The inaugural edition of the three-day India Mobile Congress, being held in New Delhi from September 27 to 29, saw Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani referring to data as the new oil for the Indian economy. On the first day of the event, Mukesh Ambani, Sunil Mittal and Kumar Mangalam Birla -- rivals in India's telecom services market -- shared the stage and mae special addresses, along with Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao.
The much-anticipated event on Day 1 is to also see addresses by Union Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and Union Electronics & IT and Law & Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Here is Business Standard's full coverage of events and news from the India Mobile Congress 2017:
UK eyes partnerships with Indian telcos, Digital India
The UK's Department for International Trade (DIT) is partnering at the first ever Indian Mobile Congress (IMC) 2017, bringing a strong delegation of eight UK technologies companies and specialists, including Cobham, Culture Group, Inmarsat, Kloudpad, Kumulos, SysMech, Third Space Auto Ltd and Inspired Mobile. Read more
Data is the new oil, India has it in abundance, says Mukesh Ambani
Addressing the inaugural edition of the India Mobile Congress on Wednesday, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani said data was the new oil, and India did not need to import it. The country only needed to ensure every Indian had access to data. Ambani also said that the Indian economy would grow from $2.5 trillion to over $7 trillion over the next 10 years to become one of the top 3 economies in the world. Growth in India's mobile data market, he said, was unparallelled in the world. Read more
Govt has to decide if it wants coexistence of 2G and 4G: Idea MD
Idea Cellular MD Himanshu Kapania used the IMC platform to raise the ongoing issue of financial stress in the sector and lambast sectoral regulator Trai over the current reduction in interconnect charges. Speaking during the CEOs' conclave, Kapania said the government needed to decide if it wanted only forward-looking technologies or a coexistence of 2G and 4G. He said Trai had forced the industry to a level where only 4G could survive. Read more
Merger with Idea to be completed in 2018: Vodafone CEO Sunil Sood
The merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular was on track and was expected to be completed in calender year 2018, Vodafone India MD & CEO Sunil Sood said on the sidelines of the inaugural India Mobile Congress in New Delhi. Asked if the merger of the two telecom firms was on course, Sood said "Absolutely." Stating that the merger process goes through various stages, including approvals from the CCI, Sebi, the NCLT and the telecom department, Sood said: "We feel all of them are on track and in fact, we are going ahead on schedule." Read more
India Mobile Congress to span out as global event: Telecom Minister
Telecom minister Manoj Sinha on Tuesday said the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) would organise the India Mobile Congress every year which would emerge as a global event in the years to come. "We want to organise India Mobile Congress every year. We expect that it will emerge as a global event in years to come," Sinha said. Read more
MediaTek to showcase India-specific chipsets at Indian Mobile Congress
Taiwan-based fabless semiconductor company MediaTek will showcase chipsets specific to the Indian market at the three-day Indian Mobile Congress. Of these, the Helio P23, which was announced globally last month, will make a formal entry into the market. It is believed the company would launch at least one more entry- to mid-level chipset, customised for the Indian consumer’s requirement of “valuable premium experience”, including dual camera, dual SIM usage and edge-to-edge screen setup. Read more
Ambani, Mittal and other telecom leaders to share dais at Mobile Congress
Reliance Jio Chairman Mukesh Ambani will share the stage with other telecom czars Sunil Bharti Mittal of Airtel and Kumar Mangalam Birla of Idea Cellular at the India Mobile Congress here on Wednesday. Vodafone Chief Vittorio Colao will not be present in person, but will join other telecom leaders for the inaugural session through video link. Read more