The investment arm of the sovereign of Qatar has acquired a 5 per cent stake in leading Indian telecoms firm Bharti Airtel for $1.26 billion.

The Qatar Foundation Endowment would invest in the Indian telecom service provider and there are indications that the Qatari organisation would be a regular investor in the company. Some suggest that the Qatar Foundation Endowment is aiming to get a seat at the board of the world’s fourth largest telecom service provider.

New Delhi, May 3 : India's largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel Friday said it will sell five percent stake to Doha-based Qatar Foundation Endowment for $1.26 billion.

As per the agreement, Qatar Foundation Endowment (QFE) will subscribe to 199,870,006 new shares of Bharti at a price of Rs. 340 per share amounting to a total consideration of $1.26 billion (Rs. 6,796 crores).

“The investment will further strengthen the capital structure and provide further flexibility for the company to deliver on its growth strategy,” Bharti Airtel said.

Bharti Airtel Ltd, India's biggest cellular carrier by customers by subscribers, has hit an agreement with Qatar Foundation Endowment (QFE) to sell 5 per cent stake for $1.26 billion (nearly Rs 6,796cr).

Under the terms of the agreement, Airtel will sell 199.87 million new shares to QFE at a price of Rs 340 apiece, which represents a premium of 7.3 per cent to the stock's closing price on Thursday.

New Delhi, April 26 : The Supreme Court Monday issued notice to the CBI on a plea by Sunil Mittal of Bharti Airtel and Ravikant Ruia of Essar challenging their summoning before the 2G special court in the spectrum allocation scam of 2002.

The apex court bench, headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir, while issuing the notice, asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file its response in four weeks and gave another three weeks to Mital and Ruia to file their rejoinder.

The court said the proceedings before the trial court in this matter would remain deferred till then.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Tuesday hit a deal Bharti Airtel to lease the latter's i2i undersea cable networks to provide data connectivity across Asia Pacific.

Bharti Airtel's i2i cable's landing points are situated at Chennai in India and Tuas in Singapore. Therefore, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd - the telecom division of RIL - will be able to use the network to provide connectivity from India to Singapore

India's largest mobile-phone operator, Bharti Airtel has entered into an agreement with a unit of Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries to offer data capacity on its submarine cable that connects India and Singapore.

New Delhi, April 18 : Supreme Court's Justice Anil R. Dave Thursday recused himself from the hearing on pleas of Bharti Airtel' Sunil Mittal and Essar Group's Ravi Ruia who have challenged the summons issued to them by the 2G case trial court.

Another apex court judge had withdrawn from the hearing April 15.

As the apex court bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice Anil R. Dave took up the matter for hearing, Chief Justice Kabir said that no order could be passed as Justice Dave had recused himself from hearing the matter.

New Delhi, April 16 : Bharti Airtel chief Sunil Mittal and Essar Group promoter Ravi Ruia Tuesday appeared before a Delhi court following summons issued to them in a case relating to alleged irregularities in the allocation of 2G spectrum.

Both furnished separate personal bonds following a Supreme Court order. Accepting the bonds, Central Bureau of Investigation Special Court Judge O. P. Saini adjourned the proceedings till April 22.

Bharti Airtel, India's leading telecommunication services provider, has announced free international roaming calls for customers travelling to certain popular destinations.

Under the special offers, Airtel postpaid customers travelling to Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Germany, UAE and the UK can enjoy up to 2 hours of non-chargeable incoming calls. For outgoing calls, they will now pay as low as Rs 40 per minute.

Bharti Airtel can't add new 3G customers in the seven circles in which it doesn't have spectrum till the 3G intra-circle roaming case is not disposed off, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday.

The seven circles in which Airtel doesn't have 3G spectrum are: Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh East, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Kolkata. The company has been offering 3G services in these circles using the networks of other telecommunication firms.

New Delhi, April 11 : In a setback to Bharti Airtel, the Supreme Court Thursday restrained the company from enrolling new subscribers and extending to them 3G services in seven circles where it does not have licences.

An apex court bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice Vikramajit Sen restrained Bharti Airtel in response to a plea of Reliance Communications to this effect.

But, in a breather, the court said that the Department of Telecommunications will not take any coercive steps against Bharti Airtel for not paying the penalty of Rs. 350 crore, imposed on it for providing 3G in seven circles.

Supreme Court of India on Monday gave a breather to Bharti Cellular chairman & managing director Sunil Bharti Mittal by allowing him not to appear before the special court on April 11 in 2G scam case.

A Bench of justices presided over by Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir on Monday asked CBI counsel K. K. Venugopal how Mr. Mittal could be summoned when he wasn't named in the charge sheet.

The bench also posted Mr. Mittal's plea for hearing on 15th of April and directed deferment of the proceedings till 16th of April.

New Delhi, April 8 : The Supreme Court Monday offered partial relief to Bharti Airtel CMD Sunil Mittal by directing the 2G case trial court to put off hearing against him till April 16.

The court said it would examine April 15 whether Mittal could be named by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as an accused in the case and if the trial court here could summon him to appear before it.

The apex court bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice Vikramajit Sen asked the CBI to file an affidavit giving details of the material in their possession pointing to Mittal's involvement in the case.

New Delhi, April 2 : The Supreme Court will April 8 hear the plea of Bharti Airtel CMD Sunil Mittal challenging the order of a special Delhi court summoning him in the 2G case.

The apex court bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir, Justice Anil R. Dave and Justice Vikramajit Sen directed the listing of the matter April 8 after senior counsel Harish Salve mentioned it and sought an early hearing of the plea.

Central Bureau of Investigation Special Judge O. P. Saini March 19 summoned Mittal to appear before it April 11 in connection with alleged excess spectrum allocation to telecom companies in 2002.(IANS)

According to a new report, the undersea cable connecting Indian systems have suffered various cuts and this is likely to impact internet connectivity in India for the coming two weeks.

Mumbai, March 21 : Reversing four sessions of losing streak, a key index of Indian equities markets rebounded by nearly one percent Thursday, led by good buying support in banking and consumer durables stocks.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened in the positive at 18,926.21 points, was trading at 19,069.94 points in the afternoon session, up 0.98 percent or 185.75 points from its previous day close at 18,884.19 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 19,082.29 points and low of 18,798.98 points in the intra-day.

A special CBI court on Tuesday summoned Bharti Airtel CMD Sunil Bharti Mittal and six others as accused in the 2002 spectrum allocation case.

All the seven accused were asked to present in the court in person on April 11, next date of hearing in the case.

New Delhi, March 19 : A Delhi court Tuesday summoned Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, former telecom secretary Shyamal Ghosh and Essar Group promoter Ravi Ruia in a case relating to alleged irregularities in allocation of excess spectrum during the NDA regime.

Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Judge O. P.  Saini issued summons for April 11 after taking cognizance of the charge sheet filed against mobile firms Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Sterling Cellular for alleged irregularities.

The Delhi High Court has issued an order to halt the execution of a notice issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to the company to stop 3G services in seven circles across the country.

The DoT has ordered India’s leading telecom service provider, Bharti Airtel to halt providing 3G services in all the telecom circles where it does not hold required licences but offers the services under agreements with other telecom players. The company had earlier challenged the order in the Delhi High Court.

India's leading telecom service provider, Bharti Airtel is most likely to select China's network equipment maker, Huawei for the roll out of its 4G services in the major telecom circles including Delhi and Mumbai.