Hindi
FremantleMedia, RTL Group launch German film studio
MUMBAI: Entertainment brand creator and distributor FremantleMedia and RTL Group have announced plans to launch a new € multi-million German film studio project via its German subsidiary, UFA.
Fremantle says that this will be one of its most significant investments it has made in its creative work, a move that will help boost its large back catalogue of content.
The move is the latest major new initiative from FremantleMedia and comes only weeks after it unveiled a €40 million Talent Fund investment, which was targeted at increasing its network of creative partnerships.
In addition to state and federal state funding, the projects of the new company will attract financing through the newly-created German Film Financing Fund (DFFF).
FremantleMedia‘s UFA is already Germany‘s largest producer of content for TV. However, the new studio will produce full-length feature films for the local market‘s cinemas.
FremantleMedia has set aggressive production targets, capitalising on Germany‘s market for locally produced films. It now has 40 projects in the pipeline that will result in an annual slate of eight films per year from 2010 onwards.
FremantleMedia is also strengthening its executive team in the region and is poised to announce the appointment of Thomas Friedl, a significant hire who is one of the leading names in film distribution in Germany. Friedl is joining from Constantin Film AG.
FremantleMedia CEO Tony Cohen said, “This is one of FremantleMedia‘s most significant investments in drama. Our plan now is to create a high volume of quality feature-length films with full big screen potential. At one time, UFA was a huge name in film production in Germany. The time is right for UFA to again become a major player in the German film market. German film has gone from strength to strength, and we see the market as a springboard for rolling out this local market film studio model to other markets. France and Spain are potential markets for the future.”
UFA CEO Wolf Bauer says, “We are one of Germany‘s longest-standing film and TV companies, and the creation of UFA Cinema completes our portfolio. We see huge potential in the German feature film market for a commercially-oriented high quality producer. There are two key factors that make the current economic conditions perfect for producing and commercializing feature films.
“One of them is the new film funding implemented by German cultural minister Bernd Neumann, and the other is the many opportunities for feature films that will arise from the increasing importance of digital distribution. As a result, we are once again putting a great deal of creative effort and economic investment into film production and distribution.”
RTL Group CEO Gerhard Zeiler said, “The UFA group has in recent years produced a number of films of theatrical quality that are among the truly magic moments of European television. So the move to the big screen, back to UFA‘s roots, is a logical step. Wolf Bauer, Nico Hofmann and Jürgen Schuster together form a team that has proven its success and creativity. Furthermore, Thomas Peter Friedl, one of Germany‘s best cinema industry executives, will join us. I completely trust this leading, high class team.”
Hindi
India’s telecom subscribers cross 1.32 billion in February 2026
Broadband base swells past 1.06 billion as Jio and Airtel tighten grip on the market.
MUMBAI: India’s telecom sector is ringing in steady growth once again adding millions of new connections every month while the race for broadband supremacy continues to heat up like a fiercely contested cricket match. According to the latest data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 1 April 2026, the total telephone subscriber base in the country reached 1,321.31 million at the end of February 2026. This marked a net addition of 7.31 million subscribers during the month, translating into a monthly growth rate of 0.56 per cent.
Wireless subscribers (including mobile and Fixed Wireless Access) stood at 1,273.31 million, registering a net addition of 6.97 million and a growth rate of 0.55 per cent. Within this, urban wireless connections grew to 730.75 million (growth 0.70 per cent), while rural wireless subscribers reached 542.56 million (growth 0.35 per cent).
Wireline subscribers, though much smaller in scale, showed slightly faster growth. The total wireline base increased to 47.99 million, with a net addition of 0.34 million and a monthly growth rate of 0.70 per cent. Urban areas continued to dominate wireline connections with a share of 89.41 per cent.
Overall tele-density in India improved to 92.66 per cent. Urban tele-density stood at 150.68 per cent, while rural tele-density edged up to 60.02 per cent.
The broadband subscriber base crossed a significant milestone, reaching 1,059.05 million at the end of February 2026. This reflected a healthy net addition of 6.33 million subscribers and a monthly growth rate of 0.60 per cent from January’s figure of 1,052.72 million.
Segment-wise, mobile wireless access continued to drive the majority of growth with 996.52 million subscribers. Fixed Wireless Access (including 5G FWA) added 16.51 million, while wired broadband stood at 46.02 million.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. maintained its commanding lead with 519.64 million broadband subscribers. Bharti Airtel Ltd. followed with 364.14 million, Vodafone Idea Ltd. with 129.36 million, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. with 28.70 million, and Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd. with 2.38 million.
Together, these top five players command a massive 98.60 per cent share of the total broadband market.
In the wireless (mobile) segment, private operators continued to dominate with 92.59 per cent market share, leaving public sector undertakings (BSNL and MTNL) with just 7.41 per cent.
Out of the total 1,257.29 million wireless (mobile) subscribers, 1,177.60 million were active on the peak Visitor Location Register (VLR) date, representing an impressive 93.66 per cent activity rate. Bharti Airtel led in this metric with 99.42 per cent of its subscribers active.
Meanwhile, 14.47 million subscribers submitted requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in February, indicating healthy competition and customer churn across zones.
While urban areas still lead in absolute numbers, rural connectivity is slowly catching up. Rural wireless tele-density stood at 59.46 per cent, compared with the much higher urban figure of 142.32 per cent.
Fixed Wireless Access using 5G technology also showed promising traction, growing to 11.93 million subscribers. Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are the primary players driving this segment.
The data paints a picture of a maturing yet still rapidly expanding telecom ecosystem. With total telephone subscribers now well past the 1.32 billion mark and broadband users comfortably above 1.06 billion, India continues to solidify its position as one of the world’s largest and most dynamic digital markets.
From bustling city streets to remote villages, more Indians are staying connected than ever before proving that when it comes to telecom, the country’s appetite for growth shows no signs of hanging up anytime soon.
