New Delhi: Telecom major Vodafone India launched a new international roaming package under which its subscribers can avail up to 60 per cent discount on voice, data and SMS charges across 40 countries. Subscribers can get the package activated on a one-time rental fee of Rs 1,499 valid for 30 days, which will be charged in the customer's bill and there is no limit on the usage, Vodafone India said...
05:31 PM, Jun 26, 2012
New Delhi: Vodafone on Tuesday slashed 3G tariffs by up to 80 per cent, becoming the fourth telecom service provider to reduce rates after Bharti Airtel, Idea Celluar and Reliance communication. Vodafone 3G plans now start from Rs 25 for 25 MB data usage and go up to Rs 1,599 for 12 GB data usage. Under the pay-as-you-go for pre-paid customers, the rate has been cut by 80 per cent...
05:32 PM, Jun 19, 2012
New Delhi/Mumbai: Frustrated by a lack of opportunities in India, Germany's Fraport, the world's No 2 airport operator, is shutting its development office in the country, the latest in a growing list of companies exiting Asia's third-largest economy. Regulatory uncertainty and policy gridlock have battered foreign corporate sentiment towards India, adding to a dramatic slowdown in economic growth and exacerbating a widening current account deficit that has knocked the rupee...
09:27 PM, Jun 08, 2012
New Delhi: A ministerial panel decided to auction a higher number of slots in an upcoming sale of second generation(2G) radio airwaves than that proposed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI), a government official said, although no decision was made on the base price for the auction. The panel decided that more than 10 mega hertz(MHz) of airwaves should be auctioned in each telecom zone, said the official on...
12:49 PM, Jun 06, 2012
New Delhi: Bharti Airtel, India's top mobile phone operator, added 2.01 million mobile users in April, taking its total subscribers in the country to 183.3 million, data from an industry body showed on Friday. Vodafone's Indian unit, which is the country's No. 3 mobile operator by subscribers, signed up 0.82 million mobile users in April to have a total of 151.3 million, the Cellular Operators Association of India said on...
12:47 PM, May 25, 2012
Mumbai: Telecom major Vodafone India on Tuesday said its initial public offer this year is highly unlikely due to uncertainty over regulatory issues and pricing scenario in the sector. "It is highly unlikely that we are able to do an IPO in the middle of so many spectrum auctions. It depends on what the final decision on auction of spectrum will be," Vodafone India Managing Director and Chief Executive Marten...
03:39 AM, May 23, 2012
London/Mumbai: Vodafone Chief Executive Vittorio Colao ramped up the rhetoric in his fight with the Indian government on Tuesday, accusing the country of deterring foreign investment but warning that he would not walk away. The result, the company said, was that it was now unlikely to float shares in the business this year. "There has been widespread concern in India and in the world about this," Colao said. "It is...
12:51 AM, May 23, 2012
New Delhi: Government on Wednesday justified its decision to neutralise the impact of Supreme Court decision in the Vodafone case by amending the Income Tax Act with retrospective effect suggesting it was to prevent outflow of Rs 40,000-Rs 50,000 crore from the exchequer. Winding up a debate on Finance Bill in the Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Parliament is omnipotent and has right to change any provision of...
01:47 AM, May 17, 2012
Mumbai: Nokia India announced partnerships with Bharti Airtel and Vodafone to offer solutions from Nokia Store to customers of these two telecom operators. "This will enable purchase of Nokia Store applications through an operator billing process. This would also offer significant monetisation opportunities to developers and galvanise local content development," Vodafone India's chief commercial officer Sanjoy Mukerji said. Vodafone and Airtel consumers can now download local and global paid content...
11:44 AM, May 10, 2012
New Delhi: Vodafone has threatened to take legal action against the Indian government, saying it has been denied justice. Speaking to CNN-IBN, Vodafone's External Affairs Director Matthew Kirk said, "There is only one example in any other jurisdiction in the world of a Supreme Court judgement being overturned by retrospective tax legislation. That was in Moldova, and the law in that case was subsequently over turned by a Human rights...
08:19 AM, May 10, 2012
New Delhi: With an eight-fold increase, India attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) of $ 8.1 billion in March, the highest ever monthly inflows, despite a brouhaha over Rs 11,000 crore Vodafone tax dispute. Cumulative FDI inflows for the fiscal 2011-12 amounted to $ 36.50 billion, authoritative sources said. In March 2011, the country received FDI worth $ 1.07 billion. The $ 7.2 billion Reliance Industries-British Petroleum (BP) deal, announced in...
10:29 PM, May 09, 2012
Vodafone had in April sent a notice to the Indian government threatening international arbitration in the tax dispute case. ...
09:32 PM, May 09, 2012
New Delhi: Mobile call rates would double in some circles if the recommendations of sectoral regulator TRAI on spectrum pricing are accepted, telecom CEOs who met Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal warned on Tuesday. "...there will be circles which will have more than a 100 per cent price rise (in tariffs) if they were to absorb the impact of what is being recommended," Bharti Airtel CEO Sanjay Kapoor told reporters. "In...
04:50 PM, May 08, 2012
New Delhi: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is expected to reply on Tuesday to various proposals in his 2012-13 budget. The Finance Minister will be seeking Parliament's approval to move the Finance Bill and is likely to relook at some of the controversial proposals, such as changes in the tax laws that would impact Vodafone and the implementation of the General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR). Sources point out that a major rollback...
07:14 AM, May 08, 2012
New Delhi: Ruling out any negotiations with Vodafone in the Rs 11,000-crore tax dispute case, the Finance Ministry on Monday said it would reply to the notice given by the British telecom major after passage of the Finance Bill by Parliament. "How can the government negotiate with Vodafone?" a top finance ministry official said when asked whether government is contemplating to waive penalty and interest in respect of the tax...
08:20 PM, May 07, 2012
New Delhi: Faced with criticism over the proposed amendments to tax laws with retrospective effect, the government may dilute the provisions to allow waiver of penalties on tax demands to be raised on Vodafone-like acquisitions involving domestic assets. "Adding a clause to allow waiver of penalty for deals which took place before April 1, 2012 is being considered by the government," a senior Finance Ministry official said. Once the changes...
12:42 PM, May 06, 2012
New Delhi: Rankled by TRAI's recommendations for 2G spectrum auctions, telecom companies on Wednesday made a joint pitch to top government functionaries, including Home Minister P Chidambaram and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, for not accepting the "catastrophic" recipe of the industry watchdog. Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal, Vodafone Chief Executive Vittorio Colao, Idea Cellular Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and Telenor CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas first made their case with Chidambram...
07:52 PM, May 02, 2012
New Delhi: Chiefs of top telecom firms, including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone, will meet Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday evening to discuss their concerns following the TRAI's recommendations on spectrum auction. According to a Telecom Department official, the meeting will take place at Sibal's residence. It will have Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman and managing director, Bharti Airtel, Vittorio Colao, chief executive, Vodafone Group, Jon Fredrik Baksaas, chief executive...
04:57 PM, May 02, 2012
New Delhi: Days ahead of the Finance Bill coming up in Parliament for passage, Vodafone group CEO Vittorio Colao on Wednesday met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee seeking reconsideration of the move to retrospectively amend laws that will have a tax implication of Rs 11,000 crore on the firm. Speaking to reporters after meeting, Mukherjee said, "Vodafone made a presentation of their case." Emerging out of the meeting, Colao said, "We...
11:17 AM, May 02, 2012
New Delhi: Commuters travelling on the Delhi Metro's Airport Express line managed by Reliance Infrastructure can now have uninterrupted mobile phone connectivity, a company official said here Monday. "Reliance Infrastructure constantly works towards enhancing commuter comfort and convenience. A complete bouquet of Reliance Commmunication, Vodafone, Airtel, Idea and Aircel services will now be available at all the stations of the Airport Express line," a Reliance Infrastructure spokesperson said. According to...
12:31 PM, May 01, 2012
