Bharti Airtel recovers after initial fall; RIL at new high as TRAI cuts IUC

Bharti Airtel recouped losses in noon deals to trade at Rs 395 levels after falling nearly 6% to Rs 370 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Idea Cellular, on the other hand, continued to trade 2.4% lower at Rs 81 levels.

Both these stocks were hammered after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) cut termination charge for all mobile to mobile calls to 6 paise per minute from 14 paise effective October 1.

That apart, in two years, the charges would come down to zero, meaning there won’t be any payment for calls landing on other telcos’ networks. The decision came in post market hours on Tuesday.

Following the development, Idea Cellular slipped 7% to Rs 76.85, while Bharti Airtel was down 6% to Rs 370 on the BSE in morning trade.

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Reliance Jio brings in new offer for Prime members; Airtel sees red

Barely a week after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) asked Reliance Jio to withdraw its complimentary offer, the telecom operator on Tuesday announced a new plan of 1 GB 4G data for three months at Rs 309 for its Prime members.

Rival Airtel, however, dubbed it as a case of “old wine in a new bottle.”

Announcing its new offer, Jio said under the Rs 309 plan, it would provide “unlimited SMS, calling and data (1GB per day at 4G speed) for three months on the first recharge”. For Rs 509, the company is offering unlimited SMS, calling and double the data (2GB per day) for three months on the first recharge.

“Considering the special benefits that are available to Jio Prime members, customers who were unable to subscribe to Jio Prime for any reason can continue to do so by paying Rs 408 or Rs 608 (Jio Prime and recharge price) to avail these benefits,” said Jio in a statement.

The benefits of the plan would be available right away. Jio customers who have not got their first recharge, need to do so by 15 April.

Objecting to the offer, incumbent Bharti Airtel hoped that the “authority (Trai) will act against this provocative disregard of their direction”.

“We are surprised to see what Jio is doing. It violates the spirit of the Trai directive and essentially continues with a similar plan now masquerading under a different name. This is a classic example of old wine in a new bottle," an Airtel spokesperson said. READ MORE

Reliance Industries hits over 7-year high as Jio promises to end freebies

Latest Business News - Reliance Industries (RIL) hit an over seven-year high of Rs 1,172, up 8% on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), recording its sharpest rally in intra-day trade in past 21 months.

The stock hit its highest level since June 2009. Earlier, on May 16, 2014, it rallied 8.7% during intra-day trade. On the BSE, the stock hit high of Rs 1,187 on November 1, 2010, during intra-day trade.



In past two trading sessions, the stock surged 9% from Rs 1,075 on February 20, 2017 after Reliance Jio Infocomm (“Jio”), a subsidiary of RIL, announced that its tariff plans will become applicable from April 1, 2017.

The new offerings will no longer be free but Jio has priced its services attractively to retain its 100 million customers, who have signed up since September 5, when the services were first offered. Jio is seeking to retain them through special prime memberships at a one-time fee of Rs 99 and Rs 303 a month for unlimited voice, data and content.

“Consolidation within incumbents effectively improves their financial position and allows them to match JIO on pricing for longer, and this would be negative for JIO as it would bring down the industry ARPUs (average revenue per users) and lower margins. However, if JIO sticks to its stated or ARPUs where the actual base pack starts at Rs 499, it would be positive for JIO in the long term,” analysts at JP Morgan said in report dated January 31, 2017.

In brokerage view, JIO’s investment case depends on higher paying ARPU subs. 50 million subscribers paying Rs 400 APRU would likely be far more profitable than 100 million subs paying Rs 200 per month. RJio needs the higher paying ARPU subs as only they would be able to pay for more of the services that RJio plans to offer eventually.

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Switch to Airtel 4G and get free data worth upto Rs 9,000 for 12 months

Breaking News - Country's largest telecommunications services provider Bharti Airtel today announced a special offer under which, it will offer free data for 12 months, worth up to Rs 9,000, to customers who switch to Airtel 4G.

With this, customers can now experience India's fastest 4G network at great prices. 

Company said offer will be available to the customers across India starting tomorrow and will close on February 28, 2017.

Prepaid users will get free 3GB data with Rs 345 recharge.

Shares were down 3% in afternoon trade.(Read More)