Vodafone has announced a new offer for those who join its SuperNet 4G network. The plan offers voice and data benefits to prepaid customers in Delhi and NCR.

If you join the network and make first recharge of Rs 496, which is valid for 84 days, Vodafone is offering unlimited local and STD calls, free national roaming (outgoing as well as incoming), along with 1GB data per day.

There’s a second offer for new customers under which if they do a first recharge of Rs 177, they will get access to unlimited local and STD calling, 1GB of data for 28 days. The first recharge benefits are applicable to mobile number portability or MNP customers as well. 

“We, at Vodafone, believe in providing the best network, service experience and value to our customers. We are pleased to extend world class Vodafone services with a basket of offerings to mobile subscribers in Delhi NCR. The Rs 177 & Rs 496 First Recharges are very attractive offers for pre-paid customers wanting to switch over to Vodafone SuperNet,” siad Alok Verma, Business Head, Delhi & NCR, Vodafone India.

Vodafone recently announced a new SuperWeek plan for all customers with calling and data benefits. The pack is priced at Rs 69 and offers you unlimited STD or local calls to any network for a week. In addition to that, there is 500MB data benefit as well. One can do as many recharges as required with this pack. So essentially, in a month you can make a total recharge of Rs 276, and avail up to 2GB of data. 

A week after launching the Bharat 1 4G feature phone, Micromax has introduced the Bharat 2 Ultra. Launched in partnership with Vodafone, the Bharat 2 Ultra is priced at Rs 999, making it among the cheapest 4G smartphones in India. The smartphone will be available for purchase from November across stores in India.

The effective price of Rs 999 will be valid on purchasing this smartphone with a new or existing Vodafone connection. At first, you will have to pay Rs 2,899 for purchasing the Bharat 2 Ultra. After which, you need to recharge for at least Rs 150 every month for a duration of 36 months. The recharges can be done in parts but should amount to Rs 150 every month.

After 18 months is completed, you will receive cashback of Rs 900 which will transferred to your Vodafone M-Pesa wallet. After another 18 months, Rs 1,000 cashback will be returned the same way. So essentially, with the total cashback of Rs 1,900 received, you pay only Rs 999 for the Bharat 2 Ultra. 

The Bharat 2 Ultra features a 4-inch WVGA display. It is powered by a Spreadtrum SC9832 quad-core processor clocked at 1.3GHz. The smartphone comes with  512MB of RAM, and 4GB of internal storage. For photography, the Bharat 2 Ultra sports a 2-megapixel rear camera, and a VGA front camera. The smartphone also comes with a few camera features like scene, frame and burst modes. On the software front, the Bharat 2 Ultra runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow out-of-the-box. It is fueled by a 1,300mAh battery.

This is the sixth smartphone under the Bharat series launched by Micromax. The company says that the affordable Bharat series has so far achieved 2 million sales across the country. This isn’t the first partnership between Micromax and a telco. The Bharat 1 4G feature phone was launched in partnership with BSNL. It comes bundled with BSNL’s Rs 97 plan that offers unlimited calling hours, data, free roaming and SMS, with validity of one month. The Bharat 1 feature phone is priced at Rs 2,200, and is currently available for purchase across offline and online platforms.

Diwali is around the corner, and every telecom operator has been trying hard to grab the attention of users by launching several ‘value for money’ offers on data tariff and voice call plans. While Reliance Jio has once again announced its tariff plan at an attractive price, telecom operator Vodafone has launched a new plan for its prepaid users to counter Jio’s offer.

Under this plan, as reported by IndianExpress, Vodafone prepaid users can recharge with Rs 399 and get 90GB 4G data for six months along with unlimited local and STD calls. Talking about Reliance Jio’s offer, a customer needs to recharge with Rs 399. Upon recharge, Reliance Jio prepaid customers will get a 100 percent cash back. However, the offer is valid from October 12 to October 18. This means, to avail this offer, users need to get the recharge done between the period of October 12 until October 18.

However, the offer will activate starting October 19, under which users will get unlimited services for the next three months. This offer can be availed via the MyJio app, Jio.com, Reliance Jio store, Reliance Digital store, a partner retail store, or via wallets like JioMoney, Paytm, Amazon Pay, PhonePe or Mobikwik. A

On the other hand, Airtel has also been in news for offering cut-throat competition to Reliance Jio. Airtel under its Rs 399 plan offers 84GB of 4G data for 84 days. However, users can use only 1GB of data per day after which charges will be applicable. Under the plan, Airtel will also offer unlimited local and STD voice calling facility. Airtel has also partnered Indian smartphone makers Karbonn to offer a 4G smartphone called Karbonn A40 Indian at an ‘effective price’ of Rs 1,399.

Shortly after Airtel announced its Rs 1,399 4G phone in partnership with Karbonn, the Vodafone-Idea Cellular combine is also contemplating a similar device. Reports suggest that the two incumbents may be approaching domestic budget-phone makers like Lava and Karbonn to manufacture a sub-1,500 4G-enabled device. All this, in response to Reliance’s JioPhone that was announced in August, and recorded six million bookings in the first round.

The top four telcos — Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Reliance Jio — are now gunning for the absolute lower-end of the market, which consists of 400-500 million users who are still on feature phones. Many of them could even be on 2G networks. While the ‘effectively free’ JioPhone offers Jio’s content services along with 4G functionalities, the Karbonn A40 Indian which is being significantly subsidized by Airtel under its ‘Mera Pehla 4G Smartphone’ initiative is a smartphone running on Android Nougat. That is a delicious proposition at that low a price point. 

The specifications of the rumored Vodafone-Idea feature phone, however, are not clear yet. Though analysts reckon that it could be a series of low-cost models instead of just one device. And unlike Airtel, which chose to extend its partnership to an already existing device, Vodafone and Idea are working with manufacturers for fresh handsets. ”We’re in discussions with all three telcos but plans have not been finalized,” Gaurav Nigam, product head at Lava, reportedly said. 

Meanwhile, Vodafone India also has a contract with Chinese player itel for feature phones, but right now 4G-enabled sub-1,500 segment seems to be the focus for telcos. Finnish manufacturer Nokia too is closely following the developments in the space. At present, Nokia has four feature phone models in the Indian market, one of which is the revamped version of the iconic 3310. But none of these devices have 4G capabilities. “We are watching how this materializes. If we see a viable business proposition, we will definitely consider it [4G feature phone] and participate,” Ajey Mehta, India VP for HMD Global, recently said.

Reliance Jio has topped TRAI’s 4G download speed test for the eighth consecutive month. According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India‘s speed data, Jio recorded average speed of 18.433 Mbps for the month of August. It was followed by Vodafone (8.999 Mbps), Idea Cellular (8.746 Mbps), and Bharti Airtel (8.550 Mbps).

While Reliance Jio has topped the download speed, Idea Cellular has achieved the highest 4G upload speed in September citing data compiled by telecom regulator TRAI’s MySpeed app. In comparison to Reliance Jio, Idea Cellular 4G upload speed for September stands at 6.307 Mbps. According to TRAI, Idea Cellular was followed by Vodafone, Reliance Jio and Airtel.

It is the eighth consecutive month when Reliance Jio has topped the TRAI speed chart compared to incumbent players Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular. Last month, Reliance Jio clocked an average download speed of 18.331 Mbps, compared to Airtel at 9.266 Mbps, Idea Cellular at 8.833 Mbps, and Vodafone India at 9.325 Mbps. 

According to the latest report from OpenSignal, Reliance Jio is the most widely available 4G LTE network in India. Apart from that, the report also revealed that Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Vodafone, BSNL Mobile and Reliance Communications are the top six telcos. While the first three operators run both 3G and 4G networks the other two operate 3G-networks only.

Idea Cellular said it achieved the highest 4G upload speed in September citing data compiled by telecom regulator TRAI’s MySpeed app.

Idea Cellular topped the chart in terms of average 4G upload speed for September at 6.307 mbps, the private telecom player said in a statement reeling off the TRAI data. It reported an average download speed of 8.74 mbps (megabits per second) during the same month. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI ) MySpeed app tabulates mobile data speed of various operators.

The regulator last week had said it plans to strengthen the MySpeed app and would also make its evaluation method more transparent after consultation with operators.

TRAI hopes to come out with a white paper soon on underlying methodology and algorithms used by the said app for calculating data speeds of various service providers. According to the data available on the TRAI site, Idea took the pole position in 4G upload speed, followed by Vodafone, Reliance Jio and Airtel. In terms of 4G download speed, Idea ranked third, after Jio and Vodafone, the TRAI data showed. 

An Idea Cellular statement said it has rapidly expanded the network to 2.60 lakh sites across the country, with 50 percent dedicated to mobile broadband services. The company also said it added nearly 50,000 broadband sites over the last 12 months to August, growing its broadband footprint to cover 5,888 census towns and close to 1.05 lakh villages and reaching out to 45 percent population of the country.

Vodafone India and Idea Cellular merger deal is expected to be completed by March next year, as all regulatory approvals are likely to be obtained by that time, a source privy to the deal said. ”There are only two permissions left in the amalgamation scheme of the Idea and Vodafone. It should be completed by end of the current financial year,” an industry source, who did not wish to be named, told PTI.

Emails sent to Vodafone and Idea did not elicit any response. Both the companies are before National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for seeking its nod after which they will need final approval from the Department of Telecom. Idea Cellular will hold a meeting of shareholders and creditors on October 12 to seek their approval for the amalgamation of Vodafone India’s business with itself. The meeting of equity shareholders secured creditors and unsecured creditors will be held in Gandhinagar. It is being convened following directions of the NCLT bench at Ahmedabad.

Reliance Communications on Sunday announced the termination of the mobile business merger deal with Aircel due to “Legal and regulatory uncertainties, and various interventions by vested interests” leading to “inordinate delays in receipt of relevant approvals for the proposed transaction”.

Earlier this year, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular had agreed to merge their operations to create the country’s largest telecom operator worth of more than USD 23 billion with a 35 percent market share. The combined entity of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, which are currently India’s number two and three, respectively, would dislodge Bharti Airtel to counter the fierce price war in the world’s second-largest telecom market. 

The deal gives Vodafone India an implied enterprise value of Rs 82,800 crore and Idea Rs 72,200 crore. Post the transaction, the British firm will own 45.1 percent stake in the merged entity, while the Aditya Birla group, Ideas parent, will have 26 percent after paying Rs 3,874 crore cash for a 4.9 percent stake. The remaining 28.9 percent will be held by other shareholders.

{BGR}

Reliance Communications Ltd got another blow on Sunday after its merger with Aircel was called off with mutual consent. The two telecoms have been in agreement since last year for merging RCom’s mobile business with smaller rival Aircel. However, the announcement now again raises doubts over whether RCom is able to repay its massive debts.

According to RCom’s official statement, the merger has been called off on the account of ‘legal and regulatory uncertainties’. Led by Chairman Anil Ambani, RCom has an estimated debt of Rs 250 billion, which it planned to pay off by merging its wireless business with Aircel. The two signed binding agreements in September 2016. The merger was approved by  Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Competition Commission of India (CCI) board both.

Ambani at the recent AGM stated that RCom will bring in new plans for debt reduction, while also focussing on 4G and spectrum optimization. The company says, adopting to 4G focused strategies will allow it to eliminate the loss-making segments of RCom’s holistic business portfolio.

It is no secret that RCom has hit by Reliance Jio‘s disruptive entry in Indian telecom scene as well. Reliance Jio’s Chairman Mukesh Ambani is Anil Ambani’s elder brother, and India’s richest man. The elder Ambani kicked off Reliance Jio 4G services last year in September and since then has gained an unprecedented number of consumers in a very short time with free voice calls and unlimited data plans. Following which, other established telcos like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular and even the state-run BSNL had to take to aggressive business strategies to keep up with the competition. 

RCom states that the current competitive scenario in Indian telecom sector has changed industry dynamics and indirectly affected banks from financing telecom operators. Last month, a local business unit of Sweden-based Ericsson filed a plea against RCom on the account of bankruptcy. After the Aircel merger lapse, RCom said in a statement that it would monetize its spectrum, currently valued at Rs 19,000 crores, through trading and sharing arrangements. Further, it will continue to monetize of its tower and fiber. The company is at ‘unique advantage’ for it hold spectrum sharing and ICR Agreements with Reliance Jio, says RCom.

{BGR}