let's crossover to mumbai and we arejoined by our colleague in business reporter monica miller. l, just a couple of weeks ago they slapped these fees on customers who were used to giving these calls, these outward calls to other networks for free. these customers are now faced with aao — 50% rate increase. and this is because these companies are bleeding money. collectively they and $10 billion. now, india has some of the cheapest rates in the world, in fa ct, cheapest rates in the world, in fact, you can get a prepaid plan which is worth one — two us dollars. that is great for the customer but bad for business. so now they are dealing with really narrow margins. in fact, vodafone's chief executive said they may have to leave the market if they don't come up with the funds to survive here for much longer. thank you so much for that date from mumbai on the telecommunications industry, monica miller, my colleague and business reporter. let's have a look now at the asia—pacific markets and how they are faring in mid—morning trade. currently in negative territory for the nikkei 225,

joining us from mumbai, monica miller.ance is bracing for an international strike across public and private sectors today. it is against president macron's proposed reform of the country's pension system. transportation is expected to come toa transportation is expected to come to a standstill while many schools will be shut down. let's have a quick look now at the updated asia—pacific markets and how they are faring at this hour. the nikkei 225 is up to 0.9%, together with the hang seng index of hong kong, which is open for trade. the all ordinaries index way past 1% at 1.2% higher. this is after wall street stocks rose overnight after president trump said trade talks with china were going very well and a news report suggested key differences were being ironed out. thank you so much for investing your time with us. i am rico hizon. sport todayis time with us. i am rico hizon. sport today is coming up next. this is bbc news. the top stories this hour: the impeachment inquiry against us president donald trump enters a new p