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Month: May 2025

  • Setup of CCBs in 9 govt hospitals in West Bengal

    Setup of CCBs in 9 govt hospitals in West Bengal

    Nine state government medical colleges and hospitals are set to get dedicated sprawling state-of-art critical care blocks (CCB) each soon for treatment of patients with severe ailments.

    These hospitals are Cooch Behar Medical College Hospital, Jalpaiguri Medical College Hospital (JMCH), Alipurduar Hospital, Jhargram Medical College Hospital, Rampurhat Medical College Hospital, Tamluk Medical College Hospital (TMCH), Midnapore Medical College Hospital (MMCH), Deben Mahato Medical College Hospital in Purulia and Diamond Harbour Medical College Hospital.

    Sources at Swasthya Bhawan, state health department headquarters at Salt Lake, said on Tuesday that construction companies have already been issued work orders, following a tender selection process by the West Bengal Medical Services Corporation (WBMSC), sole implementing agency for the projects in the nine hospitals.

    Sources said that most of the CCBs would come up in a four-storied building inside respective hospital premises. Two CCBs coming up inside the MMCH and JMCH separately will accommodate 100 patients each in a six-storied building.

    Seven other hospitals’ CCBs will have 50 beds each in four-storied buildings.

    The CCBs will have all life-support systems like ventilators, MRI units, dialysis units, separate isolation rooms for male and female patients, modular operation theatres (OTs), maternity wards, HDUs and surgical units for brain injury cases, according to WBMSC sources.

    Sources also said that with funds of both the central and state governments on a 60:40 ratio, it would cost around Rs 18 crore for a 50-bed CCB, while for a 100-bed block the project cost is Rs 35 crore.

    There had been a huge crisis in the number of adequate critical-care beds for treatment of Covid-19-affected patients during the pandemic in West Bengal.

    “We will have an adequate number of critical care beds once the CCBs come up in these hospitals. The CCBs are essential for patients, who need separate isolation wards. Each CCB will have a minimum 10 to 20 beds considering its total number of beds,” said an official of the health department.

    The demand for dedicated CCBs continued to rise after the pandemic.

    Health officials in different districts and Kolkata have expressed concern over the increasing number of patients with severe respiratory distress or kidney ailments desperately searching for beds in critical care units (CCU). They wait for weeks to get a CCU berth even in a teaching hospital. The CCBs will reduce the number of such critical cases waiting for a CCU bed, he added. The Statesman

  • India is projected to host a $30.64B healthcare sector

    India is projected to host a $30.64B healthcare sector

    Expanding at 6.08 percent CAGR, India medical devices market is set to reach USD 30.64 billion by 2033. The market was valued at USD 18.02 billion in 2024.

    India medical devices market trends and drivers:
    India medical devices market is witnessing robust growth, fuelled by a convergence of demographic trends, government support, technological advancements, and growing healthcare awareness. Essentially, increasing incomes, growing middle-class populations, and the rising burden of chronic diseases are establishing steady demand for sophisticated diagnostic and therapeutic devices nationwide.

    In addition, the swift growth of private healthcare infrastructure, particularly in tier II and tier III cities, is driving the acceptance of medical technology and driving demand for a diverse array of devices like imaging tools, patient monitoring systems, and surgical devices. Aside from this, government initiatives such as “Make in India,” as well as rising emphasis on import substitution and self-reliance, are also promoting domestic manufacturing and curbing reliance on international suppliers. Besides this, FDI inflows and public-private partnerships are stimulating investment in medical technology, with new opportunities opening up for international and domestic players alike.

    In addition, the uptake of digital health solutions like telemedicine, wearable health monitors, and AI-based diagnostic equipment is changing the nature of healthcare service delivery and consumption. Likewise, enhanced internet penetration and smartphone penetration are bringing digital diagnostics and home health devices within reach of the broader population. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has also raised healthcare preparedness awareness considerably, leading to increased demand for critical care devices such as ventilators, oxygen concentrators, and diagnostic kits. Similarly, regulatory reforms and the introduction of a dedicated medical devices regulatory framework are enhancing product quality, safety, and market transparency, promoting more organized growth.

    Apart from this, increased health insurance penetration as well as increased patient willingness to incur expenses on sophisticated forms of treatment are favorably impacting market demand. Moreover, the development of specialized clusters of medical devices and R&D facilities in regions like Gujarat and Tamil Nadu is favoring innovation and cost-effective production. Overall, the interplay among encouraging government policies, changing healthcare demands, greater affordability, and the drive toward indigenous and digital solutions is forming a dynamic, competitive, and future-oriented medical devices market in India, establishing the groundwork for broad technological takeup and enhanced healthcare delivery performance.

    India medical devices market report segmentation:
    The market report offers a comprehensive analysis of the segments, highlighting those with the largest India medical devices market share. It includes forecasts for the period 2025-2033 and historical data from 2019-2024 for the following segments. IMARC Group

  • Liabilities of NHS medical malpractice total £58.2B

    Liabilities of NHS medical malpractice total £58.2B

    The NHS’s total liabilities for medical negligence have hit an “astounding” £58.2bn amid ministers’ failure to improve patient safety, an influential group of MPs have warned.

    The Commons public accounts committee (PAC) said the “jaw-dropping” sums being paid to victims of botched treatment and government inaction to reduce errors were “unacceptable”.

    The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has set aside £58.2bn to settle lawsuits arising from clinical negligence that occurred in England before 1 April 2024, the PAC disclosed.

    The sum is so huge that it is the second-largest liability across the whole of government, with only nuclear decommissioning costlier, the committee said in a damning report.

    “The fact that government has set aside tens of billions of pounds for clinical negligence payments, its second most costly liability after some of the world’s most complex nuclear decommissioning projects, should give our entire society pause,” said Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the PAC chair.

    “This is a sign of a system struggling to do right by the people it is designed to help,” he added.

    The PAC urged ministers to take urgent steps to reduce “tragic incidences of patient harm” and to also end a situation where lawyers take an “astronomical” 19% of the compensation awarded to those who are successful in suing the NHS. That amounted to £536m of the £2.8bn that the health service in England paid out in damages in 2023-24 – its record bill for mistakes.

    “Far too many patients still suffer clinical negligence which can cause devastating harm to those affected,” and the ensuing damages drain vital funds from the NHS, the report said.

    A DHSC source accepted the PAC’s findings, saying: “The cost of clinical negligence claims is rising at an unsustainable rate, eating into resources available for frontline care. Annual cash payments have more than doubled in the last 10 years and quadrupled in the past 17 years to £2.8bn.”

    The PAC criticised the department for not yet having explained why patient harm occurs and devised a strategy to overhaul patient safety, despite the committee in the last parliament asking the DHSC do so by last summer. The DHSC “has only recently written to us in response” to that recommendation, the PAC said.

    “It is unacceptable that the department is yet to develop a plan to deal with the cost of clinical negligence claims and so much taxpayers’ money is being spent on legal fees,” the report says.

    Paul Whiteing, the chief executive of patient safety charity Action Against Medical Accidents, said that lawsuits arose over errors by NHS staff in every area of care. “But the largest sums are awarded to families of babies that are left with lifelong disabilities, such as brain damage, through negligence at birth.”

    The NHS has faced a series of maternity care scandals in recent years that have left mothers and babies dead or badly injured. In 2023 the Care Quality Commission, the health service care regulator, said that two-thirds of maternity units provided substandard care.

    The NHS would face fewer lawsuits if it was more open when mistakes happen, Whiteing added.

    “We see many people who only litigate because the NHS ‘pulled down the shutters’, by which I mean failed to properly look into what went wrong, offer a meaningful apology for their mistake and involve the family in the investigation. If steps such as these were followed, many fewer people would resort to litigation,” he said.

    Jess Brown-Fuller, a Liberal Democrat health spokesperson, said the huge cost of NHS medical negligence payouts are “symptomatic of a health service that simply is not functioning. The Labour government’s embrace of dither and delay on social care, maternity reforms and rebuilding our hospitals is prolonging the misery.”

    In its analysis of the DHSC’s annual report and accounts for 2023-24, the PAC also revealed the cost of building long-planned new high containment labs in Harlow, Essex, to help protect the UK against infectious diseases, had spiralled from £530m to “an eye-watering projected £3.2bn”.

    And it criticised the government for not spelling out what impact its decision to abolish NHS England and axe tens of thousands of health service managers would have on patients and staff. It voiced concern about cuts to dentistry, GP services and health prevention.

    Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, echoed the PAC’s unease. “While many leaders understand the need for change, the lack of detail on how the national shake-up will be taken forward, the pace of this restructure, and how it connects to the ambitions of the 10-year plan are a cause for concern among staff,” he said.

    A DHSC spokesperson said: “Patient safety is the bedrock of a healthy NHS and social care system. This government will ensure the country has the best system in place to keep patients safe by overhauling the overly complex bureaucracy of healthcare regulation and oversight and we will examine the drivers of costs, how to manage spending on clinical negligence and the potential merits of reform options.” The Guardian

  • Analysts say that Satcom offers no risk to telcos’ private broadband tasks

    Analysts say that Satcom offers no risk to telcos’ private broadband tasks

    Satellite communication services are unlikely to pose threat to telecom operators’ home broadband and mobile businesses due to their higher price points and inconsistent speeds, analysts have said.

    Satcom players are unlikely to become mainstream in India in the medium term, they said, citing global trends. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released the satcom spectrum recommendations on May 9.

    The primary constraints to large-scale broadband adoption in India — inadequate last-mile fibre and costly right of way (RoW) — are now being addressed through the 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) services rolled out by Airtel and Reliance Jio, Axis Capital said in a note.

    “With the fibre constraints largely addressed by FWA, and considering the premium pricing and costly Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) of satcom for what is essentially high-speed data connectivity, we do not expect satellite-based broadband services to become mainstream in India in the medium term, as has been the case globally,” the note, reviewed by Moneycontrol, said.

    India’s broadband subscriber base, including fixed broadband and 5G-based FWA, stood at 46.4 million as of December.

    Elon Musk’s Starlink had just over 5.4 million subscribers globally as of March 2025.

    According to TRAI, telecom operators’ capacity in the mid-band spectrum (3300 MHz) can reach approximately 170 Tbps or more, compared to just 0.6–3 Tbps for satcom services.

    “…telcos are likely to allocate the majority of this capacity to mobile services, and data demand on FWA — given its broadband-like usage — is expected to be significantly higher than that for mobile. However, this can be offset by enhancing capacity using millimetre wave spectrum,” the brokerage said.

    Terrestrial networks deliver faster broadband speeds, as satcom requires the launch of additional satellite constellations, analysts said.

    Increasing capacity at a location is not feasible with satcom, since satellite capacity is spread across a wide area.

    ‘Complementary, not competitive service’
    Axis Capital pegged the average terminal cost for satcom at Rs 30,000, which must be purchased by the user, compared to a refundable security deposit of Rs 2,000–2,500 for FWA connections.

    “The average satcom plan is about twice as expensive as a standard broadband plan in countries where the service is available,” the brokerage said.

    TRAI chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti, too, said the regulator expects satcom to remain a complementary service to terrestrial FWA in the near to medium term rather than a competitor. He rejected claims that satcom would compete directly with terrestrial mobile networks.

    This expectation stems from satcom’s limited capacity, slower ability to scale, higher pricing, and costly hardware.

    “A city like Delhi has around 5 million broadband connections, whereas a single satellite constellation can support only about 20,000 users,” Lahoti said. “This disparity will continue for at least the next five years. Satellite services will remain complementary —not competitive — to terrestrial networks.”

    Some industry observers and satellite players said TRAI’s proposed additional spectrum charges for urban areas could make satcom unaffordable in India’s most lucrative telecom markets.

    A senior executive with a satellite service provider said the recommendation favours mobile broadband providers, granting them a strategic advantage over satellite players in urban areas.

    “While satellite has been primarily used globally to offer connectivity in rural and deep rural areas where deployment of any kind of fixed infrastructure is not commercially viable, the higher spectrum charges, especially in urban areas, do put the satellite providers on a back foot,” Ashwinder Sethi, partner at Analysys Mason, told Moneycontrol.

    “We believe 5G FWA will be the focus of mobile operators in sub-urban and rural areas, while satellite providers will focus on rural and deep rural areas, as satellite has limited capacity at the moment regarding a number of subscribers that can be supported,” Sethi said.

    While 5G FWA will be the focus of mobile operators in sub-urban and rural areas, satellite providers will look at “rural and deep rural areas”, as at the moment, satellite capacity to support subscribers is limited, Sethi said.

    According to an analysis by Analysys Mason, the proposed spectrum charges for satellite services at 4 percent of AGR are on the higher side when compared to mobile services, where the DoT does not levy any SUC for 5G spectrum bought in the 3.5GHz and 26GHz bands. This implies that satellite service providers will pay spectrum charges of 4 percent of AGR, while the mobile (including FWA) service providers will be charged at less than 1.5 percent on a blended basis (across different spectrum bands).

    “Furthermore, the additional charge of Rs 500 per annum per subscriber in urban areas for NGSO-based FSS (fixed satellite service), takes the spectrum charges even higher for satellite providers,” Sethi said.

    Additional spectrum charges would make satellite broadband unaffordable and non-competitive in urban markets, giving mobile broadband players a clear edge in India’s most profitable telecom zones.

    TRAI recommended that satellite communication companies — Starlink, Eutelsat-OneWeb, and the Jio-SES joint venture — pay 4 percent of their Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) as spectrum usage charges, aligning with the current framework for VSAT providers.

    Following the recommendations, the department of telecommunications (DoT) has begun finalising the satellite spectrum allocation rules, which would be issued under the new Telecommunications Act, sources said. A draft seeking feedback would also be released soon.

    Industry said the rules would allow administrative allocation of satellite spectrum. However, pricing decisions will require cabinet approval. The Digital Communications Commission (DCC), the DoT’s top decision-making body, will review TRAI’s proposals before presenting them to the cabinet for pricing approval, they said. MoneyControl

  • Finally proclaimed as a constitutional right is digital access

    Finally proclaimed as a constitutional right is digital access

    India’s digital infrastructure has yet to overcome the hurdles of accessibility for its remote and differently-abled communities, before digital access as a fundamental right can be exercised in reality, policy experts noted

    Earlier this month, the Supreme Court, in a landmark judgement, stated that right to digital access is a fundamental right under the right to life and liberty.While this is not the first time that the apex court has acknowledged the need for digital access, Apar Gupta, Founder-Director of the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), said this is the first time that digital access has been recognised beyond just internet access — as a constitutional right.

    “Earlier, recognition for digital access has been particularly limited to access to the internet itself, for instance, the Anuradha Bhasin judgment concerning the legality of an indefinite internet shutdown,” said Gupta.

    The affordability question
    Going forward, Gupta advised policy-makers to approach the challenge of universal digital access as an initiative through paper-based process, especially considering declining tele-connectivity rates and lower mobile data and wired connections as per the telecom regulatory authority’s (TRAI) data.

    “Price will also be an issue since we are very far from universal connectivity. Connectivity is not available for each person even in metropolitan cities in India,” said Gupta.

    To Gupta’s point, Professor Amit Prakash, Head of Digital Humanities and Societal Systems at IIIT-Bangalore told businessline how even in the tech-hub of India, there are issues of bandwidth and reliable connectivity. This results in some people losing out on ration or verifying their biometrics.

    Mahesh Uppal, Director of Com First (India), hoped that the court’s judgement will correct this disparity by indirectly pressuring the State to devise policies to ensure connectivity where it doesn’t exist and expedite where connectivity is already available.

    In terms of existing policies like BharatNet, Uppal said there are concerns in terms of BSNL’s capacity to deliver the service, missed deadlines of the project, etc.

    “We need to remove whatever barriers there are in the growth of BharatNet, whether they are managerial, related to technology or sourcing, etc.,” he said.

    Structural gaps
    The current licensing and authorisation regime fails to incentivise people to fill the connectivity and access gaps due to various approvals and guarantees required, Uppal said. He pointed out that interested parties may not have the funds, willingness, capacity, technology to deal with such larger issues.

    Further, he pointed out that meaningful connectivity also requires an appropriate device and ensuring accessible and affordable services. Data from Counterpoint Research, a market research firm, show that nearly 200 million people in India are still using 2G and 230-240 million people continue to use feature phones.

    “This is where the Digital Bharat Nidhi [formerly Universal Service Obligation Fund] reform can help. Operators should not just be asked to connect, but to develop markets in those areas. That will increase attraction to and stickiness to the service, which is what you want,” said Uppal.

    When designing applications for digital access, Prakash stressed the need to think from the perspective of the people using the service. He asked designers to consider whether every person is able to understand and trust the application.

    “What this ruling highlights and reiterates is that we’re probably not [considering] this very well, especially in case of marginal groups. Technology designers need to understand the people who are going to use their services,” said Prakash.

    He argued that technology designers tend to assume that what works in corporate settings will also work for rural settings and often dismiss issues to people’s illiteracy rather than the incompatible design.

    “That is something that policy can bring back: good design practices with respect to technology. You need to understand the context, governance and development motivations behind the need of a technology rather than saying our technology is what it is and it’s for everyone else to fall in line,” said Prakash. The Hindu BusinessLine

  • Is Musk’s Starlink going to upend India’s broadband market?

    Is Musk’s Starlink going to upend India’s broadband market?

    Will the entry of Elon Musk’s Starlink disrupt India’s broadband universe dominated by telcos? That question has kept analysts busy after Starlink, a fully-owned subsidiary of SpaceX —majority owned by Musk — got the go-ahead from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) last week to start its satellite broadband service in the country.

    For starters, Musk seems to be taking cautious steps, having waited three years for the Starlink application to get through. After a prolonged war of words between telcos led by Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel on one side and foreign players led by Musk on the other, the two sides have teamed up now.

    Recently, both Jio and Airtel signed up with SpaceX for distribution of Starlink in India. Quite a switch from the days of clash —domestic players favoured auction of spectrum and the foreign companies sought administered allocation of airwaves. Airtel had shifted its stance from backing administered allocation of spectrum to supporting auction.

    Many suggest that geopolitical relations between India and the United States played a role in facilitating the tieups between Starlink and the Indian telcos. Musk is a key advisor to US president Donald Trump.

    That will reduce Starlink’s cost of setting up a distribution system from the scratch. In fact, in many countries, telcos have entered such tieups after initial resistance. Through such ventures with Starlink, Telstra in Australia offers services in remote areas, KDDI in Japan, and Roger Communications in Canada.

    But unlike telcos in other countries, both Airtel’s promoter Sunil Mittal through One Web (across the globe, including India) and Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio are involved in a direct play in the satellite services market. Clashing head on with Starlink.

    With the two straddling both terrestrial and satellite in India, most experts say they would still have a big upper hand to leverage their existing large mobile customer base for broadband services, while Starlink will start afresh.

    Also unlike in many other markets, where telcos have substantial underserved or non-connected areas, the reality in India

    is different. According to data available with GSMA (non-profit association representing the interests of mobile companies around the world), 99 per cent of India is already connected with mobile and as much as 96 per cent of the 650,000 villages in the country are linked with 4G or 5G technology. So they already have mobile broadband.

    Competitors, who have closely followed Musk’s entry strategies for satellite broadband in many countries, say that Starlink is expected to tread slowly initially. Currently, with 5 million customers across the globe, it is still building the service in stages as more satellites and capacity are being put in the skies.

    Starlink has dropped kit prices and tariffs in some markets. For instance, in Bhutan, where it recently launched the service, the tariffs range from ₹3,000 to 4,200 a month and initial mini starter kit is pegged at ₹17,000 going up to ₹33,000. But that is still at a large premium over terrestrial broadband services.

    Analysts explain the maths for India. There are over 40 million households who have either fixed fibre broadband and fixed wireless broadband — mostly with Jio and Airtel across the country. This number is projected to hit 75 million to 100 million by 2030. To put it simply, only 13 per cent of the total 300 million households in the country are connected by broadband.

    “We expect Starlink to churn subscribers from the top end of the existing market. If it can get 10 per cent of these households in a few years, it would be able to double its global subscriber base from India itself,” says a senior executive of a telco.

    He adds that Starlink, like in most other countries, will price its offering at a premium or similar to FTTH (fiber to the home) and FWA (fixed wireless access) offered by telcos. The two services range between ₹2,500 (for 500 mbps) and ₹4,000 a month (1 gbps). In the early days, Starlink will have to launch more satellites and is unlikely to clog the service by playing the pricing or the volume game.

    Another challenge for Starlink could be the entry cost — the steep kit price which consumers need to pay to start the service. Perhaps, it may have to subsidise compared to most telcos offering the set top boxes free, bundled with data, for a few months.

    Once volumes increase and Starlink gets armed with more capacity, the game could change dramatically, explain analysts. That’s why the argument put out by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) that satellite services only complement terrestrial services is being debated by telcos.

    Telcos argue that while they have to fork out huge instalments for auctioned spectrum, satellite players have been given flexibility — they pay more if they earn more.

    Trai settled the issue of spectrum for satellite internet last week by recommending the administered allocation route for giving out airwaves. Satcom players will have to fork out 4 per cent of their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) and a top-up fee of ₹500 per subscriber in case of urban areas. Auction is out of the way.

    Estimates are that for every ₹100 earned from a subscriber, telcos have to fork out ₹48 (including goods and services tax, spectrum usage charge, licence fee, and spectrum installment) for terrestrial services to the government. However, satellite service operators will have to fork out around ₹31 to ₹32 as they won’t need to pay installments for auctioned spectrum, an analyst says.

    Starlink, which has put in 6,000 satellites in the air, hopes to hit 42,000 LEO (low earth orbit) satellites in two years. With the launch of new satellites (the cost of which is falling), the operator is expected to have a huge bandwidth capacity over the Indian region. According to experts, this could be equivalent to the total bandwidth capacity available to the largest telcos in the terrestrial space. Once that happens, Starlink will be able to play the pricing game, replicating the Jio playbook during the 4G launch.

    Yet, despite competition, there are many areas where Starlink and the telcos can work together. One is the growing potential of direct smartphone- to-satellite connectivity. Starlink is already experimenting with many players including T-Mobile in the US, Optus and Telstra in Australia amongst others. And many mobile device players such as Apple and Google are already offering emergency text services in some countries via satellites in cases where cellular network is rare.

    In India too, Starlink can tie up with Indian telcos, which can leverage their existing spectrum and subscriber base to offer the additional service. “We expect them to use our spectrum and offer direct satellite connectivity on Starlink satellites to our customers. That will be a win win revenue share model,” points out a senior executive in an internet company.

    That can happen once the policy fineprint is out. For now, telcos such as Airtel and Jio — with their presence in terrestrial and satcom — seem well poised to take on satcom companies backed by Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. Business Standard

  • With iPhone cost hikes near, Trump chats with Apple’s Cook

    With iPhone cost hikes near, Trump chats with Apple’s Cook

    US President Donald Trump said he spoke with Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook earlier on Monday, just as the iPhone maker was reported to be considering price increases later this year.

    Apple is weighing whether to raise prices for an iPhone lineup coming in the fall, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter whom it didn’t identify. The company is exploring whether to “couple” price increases with new features and designs, while trying to avoid the perception that any hikes are tied to US tariffs, the Journal reported. Apple didn’t respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment.

    A few hours after the Journal report, Trump said he had spoken to Cook. He didn’t address the potential price increases, instead focusing on how he thinks the company will end up raising its US spending plan beyond the $500 billion that it had pledged in February. “He’s going to be building a lot of plants in the US for Apple,” Trump said.

    Consumers and analysts have been bracing for Apple price increases for more than a month. Bloomberg News reported in April that the company stocked up on inventory to prepare for the tariffs and that price increases were growing more likely.

    Shares of Apple climbed 6.2% to $210.79 in New York after the US and China moved to de-escalate their trade dispute, spurring a broader rally across markets.

    Apple hasn’t changed the starting price of its flagship iPhone model since it debuted the iPhone X in 2017 — keeping it at $999. But the company was widely expected to weigh hikes after Trump announced sweeping tariffs against several nations that Apple relies on for manufacturing. In February , the company went with a higher price for the iPhone 16e, which replaced the budget iPhone SE in its lineup, signaling its willingness to raise costs when needed.

    Cook said during a recent earnings call that Apple could incur costs of about $900 million this quarter due to tariffs. He was asked about potential price increases during the same call but promptly shut down the question, saying: “We have nothing to announce today.”

    Cook had successfully lobbied Trump during his first administration to exempt some of the company’s products from tariffs.

    High-end phones, including the Pro and Pro Max models, will be produced in China, even as Apple builds up capacity in Indian factories, the newspaper reported. Apple is seeking to import most of the iPhones it sells in the US from India by the end of next year, accelerating a shift beyond China to mitigate risks related to tariffs and geopolitical tensions, Bloomberg News has reported. Bloomberg

  • Rural data usage will rise this fiscal year, leading telecom ARPU to soar 10-12%

    Rural data usage will rise this fiscal year, leading telecom ARPU to soar 10-12%

    Increasing internet adoption and data consumption by rural subscribers are emerging as structural drivers for growth in average revenue per user (ARPU) of Indian telecom companies (telcos). To capitalise on the trend, telcos are strengthening rural connectivity, which should help expand their data subscriber base and returns.

    Over the four calendar years ended December 31, 2024, internet penetration in rural India surged from 59% to 78%, outpacing urban areas, which grew from 77% to 90% (chart 1 in annexure). Internet penetration in rural areas is expected to further increase by 4-5% by the end of fiscal 2026, supported by continued adoption of online communication, digital payments as well as increasing usage of social media, content streaming services and e-commerce.

    Despite being more price sensitive, rural internet user base stayed resilient over the past year even in the face of tariff hikes introduced in mid-2024, reflecting high dependence of rural users on mobile internet.

    Surge in per-user data usage in the rural areas is also being supported by network expansion, competitively priced plans and better affordability of smartphones. Much of this momentum is visible in circles B and C (chart 2 in annexure), which form nearly 70% of the rural subscriber base in India. Data consumption in these circles has clocked a compound annual growth rate of 19–22% over the past four years – outpacing the 17–19% growth seen in metros – highlighting the penetration of mobile data services and steady demand for it. This growth trend should sustain with the expansion of the 4G networks in the underpenetrated areas and will drive up the ARPU, going forward.

    Says Anand Kulkarni, Director, Crisil Ratings, “The industry ARPU is expected to rise by Rs 20-25 to reach Rs 225-230 by the end of this fiscal, assuming tariffs remain stable. Around 55-60% of the incremental ARPU is expected to come from rural subscribers. Relatively lower internet penetration in rural regions will drive migration of subscribers to data plans. Additionally, uptrading of plans due to higher data consumption will also drive ARPU growth. Here as well, rural areas will play a key role as mobile phones serve as the primary gateway vis-à-vis metro users, who have alternatives such as wi-fi.”

    In keeping with this trend, telcos have also been aligning their offerings with varied data-centric plans and investing in spectrum acquisition and tower densification in rural areas. In the auction held in June 2024, telcos acquired bulk of the spectrum in circles B and C. Further, a sizable portion of the planned capex of Rs 8,000-9,000 crore to be undertaken by independent telecom tower companies in fiscal 2026 will be directed towards rural areas.

    Says Mohini Chatterjee, Team Leader, Crisil Ratings, “The targeted network and spectrum investments in rural areas, along with growth in ARPU, will help increase telcos’ return on capital employed to ~12% in fiscal 2026 from ~10% in fiscal 2025. With ~75% of the cost being fixed in nature, even a modest hike in ARPU can materially benefit earnings.”

    That said, affordability of data plans will remain essential for the growth in rural data subscribers. Crisil

  • Vi rises to 2,500 outlets and opens more than 100 more stores

    Vi rises to 2,500 outlets and opens more than 100 more stores

    Vodafone Idea (Vi) opened over 100 new flagship stores in metro and Tier-1 cities in the last six months, expanding its physical retail footprint to over 2,500 Vi stores and Mini stores across 600 cities.

    Vi Stores, operated directly by the company, serve as flagship customer experience centres. November Vi has opened more such stores in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata. Additional outlets have been launched in multiple cities in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Punjab. Vi now boasts over 500 flagship stores nationwide.

    The rest of the 2,000 Vi Mini Stores are partner-run outlets in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Together, the stores employ more than 9,000 people directly and indirectly. The company supports new partners with set-up and operational guidance. Retail stores serve over 50,000 customers, while a large share of its customers resolve issues via the Vi App.

    Stating that the focus on customer experience is delivering results, Vi said there has been consistent growth in the retail post-paid segment, possibly driven by its in-store service experience and sharper value propositions. Further, latest data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) shows that Vi recorded its lowest customer churn in February 2025, post merger of Vodafone and Idea Cellular. The Hindu BusinessLine

  • Fox aims to debut its new streaming service, Fox One, ahead to the football season

    Fox aims to debut its new streaming service, Fox One, ahead to the football season

    Fox Corp said its new subscription-based streaming service will be called “Fox One” and is set to launch before the fall American football season, as the media company seeks to reach audiences beyond its mainstay cable television business.

    Unveiling further details on Monday about the service first announced in February, Fox said pricing for Fox One would align with its wholesale rates and would not be offered at a discount.

    Shares of the company rose nearly 5% as it also reported quarterly profit and revenue exceeding Wall Street expectations, thanks to a surge in advertising revenue driven by its broadcast of “Super Bowl LIX” in February.

    The Murdoch family-controlled company has largely sat out the streaming race between legacy media and firms such as Netflix, betting instead on ad revenue from its free Tubi streaming service that has about 97 million monthly active users.

    Fox will partner with other distributors and services to offer Fox One, CEO Lachlan Murdoch told analysts, hinting at potentially bundling deals with other streamers — a strategy that has gained traction as companies look to curb subscriber churn.

    “The pricing will be healthy,” Murdoch said, adding Fox does not want to lose cable subscribers to the streaming service.

    In the March quarter, more advertisers turned to the owner of FOX News, FOX Sports and Tubi to capture its growing viewership. An estimated 127.7 million viewers tuned in for the Super Bowl National Football League championship broadcast by Fox, the largest audience in TV history for a single-network telecast, according to Nielsen. Advertisers paid as much as $8 million for 30 seconds of commercial time during the game.

    Revenue rose 27% to $4.37 billion in the third quarter, beating an estimate of $4.18 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. Advertising revenue increased 65% to $2.04 billion, beating an estimate of $1.67 billion.

    Adjusted profit per share of $1.10 beat an estimate of $0.91. MSN