‘Telecom equipment industry grew 20 percent in 2008-09′

September 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Companies in the telecom and auto sectors have witnessed robust growth in turnover despite not increasing their advertisement budgets, according to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocam), an industry lobby. In a study titled "Cost-Benefit Analysis of Advertisement Campaigns", Assocham said: "The amount spent on the marketing expenses in proportion to the sales has undergone a substantial decline in 2008-09." However, it added that Indian telecom and auto companies, "despite spending less on their advertisement and promotion campaigns, were able to increase their sales volume significantly".

August 6th, 2009 Telecom Italia 1H down 17 percentMILAN — Telecom Italia SpA says first-half net profit dropped 17 percent from a year earlier because of a shrinking customer base, lower handset sales and regulations limiting termination fees on mobile phones. Italy's largest telecommunication operator said Thursday that net profit in the period that ended June 30 was euro964 million ($1.38 billion), compared with a restated euro1.1 billion a year earlier.

July 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Despite India's overall exports growth dipping considerably, exports from its special economic zones (SEZs) grew 50 percent during 2008-09, the government said Monday. "The value of exports made from SEZs during 2008-09 was Rs.99,689 crore against Rs.66,638 crore in the previous year, an increase over 50 percent," said Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya M.

July 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Five telecom firms will be audited for suspected misreporting of revenues by them, the government said Thursday. The telecom operators that are under the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) scanner are Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular and Tata Teleservices.

July 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The automotive industry in India grew at a computed annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.5 percent over the past five years, the Economic Survey 2008-09 tabled in parliament Thursday said. The industry has a strong multiplier effect on the economy due to its deep forward and backward linkages with several key segments of the economy, a finance ministry statement said.

June 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Despite the overall slowdown and driven by unprecedented demand for mobile phone connections, the Indian telecom equipment industry grew 20 percent last fiscal to top $24 billion in revenues, says a new survey. Interestingly, though, the market for mobile and fixed-line handsets grew just 6 percent because of crashing prices and focus on rural market, said the annual survey by Voice and Data, a telecom industry journal of CyberMedia group.

June 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Indian telecom industry saw a dip in the number of new subscribers in April - 11.75 million telephone connections were added, compared to 15.87 million in March, an official statement said here Monday. The number of telephone connections reached 441.47 million in April from 429.72 million a month before, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said in a statement.

April 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Strong financials of domestic companies and robust demand in sectors like telecom, pharma and capital goods will kickstart inbound merger and acquisition (M&A) activities in India in the next six to nine months, an industry lobby report said Thursday. The report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) said: 'Inbound M&As, which had witnessed a steep fall of 85 percent due to the global financial crisis, and consolidation deals are expected to show signs of revival by October-December period 2009.' Assocham president Sajjan Jindal said in the report: 'Indian companies could attract greater number of inbound M&A deals as the equity valuations of certain sectors like telecom, pharma, and capital goods offer lucrative strategic option to bigger foreign companies.' In January-March 2009, the inbound M&A deals, which had the maximum share in total M&A deal size during October-December 2008, contracted by a whopping 85.28 percent.

April 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's gold jewellery industry retained its sheen in 2008-09 despite the economic slowdown by posting 23.64 percent growth in exports, an industry lobby report said Wednesday. According to the report by the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), the gold jewellery exports grew from $5.54 billion (Rs.22,315 crore) in 2007-08 to $6.85 billion in 2008-09.

April 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Cheap Chinese handsets that do not have an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) - a unique 15-digit identity code - will be phased out from the Indian market by April 13, industry operators said. The Department of Telecom (DoT) has directed telephone operators to disconnect services to handsets that do not have the IMEI code as such phones pose security threat, a telecom official said Saturday.

February 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Wednesday said it has accepted the telecom regulator's proposal to allow companies to offer mobile phone services without owning network infrastructure or spectrum. The government decision would pave the way for foreign and Indian companies to set up mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) in India which can roll out wireless telecom services by renting spectrum and networks from existing telecom companies.

February 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Rural population is the key growth driver of India's telecom industry though 'affordability still remains a key issue', said a study released here Thursday. According to the study by LIRNEasia, and information and communication technology policy organisation, 27 percent of the total mobile owners at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP), or the poorest socio-economic group, were added last year, whereas the urban areas added only 19 percent.

January 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's telecom industry continued its robust growth in December by adding 10.66 million new subscribers, an official statement said here Wednesday. The country registered 2.84 percent growth last month, taking the total number of telephone connections to 384.79 million from 374.13 million in November 2008, said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) statement.

January 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Unitech Wireless, the telecom arm of real estate major Unitech Ltd., Monday said it has received 4.4 megahertz (MHz) of spectrum in the 1,800 MHz GSM band in the West Bengal telecom circle. With this, the company has been allotted initial spectrum in 21 service areas of India out of 22, a company statement said.

December 23rd, 2008 NEW DELHI - Despite the global downturn slowing mergers and acquisitions (M&A), 20 such deals worth $9.15 billion took place in the country's telecom sector this fiscal, said an industry lobby study released Wednesday. The study on 'Mergers and Acquisitions in Telecom Sector' by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham), said the telecom sector had accounted for 33 percent of the total M&A deals this fiscal.