Tag: telecom

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India proposes to regulate internet communication services

India has proposed to regulate internet-based communication services, requiring platforms to obtain a license for operating in the world’s second largest wireless market.

The Department of Telecommunications’ new proposal, called Draft Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022, seeks to consolidate and update three old rules — Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933, and The Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Protection) Act, 1950.

The 40-page draft proposes to grant the government the ability to intercept messages beaming through internet-powered communication services in the event of “any public emergency or in the interest of the public safety.” It also provides the government immunity against any lawsuit.

“No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Central Government, the State Government, the Government of a Union Territory, or any other authority under this Act or any person acting on their behalf as the case may be, for anything which is done in good faith, or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act or any rule, regulation or order made thereunder,” the draft said.

The draft also asks that individuals using these licensed communications apps should not “furnish any false particulars, suppress any material information or impersonate another person”.

Telecom operators in the country have long demanded regulation of apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram “to get a level-playing field” in the South Asian market. But the proliferation of WhatsApp and other chat services in India and beyond that killed the telecom industry’s costly texting tariffs did not hurt consumers.

The Department of Telecommunications said it reviewed similar legislations in Australia, Singapore, Japan, European Union, the U.K. and the U.S. while preparing its draft.

The proposed guidelines, for which the ministry will seek public comments until October 20, additionally attempts to take broader steps to curb spam messages. India is one of the worst impacted nations by spam calls and texts, a fact that has allowed call screening apps such as Truecaller to make deep inroads in the nation.

The draft says that “any message offering, advertising or promoting goods, services, interest in property, business opportunity, employment opportunity or investment opportunity” must only be sent after users’ prior consent. The draft also proposes a mechanism to enable users to report spam messages received and recommends one or more ‘Do Not Disturb’ registers to record users’ consent for receiving specific promotional messages.

The draft notably comes just over a month after India concluded its $19 billion 5G spectrum. The country is expected to get 5G networks later this year.

India proposes to regulate internet communication services by Jagmeet Singh originally published on TechCrunch

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India proposes to regulate internet communication services

India has proposed to regulate internet-based communication services, requiring platforms to obtain a license for operating in the world’s second largest wireless market.

The Department of Telecommunications’ new proposal, called Draft Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022, seeks to consolidate and update three old rules — Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933, and The Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Protection) Act, 1950.

The 40-page draft proposes to grant the government the ability to intercept messages beaming through internet-powered communication services in the event of “any public emergency or in the interest of the public safety.” It also provides the government immunity against any lawsuit.

“No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Central Government, the State Government, the Government of a Union Territory, or any other authority under this Act or any person acting on their behalf as the case may be, for anything which is done in good faith, or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act or any rule, regulation or order made thereunder,” the draft said.

The draft also asks that individuals using these licensed communications apps should not “furnish any false particulars, suppress any material information or impersonate another person”.

Telecom operators in the country have long demanded regulation of apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram “to get a level-playing field” in the South Asian market. But the proliferation of WhatsApp and other chat services in India and beyond that killed the telecom industry’s costly texting tariffs did not hurt consumers.

The Department of Telecommunications said it reviewed similar legislations in Australia, Singapore, Japan, European Union, the U.K. and the U.S. while preparing its draft.

The proposed guidelines, for which the ministry will seek public comments until October 20, additionally attempts to take broader steps to curb spam messages. India is one of the worst impacted nations by spam calls and texts, a fact that has allowed call screening apps such as Truecaller to make deep inroads in the nation.

The draft says that “any message offering, advertising or promoting goods, services, interest in property, business opportunity, employment opportunity or investment opportunity” must only be sent after users’ prior consent. The draft also proposes a mechanism to enable users to report spam messages received and recommends one or more ‘Do Not Disturb’ registers to record users’ consent for receiving specific promotional messages.

The draft notably comes just over a month after India concluded its $19 billion 5G spectrum. The country is expected to get 5G networks later this year.

India proposes to regulate internet communication services by Jagmeet Singh originally published on TechCrunch

Posted on

India proposes to regulate internet communication services

India has proposed to regulate internet-based communication services, requiring platforms to obtain a license for operating in the world’s second largest wireless market.

The Department of Telecommunications’ new proposal, called Draft Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022, seeks to consolidate and update three old rules — Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933, and The Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Protection) Act, 1950.

The 40-page draft proposes to grant the government the ability to intercept messages beaming through internet-powered communication services in the event of “any public emergency or in the interest of the public safety.” It also provides the government immunity against any lawsuit.

“No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Central Government, the State Government, the Government of a Union Territory, or any other authority under this Act or any person acting on their behalf as the case may be, for anything which is done in good faith, or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act or any rule, regulation or order made thereunder,” the draft said.

The draft also asks that individuals using these licensed communications apps should not “furnish any false particulars, suppress any material information or impersonate another person”.

Telecom operators in the country have long demanded regulation of apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram “to get a level-playing field” in the South Asian market. But the proliferation of WhatsApp and other chat services in India and beyond that killed the telecom industry’s costly texting tariffs did not hurt consumers.

The Department of Telecommunications said it reviewed similar legislations in Australia, Singapore, Japan, European Union, the U.K. and the U.S. while preparing its draft.

The proposed guidelines, for which the ministry will seek public comments until October 20, additionally attempts to take broader steps to curb spam messages. India is one of the worst impacted nations by spam calls and texts, a fact that has allowed call screening apps such as Truecaller to make deep inroads in the nation.

The draft says that “any message offering, advertising or promoting goods, services, interest in property, business opportunity, employment opportunity or investment opportunity” must only be sent after users’ prior consent. The draft also proposes a mechanism to enable users to report spam messages received and recommends one or more ‘Do Not Disturb’ registers to record users’ consent for receiving specific promotional messages.

The draft notably comes just over a month after India concluded its $19 billion 5G spectrum. The country is expected to get 5G networks later this year.

India proposes to regulate internet communication services by Jagmeet Singh originally published on TechCrunch

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Ambani’s Reliance Jio top buyer in India’s $19 billion 5G sale

Telecom operators in India agreed to spend $19 billion in the government auction for the 5G airwaves, New Delhi said Monday, the highest from them in any spectrum sale, as the world’s second largest wireless market readies the rollout of improved and faster voice and data speeds.

Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea competed with one another for seven days and made the majority of the acquisitions, purchasing 71% of all offered spectrum, which the government said exceeded its expectations.

Tycoon Mukesh Ambani’s Jio, which counts Google and Meta among its backers, was the most aggressive participant, with spendings of $11.13 billion, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said Monday in a press briefing. Google-backed Airtel made spendings worth $5.44 billion, whereas Vodafone Idea, the Indian unit of British giant Vodafone Group and billionaire Kumar Mangalam’s Idea Cellular, made spendings of worth $2.37 billion.

Even as India is the second largest wireless market, it has been slow in comparison to several markets in setting up the networks for the rollout of 5G technology, which carriers across the globe say offers significantly faster data speeds and could play an instrumental role in applications around innovations in autonomous mobility and telemedicines and robotics among other industries.

The lure of faster speeds is likely to help telecom operators struggling with declining revenues in recent years persuade consumers to pay more for data, analysts say.

“We have always believed that India will become a leading economic power in the world by adopting the power of breakthrough technologies. This was the vision and conviction that gave birth to Jio. The speed, scale and societal impact of Jio’s 4G rollout is unmatched anywhere in the world. Now, with a bigger ambition and stronger resolve, Jio is set to lead India’s march into the 5G era,” said Akash Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm, in a statement. “Jio is committed to offering world-class, affordable 5G and 5G-enabled services. We will provide services, platforms and solutions that will accelerate India’s digital revolution, especially in crucial sectors like Education, Healthcare, Agriculture, Manufacturing and e-Governance.”

Reliance’s aggressive spendings demonstrate its growing digital ambitions. The oils giant, which launched its telecom operation six years ago, has established itself as the largest wireless carrier in India, with more than 420 million subscribers. By offering cutrate data prices, Jio won subscribers and forced the industry to lower tariffs, kickstarting an era that has significantly driven the mobile data consumption in the South Asian nation and benefited countless startups.

“The Hail Mary moment there was Reliance Jio’s arrival in the market. It democratized data and smartphones at a scale that we have not seen in countries other than China,” said Karthik Reddy, a VC at early-stage-focused venture firm Blume Ventures, in an earlier TechCrunch interview.

New Delhi said Reliance acquired spectrum in 700MHz, 800MHz, 1800MHz, 3300MHz and 26GHz bands, Bharti Airtel acquired spectrum in 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz, 3300MHz and 26GHz frequency bands, and Vodafone Idea cornered spectrum in 3300MHz and 26GHz bands.

India said it expects the rollout of 5G networks to begin from October and hopes that residents in several key cities will be able to experience the faster internet by the end of the year. Vaishnaw declared the auction for 5G airwaves a success for India and said the government is working to complete the allocation by August 10.

Anticipating the rollout, smartphone makers have been selling in India for nearly two years handsets capable of supporting 5G networks. In fact, they have shipped more than 50 million 5G-compatible smartphones in the South Asian market, a fifth of which arrived in the quarter that ended in June this year, according to research firm Counterpoint. India is also the world’s second largest smartphone market and one of the fastest growing.

“This spectrum acquisition at the latest auction has been a part of a deliberate strategy to buy the best spectrum assets at a substantially lower relative cost compared to our competition. This will allow us to raise the bar on innovation and address the emerging needs of every discerning customer who demands the best experience in India,” said Gopal Vittal, chief executive of Bharti Airtel, in a statement.

India’s richest man Gautam Adani’s firm also made its debut in the auction, but kept its interest largely limited with spendings of just $26.8 million. The company said last month that it was participating in the spectrum auction to provide private network solutions with enhanced cyber security in “the airport, ports & logistics, power generation, transmission, distribution, and various manufacturing operations.”

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Verizon demos THOR, it’s new vehicle for frontline rapid humanitarian response

The increasingly intense heats bearing down feverishly across the globe are accelerating the number, scale, and complexity of disasters worldwide. Just in the past few weeks, we have seen record heat in the United States Pacific Northwest that has led to hundreds of deaths — with more heat on the way.

Heat waves, wildfires, hurricanes, typhoons and many other types of weather-related disasters create huge challenges for infrastructure providers like energy utilities and telecoms, who have to keep uptime as close to 100% as possible for their customers even in the midst of some of the most challenging environments humans have ever witnessed.

To that end, Verizon (which, as a reminder, is the ultimate parent company for TechCrunch for a few more weeks) announced today the first demo unit of what it dubs its THOR vehicle, for Tactical Humanitarian Operations Response. Designed on top of a Ford F650 pickup truck chassis, THOR is designed to provide highly-mobile and resilient connectivity to frontline responders and citizens through wireless technologies like 5G Ultra Wideband and satellite uplinks.

Verizon’s THOR vehicle can deploy wireless technologies like 5G and satellite uplinks to rapidly deploy connectivity to frontline responders. Image Credits: Verizon

The company developed the prototype in partnership with the Department of Defense’s NavalX and the SoCal Tech Bridge, and unveiled the prototype last week at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, just north of San Diego.

In addition to wireless connectivity, THOR can also potentially deploy a variety of drone capabilities. For instance, a vehicle could deploy a drone for search and rescue operations, or to help augment firefighters with intelligence on how a wildfire is developing over time.

As I discussed a few weeks ago in “When the Earth is gone, at least the internet will still be working,” telcos like Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile are increasing spending on a variety of resiliency initiatives, ranging from the rapid staging of mobile wireless equipment to novel solutions like AT&T’s FirstNet One, a dirigible capable of flying near a disaster zone to offer wireless services.

When the Earth is gone, at least the internet will still be working

DisasterTech as I have been dubbing it has been gaining more attention of late from investors and companies both big and small as governments, the private sector, insurers, and individuals have to confront and respond to the intensifying nature of storms globally.

The human-focused startups of the hellfire

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Huawei reports slowing growth as its operations “face significant challenges”

Huawei announced earnings results today showing that its growth has slowed significantly this year as the Chinese telecom equipment and smartphone giant said its “production and operations face significant challenges.”

While Huawei did not specify trade restrictions in its brief announcement, the company has been hit with a series of commercial trade restrictions by the U.S. government. The full impact of those policies haven’t been realized yet, because U.S. government has granted Huawei several waivers, including one that will delay the implementation of a ban on commercial trade with Huawei and ZTE until May 2021.

Trump adds another year to Huawei/ZTE ban

During the first three quarters of 2020, the Chinese telecoms and smartphone giant reported revenue of 671.3 billion yuan (about USD $100.7 billion), an increase of 9.9% year-over-year, with a profit margin of 8%. The company said those results “basically met expectations,” but it represents a huge drop from its performance during the same period last year, when Huawei reported 24.4% growth with a profit margin of 8.7%.

Huawei is a privately-held company and its announcement did not break down its results in terms of smartphone or telecoms equipment sales, or other detail.

The company wrote that “as the world grapples with COVID-19, Huawei’s global supply chain is being put under pressure and its production and operations face significant challenges. The company continues to do its best to find solutions, survive and forge forward, and fulfill its obligations to customers and suppliers.”

Other U.S. restrictions include one that would ban Huawei from using U.S. software and hardware in certain semiconductor processes, forcing it to find other sources for chips.

Huawei admits uncertainty following new US chip curbs

In addition to the U.S., Huawei is also facing scrutiny by other countries, including the United Kingdom, which is planning to implement a new poicy that will bar telecoms from buying new 5G equipment from Huawei to ZTE and require them to remove any parts from those companies that’s already been installed in UK 5G networks by 2027.

UK U-turns on Huawei and 5G, giving operators until 2027 to rip out existing kit

Replacing Huawei equipment also presents costly challenges for telecoms, because Huawei is one of the biggest suppliers in the world. Last month, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said it would cost $1.837 billion to replace Huawei and ZTE networking equipment, with rural telecom networks facing the most financial pressure.

But 2020 has had a few bright spots for Huawei. In July, a report from Canalys found that Huawei overtook Samsung as the leader in global smartphone shipments during the second quarter of 2020, a major milestone because it marked the the first time in nine years that Apple and Samsung didn’t take the top spot on Canalys’ charts. This was partly because smartphone shipments in general have been hurt during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Huawei was helped by sales within China, its domestic market.

Huawei overtook Samsung in global smartphone shipments for Q2

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A reading guide to Reliance Jio, the most important tech company in the world

Over the past few months, COVID-19 has brought much of the fundraising community to a standstill. However, amidst it all India’s hyper0growth telco Reliance Jio Platforms has put its fundraising efforts into full gear.

Over the past three months, Jio has raised over $15.5 billion from a cohort of investors that include prominent financial institutions like KKR and Silver Lake Partners, massive sovereign wealth funds like Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and some of the biggest names in tech including Facebook.

India’s richest man built a telecom operator everyone wants a piece of

The recent deals have cemented Mukesh Ambani’s ambition to make his oil-to-retails giant Reliance Industries (India’s most valuable firm) a top homegrown internet giant.

On Friday, he said he plans to publicly list Reliance Jio Platforms and Reliance Retail, the largest retail chain in the country — also controlled by him — in the next five years.

As Reliance Jio Platforms, which has become the India’s top telecom operator with over 388 million subscribers in less than four years, continues its funding spree, at Extra Crunch we are doubling down on our focus on covering everything Jio from here and out.

How Reliance Jio Platforms became India’s biggest telecom network

As we’ve attempted to get up to speed on the company, we’ve compiled a supplemental list of resources and readings that we believe are particularly helpful for learning the story of Jio, which remains a mysterious firm to many.

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How Reliance Jio Platforms became India’s biggest telecom network

It’s raised $5.7 billion from Facebook. It’s taken $1.5 billion from KKR, another $1.5 billion from Vista Equity Partners, $1.5 billion from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, $1.35 billion from Silver Lake, $1.2 billion from Mubadala, $870 million from General Atlantic, $750 million from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, $600 million from TPG, and $250 million from L Catterton.

And it’s done all that in just nine weeks.

India’s Reliance Jio Platforms is the world’s most ambitious tech company. Founder Mukesh Ambani has made it his dream to provide every Indian with access to affordable and comprehensive telecommunications services, and Jio has so far proven successful, attracting nearly 400 million subscribers in just a few years.

The unparalleled growth of Reliance Jio Platforms, a subsidiary of India’s most-valued firm (Reliance Industries), has shocked rivals and spooked foreign tech companies such as Google and Amazon, both of which are now reportedly eyeing a slice of one of the world’s largest telecom markets.

What can we learn from Reliance Jio Platforms’s growth? What does the future hold for Jio and for India’s tech startup ecosystem in general?

Through a series of reports, Extra Crunch is going to investigate those questions. We previously profiled Mukesh Ambani himself, and in today’s installment, we are going to look at how Reliance Jio went from a telco upstart to the dominant tech company in four years.

India’s richest man built a telecom operator everyone wants a piece of

The birth of a new empire

Months after India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, launched his telecom network Reliance Jio, Sunil Mittal of Airtel — his chief rival — was struggling in public to contain his frustration.

That Ambani would try to win over subscribers by offering them free voice calling wasn’t a surprise, Mittal said at the World Economic Forum in January 2017. But making voice calls and the bulk of 4G mobile data completely free for seven months clearly “meant that they have not gotten the attention they wanted,” he said, hopeful the local regulator would soon intervene.

This wasn’t the first time Ambani and Mittal were competing directly against each other: in 2002, Ambani had launched a telecommunications company and sought to win the market by distributing free handsets.

In India, carrier lock-in is not popular as people prefer pay-as-you-go voice and data plans. But luckily for Mittal in their first go around, Ambani’s journey was cut short due to a family feud with his brother — read more about that here.

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Bipartisan Senate investigation urges more aggressive action against Chinese telecoms

Alarm has been rising in Washington over the extent of Chinese influence in the U.S., with particular focus on universities and their research as well as on concerns around China’s acquisition of critical U.S. technologies that it needs in sectors as diverse as semiconductors and aeronautics.

Now, a new bipartisan investigatory report from the Senate urges even further action, this time in monitoring and potentially outright blocking Chinese telecommunications companies from accessing the American market.

Released this morning by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, the report makes a range of recommendations, including pushing the Trump administration to take a more active role in monitoring Chinese telecom companies like China Unicom and ComNet and also pushing Congress to put more resources and legal heft behind regulations designed to monitor the national security implications of these companies.

At the heart of the investigation, which has gone on for more than a year, is the work of Team Telecom, what we have called here at TechCrunch a “shadowy” informal committee between the departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Defense that works in conjunction with the FCC to review national security issues within the FCC’s work.

Among its open-ended responsibilities, Team Telecom has focused on reviewing applications for telecom operating licenses by foreign operators as well as opening up new underwater cables for internet traffic, including a key pipe between the U.S. and Asia partially funded by Google and Facebook.

How US national security agencies hold the internet hostage

The Trump administration, aligned with reducing Chinese telecom operations in the U.S. and perhaps hearing word of the Senate’s investigation, had previously announced in April a formalization of the process for reviewing the national security implications of telecom licensing that would expand Team Telecom’s authority and bring more transparency.

The US is formalizing Team Telecom rules to restrict foreign ownership of internet and telecom assets

The Senate’s report notes that executive order, but says it does not go far enough, demanding that the rules be expanded to continually monitor companies receiving licenses. At this time, “Team Telecom” or what is now known as the “Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the United States Telecommunications Services Sector” (I’ve dubbed it CAFPUSTSS but that is really hard to type) only reviews applications once at the time of submission and never follows up. From the report:

Team Telecom entered into a security agreement with China Telecom Americas in 2007 and ComNet in 2009. Since entering into the agreements more than ten years ago, Team Telecom conducted only two site visits to each company—or four in total. Only one of those visits occurred before 2017.

In its recommendations, the Senate’s report pushes for continual monitoring of foreign telecom operators so that any changes in its operations would be caught by U.S. investigators.

In addition to expanding the statutory authority of Team Telecom’s new committee, the report also urges more resources be appropriated to fund its work. The report castigated the paltry resources currently assigned to these investigations, noting that “[the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security] historically dedicated fewer than five employees to reviewing applications and monitoring compliance with security agreements.“

This most recent report is part of a long line of studies made by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations on China, including investigating the country’s Confucius Institutes at American universities, talent recruitment plans such as China’s Thousand Talents Plan, and Chinese cyberattacks on American infrastructure.

The bipartisan nature of the report shows the growing concern among both parties about Chinese influence in the United States, and the increased inter-party cooperation to unify against the country’s perceived threats. Late last month, a bipartisan Senate bill was introduced to eliminate Hong Kong’s special trading status with the U.S. as punishment for China’s passage of a new national security law that critics fear will chill free speech and freedom for the semi-autonomous city.

How Huawei is dividing Western nations

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SoftBank reportedly plans to sell about $20 billion of its T-Mobile shares

SoftBank Group Corp. is currently seeking buyers for about $20 billion of its shares in T-Mobile US, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. If the proposed sale goes through, its proceeds could help offset SoftBank’s heavy investment losses over the past year.

According to its first-quarter earnings report yesterday, SoftBank’s Vision Fund lost $17.4 billion in value for the year ended March 31, obliterating the $12.8 billion gain the fund recorded a year ago. Earlier this year, the company announced plans to sell up to $41 billion of its assets to increase its share buyback program.

The first Vision Fund is officially done investing (and spent $100M every day of its existence)

T-Mobile’s merger with SoftBank-controlled Sprint, which was officially completed last month, gave SoftBank ownership of about 25% of T-Mobile’s shares.

Bloomberg reports that under the proposed deal, which could be announced this week, SoftBank would sell part of its stake to Deutsche Telekom AG, T-Mobile’s parent company. Deutsche Telekom currently owns about 44% of T-Mobile’s shares, but would achieve majority ownership if the deal with SoftBank goes through. Softbank would then sell some of its remaining stake to other investors in a secondary offering.

T-Mobile is the United States’ third-largest wireless carrier, after AT&T and Verizon Wireless*, and it has a current market capitalization of about $126 billion, which means SoftBank’s stake is worth about $31 billion, while Deutsche Telekom’s is about $55 billion.

According to the Wall Street Journal, banks including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sach Group are currently seeking investors for the proposed sale.

*Disclosure: Verizon is TechCrunch’s parent company.