<keyword id="30351" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="BSNL">BSNL</keyword>) has approved slashing 54,000 jobs in order to relieve financial stress. </li><li>The recommendations were made by a 3-member panel that was constituted in the face of mounting losses in the aftermath of Jio’s aggressive pricing.</li><li>Other telecom operators like Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel have also been under pressure since Jio’s entry into the space.</li></ul>The board of the Indian state-run telecom operator, Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL), <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/bsnl-okays-laying-off-54k-staff-but-will-wait-govt-726643.html">approved </a>the cost-cutting that could result in as many as 54,000 employees losing their jobs. The layoffs won’t happen till after the election and the officials are deferring to the new government to take up the challenge before taking the final call according to the Deccan Herald. The three member panel consisting of Rekha Jain as the coordinator as well as Vishal Gupta and Ajay Pandey — all of whom are professors at the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad (IIM-A) — was put together to find solutions as BSNL started to reel from the financial stress. And, then make their recommendations to the board. The company’s losses started to mount after Mukesh Ambani’s Jio entered the telecom space. In the last fiscal, the company’s overall revenue fell by 20%. 
	
 <div type="image" title="bsnl rev fall" msid="68718444" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Jio&amp;#8217;s losses are up by 66% at around &amp;#8377;79.93 billion in the current fiscal year&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>





 BSNL isn’t the only company that has fallen victim to the aggression from Mukesh Ambani-owned enterprise. TataDoCoMo was one of the first casualties resulting in an acquisition by Bharti Airtel in 2017. Airtel was also able to <a href="https://www.livemint.com/Industry/rws5uR2FeOti3o3nU7AirL/The-shakeup-in-Indias-telecom-sector.html">acquire</a> Tata group’s wireless phone business and Telenor for virtually nothing. Soon after, one of the top telecom services providers in the country, Aircel <a href="https://www.teleanalysis.com/analysis/aircel-mostly-blamed-jio-bankruptcy-27828">blamed</a> Jio when it filed for bankruptcy in 2018. Two of the biggest telecom players in the country, Vodafone and Idea, were also forced to merge mid-2018 to form the world’s second-largest telecom company. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has been <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/telecom/telecom-news/tdsat-junks-trais-predatory-pricing-order/articleshow/67077045.cms?from=mdr">accused</a> of passing regulations that are in favour of Jio that discriminate against its competitors — BSNL, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea — under the guise of being a ‘new entrant’ in the market. One of the new regulations was shot down by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal because it appeared to be “an unnecessary abdication of its regulatory powers by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India”. 
 
 <div type="ExtQuote" text="If a new entrant needs to be protected from the rigours of non-predation, it can be done through provisions like ‘Welcome Offer’ and ‘Promotional Offer’ as availed by Reliance Jio, but to allow freedom from requirements of non-predation till acquisition of 30% of total activity in a given market, prima facie appears an extreme step by TRAI." auname="Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TSDSAT)"></div>





 In order to save costs, the board as also also approved reducing the retirement age from 60 years to 58 years, implementing the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for all employees aged 50 years and above as well as expediting the allocation of the 4G spectrum to BSNL. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-golden-age-of-telecommunication-nears-its-end-in-india/articleshow/66144414.cms">The ‘golden age’ of telecommunication nears its end in India</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/bsnl-wifi-on-india-flights-due-to-inmarsat-license/articleshow/68706687.cms">Indian flights will have WiFi soon — leaving only North Korea behind</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/airtel-cisco-ready-for-indias-largest-5g-network/articleshow/68154880.cms">Airtel and Cisco are teaming up to build India’s largest 5G-ready network — spectrum auction pending</a>

A state-run Indian telecom company is laying off 54,000 employees in an election year

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mobile-world-congress-2015"></div></div></div>Mark Zuckerberg sought to make his appearance at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year sit more comfortably with wireless carriers than the last.In 2014, Zuckerberg used his appearance at the trade show to plug Internet.org - Faceobok's not-for-profit initiative to connect "the next billion" to the internet, offering services such as Facebook, search, and weather for free in developing countries. He asked for up to five of the world's biggest carriers to sign up, asking them to offer basic wireless services for free in the hope that once people had tried the internet for the first time, they'd sign up to pay for more data.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-dinner-wireless-carriers-barcelona-2014-2">That didn't sit well with some carriers </a>- well aware that Facebook had also just paid $19 billion to acquire Whatsapp, an over-the-top service that has meant the number of SMS messages sent has dramatically dropped - concerned Facebook wanted them to stump up the infrastructure costs (even Zuckberg admitted on 0 and give yet more services away for free.This year, Zuckerberg began his keynote at Mobile World Congress full of praise for carriers and the wider mobile industry: "The folks here part of industry are leading charge to connect everyone in the world and have been for decades. They have a long legacy and history in the sense of mission in industry, that's why all these folks are doing all the work to lay all the fibre, and build all towers to get this done."Later on he insisted that more important than the update on Internet.org's progress to date was the fact that he was inviting launch partners on stage to discuss their experiences with the initiative so far. He was joined by Airtel Africa CEO Christian De Faria, Millicom SVP of operations Mario Zanotti, and GSMA chairman and Telenor CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas.Zanotti, for example, said that since its Internet.org trial started, there has been a 30% increase in customers paying for data, and a 10 fold increase in smartphone sales. Airtel's De Faria concurred, saying the carrier had seen "not seen erosion," despite giving some internet services away for free through Internet.orgZuckerberg did not provide much by way of an update on Internet.org that was not already out there. Internet.org is currently available in six countries: Four in Africa, Colombia, and India.He did offer some personal updates from his travels to those countries: He visited a "cyber village" in Jakarta where children are teaching adults how to use the internet, and how Indian Prime Minister Modi "used the internet as a primary campaigning tool to connect with people."He wasn't here at Mobile World Congress to tal about the new bells and whistles (or "satellites and planes," or "drones and lasers") Facebook is using to help get people connected. "People like talking about that stuff because it's sexy, actually the bigger deal is there are a lot of people who have grown up without the internet," Zuckerberg said.There was barely a mention of Facebook at Zuckerberg's keynote at Mobile World Congress this year (the same as the last.) But the message from the stage was loud and clear: Zuckerberg wants more operators on board and he is determined that it won't affect their businesses, at least not in the long-term. This story is updating. Click here to refresh the page.

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