In no particular order, here are MediaNama’s top 10 stories of the week ended 03rd December 2017
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Internet Shutdown in 13 districts in Haryana over the weekend as a preventive measure
Over the weekend, mobile Internet services were shut down in 13 districts in Haryana as authorities dealt with two rallies organized by political parties in the state, reports PTI. Mobile internet was snapped in Jind, Hansi, Bhiwani, Hisar, Fatehabad, Karnal, Panipat, Kaithal, Rohtak, Sonipat, Jhajjar, Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri till midnight of November 26 and the order came into effect on Friday. Read it here
Imgur discloses data breach which affected 1.7 million user accounts
Online image sharing community Imgur notified users of a potential data breach which occurred in 2014 which affected 1.7 million accounts. Imgur said that email addresses and passwords might have been compromised. The company said that it got an email on November 23 by a security researcher and said that he had data that included information of Imgur users. Read it here
Matrimony to increase its ad budget for North India; other notes from earnings call
Matrimony Limited, which runs BharatMatrimony, reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 19.16 crore, up 64%, as compared to Rs 11.69 crore in Q2FY17. The company also reported a revenue of Rs 83.7 crore for the quarter, representing a growth of 13.7 % compared to Rs 73.6 crore the same quarter previous year. Read it here
TRAI affirms Net Neutrality principles with Discriminatory Access ruling
The TRAI released its recommendations on Net Neutrality today, affirming the Net Neutrality principles of non discrimination, which will govern the ability of telecom operators and ISPs to speed up or slow down Internet access for apps. These recommendations will have to be accepted by the Department of Telecom, which will have to make changes to the license agreements of telecom operators, to make Net Neutrality a part of the license agreement. Read it here
TRAI plans consultation for regulation of Internet apps and sites in India; Our Take
There is still one major issue remaining from the Net Neutrality consultation paper which was issued on March 27th 2015: that of licensing and/or regulating online applications and services, and in its recent recommendation on Differential Access (Net Neutrality) yesterday, the TRAI has said that it will proceed with that next. The other ruling, on Differential Pricing(Net Neutrality) was released on Feb 8th 2017. Read it here
Comments on TRAI’s Net Neutrality ruling on Differential Access
The TRAI released its recommendations on Discriminatory Access yesterday, and also announced plans to issue a consultation on regulation of the Internet (apps and websites) later. Based on my (hundreds of) interactions with various people since the ruling, and their questions, here are some comments/observations. Read it here
Ortel broadband revenue down 49.3% YoY, subscriber base down 17.6%
Multi system operator Ortel Communications said it had 65,262 broadband subscribers on its network during the quarter ended June, 2017 (Q1 FY18), down from 70,273 the previous quarter, and 73,087 at the end of the last financial year. The subscriber base is down 17.6% from 79,182 for the same quarter last year. Read it here
Naspers holds 16% in Swiggy, 14% in Flipkart, 43% in MakeMyTrip; Notes from its financial results
Naspers had put in $61 million of the $80 million round of funding into Swiggy in June 2017, the company has disclosed in its interim results. “Following the investment, the group holds a 16% effective interest (15% fully diluted) in Swiggy”, the company says in its report. Read it here
TRAI’s Ease of Doing Business guidelines address bureaucratic burdens in telecom
The TRAI has come up with recommendations for easing up doing business for telecom operators, following a consultation process. While we’ve highlighted the problems and the recommendations below, it’s quite evident that some of these issues should never have arisen, or had been fixed when the policy was defined. Read it here
Foodpanda India revenues increases 64% for FY16-17
Foodpanda India has reported revenues of Rs 62.16 crore for the financial year 2016-2017 (FY 16-17) an increase of 64% from Rs 37.81 crore. Meanwhile, Foodpanda India said that it is working to reduce its losses. For FY16-17, registered a loss of Rs 44.81 crore compared to Rs 142.64 crore in the same year last year. Read it here
