Airtel is Raising Funds from Overseas, May Bid for OneWeb, Tower Co, Meger Delayed

For last few posts by me here are all regarding Jio and its fundraising. Let get back to Jio's most commendable competitor - yes, that's Airtel. The rivalry on telecom turf between Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Mittal is pretty old. And Ambani's comeback to Indian telecom was a supercharged show. But Airtel is not just sitting idle, and they are fighting back - ARPU is growing, and stock market value is increasing. But incumbents Airtel and Vodafone Idea both are now stuck by huge AGR dues as directed by Supreme Court. 

I will share all latest development in Airtel in this post. 

After Jio started its stake sale, there was market rumor that Google may invest in Vodafone Idea, while Amazon may invest in Airtel. However none came true so far. 

List of Pice Hotels of Kolkata

This post was initially just a list of some of the popular pice hotels of the city, collected over facebook or internet search. Later I have understood that there are several ones, many without a name or signboard across the city and suburbs catering hundreds of people with better Bengali lunches! 

The list is neither exclusive nor exhaustive. 

The Pice Hotels are a part of culture in Kolkata, which is pretty old. During the British era, many people worked at Kolkata, the-then capital of British ruled India and they were coming from far away places. They were staying at the messes across the city and to serve them food at a minimal cost the pice hotels started off. The name 'Pice' originated from what or how - it's still controversial. Many says as 1 paisa converted into Pice. Many says Pice means you have to pay for every piece of food i.e. from the glass to the plate. 

Is Jio Really Free from Any Chinese Components?

I would like to point out regarding Jio's stand on not using Chinese components. In February RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani told to US Prez D. Trump that Jio is the only operator in the world, which do not use a single Chinese component. Trump is found to be happy, and American companies invested in Jio heavily. 

What I want to say, Jio's core technology providers are not Chinese, but end-user devices like JioFi devices are coming from China. Jio is also probably using the SIM cards imported from China. 

Jio rolled out LTE with equipments solely from Samsung, which is a South Korean company. Inside their WiFi services, there is Rukus Wireless, Cisco and Mojos Network. 

Jio's WiFi Networks being Powered by Mojo

Jio since its begining is pushing its WiFi offering - the JioNet. Jio's public WiFi helps them to offload LTE data, and clutter off the network, also helps to serve into offices, educational institutes i.e. enterprise segment. 

Interestingly Jio expressed that the company is considering WiFi not as simple as an additional services (as during 2G period), rather it is a partner technology with Jio's pure play LTE based mobility strategy. Jio is now nearly having 2,00,000 hotspots running across the country. Jio and other Indian carriers have already launched Voice over LTE and VoWiFi technology - so offloading voice over WiFi is also in their strategy to overcome mobile signal coverage issues. WiFi calling is quite successful as Airtel and Jio saw the market response. However limited handsets support VoWiFi as of now. 


Also offering WiFi means better utilization of Jio's existing Fiber network. 

Reliance Jio Goes Debt-free, Plans to Bring Made-in-India 5G Solutions

Jio's stake sale is over, as the view expressed by investment firm JP Morgan. Starting from April 21st, Jio Platforms Ltd (JPL), the telecom and digital arm of Reliance Industries, owned by richest Indian Mukesh Ambani has started its stake sale. Ambani has set a target to make Reliance net debt free by March 31, 2021, and he achieved that target much before - 3 quarter early. Therefore it is expected that Jio, who already sold nearly one fourth of the company to foreign investors, will not go further. 

A tweet from Reliance Jio also hints to that, as the table summerizes all fund received into Jio. (table below)

Just like NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) made rockets, India's JPL or simply Jio has shown its growth like a rocket. It began from a scratch and developed as a greenfield pure 4G operator, backed by several app based ecosystem. 

[PR] Mumbai Municipality to Deploy Drone for Disinfection

Embassy Services in collaboration with Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) launched Aerial Disinfection Drone by Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Aaditya Thackeray

Embassy Services Pvt. Ltd. (ESPL) in collaboration with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) launched the first of its kind Drone Disinfection Drive in Worli, Mumbai on the 22nd of June. The significant event was launched by Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Aaditya Thackeray and the honorable Mayor Kishori Pednekar amongst other dignitaries. This method was used for the disinfection of mosquito breeding grounds and other vector-borne diseases in areas that are usually inaccessible. These drones can fly over 500m high for a period of 12 hours while carrying over 15 liters of disinfectant; they can cover an area of over 50 acres in a single day. This innovation is a much-needed thorough solution for the post-pandemic world.  

Extended Stake Sale: Jio Got Five More Investments

Reliance Jio continues its stake selling spree. The sale extends from April to May, now to June of 2020. 

The June 2020 phase is full of investors from UAE and United States, the list includes Mubadala Investment Company (Abu Dhabi, UAE), Abu Dhabi Investment Fund (ADIF) and American PE firms, TPG (based at Greenwich, Connecticut) and L Catterton (Texas based). Already invested, Silver Lake is also investing more money in Jio Platforms Ltd in June.

Date	Company	Investment	Stake acquired
April 21	Facebook	Rs 43, 574 Cr	9.9%
May 4	SilverLake	Rs 5,655.75 Cr	1.15%
May 8	Vista Equity	Rs 11,367 Cr	2.32%
May 17	General Altantic Partners	Rs 6598.38 Cr	1.34%
May 22	KKR & Co.	Rs 11,367 Cr	2.32%
June 4	Mubadala Investment Co	Rs 9,093.60 Cr	1.85%
June 7	Abu Dhabi Investment Fund (ADIF)	Rs 5683.50 Cr	1.16%
June 5	SilverLake	Rs 4,546.80 Cr	0.93%
June 13	TPG	Rs 4,546.80 Cr	0.93%
June 13	L Catterton	Rs1,894.50 Cr	0.39%