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Telenor, the Norwegian multinational telecommunications company, which started <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/8-years-after-its-debut-and-a-year-after-its-re-launch-2G-struck-Telenor-might-exit-India-citing-limited-presence/articleshow/51774606.cms">its India operations</a> in 2009, has said that it would not participate in the upcoming spectrum sale scheduled next month. With this, the Bærum-headquartered company has shown signs of taking an exit from India’s telecom industry. 
 
It is "after thorough consideration, decided not to participate in the upcoming spectrum auction (in India), as we believe the proposed spectrum prices do not give an acceptable level of return," said a statement from Sigve Brekke, President and CEO of Telenor Group. 
 
He added that the decision was not influenced by "the significant operational and financial improvement delivered by our Indian operation". 
 
Earlier, Telenor had reported that it might be <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Telenor-operating-loss-India/articleshow/52011481.cms">forced to leave India</a> if it doesn’t secure additional capacity for its networks at a reasonable cost. 
 
The Telenor CEO added that they would, however, continue their efforts to meet the demands of their customer and grow the business here in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Telenor-names-Sharad-Mehrotra-as-new-India-CEO/articleshow/49323002.cms">India</a>. 
 
The reason why Telenor could never attract Indian customers was the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Uninor-is-now-Telenor-No-3G-steamto-roll/articleshow/49075889.cms">lack of 3G</a> or 4G services, because it holds very limited data <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Uninor-inks-a-deal-with-Huawei-to-expand-its-network-in-India/articleshow/48449248.cms">spectrum</a>. Other than this, the company operates in just a few circles in the country. 
 
<a href="http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/2013/07/04/telenoruninorindia.jpg">Image source</a>

Is it the end of Telenor India’s acarpous journey?

Ever since the RBI granted licenses to 11 companies to start payments banks in 2015 , we have seen three fully functioning, the latest one being Paytm. Vijay Sekhar Sharma, the founder, has recently raised 1.4 billion USD from <keyword id="163404" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Softbank">Softbank</keyword> and Alibaba. In a release addressed to media, Sharma said, “"RBI has given us an opportunity to create a new kind of banking model in the world. None of our deposits will be converted into risky assets." While <keyword id="6385180" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airtel-Payments-Bank">Airtel Payments Bank</keyword> offered free talktimes, Paytm Payments Bank defines itself as the first bank with zero online fees for any transaction, which includes virtual debit card, <keyword id="285745" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="NEFT">NEFT</keyword>, IMPS. The only things that would be charged are cheque books, demand draft and debit cards, which would be physical. In India, payments bank can collect deposits up to Rs 1 lakh, has to invest 75% of its deposits in government securities, can offer different payment solutions, but can't lend. This comes to the bigger question how would they make money? Shubhankar Bhattacharya, venture partner at Kae Capital told The Economic Times, “For starters, payments banks can't issue loans or credit cards, and are modelled to cover the cost of capital through transaction charges on their payment product. Therefore, payments banks need to find other avenues to improve the yield on the assets made available to them from their depositors.” "Payments banks are more likely to cross-sell services that are being offered on their platform," added Bhattacharya. “They need very high volume to start churning profits. Wallet was the game of boys. Payments banks is the game of men," <keyword id="3849285" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ashita-Aggarwal">Ashita Aggarwal</keyword>, head of marketing, SP Jain Institute of Management and Research told ET. The 11 entites, which were granted licenses last year, Tech Mahindra, Cholamandalam Investment and <keyword id="25455" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="finance">Finance</keyword> Company and a consortium of Dilip Shanghvi, IDFC Bank and <keyword id="3371770" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Telenor-Financial-Services">Telenor Financial Services</keyword> have already given up on the venture. It’s for us to wait and watch how Sharma makes Paytm Payments Bank successful like the mobile wallet.

How viable are payments banks in India?

After Cholamandalam and <keyword id="3377501" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Dilip-Shanghvi-IDFC-Bank-Telenor">Dilip Shanghvi-IDFC Bank-Telenor</keyword> combine, <keyword id="43217" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tech-Mahindra">Tech Mahindra</keyword> has become the third entity to have dropped out of the payments bank race. 
 
The firm has cited that the business would take a lot of time to turn profitable because of "aggressive posturing" by deep-pocketed global competitors. 
 
Cholamandalam had quit the race in April, while Dilip Shanghvi-IDFC Bank-Telenor combine announced their decision last Friday. 
 "Over a period of time, we have realised that the amount of aggression that has come into the marketplace only erodes the margins," said Tech Mahindra MD and CEO <keyword id="45959" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="CP-Gurnani">CP Gurnani</keyword>. 
 
The Reserve Bank of India had given in-principle approval for payments banks to TechM and 10 others in August 2015. 
 
Gurnani further added that payments bank business always carried the risk of profit margins being "razor thin," but the competition they would face includes the who's who of the telecom world, including the Ambanis, the Birlas, Airtel and Vodafone, among others, thus delaying profitability for a long time. 
 The announcement has come just a day after RBI deputy governor <keyword id="1531843" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="S-S-Mundra">S S Mundra</keyword> had said that it was not fair of licencees to abandon their plans to set up payments banks. "We would certainly feel little aggrieved because lot of efforts from the part of RBI go in processing these applications," Mundra has said. 
 
<a href="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_7G6qYLELes/maxresdefault.jpg">Image source</a>

Tech Mahindra chickens out of payments bank race, cites delayed profitability and tough competition

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Telenor+India+">Telenor India</a> has appointed Sharad Mehrotra as its new CEO. He will take up the post vacated by Vivek Sood who has been promoted as executive vice president and chief marketing officer in <keyword id="93456" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Telenor-group">Telenor Group</keyword>. 
 
Both appointments will be effective from November 1, 2015. 
 
Sharad has extensive knowledge about the Indian <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=telecom+company">telecom market</a>, and international experience from other Telenor operations, said Sigve Brekke, president and chief executive officer of Telenor Group, adding “I am confident that he will return to India with strong ambition to further develop the company as a profitable operator, and the preferred choice for the mass market." 
 
Mehrotra was part of India management of Uninorn from 2008 till 2013. He was head of Telenor Group's Asia distribution program driving regional synergies and scale. Later, he moved to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Myanmar+">Myanmar</a> to launch services in the country. As CEO of Telenor India, Sharad will also be a member of Telenor Group's executive management. 
 
The company has launched free insurance for every Telenor India customer last week. 
 
Commenting about his appointment, Mehrotra said: "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=competitive+mobile+markets+">India is one of the most competitive mobile markets in the world</a>, and Telenor India has rapidly grown into a top position in the areas where we operate. I look forward to work with Telenor India's passionate and highly dedicated team to continue being best on basic services and deliver internet for all." 
 
In his new role at Telenor Group, Sood will be responsible for strengthening Telenor Group's focus and ability to improve customer journeys, ensure continued innovation, and create value from digital data growth. 
 Earlier, Sood was chief executive officer of <keyword id="241876" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Grameenphone">Grameenphone</keyword>, the largest mobile operator in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Bangladesh">Bangladesh</a>. Under him, Grameenphone crossed the 50 million customer milestone and became first country within the Telenor Group to do so, the group said in a statement. 
 
(Image: Reuters)

Meet Sharad Mehrotra, Telenor India’s new CEO

New Delhi, Jan 17 () Telecom operator Reliance Jio on Friday posted a 62.5 per cent jump in its net profit at Rs 1,350 crore in the three months to December 2019, as it added more users and saw per subscriber earning rising on back of an increase in tariff.
The company's strong performance comes at a time when its rivals are staring at billions of dollars in statutory dues, leading to record losses in the previous quarter.
Reliance Jio had posted a net profit of Rs 831 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2018-19.
The company recorded an increase of 28.3 per cent in its operating revenue at Rs 13,968 crore compared to Rs 10,884 crore in the year-ago period. 
"Jio has continued on its unprecedented growth journey receiving overwhelming customer response for best in class mobile connectivity services. Jio is also determined to redefine the wireline infrastructure, home entertainment and enterprise market in India with its FTTx services which bundle best-in-class connectivity with bouquet of digital content and services," RIL Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said in a statement. 
He said a truly transformational and disruptive digital services company has also been set up to drive the next leg of growth.
Reliance Jio subscriber base increased by 32.1 per cent as on December 31, 2019 on year-on-year basis to 37 crore and average revenue per user (ARPU) stood at Rs 128.4 during the quarter.
The ARPU was up compared to Rs 120 in July-September quarter reported by Reliance Jio, however, it was lower than Rs 130 recorded by the company in the year ago period. The company was able to arrest decline in ARPU during the reported quarter. 
Total wireless data traffic on company's network increased by 39.9 per cent to 1,208 crore GB on Y-o-Y basis during the quarter and voice traffic during the quarter jumped 30.3 per cent to 82,640 crore minutes.
The company cushioned itself from mobile call termination charges by imposing six paise on outgoing calls to network of competitors for recharges done by Jio customers effective October 10 onwards. 
"Jio became a net recipient of access charges within two months of implementation of IUC tariffs, with outgoing traffic in overall offnet traffic reducing to 48 per cent by the end of the quarter," the company said.
The average consumption of data per subscriber increased Y-o-Y basis to 11.1 GB from 10.8 GB but it was lower when compared to 11.7 GB reported by the company in second quarter of current fiscal.
The company during the quarter made provision of Rs 177 crore for adjusted gross revenue while its rivals have to jointly pay over 1.47 lakh crore for the same.
These AGR liabilities arose after the Supreme Court in October last year upheld the government's position on including revenue from non-telecommunication businesses for calculating the annual AGR of telecom companies, a share of which is paid as licence and spectrum fees to the exchequer.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court rejected older telecom player's plea for review of its AGR order after which Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea said they are evaluating filing a curative petition before the apex court for relaxation on penalties and payment deadline.
Vodafone Idea -- which is staring at unpaid statutory dues of Rs 53,038 crore, including Rs 24,729 crore of spectrum dues and Rs 28,309 crore in licence fee -- has already warned of shut down if no relief is given.
"If we are not getting anything then I think it is the end of story for Vodafone Idea," its Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla had said last month.
The statutory liabilities in the case of Bharti Airtel adds up to nearly Rs 35,586 crore, of which Rs 21,682 crore is licence fee and another Rs 13,904.01 crore is spectrum dues (excluding the dues of Telenor and Tata Teleservices). This week, the Sunil Mittal led company raised USD 3 billion through Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) and FCCB route to pay for the statutory liabilities.
Dues dating back 15 years, as per the October order, have to be paid by January 23. PRS MBI MKJ

Reliance Jio net profit jumps 62.5% to Rs 1,350 cr in Dec qtr

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

In a world where the corporate landscape has traditionally been male-dominated, Indian women have been making remarkable strides in the business arena. Here, we highlight the achievements of ten influential businesswomen in India who have successfully steered their companies to new heights, breaking through glass ceilings and inspiring the next generation. 1. Zia Mody - Renowned as one of India's leading corporate lawyers, Zia Mody has been the brains behind several high-profile corporate deals. Notably, she orchestrated the successful Airtel and Telenor Group merger and the Schneider Electric acquisition of Larsen &amp; Toubro's electric and automation business. Her firm serves as a trusted advisor to some of India's most successful businesses. 2. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, a self-made entrepreneur and one of India's wealthiest women, founded Biocon, a biopharmaceutical company. What began as a venture by accident has now grown into a major player in the pharmaceutical industry, producing a wide range of drugs. 3. Suneeta Reddy's leadership has propelled the Apollo chain of hospitals to unprecedented success. Under her guidance, the company's revenue surged by 14% in FY2018, while Apollo's pharmacy business recorded an 18% growth. Notably, the company also made a significant acquisition by taking over Fortis Healthcare. 4. Alice G. Vaidyan As the Chairman and Managing Director of the General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC), Alice G. Vaidyanathan has achieved remarkable milestones. Under her stewardship, GIC ascended to become one of the top 10 global reinsurers, increasing its market share from 55% to 65%. 5. Mallika Srinivasan, as the Chairman and CEO of Tractors and Farm Equipment (TAFE), transformed her company into the third-largest tractor manufacturer in the world, measured by volume. Her leadership led to diversification of the company's product offerings and remarkable mergers. 6. Zarin Daruwala, who recently held the esteemed position of being the highest-ranking banker in India, took over as the CEO of Standard Chartered Bank in 2016. Within just two years, she steered the bank out of financial turmoil, restoring profitability after a period of declining incomes. 7. Kaku Nakhate Under Kaku Nakhate's guidance, Bank of America Merrill Lynch established a strong presence in India and emerged as a prominent player in the Asia-Pacific region. She played a pivotal role in facilitating several lucrative mergers, such as Infratel and Indus, and Idea Cellular's $1 billion stake in Indus Towers. 8. Shobhana Bhartia has overseen a significant transformation in the editorial segment of HT Media. She played a crucial role in the company's expansion in the Hindi media outlets, effectively doubling its net profit by 213 crores in FY 2017-18. 9. Renuka Ramnath is a trailblazer in the private sector, where she established an independent equity platform managing assets exceeding $1 billion. As the sole board member of EMPEA, a non-profit organization overseeing over $5 trillion in assets across 130 countries, she delivered a fivefold return on investments. 10. Shikha Sharma, a highly respected banker in India, achieved remarkable success as the CEO of Axis Bank. During her leadership from June 2009 to August 2018, the bank's stock prices quadrupled, underscoring her exceptional leadership. These remarkable <keyword id="15506" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Business-women" source="Orion">business women</keyword> serve as inspirational figures, demonstrating that determination, vision, and perseverance can lead to exceptional success in the corporate world. See Also- <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/top-10-richest-actresses-of-india/articleshow/72018327.cms">Top 10 Richest Actress in India </a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/top-10-richest-people-in-the-world/articleshow/74415117.cms">Top 10 richest people in the world</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/meet-the-top-10-richest-actors-in-india/articleshow/69645149.cms">Top 10 richest actor in India</a>

Meet the top 10 business women in India

New Delhi, Nov 14 () Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Thursday posted a staggering Rs 23,045 crore net loss for the second quarter ended September 30, due to provisioning of Rs 28,450 crore in the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling on statutory dues.
The Sunil Mittal-led company said the apex court judgement -- which had upheld government's way of calculating revenue of telcos (on which statutory liabilities like licence fee and spectrum usage charges are computed) -- has "significant financial implication for the company".
Last month, Bharti Airtel had postponed the release of its full Q2 earnings to November citing the uncertainty in the sector in the wake of the court ruling on definition of telecom revenues.
Airtel's colossal net loss for just-ended September quarter was on account of exceptional charge pertaining to provisioning of Rs 28,450 crore towards the AGR dues, that included principle of Rs 6,164 crore, interest of Rs 12,219 crore, penalty of Rs 3,760 crore, and interest on penalty of Rs 6,307 crore.
Announcing its Q2 earnings scorecard, Airtel said its consolidated net loss before exceptional items (the one time charge) for the quarter was Rs 1,123 crore, and that the net Loss (after exceptional items) was Rs 23,045 crore.
The company had recorded net profit of Rs 119 crore in the same quarter previous year, although it said that year-on-year numbers were not comparable due to adoption of new accounting standard.
"...the liabilities / provisions as at September 30, 2019 aggregate Rs 34,260 crore (comprising of principal of Rs 8,747 crore, interest of Rs 15,446 crore, penalty of Rs 3,760 crore and interest on penalty of Rs 6,307 crore)," Airtel said in a statement.
Airtel CEO, India and South Asia, Gopal Vittal hoped that the government will take a considerate view on the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) matter given the "fragile state of the industry".
"On the AGR verdict of the Supreme Court, we continue to engage with the government and are evaluating various options available to us," he said.
The consolidated revenue of Bharti Airtel was up by 4.7 per cent at Rs 21,199 crore in the just-ended quarter. India revenues were up 3 per cent year-on-year (5.7 per cent on an underlying basis), while Africa revenues rose 12.6 per cent over the same period previous year.
"India revenues for Q2 at Rs 15,361 crore have increased by 5.7 per cent year on year (reported increase of 3 per cent) on an underlying basis. Mobile revenues have witnessed a year-on-year growth of 7.1," it added.
Consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at Rs 8,936 crore in the Q2 FY2020 against Rs 6,343 crore in the year ago period.
The Supreme Court, last month, had upheld the government's position on including revenue from non-telecommunication businesses in calculating the annual AGR of telecom companies, a share of which is paid as licence and spectrum fee to the exchequer. Old telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea were supposed to take the maximum hit on the payment of statutory dues to the government.
As per latest estimates by the telecom department, Bharti Airtel faces a liability of around Rs 62,187 crore (including share of Tata Group of companies and Telenor India), while Vodafone Idea may have to pay about Rs 54,184 crore. The remaining liability is with state-owned BSNL/MTNL and some of the shut/bankrupt telecom companies.
The Supreme Court has allowed three months to the affected telcos to pay amounts due to the DoT, and on Wednesday the government shot off notice to telecom operators to pay their revenue share dues within the timelines stipulated by the court. The department has given option to telecom operators to clear all the dues on self-assessment basis.
Airtel's net debt narrowed year on year basis to Rs 1,18,106.5 crore. 
"Despite being a seasonally weak quarter, we witnessed positive revenue growth in Q2 on the back of various initiatives aimed at providing superior differential services through our 'Thanks' platform. We continue to witness strong data traffic growth of about 81 per cent year-on-year and added about 8 million 4G customers on our network during the quarter," Vittal said. 
Bharti Airtel shares closed at Rs 362.65 apiece, down by 1.59 per cent compared to previous close on the BSE.
The results were announced after market hours. PRS MBI BAL

Bharti Airtel posts staggering Rs 23,045 cr net loss in Q2 after AGR provisioning

<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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