WORD TELECOMMUNICATIONS Updates (WTU)

Topics SensexNifty India’s benchmark Sensex hit a fresh record high on Wednesday led by gains in Reliance Industries Ltd and Bharti Airtel Ltd. A surge in shares of Vodafone Idea Ltd also boosted market sentiment. At 10.05am, Sensex was up 0.6% at 40754.49 points, while the Nifty rose 0.6% to 12014.50 points. Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) gained nearly 4% to hit a fresh record high after the company said its telecom subsidiary--Reliance Jio Infocomm--will raise tariffs in the next few weeks. The stock has gained nearly 7% in the last two sessions. Bharti Airtel extended its rally and surged 2.5%. The scrip has advanced 23% in the last four sessions after the company reported better than expected revenue from operations. The company also announced plans to hike mobile call and data tariffs from 1 December. Rival Vodafone Idea gained 10%, with the stock having surged 124% in the last four session. Yes Bank pared losses and was down 0.5%, having opened nearly 3% lower. Yes Bank on

Topics Realme X2 ProRealme X2 Pro Price In IndiaRealme X2 Pro India launch Chinese smartphone maker Realme launched its flagship smartphone Realme X2 Pro on Wednesday. The smartphone is now available on Flipkart and on their official website. Realme X2 Pro comes with a 64MP quad camera setup at the back and a 6-MP Sony IMX471 selfie camera. Apart from the cameras, the smartphone will house the latest and reportedly the most powerful chipset from Qualcomm-- Snapdragon 855 Plus processor. Realme X2 Pro was already launched in China earlier this year. Priced at ₹29,999 for the 8GB and 128GB variant, with a 4,000 mAh battery capacity, the company claims that this device will be its first device to feature a 90Hz display and will come with 50W VOOC fast-charging tech. This primarily means that the phone can charge 100 per cent in just 35 minutes. The other variant of the smartphone which comes with 12GB RAM and 256GB internal storage is priced at ₹33,999. The company also launched a spe

1 min read . Updated: 19 Nov 2019, 07:32 PM IST Edited By J. Jagannath Reliance Jio adds 6.98 mn users while Bharti Airtel loses 2.3 mn users and Vodafone Idea loses 2.57 mn users on a monthly basis Jio now has 355.2 million users Topics Mobile SubscribersTRAI Country's mobile phone customer base edged up by 0.23% or 2.8 million subscribers to 1.17 billion in September, data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India showed on Tuesday. On a monthly basis, Reliance Jio added 6.98 million users in September while Bharti Airtel lost 2.38 million users and Vodafone lost 2.57 million users. Jio now has 355.2 million users while Airtel and Vodafone Idea have 325.6 million users and 372.5 million users respectively. Active mobile subscribers in September were 960.9 million. In September, 5.39 million mobile subscribers opted to change their service providers through mobile number portability. Including fixed-phone lines, India had 1.2 billion phone users as of30 Sepember,

2 min read . Updated: 20 Nov 2019, 05:17 PM IST Devansh Sharma While this could mark the long-awaited beginning of price recovery for telecom firms, the extent of gains could be decided by the quantum of hike and govt relief The move does not materially change price targets, unless the hike is significantly above 20% Topics Telecom NEW DELHI : Following in the footsteps of Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel, which will hike the mobile tariffs on 1 December, Reliance Jio too on Tuesday said it would hike tariffs in ‘next few weeks’. While this could mark the long-awaited beginning of price recovery for telecom companies, the extent of gains could be decided by the quantum of hike and government relief. Is the hike sustainable? According to equity research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group, “The tariff hikes are positive, in our view, and come five months ahead of our expectation. However, the move does not materially change our price targets, unless the hike is significantly above

Monday 18 November 2019 | 10:34 CET | News South African operator Cell C and MTN have signed an expanded roaming agreement under which Cell C will reduce its expenditure on extending its infrastructure. The deal builds on the roaming agreement that they entered into in 2018, which provided 3G and 4G services to Cell C customers outside of main metros. The new agreement will allow Cell C to roam on MTN's network in every area of the country, according to MTN.

Zazu to offer Mastercard prepaid cards linked to its mobile wallet Monday 18 November 2019 | 12:51 CET | News Zambian fintech company Zazu Africa has announced a partnership with Mastercard to issue prepaid cards linked to the Zazu mobile application. Zazu is a mobile wallet that allows customers, even without a bank account, to send, receive, pay and save money digitally. Currently, users can only make payments at selected Zazu merchants in Zambia.

Thursday 14 November 2019 | 14:31 CET | News The Tanzania government told parliament that phone users who fail to register their biometric details with their Sim cards by the 31 December deadline will not be locked out, Xinhua reports. Minister for Home Affairs Kangi Lugola said phone users will maintain access to communication services even after the set deadline. He told lawmakers that no one will be denied mobile phone services for not registering.

Friday 15 November 2019 | 10:29 CET | News Airtel Uganda has added international transfer services to its Airtel Money platform to ease remittances by customers at home and across the globe. Airtel Money customers will be able to send funds across borders to Tanzania and Malawi from their Airtel Money wallets at competitive rates and receive funds from across the globe in their Airtel money wallets free of charge.

Tuesday 19 November 2019 | 13:34 CET | News Brazilian operator Vivo has launched a new ad campaign featuring tennis star Rafael Nadal, an ambassador for the Telefonica group. The ads with the tagline 'Nothing compares to a great connection' shows how a boy with Down Syndrome follows Nadal using a virtual connection to his matches.

Tuesday 19 November 2019 | 14:29 CET | News Facebook is hosting a Facebook Developer Circle Leads Summit on 20-21 November in Nairobi, ahead of the first Facebook iD8 Nairobi conference for developers and start-ups on 22 November. The summit will bring together 60 Developer Circle leaders, who represent 45 circles from seven countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with over 74,000 members.

Wednesday 20 November 2019 | 07:47 CET | News Vodacom said Sub-Saharan Africa has witnessed rapid growth in mobile money operations and innovations, enabling broad based participation and access to financial services. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to the ten economies worldwide where more adults now have mobile money accounts than at a financial institution.

Wednesday 20 November 2019 | 08:29 CET | News The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) said it will investigate the new expanded roaming agreement between MTN and Cell C. The industry regulator confirmed that it has been informed of the roaming agreement by the parties. The new deal builds on an existing roaming deal dating from 2018, which provided 3G and 4G services to Cell C customers outside of main metro areas.

Mobile operator 9mobile plans to deploy 4G networks in sixteen Nigerian cities in the coming months, reports the Punt. Acting MD Stephane Beuvelet said that the operator had invested in a massive roll-out of infrastructure that is set to improve network efficiency. Beuvelet said cities that will benefit include Sokoto, Enugu, Eket and Owerri.

African music streaming and download platform Boomplay and Sony Music Entertainment have announced plans to expand their footprint in Africa with a new partnership, reports BizCommunity. The milestone deal will deliver Sony Music Entertainment's catalogue to more than 60 million Africans. Phil Choi, Boomplay's director of content and strategy, said that Boomplay is delighted to partner with Sony Music Entertaniment and have their internationally recognised brand on board. He said that the partnership is a significant step for Boomplay in achieving its aim to develop the African music eco-system further.