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☆ India's Bharti to buy Drahi's stake in BT, worth $4 billion
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

India's Bharti Enterprises said it would acquire a 24.5% stake in BT , worth about 3.2 billion pounds ($4 billion), buying out the British company's top investor, telecoms tycoon Patrick Drahi, as his Altice group struggles with high debts. The Indian company said it would buy an initial 9.99% stake before seeking to add the remaining 14.51% following regulatory approvals. Bharti said it supported BT's executive team and strategy as the group pushed forward with an "ambitious" transformation programme to deliver long-term sustainable growth. BT's shares have risen by 24% in the last six months as the fruits of its long-term investment plan to build the country's fibre network start to materialise. "This scale of investment from Bharti Global is a great vote of confidence in the future of BT Group and our strategy," Kirkby said in a statement following the investment.

Persons: India's, Patrick Drahi, Bharti, Drahi, Carlos Slim, Allison Kirkby, Kirkby Organizations: India's Bharti Enterprises, BT, UK National Security and Investment, Bharti Global, BT Group Locations: Abu Dhabi

☆ Kenya to sell 35 state companies as Africa seeks to jumpstart IPOs
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Duncan Miriri | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NAIROBI, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Kenya's President William Ruto said on Thursday the government was poised to privatise 35 state companies after enacting a law last month to guide the process. Kenya last privatised a state-owned company in 2008 with an initial public offering (IPO) for 25% of the shares in telecommunications firm Safaricom (SCOM.NR). "We have identified the first 35 companies that we are going to offer to the private sector. Kenya's President William Ruto speaks during the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit at United Nations headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., September 18, 2023. "If well harnessed, stock exchanges can be the engine that transforms Africa into a global economic powerhouse and financial centre of the world," the president said.

Persons: William Ruto, Ruto, Njuguna Ndung'u, Ndung'u, Caitlin Ochs, Bourses, Thapelo, Ducan Miriri, Marc Jones, Aaron Ross, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: African, Nairobi . Finance, Reuters, Sustainable, United Nations, REUTERS, Botswana Stock Exchange, Bharti Airtel, Thomson Locations: NAIROBI, Kenya, Nairobi, New York City , New York, U.S, Africa, Uganda, London

☆ Eutelsat OneWeb gets Indian go-ahead for satellite broadband services
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGALURU, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Eutelsat (ETL.PA) subsidiary Eutelsat OneWeb said on Tuesday it had won approval from India's space regulator to launch commercial satellite broadband services in the country. Prime Minister Modi's government, which is heading for elections next year, is pushing the development of India's space industry. Investors poured $119 million into Indian space startups in 2022, up from a total of just $38 million in all the years up to 2017. In March, OneWeb partnered with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to launch 36 satellites. Amazon's Project Kuiper (AMZN.O) has also been in talks with regulators to offer satellite broadband services in India, the Economic Times newspaper reported last month.

Persons: Eutelsat OneWeb, Modi's, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Eutelsat, Mittal's, Mittal, OneWeb, Elon Musk's Starlink, Nivedita, Kanjyik Ghosh, Alexander Smith Organizations: Mittal's Bharti Enterprises, Airtel, Indian Space Research Organization, ISRO, Reuters, Ambani's, Economic Times, Thomson Locations: BENGALURU, India, Bengaluru

An Indigenous named Raimundo Praia from Mura people looks on in a deforested area of a non-demarcated indigenous land in the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, Amazonas State, Brazil, August 20, 2019. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Brazil Potash Corp FollowBRASILIA, Oct 18 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court has overturned an injunction suspending the license for Canadian firm Brazil Potash Corp to build Latin America's largest fertilizer mine in the Amazon rainforest. She also ruled that a license must come from federal environmental agency IBAMA and not state agency IPAAM. Brazil Potash on Wednesday declined to comment on the ruling, which was based on an appeal by the state environmental agency IPAAM. Brazil Potash says it would have minor environmental impact because salt separated from the potash at a processing plant would be returned underground.

Persons: Raimundo, Ueslei Marcelino, IPAAM, Jaiza, Alexandre Silveira, Silveira, Soares, Joenia Wapichana, Sergio Mura, Stan Bharti's Forbes, Governor Wilson Lima, Anthony Boadle, Marguerita Choy, Bill Berkrot, Diane Craft Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Brazil, Corp, Federal Regional Tribunal, Reuters, Mines, Energy, Funai, Capital, Stan Bharti's Forbes & Manhattan Group, Thomson Locations: Raimundo Praia, Mura, Humaita, Amazonas State, Brazil, BRASILIA, Manaus, , Brasilia, Autazes, Amazonas, Toronto

☆ India's Bharti Group to buy out French partner AXA's stake in JV
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Hritam Mukherjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Logos of France's biggest insurer Axa are seen on a building in Nanterre, near Paris, March 8, 2016. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBENGALURU, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Bharti Group will acquire French insurer AXA's (AXAF.PA) 49% stake in Bharti AXA Life Insurance Co, the Indian conglomerate said on Wednesday, taking full control of a venture that was jointly run for nearly two decades. "There is ample scope for life insurance to grow in India. Bharti's JV deal, made through its Bharti Life Ventures arm, is expected to close by December this year, subject to regulatory approvals. The company competes with HDFC Life Insurance (HDFL.NS), ICICI Prudential Life Insurance (ICIR.NS), SBI Life Insurance (SBIL.NS) and LIC in a market ranked ninth in the world, according to the insurance regulatory body's latest annual report.

Persons: Christian Hartmann, Bharti, Burman, Avinash Singh, Hritam Mukherjee, Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Anil D'Silva Organizations: Axa, REUTERS, Rights, Bharti Group, Bharti AXA Life Insurance, Bharti, AXA, Life Insurance Corporation of India, United Provident Association, Insurance, JV, Religare Enterprises, Emkay Global Financial Services, Bharti's JV, Ventures, Life Insurance, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, SBI Life Insurance, Bharti Airtel, Bharti Realty, Del Monte Foods, Del, Del Monte Pacific, Thomson Locations: Nanterre, Paris, India, Del Monte, Bengaluru

[1/3] Traffic moves past the 'Bharat Mandapam', the main venue of the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India, September 5, 2023. U.S. President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are expected to be part of the gathering in New Delhi. For years, Ambani and Adani have competed across a wide range of industries from telecoms to media, and energy to finance. Adani Group has denied any wrongdoing. Reliance Industries, Adani Enterprises, Tata Sons, Bharati Airtel, Aditya Birla Group and the Indian government did not reply to emails seeking comment on the invitation.

Persons: Mandapam, Adnan Abidi, Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani, Narendra Modi, Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak, Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Justin Trudeau, Fumio Kishida, N, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Sunil Mittal, Ambani, Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Modi, Adani, Sarita Chaganti Singh, Shivangi, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: REUTERS, British, Canadian, Japanese, Tata, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, Adani, Hindenburg Research, Adani Enterprises, Tata Sons, Bharati Airtel, Aditya Birla Group, Thomson Locations: New Delhi, India, DELHI, Saudi

Bola Tinubu, President of Nigeria, arrives for the closing session of the New Global Financial Pact Summit, Friday, June 23, 2023 in Paris, France. Lewis Joly/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNEW DELHI, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Nigeria has secured nearly $14 billion of pledges from Indian investors and seeks an economic cooperation pact with the South Asian nation, a presidential spokesperson said on Wednesday. Skipperseil Ltd's founding Chairman Jitender Sachdeva and India's Bharti Enterprises each pledged $1.6 billion over four years to build power generation plants and $700 million in Nigeria, respectively, Ngelale said. Tinubu is attending at the invitation of India, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the bloc. "We are ready to give you the best returns for investment possible, there's nowhere else like our country," Tinubu said in the statement.

Persons: Bola Tinubu, Lewis Joly, India's Jindal, Ajuri Ngelale, Skipperseil, Jitender Sachdeva, Ngelale, Tinubu, Nidhi Verma, Felix Onuah, Elisha Bala, Shivam Patel, Christina Fincher, Richard Chang Organizations: New Global Financial, South, India's Jindal Steel, Indorama Corp, India's Bharti Enterprises, Defence Industries Corporation, Thomson Locations: Nigeria, Paris, France, DELHI, West, New Delhi, India, Africa's, South Africa, Abuja

☆ Nigeria's Tinubu to attend G20 summit in India to promote investment
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Felix Onuah | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Bola Tinubu, President of Nigeria, arrives for the closing session of the New Global Financial Pact Summit, Friday, June 23, 2023 in Paris, France. Lewis Joly/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsABUJA, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu plans to attend the G20 summit in India this month to try to promote foreign investment in Africa's largest economy and mobilize global capital to develop infrastructure, his spokesman said on Friday. The summit in India will hold on Sept 9 and 10. Ngelale said Tinubu will meet leaders from Brazil, India, South Korea and Germany on the sidelines of the G20. Tinubu also plans to meet Indian executives, including Jindal Steel and Power Company, among others, Ngelale said.

Persons: Bola Tinubu, Lewis Joly, Tinubu, Ajuri Ngelale, Ngelale, India's Bharti, Joe Biden, Felix Onuah, Chijioke Ohuocha, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: New Global Financial, Rights, Jindal Steel, Power Company, India's, India's Bharti Airtel, U.S, United Nations General Assembly, Thomson Locations: Nigeria, Paris, France, Rights ABUJA, India, West African, Brazil, South Korea, Germany, Africa, New York

☆ SingTel Q1 profit slumps 23% on unfavourable currency move, high costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsAug 21 (Reuters) - Singapore Telecommunications (STEL.SI) reported on Monday a 23% decline in first-quarter net profit, citing the one-off impact at Bharti Airtel (BRTI.NS) in Nigeria as the naira depreciated sharply against the U.S. dollar, as well as high costs. Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), Southeast Asia's largest telecoms company, owns an effective 29.5% stake in India's Bharti Airtel. SingTel said in a statement net profit for the quarter ended June 30 was S$483 million ($355.91 million), compared with S$628 million a year earlier. On an underlying basis, net profit for the quarter gained 14.5% to S$571 million. SingTel also recorded a 2.7% decline in its first-quarter operating revenue to S$3.49 billion, hurt by currency exchange headwinds and competition.

Persons: Edgar Su, SingTel, Yuen Kuan, Sameer Manekar, Upasana Singh, Muralikumar Organizations: REUTERS, Singapore Telecommunications, Bharti Airtel, U.S ., Optus, Thomson Locations: Singapore, Nigeria, Nigerian, Australia, Bengaluru

☆ India's Jio launches Netflix subscription on prepaid plans
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A man walks across the LED board showing the logo of Jio at the ongoing India Mobile Congress 2022, at Pragati Maidan, in New Delhi, India, October 3, 2022. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsAug 18 (Reuters) - Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom arm of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries (RELI.NS), said on Friday it has launched a Netflix subscription on prepaid plans. Jio said that around 400 million prepaid customers will get the option of availing a Netflix subscription through two packages, one priced at 1,099 rupees ($13.23), which will give access to Netflix on mobile platforms, and the other for 1,499 rupees, providing access to a basic package for large screens. Jio's peers, Bharti Airtel (BRTI.NS) and Vodafone Idea (VODA.NS), provide subscription to the Disney+ Hotstar streaming service through prepaid bundled plans. ($1 = 83.0797 Indian rupees)Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto; Editing by Sonia CheemaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Anushree, Mukesh, Jio, Tony Zameczkowski, Ashna Teresa Britto, Sonia Cheema Organizations: Mobile, REUTERS, Reliance Industries, Netflix, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Disney, Jio, Thomson Locations: Pragati, New Delhi, India

☆ MTN launches first 5G network in Uganda
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

KAMPALA, July 28 (Reuters) - Telecom firm MTN Uganda (MTNU.UG), a unit of South Africa's MTN Group (MTNJ.J), on Friday launched the first 5G network in the east African country. MTN has Uganda's largest subscriber base at around 15 million. 5G offers faster data speeds and lower latency or response time. Sylvia Mulinge, MTN Uganda's chief executive officer, said the company planned to roll out full 5G coverage in the capital Kampala by the end of 2024 and that over the next two years all its base sites in major cities would also be converted to 5G. Writing by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by George Obulutsa and Alexander WinningOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Sylvia Mulinge, Elias Biryabarema, George Obulutsa, Alexander Organizations: Telecom, MTN Uganda, South Africa's MTN, MTN, Bharti Airtel, 5G, MTN Uganda's, Thomson Locations: KAMPALA, South, Kampala

☆ A $12 phone is opening doors for rural India to get on the internet
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Charmaine Jacob | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

All that could change with a new $12 phone from Reliance Jio this week. India is already the world's second-largest smartphone market and is likely to add 300 million new internet users, making it the fastest country to provide internet services to those who remain unconnected, Mishra said. "However, screen size can limit the experience a bit, but still good for first-time internet users." Reliance Jio has rolled out 5G services in 406 cities in India. Additionally, Singh highlighted that Reliance Jio hopes first-time internet users who purchase the Jio Bharat will eventually upgrade to more advanced phones down the road.

Persons: Mukherjee, Akash Ambani, Jio Bharat, Varun Mishra, Mishra, Navkendar Singh, Singh, Jio, Bharat, There's, Nikhil Batra, Batra, Research's Mishra Organizations: International Data Corporation, Afp, Getty, Reliance, Reliance Industries, Counterpoint Research, CNBC, Vodafone, Aditya Birla Group, Vodafone Group —, BSNL, IDC, Nurphoto, Macquarie Research, Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel, Macquarie, Jio, Airtel Locations: India, Jio, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bihar, Jammu, Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh

☆ Billionaire Ambani's Reliance Jio renews rural India push with $12 4G phone
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 3 (Reuters) - Reliance Jio said on Monday it would launch a 4G feature phone priced at 999 rupees ($12.19), the latest attempt by billionaire Mukesh Ambani's telecom arm to grab market share in India's massive and under-penetrated hinterlands. "There are still 250 million mobile phone users in India who remain 'trapped' in the 2G era, ... at a time when the world stands at the cusp of a 5G revolution," Akash Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio, said in a statement. Currently, 4G feature phones account for less than 1% of the feature phone sales in India, per Counterpoint Research. "Feature phone to smartphone transition has slowed down due to high learning curve for a lot of rural Indian users and Jio Bharat aims to bridge that gap," said Tarun Pathak, analyst at Counterpoint Research. Feature phones are models that have higher functionalities than basic devices but falls short of the capabilities of a smartphone.

Persons: Jio, Mukesh, Akash Ambani, Bharat, Tarun Pathak, Pathak, Ashna Teresa Britto, Indranil Sarkar, Chris Thomas, Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Dhanya Ann Thoppil Organizations: Reliance, Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, IIFL Securities, Counterpoint Research, Reliance Industries, Google, Thomson Locations: Jio, India

REUTERS/Nathan FrandinoMOUNTAIN VIEW, California, June 26 (Reuters) - Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O) has already tried and failed to bring internet access to rural and remote areas by using high-altitude balloons in the stratosphere. But now, the company is delivering internet service to remote areas by using beams of light. It was initiated in 2016 after attempts at using stratospheric balloons to deliver internet ran into problems due to high costs, company executives said. Taara executives and Bharti Airtel (BRTI.NS), one of India's largest telecommunications and internet providers, told Reuters they are now moving toward larger-scale deployment of the new laser internet technology in India. Bharti Airtel's chief technology officer, Randeep Sekhon, said Taara will also help deliver faster internet service in urban areas in developed countries.

Persons: Nathan, Mahesh Krishnaswamy, Taara, Krishnaswamy, Astro Teller, moonshots, Teller, Bharti, Randeep Sekhon, Jane Lanhee Lee, Nathan Frandino, Kenneth Li, Matthew Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, Bharti Airtel, Reuters, Econet Group, Liquid Telecom, Bluetown, Digicel, Airtel, Sciences, Bharti Airtel's, Google, Thomson Locations: Alphabet's, View , California, U.S, California, India, Australia, Kenya, Fiji, Africa, Pacific, Osur, Chennai, Mountain View

☆ India cabinet approves $11 bln revival plan for state-owned BSNL
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Rama Venkat | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A man speaks on his mobile phone as he walks past a Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) advertisement painted on a wall outside its office in Kolkata, India, August 24, 2017. REUTERS/Rupak De ChowdhuriBENGALURU, June 7 (Reuters) - India's cabinet on Wednesday approved an 890.47 billion rupee ($10.79 billion) revival package for loss-making Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to help the state-owned telecom operator deploy 4G and 5G services in a market dominated by private players. "With this revival package, BSNL will emerge as a stable telecom service provider focused on providing connectivity to remotest parts of India," the cabinet said in a statement. Debt-laden BSNL, grappling with poor infrastructure, has been posting losses for the past 12 years. The losses narrowed to 69.82 billion rupees in the year ended March 2022 from 74.41 billion rupees a year ago.

Persons: Vivekanand Subbaraman, Sakshi Dayal, Rama Venkat, Krishna N, Dhanya Ann Thoppil Organizations: Nigam Ltd, REUTERS, Sanchar Nigam Ltd, BSNL, Tata Consultancy Services, 5G, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Das, Thomson Locations: Kolkata, India, Chowdhuri BENGALURU, New Delhi, Bengaluru

☆ India's Sterlite Tech swings to profit in Q4 on optical networking boost
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGALURU, May 17 (Reuters) - Indian networking solutions provider Sterlite Technologies Ltd (STTE.NS) swung to a fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, aided by strong growth in its mainstay optical networking business. The company's consolidated net profit stood at 650 million rupees ($8 million) for the quarter ended March 2023, compared to a net loss of 220 million rupees a year ago, it said in an exchange filing. Consolidated revenue from operations jumped 25% to 18.72 billion rupees, the company said. Optical networking business, which contributed a hefty 80% of the company's topline, grew 40% to 15.05 billion rupees. Additionally, the company declared a final dividend of 1 rupee per share and approved fundraise of up to 10 billion rupees.

We’ve dedicated (our lives) to our country.”Wrestlers perform exercise drills at the protest site in Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, on April 28, 2023. Vijay Bedi/CNNIn January, India’s sport ministry said it would investigate the sexual harassment allegations, but three months on, the wrestlers say the government hasn’t moved swiftly enough. Olympic medalist Sakshi Malik told CNN that back in January the wrestlers’ allegations were met with apathy, adding there was no transparency with the governing body’s initial investigation. Support for wrestlers growsBy midday on Friday, the protest site swells with supporters, young and old. India’s legal system is notoriously slow, especially when it comes to allegations of sexual harassment owing to a large backlog of allegations.

☆ Nokia profit misses forecast, expects stronger second half
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Supantha Mukherjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

However, it kept its full-year outlook unchanged and said it expects profitability in the second half of the year to be stronger than the first half. First-quarter comparable operating profit fell to 479 million euros ($524.94 million) from 583 million euros last year, missing the 532.4 million euro forecast of analysts polled by Refinitiv. Net sales grew 10% in the quarter to 5.86 billion euros, beating estimates of 5.72 billion euros, Nokia said. Lundmark expects some recovery in the North American market in the second half of the year. Comparable operating margin fell to 8.2% from 10.9%.

☆ India’s population is on track to exceed China’s, but a report says its workforce is weighed down by thousands of people with worthless college degrees
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Aditi Bharade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

As India's population inches past China's, it remains burdened by a workforce with worthless degrees. This glut of incompetent workers comes as India's population is set to overtake China's by mid-2023, per the United Nations. While some colleges provide inadequate training, a private university in North India went one step further, and sold fake degrees. Bloomberg's report on India's failing education system comes as India is set to overtake China as the world's most populous country. By mid-2023, India's population is estimated to reach 1.4286 billion, 2.9 million more than China's 1.4257 billion people, per the United Nations Population Fund's "State of World Population Report."

☆ Starlink rival OneWeb aims for global satellite internet coverage after passing a key milestone
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

OneWeb, a rival to Elon Musk's Starlink internet satellite venture, is aiming to roll out coverage globally after successfully launching the final batch of satellites needed for its broadband service over the weekend. While OneWeb has a few more satellites to deploy in May and June, it now has enough to deliver internet connectivity to any spot in the globe, according to company executives. OneWeb plans to launch 648 satellites in total, of which 588 satellites are required for global coverage. The rest will serve as spares that can step in, in case some other satellites on the network go rogue. Starlink, the space internet unit of Musk's SpaceX, has launched thousands of satellites to bring network connectivity to places with patchy internet.

☆ U.S. and China wage war beneath the waves – over internet cables
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +28 min

Three of China’s state-owned carriers – China Telecommunications Corporation (China Telecom), China Mobile Limited and China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd (China Unicom) – had committed funding as members of the consortium, which also included U.S.-based Microsoft Corp and French telecom firm Orange SA, according to six people involved in the deal. China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom and Orange did not respond to requests for comment. China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom were resolutely behind HMN Tech, which had come in with a bid of around $500 million. China Telecom and China Mobile threatened to walk off the project, taking tens of millions of dollars of investment with them. Among them is China Telecom, which had previously won authorization to provide services in the United States.

☆ Reliance Jio's new 5G plans may impact Bharti Airtel's key metrics- JP Morgan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, March 23 (Reuters) - The launch of cheaper postpaid plans with unlimited 5G by Reliance's Jio has put rival Bharti Airtel (BRTI.NS) on the back foot in the Indian market and may delay recovery in its key profit metric, JP Morgan analysts said on Thursday. Jio, the telecoms unit of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries (RELI.NS), launched new postpaid plans last week, starting from 399 rupees ($4.85) that included over-the-top (OTT) packages, forcing Bharti Airtel to roll out similar plans. Analysts kept their "under weight" rating on Bharti Airtel, saying that ARPU expansion for Bharti was at risk and could even reduce over 2024-25 as 5G price wars take place. Both, Jio and Bharti Airtel have been rolling out 5G services across the country. ($1 = 82.2100 Indian rupees)Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The Mumbai Collector Building the City a Blue-Chip Art Space
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Kelly Crow | Photography Tenzing Dakpa For Wsj. Magazine | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Isha Ambani Piramal at home, with a work by Subodh Gupta. “We want museums to send their works to us and breathe easy,” she says. Isha Ambani Piramal recently spent hours trying to borrow a car-size sculpture of a whale’s heart. She hoped to include the bindi-covered piece by Bharti Kher, An Absence of Assignable Cause, in the inaugural exhibit of her family’s new kunsthalle-style space in Mumbai, Art House. “It’s still so complex to get some pieces around India,” she says, “but I’m hopeful we can get it.” (She did.)

☆ Airtel would be a complex saviour for Paytm
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Shritama Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

An investment from tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal would deliver a timely vote of confidence in the loss-making Indian financial technology darling whose Chinese investors are exiting. Currently it only has a payments bank licence, so it can accept deposits but not lend. New shareholders might also help ease an ongoing regulatory freeze on Paytm accepting deposits from new customers. He is seeking a stake in Paytm by merging his financial services unit – Airtel Payments Bank – into Paytm’s comparable unit, and wants to buy shares in its parent too from other holders, per Bloomberg. Mittal seeks to fold Airtel Payments Bank into Paytm Payments Bank in a stock deal and is also seeking to buy Paytm shares from other holders, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information.

☆ SoftBank, Ant discuss to sell Paytm stake via block deal - ET
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] The interface of Indian payments app Paytm is seen in front of its logo displayed in this illustration picture taken July 7, 2021. REUTERS/Florence Lo/IllustrationFeb 27 (Reuters) - China's Ant Group and Japan's SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) have discussed selling stake in One 97 Communications, which operatesIndian digital payments firm Paytm (PAYT.NS), through a block deal, the Economic Times newspaper reported on Monday. SoftBank, Ant Group, Paytm and Bharti Airtel did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comments. Ant and SoftBank are likely to offload shares gradually in the market as part of their plan to exit Paytm, the report said. China's Alibaba Group (9988.HK) earlier this month sold its remaining stake in Paytm for about 13.78 billion rupees.

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