It's been a bloodbath in the Indian telecommunications sector but Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman, Bharti Enterprises, put up a formidable fight

BSNL has started in operations Mumbai and Delhi following the telco's proposal to manage networks in twin circles on an outsourced basis that got acceptance by the telecom department in October 2020.

 In terms of YTD, Nifty Pharma topped the rank among other sectors, growing 60%, followed by an almost 55% rise in the Nifty IT index. Nifty metal grew by 16%, while Nifty FMCG was up 15% since the start of the year 2020

Telecom companies Airtel, Jio and Vi offer a range of plans that give talktime and data plans that are ideal for users looking for talktime and data benefits with lesser validities.

While Indian government is still mulling over 5G trials, countries like China, South Korea, and US have raced ahead in 5G deployments; 135 live 5G services are available in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Americas, and Asia Pacific

BSNL has announced a work from home data-only plan for Rs 251 that comes with 70GB of data. Airtel, Jio and Vi are also giving data-only benefits at this price point but the benefits are different.

A latest note by ICRA says that the sector can expect ARPU (average revenue per user) to touch Rs 220 in the medium term. ARPU is an important metric to track the performance of the telcos

The reason behind the rise in debt levels of telcos is because of the accumulation of AGR (Adjusted Gross Revenue) liabilities in debt, besides the proposed spectrum auctions, ICRA said in a report

Analysts are of the view that these renewals alone would cost Jio around Rs 28,000 crore, Airtel Rs 12,900 crore, and Vodafone Idea Rs 8,300 crore at the reserve price, totalling Rs 49,200 crore

While Jio has reportedly asked Department of Telecommunications to auction 700 MHz spectrum recently; it asked DoT to auction 700 MHz in 2015 as well but didn't buy anything in 2016 auctions

Bidders will have to comply with conditions such as block size, spectrum cap, maximum amount of spectrum that can be held, roll-out obligations, and payment terms

Jio recorded more than double the download speed of its closest competitor Vodafone

Bharti Airtel believes its average revenue per users (ARPU) would have touched Rs 200 if not for the pandemic and believes that the company should get there in the next few months

Mukesh Ambani said that Jio will pioneer the 5G Revolution in India in the second half of 2021 and will be powered by indigenous-developed network, hardware and technology components

Indian Mobile Congress 2020: Mukesh Ambani congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Digital India Mission that has made the country highly resilient in the face of the toughest of adversities

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The telco has been making losses and is aiming to ramp up its 4G network and clear the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues

Airtel, BSNL, Jio offer speeds up to 300 Mbps. Airtel and JioFiber give unlimited data benefits. The three telcos offer varying streaming benefits.

Sunil Mittal said that Airtel has clarified in the past that tariff hike is necessary, but the company cannot move ahead with it sans support from the rest of industry and regulator

Experts say that the reluctance of COAI to revise the broadband definition and its disapproval for a speed measurement programme show that the telcos are not ready for any kind of scrutiny