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Air India Sells 21 Dreamliner Planes to Repay Loans
The airline is saddled with a debt of about Rs.40,000 crore that includes a long-term loan taken for aircraft purchase and a working capital loan NEW DELHI: Air India has 12 Dreamliners under a similar ar- year. Air India had last month invited mopped up Rs.7,000 crore by selling nine of its 21 Dreamliner planes to a Singaporean lessor, which it has taken back on lease from the company under a Sale and Lease Back (SLB) arrangement. A major chunk of these funds will go into repayment of the bridge loan availed earlier for purchasing these Boeing 787-800s, airline sources said. Under as SLB arrangement, the seller of an asset leases it back from the purchaser for a long-term period and continues to use it without actually owning it. Air India has 131 aircraft in its fleet, consisting of Boeing, Airbus and ATR planes as well as CRJs. Of these, 21 are Boeing 787-800s. The flag carrier had sold and leased back
rangement earlier as well. Sources said that of the total proceeds, about Rs.6,000 crore, will be used for repayment of the bridge loan taken against these planes at the time of acquisition. The remaining Rs.1,000 crore will be utilised for other purposes. The airline is saddled with a debt of about Rs.40,000 crore that includes a long-term loan taken for aircraft purchase and a working capital loan. It has accumulated a loss of close to Rs.30,000 crore. The airline, however, is expected to report around Rs.6 crore operating profit this fiscal. These nine B 787-800s were inducted into the national carrier’s fleet between March 2014 and June this
bids from domestic and international banks/financial institutions to sell these planes. The airline had fixed a reserve price of not less than $123 million for the planes acquired in 2015 and $120 million for the aircraft inducted in the fleet during 2014. As part of its fleet expansion plan, the national carrier had in 2006 placed orders with Boeing for 68 aircraft- 27 Dreamliners, 15 B777-300ERs, eight B777-200LRs and 18 B-737- 800s. Surviving on a Rs.30,000 crore bailout package from the parent, Government of India, Air India had reported a net loss of Rs.5,547.47 crore in the last fiscal on the back of total revenues of Rs.19,781 crore. -Livemint.com
India Sees Highest Growth in Mobile Phone Subscriptions
Ericsson report says India sees more than 13 million net additions in the third quarter, followed by China, where subscriptions grew by 7 million
NEW DELHI: India saw the high-
est number of net addition in mobile phone subscriptions globally in the third quarter of 2015, a new report by telecommunications firm Ericsson showed Tuesday. There were more than 13 million net additions, followed by China, where subscriptions grew by 7 million, and the US with 6 million net additions. By the end of the third quarter, total number of global mobile subscriptions reached 7.3 billion, including 87 million new ones. However, the number of actual subscribers is lower than the number of subscriptions owing to the fact that users use multiple devices, such as smartphones and tablets, at the same time. At present, there
are 4.9 billion subscribers worldwide versus 7.3 billion subscriptions. Global mobile subscriptions are growing by 5% year-on-year, stated the report. Smartphones accounted for close to 75% of all mobile phones sold during the quarter, compared to about 70% last year. While developing economies like India are struggling to roll out consistent 3G networks, the developed world is already looking at rapid expansion of fifth-generation, or 5G networks. 5G mobile subscriptions are likely to reach 150 million by 2021, the report said. With more devices coming on to the Internet and mobiles becoming central to controlling those devices, mobile data traffic is set to see a spike
over the next few years. Mobile data traffic for the September quarter was 65% higher than a year ago, largely driven by increased video consumption on mobile devices. The report predicts video will account for 70% of all mobile data traffic by 2021. The 5G network is expected to give
rise to expansive ICT (information and communications technology) infrastructure, which in turn will act as a catalyst in reducing carbon footprint. “ICT will enable savings in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions across all other industrial sectors,” the report said. “The total
emission reduction could be up to 10 gigatonnes of CO2e, representing about 15% of global GHG emissions in 2030—more than the current carbon footprint of the US and EU combined.” South Korea, Japan, China and the US are predicted to lead with the first, and fastest, 5G subscription uptake, the report added. “5G is about more than faster mobile services—it will enable new use cases related to the Internet of Things,” said Rima Qureshi, senior vice-president and chief strategy officer, Ericsson. “ICT transformation will become even more common across industries as 5G moves from vision to reality in the coming years.” -Livemint.com
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INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2015 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM