VI News

Major Telcos have introduced new voice and SMS only prepaid plans after TRAI's last month mandate on the same.

Economic Times, quoting multiple sources familiar with the matter said that Vodafone Idea could aggressively price its tariff plans, that could be 15% cheaper than Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel's offerings.

Vi 5G Services In India: The new services are expected to be accessible to both prepaid and postpaid users, utilizing the 3.3GHz and 26GHz (mmWave) spectrum for deployment.

TRAI Traceability Rules: To tackle spam SMS and phishing attacks, TRAI has directed telecom providers Jio, Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and BSNL to enforce the traceability rule starting December 1. The traceability rule will track commercial messages and OTP messages. Notably, TRAI has decided to strictly implement it to all telecom companies.   

BSNL Complaint Online: BSNL has experienced a significant increase in subscribers following the recent tariff hikes by private telecom operators such as Jio, Airtel, and Vi. 

In the major development, India's telecom startups and companies have begun discussions with the government telecom company BSNL to conduct live 5G trials. 

Vodafone Idea now has a total spectrum portfolio of 334.4Mhz in Kolkata and 536.8Mhz in West Bengal circles. 

The company in April raised around 18,000 crore through a follow-on public offer. 

The long-feared prospect of a "duopoly", with only Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel remaining in the fray, is likely to play out, the report said.

The new Vodafone Idea Rs 296 prepaid recharge bundle includes 100 daily SMS and unlimited voice calling to all networks.

Customers who recharge their numbers with Vodafone Idea will receive 5GB extra data with a 28-day validity period at no additional cost.

Vodafone Idea has partnered with Motorola to ensure seamless 5G connectivity. The announcement comes today, on Monday. The announcement comes within days of clearing the conversion of dues into equity.

Vi said per user revenue remains lower than historic trends. All three private telecom operators last year raised charges for data, arresting average revenue per user (ARPU) declines.

It was projected that telcos would increase ARPU (average revenue per user) by another 10-12 percent. Airtel and Vodafone Idea stated in November 2021 that they would be hiking prepaid charges by up to 20%-25%.

The total number of subscribers increased to 114.2 crore in March from 114.15 crore in February. Vodafone Idea was the biggest loser of mobile subscribers.

Vi's revenue for the quarter ended March 2022 rose to Rs 10,240 crore. Vodafone Idea said that the growth in revenue was supported by tariff hikes effective November 25, 2021.

VIL had also sought shareholders' approval to raise Rs 10,000 crore through sale of equity or through a mix of ADR, GDR and FCCBs. Promoter firm Vodafone plans to infuse up to Rs 3,375 crore into debt-ridden Vodafone Idea Ltd. Besides, Aditya Birla Group plans to pump in up to Rs 1,125 crore.

Vodafone Idea (VIL) has been unable to pay dues of Indus Towers. VIL has committed to pay certain minimum amount each month to Indus Towers. The Sunil Mittal-led firm said the purchase would be at an attractive price representing a significant discount typically available for such large block transactions.

Vodafone Idea's troubles have been compounded by huge dues owed to the Indian government. The British firm said on Wednesday it was in advanced talks with one of Indus`s largest shareholders to sell a 4.7% stake in the company. The company did not provide a name, but media reported Vodafone was in talks to sell a 5% stake in Indus to Bharti Airtel.

Instead of an 84-day validity, the Rs 666 plan offers the benefits for only 77 days. For receiving benefits for 84 days, customers have to recharge their Airtel mobile numbers with Rs 719. Airtel offers free subscriptions to several digital platforms with the new plan.