Category: Telecom

Huawei posts 28% rise in 2017 net profit, to increase Research&Development investments

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Eyeing the growth-driven Cloud, Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G markets, Shenzhen-based Huawei on Friday reported net profit of 47.5 billion yuan ($7.3 billion) for 2017, an increase of 28.1 per cent year-on-year, and registered revenue of 603.6 billion yuan ($92.5 billion) — a rise of 15.7 per cent over 2016.

In 2017, Huawei’s annual investment in research and development reached 89.7 billion yuan ($13.8 billion), up 17.4 per cent compared with 2016.

The company’s total R&D spend over the past decade has exceeded 394 billion yuan ($60.4 billion).

“We’re on a new journey. Over the next 10 years, Huawei will continue to increase investment in technological innovation, investing more than $10 billion back into R&D every year,” Ken Hu, Huawei’s Rotating Chairman, said in a statement.

“We will actively pursue open collaboration, attract and cultivate top talent, and step up efforts in exploratory research. We want to better enable all industries to go digital and intelligent,” Hu added.

Focusing on helping global carriers maximise the potential of their existing network assets and seize new opportunities in video, Internet of Things (IoT) and Cloud markets, Huawei’s Carrier business group generated 297.8 billion yuan ($45.7 billion) in revenue, an increase of 2.5 per cent year-on-year.

Huawei’s enterprise business group enhanced innovations in cloud, big data, campus networks, data centres, IoT and other domains.

In 2017, the enterprise business generated 54.9 billion yuan ($8.4 billion) in revenue, an increase of 35.1 per cent compared with 2016.

Huawei set up a Cloud Business Unit in 2017, which launched 99 cloud services across 14 major categories, and over 50 solutions.

The company also unveiled the Enterprise Intelligence (EI) platform and developed over 2,000 cloud service partners.

“As we look to 2018, emerging technologies like IoT, cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and 5G will soon see large-scale application,” Hu added.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Data tariffs fall 93% in last three years, says Telecom Department

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Mobile Internet rates plunged by 93% while data usage per user surged over 25 times in three years to 2017, the Department of Telecom (DoT) said today.

“Cheapest tariff globally — Rs 33 per GB in 2014 to Rs 21 per GB as on September 2017, tariff reduction of 93 per cent,” DoT said in a tweet today.

The data war started following the entry of Reliance Jio in 2016. The company this year slashed the prices to as low as Rs 4 per GB per day.

With falling mobile Internet rates, data usage also grew multi fold.

“Average data usage per subscriber grew 25 times from 62 MB per month in 2014 to 1.6 GB per month in 2017,” DoT tweeted.

The mobile data consumption in India is now the highest in the world at 1.3 million GB per month–more than combined data usage in the US and China, the DoT said.

The penetration of smartphones in the country more than doubled from 190 million to 390 million and Internet users increased by about 66% from 251 million to 429 million (in June 2017) between 2014-17.

The broadband access in the country increased from 61 million subscribers in March 2014 to 325 million subscribers in September 2017, the DoT said.

According to latest performance indicator of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, there were 445.9 million Internet subscribers at the end of December 2017.

The DoT data showed that during the three-year period, the mobile base stations in the country more than doubled from 7.9 lakh in May 2014 to 16.8 lakh by 2017-end.

Telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio have committed to investing Rs 74,000 crore for the expansion of mobile networks by the end of 2018/19 fiscal year.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Balesh Sharma to head the Vodafone-Idea merged entity

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The old guard will make way for new blood once the USD 23 billion Vodafone-Idea merger is completed. The companies have announced a new leadership team for the merged entity.

Balesh Sharma who is now the chief operating officer at Vodafone India will become the CEO of the merged entity.

Akshay Moondra, who is currently the CFO of Idea Cellular will continue to look after the finances of the merged entity.

What’s interesting is that the current CEOs of both Vodafone and Idea will move out of their offices and assume new responsibilities. Himanshu Kapania will become a member on the board of the merged entity.

Sunil Sood who is now the CEO of Vodafone India will join the Vodafone Group AMAP leadership team and also help governance through board memberships.

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3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Reliance Communications confident on stake sale approval even as Supreme refuses to lift stay

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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After a huge setback from the Supreme Court (SC) who directed Reliance Communications (RCom) to hold on from selling its assets to Reliance Jio for Rs 25,000 crore, the company, in a statement on Thursday said that it remains confident of its asset sale plan before August 31, 2018.

“RCom and its Lenders led by SBI have filed Special Leave Petitions (SLPs) in the Hon’ble Supreme Court against the stay granted by two lower Courts on sale of certain assets by the Company. The SLPs were heard today, and notices have been issued to the Respondents, Ericsson and minority investors holding approx. 4% in Reliance Infratel, allowing them time to file their replies by 28th March, 2018,” the company said in a statement.
The matter will come up for hearing on April 5, 2018.

The company further said, “As legally advised, RCom remains confident that its asset monetisation programme will be completed expeditiously to protect the interests of its secured lenders, much in advance of the time limit of 31st August, 2018 prescribed by the RBI for resolution of such cases.”

The SC, while staying its asset sale plant to Jio, said that the details on the asset sale will be issued with its final order.

RCom had submitted its resolution plan in December, which stated that its wireless spectrum, tower, fiber and media convergence node (MCN) assets will be bought by Jio.

RCom is selling its assets to reduce its debts by Rs 39,000 crore. The plea, however, was rejected by Bombay High Court on March 8.

The SC Bench has refused to lift the stay ordered by Bombay High Court on RCom asset sale. The next hearing will be held on April 5, where the court will hear the lenders’ plea, led by the State Bank of India and the firm itself against the stay of assets sale.
(Disclosure: RIL, the promoter of Reliance Jio, also controls Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com)

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Navi Mumbai becomes the largest 4G city

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Navi Mumbai registered average 4G speeds of 8.72 Mbps in OpenSignal’s latest measurements, which track average 4G download speeds among 20 of India’s largest cities between December and February. Chennai saw its 4G speeds nearly double, jumping up from 4.4 Mbps. At the other end of the scale, Allahabad was only city to register less than 4 Mbps with average speeds of just 3.5 Mbps.

Six out of the top ten cities were in the southern or western regions, with Chennai coming in second with average speeds of 8.52 Mbps, followed by Kolkata at 8.46 Mbps and Bangalore with 7.17 Mbps. Speeds were calculated for 20 of India’s largest cities, but it’s by no means a comprehensive list of every city in India. So while Allahabad is at the bottom of the chart, this does not mean it is the slowest city in the country – it’s the slowest of the 20 cities being analyzed.

The Indian 4G market is growing rapidly, with being one of the largest LTE footprints in the world. The shockwaves from the debut of Reliance Jio are still being felt, with no less than three mobile mergers on the table, meaning the  fastest 4G city rankings are likely to change significantly in the coming months.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow