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• Asus ROG Phone 5s and Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro to Launch in India on February 15
• iQOO 9 Series India Launch Officially Confirmed by the Company
• Samsung is Doing What Android Users Have Always Wanted
• Dish TV Owned OTT Platform WATCHO Crosses 45 million Subscribers on the Platform
• Boult Introduces AirBass Z1 Truly Wireless Earbuds in India at Rs 1,499
• BSNL Prepaid Plans for Budget Users
• OnePlus Nord 2 CE 5G India launch confirmed
• Airtel Lost Least Subscribers, Posted Highest ARPU Growth: Charu Paliwal, Counterpoint Research
• Airtel Xstream Premium With 15 OTT Subscriptions Announced for Rs 149 Per Month
• BSNL Getting Backed by Modi Government for 4G Rollout
• Bharti Airtel and Vi to Go for Another Prepaid Tariff Hike in 2022
• Jio Might Have Another Surprise Stored for the Market
• Airtel Broadband Business Went Past 4 Million Customer Milestone in Q3 FY22
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Series Pre-Booking in India Starts for Rs 1999
• Jio, Airtel and Vi 1.5GB Daily Data Plans Compared

Asus ROG Phone 5s and Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro to Launch in India on February 15 Posted: 10 Feb 2022 08:05 AM PST Asus ROG Phone 5s and Asus ROG Phone 5s Pro will be launched in India on February 15. The launch will be a virtual event that will be live-streamed via the company's official YouTube channel, the Indian wing of the Taiwan-based company announced. Asus has not revealed many specifications about the phone. Considering that the phone is already available in the global market, we have approximations about the specifications of the upcoming Asus smartphones. Besides, Asus has already listed the gaming smartphones on its official website. Asus ROG Phone 5s and ROG Phone 5s Pro Specifications According to the specifications of the global variants, both Asus smartphones for the Indian market are likely to feature 6.78-inch Samsung AMOLED E4 displays with a 144Hz refresh rate. The screens may have Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection. The vanilla ROG Phone 5s would come with 18GB LPDDR5 RAM, and the Pro variant would be available only in a single 18GB LPDDR5 RAM configuration. The global variants of Asus ROG Phone 5s and ROG Phone 5s Pro are powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+ SoCs paired with 18GB LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB of onboard storage options. Like most new smartphones, Asus ROG Phone 5s and ROG Phone 5s Pro are likely to sport a triple rear camera setup for the optics. The camera modules in global variants comprise a 64MP primary sensor, a 13MP ultra-wide-angle sensor, and a 5MP macro sensor. A 24MP primary sensor is present on both phones for selfies and video calls. In terms of connectivity, these Asus smartphones may come with 5G, 4G LTE support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v5.2, NFC, 3.5mm headphone jack, and USB Type-C port for connectivity. Both phones could be powered with 6,000mAh batteries that support 65W fast charging support. Flipkart will be the official online retailer of the devices. Asus #CrackTheCode Contest to Win New Asus ROG Phone 5S Asus is holding a #CrackTheCode contest for the Indian market ahead of the launch. The contest is open from 5 pm today. There will be three missions launched from February 10-12, for the participants to complete. Participants will have to participate and crack at least one task to stand a chance to win the new Asus ROG Phone 5S. In today's mission, the company has released a video on its official Twitter handle, and the participants will have to crack the code and retrieve the lethal upgrades from a secret facility. The winner of each mission will be released a day after the mission goes live.

iQOO 9 Series India Launch Officially Confirmed by the Company Posted: 10 Feb 2022 07:11 AM PST The Chinese smartphone manufacturer backed by Vivo, iQOO is gearing up for the launch of its iQOO 9 series of smartphones in India. The three phones that will form the iQOO 9 series lineup in India are – iQOO 9, iQOO 9 Pro and iQOO 9 SE. The iQOO 9 series has already been launched in China. There have already been multiple rumours surrounding the devices in the lineup and last week it was reported that the devices might launch through the Amazon India website. Now in a new development, the company has officially confirmed the launch of the series in India. iQOO India took in its Twitter handle on Thursday to announce the official arrival of the iQOO 9 series in India. However, the company hasn't provided any official launch date for the lineup. Previous reports have suggested that the iQOO 9 series may be launched in the month of February and with the company starting to release teasers, the launch may very well be on the horizon. The flagship iQOO 9 Pro will feature Qualcomm's latest and most powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen1 chipset and the iQOO is all set to become one of the first manufacturers to launch the 4nm based chipset in India. Specifications of the iQOO 9 Series iQOO 9 in India is expected to arrive with a 6.56-inch AMOLED 10-bit display with a 120Hz refresh rate. Under the hood, the smartphone would carry a Snapdragon 888+ processor coupled with LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. As far as the camera module of the device is considered, it is expected to feature a triple rear camera setup headlined by a 48MP primary sensor along with a 13MP camera with a 50mm focal length. On the other hand, the iQOO 9 Pro is expected to arrive with a 6.78-inch AMOLED display with a refresh rate of 120Hz. The device is expected to have 8GB of RAM with 256GB of onboard storage and could also have a variant with 12GB RAM and 256Gb internal storage. iQOO 9 Pro will come with a triple camera set-up with 50MP of a primary sensor, a telephoto sensor and an ultra-wide sensor. For selfies, iQOO Pro could feature a 16MP shooter. iQOO 9 SE is speculated to feature a 6.6-inch 120Hz AMOLED display with Full HD+ resolution. The handset is expected to be powered by a Snapdragon 888 processor and will have a 48MP triple camera setup on the back. iQOO 9 SE could be a mid-premium category smartphone priced somewhere between Rs 30,000- Rs 35,000.

Samsung is Doing What Android Users Have Always Wanted Posted: 10 Feb 2022 06:32 AM PST The South Korean tech giant Samsung has announced that the company will be offering four years of Android OS updates on many of its devices including the flagship smartphones of 2021 and 2022. This comes in as great news for the users of the Galaxy S21 series. The company yesterday at the Galaxy Unpacked event also revealed the Samsung Galaxy S22 series consisting of the Samsung Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+ and Galaxy S22 Ultra which will also be eligible for the four generations of the Android OS update. The Devices from Samsung to Receive the Update This latest announcement means that the users of the recently launched tablets and smartphones can expect updates on their devices at least until 2026. Samsung also announced that the newly launched Samsung Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+ and Galaxy S22 Ultra will also receive five years of security patches along with the four years of the software update. The company in a statement said that Samsung will scale this effort of introducing four years of software update across its product line-up to ensure that users are fully supported across their Galaxy ecosystem. The company has released a list of a total of 12 devices that will be eligible for four years of the software update. These devices include the latest Samsung Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+, Galaxy S22 Ultra, Galaxy Tab S8, Galaxy Tab S8+, and the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra along with Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, Galaxy S21 Ultra, Galaxy S21 FE, Galaxy Z Fold 3, and the Galaxy Z Flip 3. The company informed that the availability of the Android OS update and its features might differ from device to device based on the model or the region. Samsung stated that now millions of Galaxy users can take advantage of the latest security, productivity and other exciting new features, for longer. In comparison, Google only offers three years of Android updates with its Google Pixel series. However, the South Korean tech giant still lags behind Apple which is offering software updates on devices that are now more than six years old. Samsung had announced in 2021 that the company will be working towards providing four years of software updates on as many as 43 Galaxy devices, which includes 31 phones and 12 tablets.

Dish TV Owned OTT Platform WATCHO Crosses 45 million Subscribers on the Platform Posted: 10 Feb 2022 05:11 AM PST Dish TV's own OTT platform WATCHO has crossed another milestone in a very short span of time since its launch. The streaming service was launched by the company back in 2019 and it has now crossed the landmark of 45 million total user base in India. WATCHO has become India's one of the fastest-growing OTT platform that offers a plethora of short-format content across genres and caters to the needs of viewers across the spectrum. The streaming platform offers live TV offerings, new-age original content for those who are looking for variety, and user-generated videos on SWAG for exhibiting talent. It was only in April of 2021 when the platform crossed 25 million milestones and its progress since then has been remarkable. The Growth of the Streaming Service Platform The Executive Director & Group CEO of Dish TV India Ltd, Mr Anil Dua said in a statement that the company is thrilled to have crossed the 45 million subscribers on the platform. He said that the company aimed of providing on-demand quality content with the launch of WATCHO to supplement the DTH user viewing experience. He added that WATCHO is also fast emerging as the preferred platform for users to showcase their talent and the company will strive to make it strengthen and enhance the user experience on the platform. WATCHO offers user-generated content platform 'WATCHO Swag' which provides a platform for emerging talent pool across the country to showcase their content. In order to inspire emerging creators even further, WATCHO also recently collaborated with Asia's largest content festival – India Film Project (IFP) for its 11th season and became the exclusive platform for participants to showcase their work. WATCHO owned by India's leading direct-to-home company offers multiple original shows including web series like Gupta Niwas, Jaunpur, Papa Ka Scooter, Aghaat, Cheaters – The Vacation, Sarhad, Mystery Dad, JaalSaazi, Dark Destinations, and more. WATCHO presently provides over 35 plus original shows, 300 plus exclusive plays, and 100 plus live channels in Hindi, Kannada, and Telugu and can be enjoyed across various screens such as Android & iOS devices, Dish SMRT devices, D2H Magic devices, and Fire TV Stick as well as directly through its website.

Boult Introduces AirBass Z1 Truly Wireless Earbuds in India at Rs 1,499 Posted: 10 Feb 2022 04:05 AM PST India based audio accessories manufacturer Boult Audio has launched its latest pair of truly wireless earphones in India. The latest earphone is labelled as AirBass Z1 and is a sequel product offered by the company. The newly launched audio device comes with a bunch of features such as auto-pairing, dual microphones for calling, voice assistants and more. Mentioned are the price and specification details of the new truly wireless AirBass Z1 earphones. Specification Details of AirBass Z1 The newly launched AirBass Z1 are lightweight earbuds that comes with a very compact case making them easy to carry and comfortable to use. The earphones have a stem and in-ear design and are truly wireless. The device is equipped with 10mm drivers that offer rich bass and good vocal clarity. The latest device from Boult features Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity and comes with an auto-pairing feature. The earbuds automatically pair with the smartphone as soon as it is taken out of the case. AirBass Z1 also come with touch controls that allow users to control the music playback as well as voice calls. The device also features support for Google Voice Assistant and Siri Voice Assistant also controllable via the touch function. The latest wearable offers up to 6 hours of playtime with a single charge and the total playback time offered including the case is 24 hours. With just 15 minutes of charge, users can get up to 100 minutes of playback. The device features a fast-charge technology via USB Type-C Port. AirBass Z1 also comes with a Pro+ calling feature as it is equipped with dual mics to provide amazing voice clarity on voice calls. The device also has an IPX5 rating for water resistance. Pricing and Availability The newly launched AirBass Z1 has been launched in India at an introductory offer of Rs 1,499. However, the retail price of the device is Rs 1,999. The device can be purchased via the company's official website as well as the Amazon India website. The audio device also comes with a 12-month warranty and is available in Olive Green and Grey colour options.

BSNL Prepaid Plans for Budget Users Posted: 10 Feb 2022 03:03 AM PST While the telecom sector is dominated by the three private players, the state-owned telco BSNL provides prepaid plans with good data benefits and at a cost remarkably lower than the others. The private telcos also recently hiked their tariff plans and with the majority of the population in India looking for affordable options, prepaid plans from BSNL might be the way to go. If you're looking for budget prepaid plans with good data benefits, here's what BSNL has to offer. Budget Prepaid Plans from BSNL STV_118 plan from BSNL comes at a price tag of Rs 118 and offers 0.5GB of data per day along with unlimited voice calls for a validity period of 26 days. STV_147 pack from the telco, on the other hand, provides a total of 10GB of data along with unlimited voice calls and access to BSNL tunes for a validity period of 30 days at Rs 147. BSNL also offers an STV_185 plan that provides unlimited voice calls along with 100 SMS as well as 1GB of data per day for a validity period of 28 days at Rs 185. The plan also offers access to BSNL Tunes. Voice_187 pack from the telco, however, provides unlimited voice calls with 100 SMS/day for a validity period of 28 days as well but offers 2GB data per day for Rs 187. The state-owned telco also provides budget prepaid plans with OTT benefits. STV_247 plan from BSNL comes at a price tag of Rs 247 ad offers unlimited voice calls as well as 100 SMS/day for a validity period of 30 days. The plan also offers a total of 50GB of data and comes with access to BSNL Tunes and EROS now entertainment services. STV_298 on the other hand offers unlimited voice calls along with 100 SMS/day for a validity period of 56 days for Rs 298. The plan also offers 1GB of data per day and comes with access to EROS now entertainment services for 56 days as well. Furthermore, BSNL also offers only data prepaid packs as well. Data_WFH_151 pack from the telco offers 40GB of total data for 28 days and comes with access to Zing at a price tag of Rs 151. STV_198 from the company offers 2GB/day for a validity period of 50 days at Rs 198. Lastly, BSNL offers a Data_WFH_251 pack that offers 70GB of total data for 28 days at a price tag of Rs 251 and comes with access to Zing.

OnePlus Nord 2 CE 5G India launch confirmed Posted: 10 Feb 2022 01:59 AM PST The much-awaited device OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G now has an official launch date. There have been multiple rumours in the past hinting towards a February 11 launch date for the smartphone. But now the Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus has officially announced the launch date for the device via its Indian website. OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G will be released by the company on February 17 in India as a part of what the brand is calling a 'OnePlus Double Feature' event where it will also launch the OnePlus TV Y1S and Y1S Edge Smart TVs. Design Details of OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G OnePlus has also released a small teaser video on its website which gives intel on the design of the upcoming OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G. At the front, the device features a punch-hole to house the camera around which the screen is built. On the back of the device, a rectangular camera module is visible housing a triple rear camera setup with an LED flash. The camera module design is a bit different from what the leaked renders suggest. Volume keys are available on the left side of the handset and the power button is on the right. Specification Details for OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G The listing of the device on the company's official website has confirmed that OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G will arrive with a 65W SuperVOOC fast charging technology which is capable of charging up to one day's power in just 15 minutes. A 3.5mm headphone jack is also visible on the handset. The company hasn't revealed any more specification details as of now but is expected to do it soon. The charging technology falls in line with the device's listing at the TUV certification site last week which also suggested a 4,500mAh battery backup. The smartphone was also spotted at Geekbench last week, according to which, the Nord CE 2 5G will arrive with a MediaTek Dimensity 900 chipset which will be coupled with 8GB of RAM. It was expected that the handset could operate on Android 12 OS, however, the Geekbench listing suggests otherwise, as the model was spotted running on Android 11 OS. It is also possible that the brand may feature the in-house OxygenOS 12 on the smartphone. Earlier reports have provided other specification details of the device as well. It is speculated that the upcoming OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G will come with a punch-hole screen of 6.43 inches. The device will be equipped with an FHD+ AMOLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate. There have been reports, which suggest that the device might be available in 8GB/12GB RAM and 128GB/256Gb internal storage combination options. As far as the camera module of the device is considered, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G might come with a triple rear camera setup headlined by a 64MP primary camera, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera and a 2MP macro lens. The front of the device is expected to feature a 16MP selfie shooter.

Airtel Lost Least Subscribers, Posted Highest ARPU Growth: Charu Paliwal, Counterpoint Research Posted: 10 Feb 2022 01:18 AM PST Bharti Airtel lost the least number of subscribers in Q3 FY22 and posted the highest average revenue per user (ARPU) growth. The second-largest telco in the country added 3 million new 4G users while losing about 0.6 million subscribers from the total pool. This helped with improving the overall 4G users percentage in the subscriber base and also boosted the average revenue per user (ARPU) figure. "In the mobile segment, Airtel lost 0.6 million total subscribers but added 3.0 million 4G subscribers. Improved mix of subscriber base (with 4G subscriber penetration of 61%) and prepaid tariff hike in November helped the operator to grow its ARPU by INR 10 over the preceding quarter. If compared to peers, Airtel lost the least no. of subscribers and posted the highest ARPU growth. The full impact of tariff hike in terms of SIM consolidation and improved ARPU will be realised in the next quarter," Charu Paliwal, an analyst at Counterpoint Research, told TelecomTalk. Top Line Numbers Look Good for Airtel Paliwal said that the telco's performance looks stable in terms of top-line numbers as ARPU and EBITDA (earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation); all key metrics are on a growth trajectory. "The bottom line is still a miss with 2.8% YoY decline majorly due to jump in income tax expense and profit share of non-controlling interest." Q3 FY22 Performance an Inflexion Point for Airtel: ICICI Securities ICICI Securities, in a note, said that the Q3 FY22 performance is an inflexion point for Bharti Airtel given the telco's decisive revenue market share gain and organic deleveraging. ICICI Securities noted the growth in the non-mobile business of the telco, including home services, Airtel Business, and Payments Bank. One of the surprising developments was the strong and steady performance from Airtel Africa. The analysts at ICICI Securities have maintained a 'Buy' rating for Bharti Airtel on the back of market share gain and deleveraging. The target price has been set at Rs 850.

Airtel Xstream Premium With 15 OTT Subscriptions Announced for Rs 149 Per Month Posted: 09 Feb 2022 11:41 PM PST Bharti Airtel has re-announced the Airtel Xstream Premium service plan that will be available for the users for Rs 149 per month. Note that this service will be exclusively available for the customers of Bharti Airtel. The unique thing about this plan is that this time it will bundle over-the-top (OTT) subscriptions of over 15 different platforms for a very affordable price for the users. The 15 OTT platforms that we are talking about will include — SonyLIV, ErosNow, Lionsgate Play, Hoichoi, ManoramaMax, Shemaroo, Ultra, HungamaPlay, EPICon, Docubay, DivoTV, Klikk, Nammaflix, Dollywood, and Shorts TV. Users will get everything from Live channels, TV shows, and movies with these OTT platforms. Users Can Use This Plan's Service for Watching OTT Across Different Devices This is not a mobile-only plan. With a single app, single subscription, and a single sign-in, users can watch content from Airtel Xstream Premium across devices, including laptops, tablets, and smartphones. The Airtel Xstream Box will allow the users to watch content from this new OTT plan from the telco directly on the TV. At Rs 149 per month, it does become a compelling deal. Note that Bharti Airtel was already offering an Airtel Xstream plan for Rs 149 per month or Rs 1499 per year. But with this old plan that we are talking about, users got subscriptions to over 12 OTT platforms. Thus with this new plan, for the same price, users are getting subscriptions of 15 OTT platforms which means the telco has added three more platforms to its offering for no additional cost. It is a great deal for users who purchase standalone subscriptions of these OTT platforms every month or every year. With the Airtel Xstream Premium plan, Bharti Airtel is also trying to bank on the rise of demand for OTT content services in India. As per the data given by Media Partners Asia, India's OTT subscription market is expected to grow to $2 billion by 2025 from the current $500 million.

BSNL Getting Backed by Modi Government for 4G Rollout Posted: 09 Feb 2022 11:19 PM PST Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the state-owned telecom operator is getting huge backing from the Indian government for the 4G rollout. While surely the 4G rollout plans of the telco have been delayed quite a bit, the Modi government is ensuring that it happens this time. Ashwini Vaishnaw, Information Technology (IT) minister, in Lok Sabha, said it will take time for BSNL to come out of the poor state it was left in by the previous government. According to a TribuneIndia report, Vaishnaw said that there's no magician and that the government is trying its best to revive BSNL in the best manner possible. Government Wanted BSNL to Go With Homegrown 4G The Government of India's (GoI) intentions were clear with BSNL's 4G. GoI wanted BSNL to go with homegrown 4G and that is why the telco is working with the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) for months now to conduct successful 4G trials. The trials are about to end soon and BSNL will make the order for 4G equipment sometime in April 2022. Vaishnaw has previously said that the 4G rollout by BSNL can be expected by August or September of 2022. This could be possible if the trials are finished within February. India's Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman had also said in the Lok Sabha that BSNL is a strategic asset for the country and the Modi government is giving the state-run telco money for the 4G spectrum to make it more competitive. BSNL has indeed received a ton of help from the current government in the form of a relief package which helped it in introducing the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for its old employees and clearing the salary dues. While there have been multiple delays already, 2022 is highly anticipated to be the year when BSNL finally comes out with 4G networks across India. The quality of service would determine the kind of competition it will give to the private telcos. If BSNL's 4G networks are successful in providing decent services, it would change the market dynamic for good.

Bharti Airtel and Vi to Go for Another Prepaid Tariff Hike in 2022 Posted: 09 Feb 2022 09:51 PM PST The last prepaid tariff hikes came during the last leg of 2021. It hasn't been long since that, and the industry companies are already talking about another round of tariff hikes. Bharti Airtel, CEO, Gopal Vittal, during the recent earnings call, said another prepaid tariff hike would likely come in 2022. However, it won't be in the next three to four months, clarified Vittal. Note that it isn't just Airtel, but Vodafone Idea (Vi) as well, which is talking about prepaid tariff hikes. Ravinder Takkar, CEO, Vodafone Idea had said that the company is not going to wait for another two years before introducing a hike in tariffs. Takkar had said that Vi would go for a tariff hike in 2022 only. But the telcos will be a little worried about the SIM consolidation right now. Thus, they will only go for another tariff hike after the SIM consolidation level goes down. Vittal Says ARPU Level of Rs 300 Required Airtel has time and again expressed that its short-term average revenue per user (ARPU) aim is Rs 200 while the long-term aim is around Rs 300. Vittal said that without reaching the Rs 300 ARPU level, a company such as Bharti Airtel wouldn't be able to get a 15% RoCE (Return on Capital Employed). The telco's ARPU had already grown by almost Rs 10 QoQ to Rs 163 by the short impact of the tariff hike. The full impact of the tariff hike is likely going to be visible during the last quarter of FY22. This is what even Vodafone Idea (Vi) needs at the moment. Analysts have said that without a prepaid tariff hike, it would be hard for Vodafone Idea to sustain for a long period of time. The mobile tariffs in India are still very low for the operators to make a decent return, and thus it won't be surprising if all of them go ahead with a prepaid tariff hike in 2022.

Jio Might Have Another Surprise Stored for the Market Posted: 09 Feb 2022 09:10 PM PST When Reliance Jio came to the market, it surprised the existing telcos by offering free data, free voice calling and very cheap mobile services. However, the company might have another surprise stored for the market. Until now, in the telco space, only Airtel had a confirmed satellite broadband business as Bharti group owns the global satcom company OneWeb. However, that might change now. According to an ET Telecom report, Jio's newly formed subsidiary has applied to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for global mobile personal communication by satellite services (GMPCS) license. JSCL to Compete With OneWeb, Starlink, Project Kuiper and More Jio Satellite Communications Ltd (JSCL), which was incorporated only a few months back, is going to compete against the likes of Starlink, OneWeb, Amazon Project Kuiper and more. Jio is after a GMPCS license from DoT, which means that the company plans to offer services in the near future. But the company isn't going to offer satellite broadband services the way Starlink plans to. According to the publication's report, Jio is likely to resell or lease the satellite bandwidth capacity for offering cellular backhaul services in the rural and remote areas of the country. This is more like a B2B play, and that is exactly what Bharti owned OneWeb would be looking to do. JSCL might also be interested in offering services to other industry verticals such as maritime and aviation. Note that even OneWeb has applied for a GMPCS license, but it is yet to receive the permit for the same. OneWeb will work through Hughes Communications India Pvt Limited, which is a joint venture between Hughes and Airtel. As for the case of Starlink, there's no confirmation about how the company will proceed in India. Sanjay Bhargava had stepped down from the company, and there hasn't been a new successor named yet. Starlink had plans of providing services in India starting April 2022; however, that is likely not going to happen now.

Airtel Broadband Business Went Past 4 Million Customer Milestone in Q3 FY22 Posted: 09 Feb 2022 08:16 PM PST Bharti Airtel recently came out with the performance results for Q3 FY22. The broadband business of the telco has hit the 4 million customers milestone during the quarter, said Gopal Vittal, CEO, Bharti Airtel, in the earnings call. Sequential growth for the broadband business has been strong at 11.8%. Vittal explained that what has really worked out for the company is its Uber-like digital model with the LCOs (Local Cable Operators) and also the acceleration in the rollout of fiber in the top 100 cities. Airtel's Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) presence has expanded to over 672 towns now. This enabled the company in adding 1.1 million home passes during the quarter. Vittal said that Airtel believes FTTH is a huge opportunity for the company. The Airtel CEO confirmed that the telco would step up its investments in the fiber rollout for reaching its 2000 towns with its network across India in the next three years. This also includes hitting the goal of 35 million home passes during the same period. Airtel Growing at Rapid Pace in Broadband Segment Charu Paliwal, an analyst at Counterpoint Research, told TelecomTalk that Airtel is not far behind BSNL in broadband. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is in the fixed-line broadband segment, and it would also overtake BSNL in the coming months. Note that Jio went past BSNL in the broadband segment in November and became the largest fixed-line internet service provider in India. Airtel is likely to follow suit with the investments that it is making and the new towns it is expanding to. BSNL doesn't have the kind of money or resources Airtel and Jio do, and that is why it is lagging behind when it comes to adding new broadband subscribers. The state-run telco has been losing subscriber market share both in the wireline and wireless service market. It will be worth observing how the market plays out in the coming months.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Series Pre-Booking in India Starts for Rs 1999 Posted: 09 Feb 2022 07:01 PM PST Samsung has started the pre-booking or pre-reservation of the Galaxy S22 series for India. The South Korean giant on Tuesday launched three smartphones in the Galaxy S22 series, including the vanilla Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+, and Galaxy S22 Ultra. The company is accepting pre-reservation from the customers in India for Rs 1999. Pre-booking the Galaxy S22 series in India would bring users access to free stuff from Samsung, such as Galaxy SmartTag, and would also give them an option to get a 100% refund on cancellation. How Do I Pre-Reserve Galaxy S22 Series in India? Go to the official website of Samsung between 9:30 PM on February 9 and 11:59 PM on February 21, 2022. Then find the S22 series pre-booking page, which should be easy to discover and click on the Pre-reserve button. Through the available options, pay Rs 1999 for the pre-booking. The confirmation of the pre-booking will arrive for you via an email and text message on your phone. This voucher basically would allow you to purchase the smartphone first when it is available for the market. Whenever you are purchasing any of the devices in the Galaxy S22 series, you can redeem the Rs 1999 voucher, which would reduce the final price of the device by the same amount. You can also cancel the pre-reserve VIP pass for the Galaxy S22 series, upon which the company would refund the full amount to you without any problems. If you want to cancel the pre-booking, simply go into your Samsung account, then to orders, and then cancel. The Galaxy S22 series has brought back the feeling of Note with the Galaxy S22 Ultra, which now comes with its own S-Pen Stylus fit inside the device. The Indian pricing of the series is yet to come to light, but it should happen in a few days as the device becomes available for purchase.

Jio, Airtel and Vi 1.5GB Daily Data Plans Compared Posted: 09 Feb 2022 05:46 PM PST The telcos of the country offer multiple daily data prepaid plans for their subscribers. With a majority of the population looking for economically suitable plans as well as plans that offer adequate data 1.5GB daily data plans from the operators are just apt. Mentioned below is a comparison between the 1.5GB daily data plans offered by the private telcos of the country – Jio, Airtel and Vi along with the pack details. Reliance Jio The leading telecom operator of the country, Reliance Jio offers multiple 1.5GB daily data plans. Jio offers a prepaid plan at a price tag of Rs 239 that provides 1.5GB data per day for a validity period of 28 days. The plan comes with unlimited voice calls and 100 SMS/day along with access to a few Jio applications such as Jio Cinema, Jio TV and more. The telco offers another mid-term prepaid plan with the same data benefits. Users can get the prepaid plan that costs Rs 479 and offers 1.5GB/day for a validity period of 56 days. The plan also comes with unlimited voice calls and 100 SMS/day along with access to Jio applications. Talking about a long-term prepaid plan with the same data benefits, Jio offers a daily data prepaid plan that provides 1.5GB/day for a validity period of 84 days at a price tag of Rs 666. The plan also comes with unlimited voice calls and 100 SMS/day. Moreover, the telco also offers a yearlong prepaid plan that provides 1.5GB/day for a validity period of 365 days at a cost of Rs 2,545. The year-long plan as well offers unlimited voice calls and 100 SMS/day. Airtel One of the key players of the telecom industry, Airtel, offers multiple 1.5GB daily data plans as well. Airtel offers a prepaid plan at a price tag of Rs 299 that provides 1.5GB data per day for a validity period of 28 days. The plan comes with unlimited voice calls and 100SMS/day along with access to mobile edition Amazon Prime Video free trial and a few other benefits. The mid-term plan from the telco is identical to that of Jio when it comes to pricing. Airtel provides a prepaid plan that costs Rs 479 and offers 1.5GB/day for a validity period of 56 days. The plan also comes with unlimited voice calls and 100 SMS/day along with access to mobile edition Amazon Prime Video free trial and a few other benefits. Interestingly enough, Airtel offers two long-term plans with the same data benefits but doesn't offer any yearlong plans. The telco offers a daily data prepaid plan that provides 1.5GB/day for a validity period of 77 days at a price tag of Rs 666. Airtel also provides another prepaid plan that provides 1.5GB/day for a validity period of 84 days at a cost of Rs 799. Both these plans as well offer unlimited voice calls and 100 SMS/day along with access to mobile edition Amazon Prime Video free trial and a few other benefits. Vodafone Idea Vodafone Idea or Vi offers several 1.5GB daily data prepaid plans for its subscribers with different validity periods. The short-term plan from the telco is similar to that of Airtel as it offers a prepaid plan at a price tag of Rs 299 that provides 1.5GB data per day for a validity period of 28 days. Vi also offers another 1.5GB/day plan at Rs 399 for a validity period of 42 days. Next on the list is a mid-term plan from the telco which is also similar to that of Airtel. Vi provides a prepaid plan that costs Rs 479 and offers 1.5GB/day for a validity period of 56 days. Vi also provides another prepaid plan that provides 1.5GB/day for a validity period of 70 days at a cost of Rs 599. Talking about long-term plans, Vi has multiple prepaid plans to offer. The first one is identical to that of Airtel as the telco offers a daily data prepaid plan that provides 1.5GB/day for a validity period of 77 days at a price tag of Rs 666. Vi also provides another prepaid plan that provides 1.5GB/day for a validity period of 84 days at a cost of Rs 799. In addition to this, the telco offers two yearlong prepaid plans as well. Rs 2,899 and Rs 3,099 prepaid plans from Vi provide 1.5GB data for a validity period of 365 days. Rs 3,099 also comes with access to the Disney+ Hotstar subscription. All these plans from VI offer unlimited voice calls and 100SMS/day along with added benefits such as "Binge All Night", Vi Movies and TV and Data Roll Over.

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