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The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has called on its enforcement units to alert all state police departments across India to clamp down on the rampant theft of critical network gear that has already triggered around Rs 800 crore of losses for telcos, disrupted 4G/5G expansions and impacted quality of mobile coverage.In a directive, dated May 27, the department has asked its field enforcement units in all licence service areas (LSAs) to also conduct quarterly reviews of the telecom gear theft situation with national law enforcement agencies. It also wants the matter to be taken up at upcoming state broadband committee meetings.The DoT directive comes after Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi) recently sought the government’s intervention, saying they were facing huge losses and heavy additional replenishment costs amid rising incidence of network gear theft across India. They had pointed out that expensive active telecoms infrastructure gear such as remote radio units (RRUs) and base-band units (BBUs) were being regularly stolen since October 2023.“The LSAs are requested to conduct regular meetings with telecom service providers (TSPs) on the equipment theft and sensitise state police regarding the issue,” the DoT said in an internal letter to its field enforcement units, a copy of which was seen by ET.In its letter, DoT added that telcos had pointed out that such telecom equipment theft incidents were higher in some geographies, including Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.“The TSPs are estimated to have already incurred around Rs 800 crore of losses as well as additional expenses towards replenishing the stolen equipment. But customers are the ones suffering the most as such incidents invariably lead to a decline in the quality of mobile broadband services,” said a senior executive of one of India’s biggest telcos.He added that network expansions were also impacted, and that due to technical and legal challenges, telcos were unable to recover the stolen gear in most cases, which is why, strict government action is needed. Back in March 2024, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents Jio, Airtel and Vi, had alerted telecoms secretary Neeraj Mittal that multiple foreign websites were allegedly selling a host of active telecoms infrastructure gear online suspected to have been stolen from India’s telco networks.The COAI, in fact, had then named some of these foreign websites in its letter to Mittal and had called on the government to block them immediately. Some international websites named in COAI’s letter, dated March 14, included eBay, Alibaba, Telefly, Seeker816 and Dorfatrade that were allegedly involved in selling stolen telecom network gear. ET has seen a copy of COAI’s letter.The telco lobby body had also called for strict action from the authorities, pointing out that theft of active network gear would be covered within the offence of causing damage to telecom infrastructure under the Telecommunications Act, 2023. “The government has already recognised the seriousness of such an offence and classified the same as a cognizable and non-bailable offence under the Act.”

A 15-20% correction from current levels should not shake the confidence of investors and they should remain invested with a view beyond June 4, the day when the fate of the incumbent NDA government and the India alliance will be decided, experts opine. Post the event, the focus will get back to earnings, growth, and India's long-term economic potential, they argue. A day before the final phase of polling, chips were down on Thursday, with markets falling over 150 points to the day's low of 22,540.90. Over the last five sessions, Nifty has corrected by 427 points or nearly 2%.Motilal Oswal Financial Services (MOFSL) Chairman & Co-Founder Raamdeo Agrawal said that post-election will be a "very interesting time" though things may have extended a little bit and it is quite possible that the next quarter or two could be slow.Even if the markets were to correct by 10-15% in this period, he would not mind them correcting 10% further. "...that absolutely is like it is a ground zero and then we start with a new administration and new thought process and new 100 days, new ambitions of the government, new ministers and they will come and run for their targets and things like that and then the new energy in the economy will also come," the MOFSL analyst said as he expects markets to accelerate to the new highs. Mark Mobius, Chairman, Mobius Emerging Opportunities Fund also does not doubt that the correction will happen if the outcome be not as per Street expectations. In his view, Indian markets are due for a correction having gone too far too soon. A correction of 15-20% will be normal on the back of election results, Mobius said. Notwithstanding the outcome, he does not see overall growth taking a hit, arguing corrections will be a great time to buy. "Nobody can time it, that is the problem. So, if you want to be exposed to the market you have got to be exposed and you have got to be in the market but maybe keep some cash on the side in the event of a correction where you can buy at much lower prices," Mobius said.Agrawal said markets are deriving their strength from a new class of investors who invest through the SIP (systematic investment plan) route. "They must make sure that the market should not shake their confidence. They must continue with the subscription of the SIP. Even if the market goes down, whatever happens, or goes down for the next 2-3 months, they must continue because it is very important in SIP that you do not break the subscription in a bad market," the MOFSL Chairman said. Contribution through SIPs increased from Rs 1 lakh crore in 2019-20 to Rs 1.99 lakh crore in 2023-24, leading to a higher share of equity assets.While fear indicator India VIX was down by 2% on Thursday and was hovering near the 24 levels, it could go up to 30, analysts have told ETMarkets. The volatility index is already up 122% in the last month, riding on lower-than-expected voter turnout in the initial phases and concerns in some quarters over the likelihood of an unfavourable outcome for the NDA government. Abhay Agarwal, Founder & Fund Manager, Piper Serica views volatile environments as the best friends of long-term investors as they present a time to investors to latch on to "very good opportunities" to buy high-quality stocks at reasonable valuations. Commenting on the current mood, he thinks this market is not for bottom fishing or bargain hunting. "This is a market where once the event is over, people will refocus on earnings, refocus on growth, refocus on India's long-term economic potential and the resultant expansion in market cap due to that and which companies will benefit the most," this analyst said.On the contrary, Dipan Mehta, Director, at Elixir Equities recommends investors remain light. "I just want to go very light in this election season and any positions I am not sure about, any investments I am not completely confident about, and now that the earning season is over and done with, we have greater clarity on the prospects of all the companies, so from that point of view it is better to be cautious. And if the results are good, you will have the whole year to profit. But if it is bad, exit will be very difficult," Mehta said.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

After attaining the top spot in the Indian smartphone market in Q1, Chinese smartphone brand Vivo is gearing to launch its first-ever foldable smartphone in India with the aim to grab market share in the country’s fast growing premium segment, taking on the likes of Samsung and Apple.Vivo said the foldable smartphone, named XFold3 Pro, will be assembled in India, with some materials locally sourced, at its new 170-acre factory that is set to get fully operationalised by the end of June.The smartphone, due to launch early July in India, will be the company’s first ever offering to breach the Rs 1 lakh price point, competing with Samsung’s fifth-generation foldables and offerings from OnePlus and Tecno, after breaking into the premium segment with its flagship X-series devices since the pandemic.A company spokesperson said Vivo’s market share in the premium segment, in what is it’s largest market outside China, have grown from 3% in 2020 to 17% at the end of 2023, since it launched the X-series in India.“These numbers also say you are getting the trust of consumers. We did not want to launch anything just for the sake of launching. Premium customers are looking not just for a product. They are looking for an experience. They are looking for a brand they can trust,” said Geetaj Channana, Head of Corporate Strategy, Vivo India, adding that its customers are now ready to follow the brand to higher price segments.For its first foldable smartphone in India, taking after the book-shaped form factor seen in the Samsung flagships, Vivo said it has improved the crucial hinge part of the device, and the overall design of the foldable smartphone, making it lighter and slimmer than the competition.The executive though admitted that foldables continue to be a niche segment in the overall premium segment in India, which itself contributes just 2% of the total volumes. The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro will be competing with the Pro models of Apple iPhone, as well as the popular Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Samsung’s Z Fold5.Channana said the company is aiming to convert existing users of Vivo’s premium devices, as well as migrate those using foldable phones from its competition, with the improvements that it has managed to make. For instance, the X Fold3 Pro features the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 along with generative AI-features like transcriptions, translations and more.