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India set for 5G spectrum auction, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel lead the race

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With the mega 5G spectrum auction (worth Rs 1.9 lakh crore) beginning from Tuesday amid the tussle over captive private 5G networks, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are set to boost their market share as India prepares for a 5G era.

The four big players in the race — Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Adani group — having submitted a combined Rs 21,400 core in earnest money deposit (EMD), are ready with their war chests and strategies for the mega bid, that is likely to be around Rs 1.5 lakh crore if the last two auctions are kept in mind.

Reliance Jio Infocomm has submitted an EMD of Rs 14,000 while Bharti Airtel has put in Rs 5,500 crore.

In the 2021 auctions for 4G spectrum, Reliance Jio used 77.9 per cent of their earnest money deposit while Airtel used 87.7 per cent.

The 5G era will open 10 times faster than 4G and 30 times faster than 3G, allowing millions to have an experience never seen before.

The 5G auction — entailing 72 GHz of the spectrum – will conclude by July-end and the rollout is expected by September this year.

The Department of Telecom has released a notice inviting applications (NIA) for the auction of spectrum in 600, 700, 800, 900, 1800, 2100, 2300, 2500, 3300 MHz and 26GHz bands.

The NIA provides explicit clarity on the subject of Captive Non-Public Networks (CNPN).

The telcos are allowed to surrender spectrum that will be auctioned after a minimum period of 10 years from the date of acquisition.

Last month, in a big relief to telecom companies, the DoT scrapped the 3 per cent floor rate on spectrum usage charge (SUC).

5G in India will empower tech companies, enterprises and ecosystem players to build private networks and bring next-generation digital transformation which is critical for the country to achieve the goal of becoming a $1 trillion digital economy, according to industry leaders and experts.

According to Broadband India Forum (BIF), this will lead to better efficiencies, productivity and output for the enterprises, accelerate digitisation, boost capabilities, propel indigenous manufacturing and eventually garner greater economic gains for the country.

“As we look to cement India’s position as a global hub for manufacturing, supply chain and R&D, as well as one of the leading digital economies across the world, the advancement of enterprises through dedicated captive private 5G networks will help gain efficiencies in all vital industry verticals,” BIF President T.V. Ramachandran said.

Private 5G networks are about the deployment of high speed, enhanced data capacity, and ultra-low latency applications inside a closed manufacturing unit, hospital, airport, shipping port, etc.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the industry’s apex body representing telcos, has urged the government not to allow Big Tech companies to enter the 5G spectrum auction via back door channels.

The COAI said that the 5G spectrum should not be provided on an administrative basis as it leads to no business case for the rollout of 5G networks in the country.

“If the independent entities set up private captive networks with direct 5G spectrum allotment by Department of Telecommunications (DoT), it will diminish the revenue so much that there will be no viable business case left for the telecom service providers (TSPs) and there will not remain any need for 5G networks rollout by TSPs,” COAI Director General, Lt. Gen. Dr S.P. Kochhar, said.

With the 5G auctions, India is one step closer to realising a 5G-led future, with a strong base of 5G-capable devices already in place.

National

SpaceX’s Starship fails 3rd time, Musk blames fuel leak as megarocket explodes

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New Delhi, May 28: Even as SpaceX’s Starship flight exploded during splashdown on its ninth test on Wednesday, the company’s founder Elon Musk blamed it on fuel leaks.

This is the third time in a row that Starship flight has faced issues during the test flight. The company’s last two test flights — the seventh (January) and eighth (March) test flight — also ended prematurely with the destruction of the aircraft.

The ninth test flight of Starship — which blasted off at about 7:36 p.m. EDT (5:06 am IST) from the company’s Starbase launch site in Texas — successfully reached orbit, flying farther than on its two previous attempts.

However, the spacecraft’s payload bay door failed to open, preventing the planned release of simulated Starlink satellites. Around 30 minutes into the mission, SpaceX confirmed a fuel tank leak aboard the vehicle.

The first-stage Super Heavy booster exploded shortly before its expected splashdown, and live video showed the upper-stage vehicle spinning uncontrollably before its planned re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere, due to fuel leaks.

“Leaks caused loss of main tank pressure during the coast and re-entry phase,” Musk shared in a post on his social media platform X.

“Contact with the booster was lost shortly after the start of the landing burn when it experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly approximately 6 minutes after launch, bringing an end to the first reflight of a Super Heavy booster,” SpaceX said in a statement.

However, Musk called the flight an achievement and noted that there had been no loss to the heat shield tiles.

“Starship made it to the scheduled ship engine cutoff, so big improvement over the last flight! Also, no significant loss of heat shield tiles during ascent. Lot of good data to review,” Musk said.

SpaceX noted that the company “will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test”.

Standing 403 feet (123 meters) tall, Starship and heavy booster — the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket system. It will launch the moon lander for NASA’s Artemis 3 mission that aims to land astronauts on the Moon by 2026.

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Jupiter Wagons’ net profit falls nearly 2 pc in Q4, revenue slips

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Mumbai, May 19: Railway wagons and components manufacturer Jupiter Wagons on Monday reported a decline of 1.9 per cent in its net profit at Rs 103 crore in Q4 FY25, down from Rs 105 crore in the same period last fiscal.

The profit before tax (PBT) also declined by 8.26 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 127.47 crore from Rs 138.95 crore, according to its stock exchange filing.

The company’s consolidated total income also saw a decline, falling to Rs 1,057 crore from Rs 1,127 crore a year earlier — a drop of around 6.2 per cent.

Similarly, revenue from operations decreased by approximately 6.4 per cent, from Rs 1,115.41 crore in the year-ago period to Rs 1,044.54 crore in the last quarter of FY25.

Despite the revenue dip, Jupiter Wagons managed to reduce its total expenses to Rs 923.34 crore in Q4, down 6.4 per cent compared to Rs 986.41 crore in the same quarter last financial year.

However, on a sequential basis, expenses rose by about 1.56 per cent compared to Rs 909.16 crore in Q3.

The company’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) rose slightly to Rs 153 crore from Rs 147 crore last fiscal, with the EBITDA margin improving to 14.6 per cent from 13.2 per cent.

Shares of Jupiter Wagons Limited fell by Rs 13.1 or 3.1 per cent to close the intra-day trading session at Rs 408.95 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday.

Speaking about the full financial year, Managing Director Vivek Lohia described FY25 as a transformative year for Jupiter Wagons.

He highlighted several strategic wins, including major contracts with Braithwaite for wheelsets.

“The company also secured brake system contracts worth over Rs 215 crore,” Lohia mentioned.

Lohia emphasised the company’s push into electric mobility with the inauguration of a new facility in Pithampur.

“This state-of-the-art plant is expected to drive battery production and supply to Indian Railways and private partners, along with orders for complete Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS),” he said.

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How PM Modi-led NDA has curbed retail inflation better than UPA regime

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New Delhi, May 14: Official data on Wednesday showed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government had done a much better job in controlling retail inflation — especially in food and fuel — compared to the UPA era.

According to a post by BJP leader Amit Malviya on the X social media platform, “double-digit inflation (over 10 per cent) seen during the UPA era is no longer a concern, reflecting effective governance and price control in the past decade”.

“Since 2014, retail inflation has not crossed 8 per cent, in contrast to the UPA’s 2004–14 average of 8.1 per cent, with 10.4 per cent during 2009–14,” he mentioned, citing the official data.

On the other hand, from January 2012 to April 2014 period during the UPA government, inflation was above 9 per cent in 22 out of 28 months, hitting double digits nine times.

Malviya, the BJP Information Technology cell chief, pointed out that retail inflation in April 2025 fell to 3.16 per cent, the lowest in nearly 6 years, continuing a downward trend.

For FY 2024-25, retail inflation was 4.6 per cent, the lowest since 2018-19, marking three consecutive years of decline.

“Overall, the data indicates better inflation control, especially in food and fuel, under the NDA government compared to the UPA era,” he observed.

The BJP-led NDA government had succeeded in containing inflation with the implementation of concrete steps such as PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana which provides more than 80 crore citizens with free rations (extended till 2029), ‘Bharat’ brands launched for retail sale of cereals and pulses at affordable rates through NAFED, NCCF and Kendriya Bhandar.

Besides, under the Price Stabilisation Fund, a dynamic buffer stock of pulses is maintained and calibrated release of stocks from the buffer is done to ensure the availability and affordability of pulses to consumers.

The government is continuously offloading the wheat and rice from the central pool under Open Market Sale Scheme to augment availability in the market and control retail prices.

As far as fuels are concerned, the LPG subsidy and the price of cylinders has been reduced to benefit both PM Ujjwala and regular consumers, prices of non-subsidised LPG were reduced by Rs 100 per 14.2 kg cylinder, effective March 9, 2024.

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