Vodafone Idea (Vi) introduced a new baggage protection service with its postpaid international roaming plans on Monday. The new service was launched in partnership with Blue Ribbon Bags, a US-based lost baggage concierge service. Available with all postpaid international roaming plans with an add-on, the service will compensate users if their baggage is delayed or lost while travelling via flights.

Consumers in India may soon have to shell out more to continue enjoying telecommunications services. As per a report, telecom operators such as Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea (Vi) could again commence a periodic tariff hike by the end of the year in line with their recent tariff repair efforts to enhance the revenue visibility. The market is predicted to become more consolidated, with both Airtel and Jio potentially strengthening their positions and occupying a large market share.

Bharti Airtel has launched a new recharge voucher for prepaid users in India. Arriving amidst the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season, it bundles a complimentary subscription to JioHotstar, the streaming platform formed post amalgamation of JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar. It offers 50GB of data too. With this plan, Airtel customers can stream the live IPL 2025 matches along with other films, shows, anime, and documentaries on their mobile and TV.

Vodafone Idea (Vi) has silently rolled out a new prepaid recharge plan for users in India. It offers benefits such as unlimited voice calls, daily data, and a set number of SMS per day. The plan is said to be available in select telecom circles in the country and comes with a service validity of 28 days. Alongside, prepaid Vi customers also benefit from extra data at night in addition to Weekend Data Rollover benefit.

Bharti Airtel on Tuesday announced a strategic partnership with Blinkit for quick deliveries of SIM cards in select cities in India. It enables customers to get doorstep deliveries of both prepaid and postpaid Airtel SIM cards by paying a nominal convenience fee. The telecom operator will also offer the facility of porting SIM cards from another service provider to Airtel’s network.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has instructed India's top three telecom operators to complete inter-operator trials for the Caller Name Presentation (CNAP) feature. A new report reveals that the CNAP technology, requiring additional network infrastructure for older 2G networks, will be exclusive to 4G and 5G smartphone users when it is rolled out.

Reliance Jio in March announced new benefits on select prepaid recharge plans in anticipation of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The telecom operator has now extended the date till when the offer can be availed of. With the “Unlimited” offer, customers can enjoy a complimentary subscription to JioHotstar with mobile recharges worth Rs. 299 and above, along with a Jio AirFiber and JioFiber trial.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has announced a new recharge plan for its prepaid mobile users in India. Priced at Rs. 251, it is introduced as a Special Tariff Voucher (STVs) which means it does not come with an active service validity. As per the state-run telecommunications operator, the new prepaid recharge voucher targets viewers of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 in the country and offers data benefits.

Reliance Jio emerged as the fastest mobile network provider in India across all technologies combined in the second half (H2) of 2024, according to a market analysis. The telecommunications service provider also led the market in terms of highest 5G availability across cities, with 73.7 percent of its users being able to access Jio’s 5G network a majority of the time.

The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) systems have slashed spoofed calls by 97 percent, curbing cyber-crime and financial fraud, according to Dr Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, Minister of State for Communications. The Department of Telecommunications' Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) facilitates secure information sharing among stakeholders, effectively preventing telecom resource misuse.

Bharti Airtel on Wednesday announced the launch of its Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services in India. It provides customers with an extensive library of on-demand content from 29 OTT streaming apps such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Netflix, ZEE5 and many more with select plans.

Bharti Airtel, along with Bharti Hexacom, has prepaid Rs. 5,985 billion to the government, clearing "high-cost" liabilities from the 2024 spectrum auctions. India's second-largest telecom firm has reduced its spectrum-related debt to Rs. 52,000 crore, lowering the cost of debt to 7.22%. Airtel has been actively prepaying dues from past aggressive spectrum bidding.

India has ordered Samsung to pay $601 million (roughly Rs. 5,149 crore) in back taxes and penalties for dodging import tariffs. The Samsung investigation began in 2021 when tax inspectors searched its offices in the financial capital of Mumbai and Gurugram near New Delhi, seizing documents, emails and some electronic devices.

Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi) have announced new entertainment benefits on select prepaid recharge plans ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. Both telecom providers have introduced new add-on packs which can be recharged with on top of active packs to receive a complimentary subscription to JioHotstar.

Vodafone Idea is exploring ways to bring satellite communication to India. The mobile operator made the disclosure after Indian stock exchanges sought a clarification on its stock move.

Vodafone Idea (Vi) launched its 5G services in India on Tuesday. The telecom service operator’s 5G network has gone live in Mumbai, with Bihar, Delhi, Karnataka, and Punjab expected to be the next in line to get the service. The company has also added a microsite detailing its 5G connectivity and highlighted new prepaid and postpaid plans that users can now purchase to access the Internet service.

Reliance Jio has announced new benefits on select prepaid recharge plans ahead of the upcoming cricket season. The telecom provider is bundling a complimentary subscription to JioHotstar with mobile recharges worth Rs. 299 and above, along with a free trial of Jio AirFiber, its wireless broadband service. Thus, customers will be able to stream the upcoming cricket matches from the Indian Premier League (IPL), along with other films, shows, anime, and documentaries in 4K on their mobile and TV.

SpaceX’s Starlink satellite Internet services could reportedly secure faster regulatory approvals in India. As per the report, the expedited approvals could be due to the Elon Musk-owned space technology company entering partnerships with Bharti Airtel and Jio Platforms. Notably, both the telecom service providers will make Starlink equipment available in their retail stores as well as offer services on behalf of the company.

Jio Platforms Limited announced a strategic partnership with SpaceX on Wednesday, a move which will introduce Starlink broadband services in India. The Reliance Industry subsidiary says it will leverage the Elon Musk-owned company’s constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites to provide its customers with high-speed broadband services even in the country’s most remote and rural areas.

Airtel has announced a partnership with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to deliver Starlink’s high-speed internet to its customers in India. This marks the first agreement in the country, pending SpaceX’s authorization to sell Starlink locally. The collaboration aims to offer Starlink equipment in Airtel stores, provide Starlink services to business clients, and connect rural communities, schools, and health centers across India.

Bharti Airtel has introduced a new recharge plan for its prepaid mobile users with data rollover benefits, according to a report. Dubbed as the Weekend Rollover Data Pack, it is said to carry over the unused mobile data saved from the weekdays and add it to the existing allowance for the weekend. It is currently reported to be available to Airtel users located in the telecom provider’s Haryana and the North-East circles.

Reliance Jio has introduced a new Rs. 100 recharge plan for prepaid users in India which offers the most affordable way to stream content from its new OTT platform, JioHotstar. By availing of this plan, Reliance Jio users can watch ad-supported content for free without having to subscribe to the streaming service’s monthly or yearly plan.

Reliance Jio has quietly removed an OTT benefit from its prepaid mobile recharge plans. The telecommunications service provider no longer bundles JioCinema as an add-on benefit with recharges. This move is said to be enforced following the introduction of JioHotstar, the streaming service launched as a result of the amalgamation of JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar. Notably, Reliance Jio users can still get a complimentary subscription to the new JioHotstar with select prepaid recharge plans.

Jio Platforms Limited (JPL), along with AMD, Cisco, and Nokia announced a partnership on Monday at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2025 in Barcelona. The partnership revealed a new initiative dubbed the Open Telecom AI Platform. In a joint statement, the entities said that the initiative is aimed at co-developing and co-commercialising real-world artificial intelligence (AI) solutions in the telecom space.

Vodafone Idea (Vi) is reportedly conducting the trial phase of its 5G rollout in Mumbai ahead of its scheduled launch. As per the report, several users of the telecom operator have shared screenshots of 5G activation messages, in-app confirmation, as well as the 5G network icon enabled on their smartphones. This comes just weeks after the company’s Q3 2024-25 report highlighted that it was planning to commercially launch 5G services in Mumbai.

Qualcomm on Wednesday announced its plans for the development of 6G wireless technology, with several of the innovations set to be showcased at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2025 in Barcelona. The company says it will commence standardisation of 6G cellular technology this year by increasing the spectral efficiency and improving coverage across all bands using new techniques. It is also betting big on artificial intelligence (AI) by integrating it across multiple layers of network and within devices.

Reliance Jio has introduced a new recharge plan for prepaid mobile users which bundles benefits targeted towards ICC Men's Champions Trophy viewers in India. It offers a complimentary subscription to JioHotstar, the streaming service recently launched as a result of the amalgamation of JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar, enabling customers to stream the ongoing cricket tournament as well as films, shows, anime, documentaries, and other live sporting events. Other benefits include the Cricket Data Pack.

Bharti Airtel announced a strategic partnership with Apple on Monday to bring access to Apple TV+ to its home Wi-Fi and postpaid users. The telecom service provider said that all Airtel Xstream Fiber users and postpaid mobile users can now access the entire content library of the Apple TV+ on opting for plans starting at Rs. 999.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has signed an agreement with Beckhaul Digital Technologies Pvt Ltd to enhance internet connectivity across its corridors. The telecommunication company will lay 700km of fibre optic cables along all metro lines, including the Airport Line. The rollout will occur in phases, starting with the Pink and Magenta Lines, with the rest expected to be ready within six months.

Reliance Jio now offers a complimentary subscription to JioHotstar with one of its prepaid recharge plans. The new streaming platform was created by bringing together JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar and was launched by JioStar last week. It combines the content library of the two over-the-top (OTT) platforms, in addition to hosting content from various international studios and streaming platforms too. While users can subscribe to monthly and annual plans to watch content, its complimentary access is now offered with Jio’s prepaid recharge plan.

TRAI recently amended its regulations to curb unsolicited spam calls and promotional messages from unregistered telemarketers (UTMs) and increase penalties for spammers and non-compliant operators. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has criticised the updated rules, including penalties on service providers.

Vodafone Idea (Vi) announced the commercial rollout of its 5G services in India on Tuesday. The telecom operator revealed its plans in its Q3 2024-25 report and highlighted that 5G services will first be launched in Mumbai in March. The company will then expand the services to four more cities in April. In December 2024, Vi first started 5G operation in 19 circles across the country, however, at the time it was not a commercial rollout.

Reliance Jio recently unveiled voice-only plans for prepaid subscribers in India. Shortly after, the company revised the plans with lower prices and validity adjustments. Now, the telecom operator has reintroduced an affordable prepaid plan at Rs. 189 after briefly discontinuing it. This plan is listed as a value offering which provides free call and SMS services alongside bundled data packs.

Vodafone said it had made the world's first video call via satellite using a standard smartphone from a remote location. The European mobile operator's CEO Margherita Della Valle received the call on Monday from company engineer Rowan Chesmer, who was located in the Welsh mountains where there was no network signal.

Starlink has reportedly accepted the security and data storage requirements mandated by the Indian government for satellite broadband providers, aiming to launch services in India. The satellite spectrum will be allocated administratively. Elon Musk-led Starlink will compete with providers like Reliance's JioSpaceFiber, Airtel, and Amazon Kuiper, which are also preparing to debut in India.

Airtel has revised its voice and SMS-only recharge plan prices following the introduction of new prepaid options, in line with TRAI's guidelines announced last month. The operator quietly updated the prices of both voice and SMS-only special tariff vouchers (STVs) soon after TRAI announced it would review the new vouchers. Airtel had previously updated its existing STVs with data allowance to include the new recharge vouchers.

Reliance Jio has introduced special value packs, for only voice and SMS services, for its prepaid users in India. This move follows a mandate by TRAI for all telecom operators to offer standalone Special Tariff Vouchers for voice calls and SMS. Additionally, a tipster suggested that the telecom service provider may soon revise some of the older value packs with bundled data plans and introduce a few new ones.

Rajan Bharti Mittal, Vice Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, has said that its satellite telecom service is ready for rollout in India. Reiterating Bharti Airtel's stance, he said satellite companies should be required to pay licensing fees and acquire spectrum through auctions, just as traditional telecom operators do.

Bharti Airtel is introducing specialised prepaid recharge plans including only voice and SMS services. The move comes after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued a mandate last month to telecommunication operators in India. These new plans will not include bundled data and are aimed at consumers who do not have Internet connectivity requirements, such as feature phone users or those who use a secondary SIM card in dual SIM-enabled smartphones.

The Intra Circle Roaming (ICR) at Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) funded 4G mobile sites was recently introduced in India by the Department of Telecommunications. The ICR initiative brings together three major telecommunications service providers in the country, including BSNL, Airtel, and Reliance Jio to "leverage each other's infrastructure at all DBN-funded sites."

Union Minister of Communications, Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday launched a suite of citizen-focused initiatives. Key highlights of the event included the launch of the Sanchar Saathi Mobile App, that is committed to maintaining the security, safety, and trustworthiness of telecom networks for everyone.

Reliance Jio announced that some of its JioFiber and AirFiber users in the country will be able to access YouTube Premium services for free for two years. The offer is extended to some JioFiber and AirFiber postpaid customers in the country, who avail of select plans. Users will need to link their Google accounts to enjoy the benefits.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has announced two new recharge plans for prepaid users in India, according to a report. The new Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs) are priced at Rs. 215 and Rs. 628 and come with an 30-day and 84-day validity period, respectively. Both plans offer consumers benefits such as unlimited voice calling, unlimited data, and 100 SMS per day. Further, they also bundle special benefits such as access to Zing Music, BSNL Tunes, and Astrotell.

Bharti Airtel will embark on the refarming of the 4G spectrum in its select existing bands in India, according to a report. With this move, the telecommunications operator aims to improve the 5G coverage in state and rural regions which come under the classification of B & C circles where demand for high-speed network could rise. Sunil Mittal-led Airtel also reportedly aims to upgrade its existing 4G base stations to emit 5G signals as a potentially more affordable way of expanding its 5G coverage.

Bharti Airtel has announced a collaboration with the streaming platform Zee5. All customers with Airtel Wi-Fi plans in India, starting from Rs. 699, will get free access to all Zee5 content for the duration of the plan. The OTT platform is claimed to offer over 1.5 lakh hours of content.

Nokia's patent filing reveals plans to develop a system aimed at securing valuable cryptocurrencies. The company intends to achieve this by harnessing recent advancements in encryption technology.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued the twelfth amendment to the Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations on Monday. This mandates telecommunications operators in India to offer specialised recharge vouchers with select services that concerned stakeholders require.

Vodafone Idea (Vi) has reportedly silently rolled out 5G services in India. The telecom service provider has launched commercial operations of 5G in 17 circles across the country including Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, and more, according to various reports. The rollout comes after the company's CEO Akshaya Moondra highlighted that the 5G rollout in India will start within six to seven months, in January.

Reliance Jio has introduced a new prepaid plan for its customers in India. This plan offers unlimited voice calls and SMS services in the country alongside other benefits. It offers all users an opportunity to get gifts worth Rs. 2,150. These gifts include discounts on shopping websites, food delivery apps as well as flight booking platforms.

Bharti Airtel has signed a multi-billion-dollar agreement with Ericsson as part of the telecom operator's efforts to enhance its 4G and 5G network coverage in India. As part of the agreement, Airtel is set to purchase and implement Ericsson's equipment, with deployment expected around 2025.