NEW DELHI: Idea Cellular, the country's third largest telecom operator by subscribers, has slashed mobile internet rates for its prepaid customers by up to 45 per cent in what is seen as a bid to attract and retain users ahead of Reliance Jio Infocomm's impending launch.

Idea Cellular, which serves over 175 million subscribers, on Friday said its 4G, 3G and 2G users will now get up to 45 per cent more data benefits on sachet packs below 1 GB.

Ahead of the much-awaited launch of Reliance Jio Infocomm’s 4G services, the country’s top three operators – Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, and Idea Cellular – are ramping up their content strategy to offer music to movie services on high-speed internet networks.

A comparison of apps of the four operators shows that Reliance Jio and Idea Cellular lead the pack with almost six apps each, while Bharti Airtel and Vodafone India lag behind with three each, according to data compiled by CLSA, a brokerage firm. Still, Reliance Jio has a comprehensive content offering giving it an edge among its peers, it says.

The BSE Telecom index fell 2.20% or 28.71 points on Friday after a Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) report said six telecom service providers had under-reported revenues worth Rs 46,000 crore and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) saying it would issue demand notices for Rs 12,500 crore to these companies. The index closed the session at 1,275.33 points.

Idea expects sufficient supply of spectrum to allow it to augment its holding when required. As regards the entry of RJio, Idea maintained that there is sufficient room for a fourth player, especially given the contraction in share of the peripheral operators.

Idea is expected to roll out a slew of digital content services to compete with the offerings of Bharti

To connect millions of non-internet users, telecom operator Idea Cellular on Wednesday announced an “Internet For All” initiative that empowers Idea prepaid customers and retailers to gift free 100MB data for a month to non-internet users.

Customers can avail the service by dialling *756# or sending SMS IFA to 56756.

Bharti Airtel Ltd, India’s largest telecom service provider, reported a decline in its revenue market share in quarter ended 31 March, according to an IDFC Securities note.

Vodafone India Ltd and Idea Cellular Ltd, the nation’s second and third largest telecom operators, gained revenue market share in the same quarter, according to the IDFC Securities note, citing data compiled by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communication shares surged in Wednesday’s trade after Telecom Commission on Tuesday stood by its decision to levy 3 per cent spectrum usage charge (SUC) of adjusted gross revenue on telecom operators.

At 12.02 pm, shares of Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications were trading up 2.22 per cent, 0.52 per cent and 2.07 per cent.

Idea Cellular has dipped 9% to Rs 108 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after more than 3% of total equity worth of around Rs 1,400 crore of telecom services company changed hands via multiple block deals.

At 09:15 AM, about 133.27 million shares representing 3.7% of equity of Idea Cellular changed hands, the NSE data shows.

KOLKATA: Idea Cellular, India's No 3 carrier, slashed prices of 3G/4G night surfing data packs by upto 50% Tuesday, in a bid to make them more affordable.

Idea subscribers can now avail of 1GB of night data at Rs 125 for a month, enabling them to save upto 50% of their normal costs.

Telecom stocks such Idea Cellular, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications pared their initial losses after the Supreme Court quashed a TRAI order on compensating consumers for call drop.

The apex court said that TRAI recommendation making it mandatory for telecos to compensate subscribers for call drop is arbitrary, unreasonable and non-transparent.

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