MTS Sistema Merger with Reliance Communications – Mukesh Ambani Master Stroke or 4G LTE Play ?
The great Indian Telecom M&A is finally unfolding. Before we go into the Indian Telecom M&A, I’d like to elaborate about a great Chairman Hindustan Unilever [then Hindustan Lever Ltd] had in the 1990s – S M Datta. That was precisely the time when my tryst with Equity Markets hadContinue Reading
Airtel Mobile Data Strategy – 4G LTE Band to De-congest 3G Or Sabotage Reliance Jio Hype ?
Bharti Airtel India’s leading Integrated Telecommunications service provider has made steady progress on 4G/LTE and initiated 4G rollout in 23 cities. Airtel’s first mover advantage has the following implications – (a)Dilute value proposition for Reliance Jio 4G by being the first to launch 4G and let Airtel have a leadContinue Reading
How good is Reliance Jio’s 800Mhz Spectrum for 4G-LTE ?
Reliance Jio Infocomm has acquired spectrum in 800MHz band (in 10 service areas) in the recently concluded spectrum auction in order to solve its 4G conundrum by providing cost-effective coverage on LTE. Though technologically it is feasible to offer LTE services with just 2×1.4MHz spectrum, to offer a meaningful LTEContinue Reading
Which Mobile Data / Internet Tech will Dominate in India – 3G or 4G ?
We wanted to Analyze which Technology in Mobile Internet / Data will dominate in India – 3G vs 4G ? The backdrop for this question is the aspirations and affordability of masses in India as we read YoY that Maruti Alto, which is an 800 CC car is still theContinue Reading
Airtel absorbs Service Tax Hike for Pre-Paid Customers, Will Idea / Vodafone do ?
Indian Government has only one option to Tax its citizens – Indirect Tax at Source, as a pathetic 4% Indians pay Income Tax. The new regime under Narendra Modi has hiked the Service Tax by 200bps to 14% [Swach Bharat Cess still a overhang]. Our channel checks on tariff changesContinue Reading
Free Microsoft Wi-Fi Bundled with Office 365 Coming Soon
Two Years ago I wrote that the War of Google Vs Microsoft is shifting towards the Convergence space bundled with Cloud Services. Time has finally arrived where Microsoft has partnered with 10 Million HotSpot service providers across 130 countries to offer Free Microsoft WiFi for all Individual & Business UsersContinue Reading
Google I/O 2015 – End of Big Technology Innovation Era?
Google has been known to do things, not in a traditional way and continue to innovate at a faster pace than the rest of the Bleeding Edge Tech Industry. However, Google I/0 2015 in my opinion has been a total disappointment as I didn’t see anything with WoW Factor orContinue Reading
How Airtel, Vodafone & Idea are Scaling Data Networks to Thwart Reliance Jio 4G Threat?
Armed with acceptable quantum of liberal Spectrum in 900Mhz band and 2100Mhz band, Airtel, Vodafone & Idea Cellular – the Incumbents Lobby have gotten far more aggressive than they reveal it on the Analyst Call. I had an opportunity to speak to Infratel & Indus Tower Executive from which IContinue Reading
The Changing Trend of 3G Mobile Data Consumer in India
3G mobile Data revenues in India for incumbents are incremental to Voice revenues initially because initial 3G adopters are relatively high-income subscribers whose telecom bill is a very small proportion of their total disposable income. These subscribers maintain their voice consumption despite incremental data usage (largely for entertainment and continuousContinue Reading