Tag: vi

Vodafone Idea Launches Cloud Play, a Cloud Gaming Service for iOS and Android

Vodafone Idea has launched Cloud Play, a cloud gaming service for mobile platforms, promising premium mobile games like Asphalt 9, Modern Combat 5, Shadow Fight, and more. The service, introduced in partnership with Paris-based cloud gaming firm CareGame, will be subscription based, with prices starting at Rs. 100 per month. Cloud Play will be available on both iOS and Android devices and can be accessed via the Vi app or website.

Cloud Play service will offer triple-A mobile games across action, adventure, arcade, racing, sports and strategy genres, Vi said in a press release. The telecom operator confirmed that its launch catalogue will include titles like Asphalt 9, Modern Combat 5, Shadow Fight, Storm Blades, Riptide, Beach Buggy Racing, and Gravity Rider. Classic titles like Cut the Rope, Subway Surfers, and Jetpack Joyride will be available, too.

More games will be added to the service in the coming weeks, the company said. Cloud Play subscription starts at Rs. 100 per month, or Rs. 104 recharge for pre-paid users. Cloud Play, however, will be free to try out initially. Vi confirmed a “Try n Buy” model for the service, which will be accessible at no cost for the free trial period. While the telecom operator did not specify the duration of the trial period, users will eventually have to subscribe to play the games.

Cloud Play works like any other cloud-based games subscription model such as Xbox Cloud Gaming, Nvidia’s GeForce Now, and JioGamesCloud. Once subscribed, users can access the library of games directly without the need to download the titles. Cloud gaming does, however, require a fast and stable internet connection. With cloud gaming, one would not need a high-end device to run graphically intensive games.

“Cloud Play will enable all gamers in India to enjoy true AAA mobile gaming without having to invest in a new mobile phone or a gamepad, thanks to the combination of CareGame technology, iconic mobile titles from our publishing partners, and Vi networks,” Philippe Wang, Co-founder and CEO of CareGame, said on the launch of the service.

Cloud Play can be accessed via both Vi Web and app platforms.

Reliance Jio, too, offers its own cloud gaming service, JioGamesCloud, in India. While Vi’s new service caters to mobile gamers, Jio’s cloud gaming service also offers PC games. The service is currently available to users in beta. JioGamesCloud offers PC games like Kingdom Come Deliverance, Lords of the Fallen, Blasmephous and more.

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Government to Auction Airwaves Valued at $11.6 Billion to Boost Phone Networks

India’s federal cabinet Thursday approved a plan for selling airwaves in an auction to improve quality and coverage of networks in the world’s second-biggest telecom market. The government will sell airwaves valued 963.2 billion rupees ($11.6 billion) at reserve price, according to a statement from India’s Ministry of Communications. A total 10,523.1 megahertz airwaves in eight bands — 800, 900, 1800, 2100, 2300, 2500, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz — will be up for sale. The government didn’t give a firm timeline for the auction.

The airwaves auction, which will include airwaves held by firms undergoing insolvency, will bolster government finances and help narrow budget deficit in the South Asian nation. Additional airwaves will improve the quality of telecom services and widen the coverage for the consumers, Minister for Information & Broadcasting Anurag Thakur told reporters late Thursday.

It will also help major Indian wireless carriers, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Vodafone Idea Ltd., to boost services in the nation with more than a billion phone users. The local carriers launched 5G services late 2022, stoking the ongoing data service boom in India.

The market, however, is locked into an oligopolistic structure, curbing one carrier’s ability to decide pricing. No operator can raise its tariffs unless its rivals do the same or it risks losing subscribers.

“Spectrum auctions in India are always lapped up,” said Utkarsh Sinha, managing director of boutique investment firm Bexley Advisors.

But the fierce competition most companies are locked in is affecting their margins and can affect the ability and size of their bids for additional airwaves, he said, explaining that the pressure on profits can affect the ability and size of the companies’ bids.

In the last auction held in 2022, the Indian government raked in $19 billion with Reliance Jio emerging the top buyer spending more than $11 billion on airwaves.

© 2024 Bloomberg L.P.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Vi 5G Services to Reportedly Rollout in India in 6-7 Months

Vi (Vodafone Idea) has shared its plans to launch 5G services in India within six to seven months, as per a report. CEO Akshaya Moondra revealed that the telco is expecting to gain better clarity over the monetisation issue around the next-generation broadband spectrum and the company’s external fundraising situation before working on the rollout of the 5G network. Recently, Vi was served a show cause notice by the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) for failing to meet the minimum rollout obligations of the 5G spectrum.

According to a report by Financial Express, Moondra spoke about the 5G rollout plans during the company’s quarterly earnings call for October – December. He highlighted that currently, there is no monetisation around 5G in the country. This was aimed at Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, both of which have rolled out 5G services in multiple circles but have not introduced any specific 5G tariff plans for the service yet. Vi is aiming to get a monetisation plan by the time it launches the spectrum.

He also said that the company’s external fundraising is going to be a factor in rolling out the service. However, no details about it were provided, as per the report. Various sources have previously mentioned that the cash-strapped telecom operator has been trying to raise funds for some time now. “After funding plans materialise, we will need around 6-7 months to rollout 5G, and…by then monetisation will be clearer than it is today. Our strategy will be based on that,” Moondra added.

Vi has also failed to meet the minimum rollout obligations placed by the DoT after the 5G spectrum auction. The obligation was to commercially launch 5G services in at least one metro and one non-metro circle within one year of the distribution of the spectrum, which occurred in July 2022. A separate Financial Express report recently revealed that the agency has now served a show-cause notice to the telecom operator and may levy fines.

While Vi did claim in August 2023 that it had made the minimum investments in two out of its 17 circles, it is yet to launch the 5G services commercially.

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Vodafone Idea and Elon Musk’s Starlink Not in Tie-Up Talks, Telecom Firm Clarifies

India’s Vodafone Idea is not in talks to tie up with billionaire Elon Musk’s satellite internet company Starlink, the telecom operator said on Tuesday, dashing hopes of a revival in the debt-ridden company that had sent its stock soaring.

The clarification came after Vodafone Ideas’ stock surged in the past two sessions on what business magazine BusinessWorld said were “markets betting” that Musk was looking to buy a stake in the company to help Starlink enter India.

“We would like to submit that the company is not in any such discussion with the named party. We are not aware of the basis of the said news item,” Vodafone Idea said in a statement on Tuesday, a day after the Bombay Stock Exchange, where its stock is listed, asked for a clarification on the report.

The BusinessWorld report was published on Friday after Vodafone Idea’s shares surged 21 percent. The stock jumped another 6 percent on Monday, rounding out its busiest sessions in about two years.

However, the stock fell more than 5 percent in heavy trading on Tuesday after the company’s clarification.

Starlink, Musk and SpaceX — Musk’s rocket company that owns Starlink — did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Vodafone Idea has not reported a profit since it was formed in 2018 — through the merger of UK-based Vodafone’s Indian unit with Aditya Birla Group’s Idea Cellular — as it loses subscribers to Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries’ Jio.

Moreover, the Indian government owns roughly a third of Vodafone Idea after it converted into equity all the dues the company owed for using airwaves and spectrum.

Vodafone Idea’s financial woes make it an unattractive partner, said Karan Taurani, an analyst with Elara Capital.

“On one end it is struggling to raise more cash and on the other end they have a large debt to service,” Taurani said.

While Vodafone Idea does not have a satellite company, Bharti-backed OneWeb and Reliance’s Jio Satellite Communications have regulatory clearance to operate in India.

UK-based Vodafone has partnered with Starlink’s rival, Amazon.com’s Kuiper for internet networks in Europe and Africa. Kuiper does not operate in India.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Vi Brings International Roaming Packs for the Ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022: All Details

Vodafone Idea has introduced four new international roaming (IR) packs exclusively for the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. From a seven-day pack to a longer pack with 28 days validity, these roaming recharge packs offer data connectivity, outgoing calls to India, SMS and other benefits. The plans can be used in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, according to the telecom operator. These plans can be used to access up to 5GB of data while attending the world’s biggest football event.

The new roaming plans from Vi were spotted by ET Telecom. These plans can be accessed via Vi’s website or via the Vi app.

The first roaming plan offered by Vi for the ongoing FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is priced at Rs. 2,999 and has with a validity of 7 days. It offers 200 minutes of talk time for local calls and outgoing calls to India along with free incoming calls and 25 SMS. Additionally, users will also get 2GB data.

Subscribers can also opt for the Vi Rs. 3,999 IR plan that offers 300 minutes talk time including both local as well as outgoing calls to India along with 3GB data and 50 SMS. The pack is valid for 10 days.

For customers who want a recharge plan with 14 days validity, Vi is offering a Rs. 4,499 IR plan with 500 minutes of local and outgoing calls to India and free incoming calls along with 5GB of data. This plan also offers 100 SMS and is valid for 14 days.

The most expensive Vi IR recharge plan is priced at Rs. 5,999 and offers 500 minutes of local calls, outgoing calls to India. Additionally, users will also get access to 5GB of data and 100 SMS. All of these benefits are valid for 28 days.

It is worth noting that while these plans allow users to call numbers in India for a predefined number of minutes, outgoing calls to other countries will be charged at Rs. 35 per minute, according to the telecom operator. 

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Vi 5G Rollout to Begin Soon, No Launch Date, Coverage Timelines for Now

Vodafone Idea, the country’s struggling third telecom player, plans to begin the journey to roll out 5G services, matching rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, but the firm has offered no specific timeline for the launch or coverage of the ultra high-speed internet services. Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla on Saturday pledged the telco’s commitment to taking India on “the new pace of country’s digital journey” while speaking at the inauguration of India Mobile Congress 2022 and launch of 5G services in the country by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“We will soon begin 5G rollout journey. We will leverage our strong presence in rural India, our enterprise customers, our tech partners, and global experience of Vodafone Group for progressively rolling out our 5G network and services in the coming period,” Birla said.

Unlike its rivals Reliance Jio and Airtel which outlined firm timelines for the launch of 5G services, Vodafone Idea did not disclose any rollout schedule or timeframe.

Bharti Airtel’s 5G service will be available in eight cities from Saturday, its chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said at the event. Mittal also said Airtel will roll out 5G services in several cities across the country by March 2023 and across India by March 2024.

Reliance Jio, the nation’s biggest telecom firm, will expand 5G telephony services offering ultra high-speed internet connectivity to every part of the country by December 2023, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani said at the mega telecom event.

Financial pressure has been mounting on cash-strapped Vodafone Idea, despite opting to convert about Rs 16,000 crore of interest liability payable to the government into equity.

Mobile tower giant Indus Towers is learnt to have asked debt-ridden Vodafone Idea to clear outstanding dues and pay on time every month for continuity of business post-November. According to sources, American Tower Corporation (ATC), which has 75,000 mobile towers in India, is also mulling steps to secure its dues.

“We have 240 million people connected to our networks with 50 per cent of them in rural India. Our networks have been constantly upgraded to be capable of swift and smooth migration to 5G. Having taken concrete steps for 5G ecosystem development, 5G use case for Indian enterprises and consumers and acquisition of 5G spectrum in the well-designed auction, we will soon begin the 5G rollout journey,” Birla said.

He said critical policy interventions by the government in the telecom space had boosted investor confidence and hoped that the sector will continue to receive policy support.

The Aditya Birla Group chairman termed 5G as a “generational leap in technology”, one that demonstrates India’s prowess on the global stage and reinforces the telecom industry’s role as the bedrock of Digital India.

The Telecom industry has been among the country’s key growth engines, catapulting India into the top five economies of the world. It continues to play a transformational role in touching every aspect of daily lives and work, Birla said.

“Today we are set to make a giant leap into the future, driven by reformist and futuristic policies of our PM, we are committed to the vision of building the digital infrastructure for India of tomorrow,” he said.

On Saturday, VIL also showcased a 5G use case and demonstrated how technology can be leveraged for ensuring worker safety and efficiency in critical construction sites.

With the launch of 5G networks, the telecom industry will further ignite the digital dreams of 1.3 billion Indians and many thousands of enterprises, Birla said.

“It will also set the stage for the country to become a $5 trillion (roughly Rs. 408 lakh crore) economy in the next few years with a $1 trillion (roughly Rs. 81 lakh crore) contribution by the digital economy itself. 5G will augment services at scale and create impact in critical areas like industries 4.0, automated manufacturing, to creating connected factories, smart cities, smart homes, immersive gaming and other innovative business and consumer solutions,” Birla noted.

The 5G-era will also accelerate immersive education, remote health and smart agriculture to enable inclusive growth and prosperity in rural India.

The launch of 5G services marks the start of an exciting journey for India, he said, adding as the ecosystem evolves, it will unleash the limitless potential for 5G development and use cases in years to come.

“The telecom industry will certainly play its roles in bringing alive his (Prime Minister’s) vision for Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India),” he said.

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5G Telecom Services to Be Launched on October 1 by PM Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Saturday launch the 5G telephony services, ushering in an era of ultra high-speed internet on mobile phones.

According to an official release, 5G will be launched by the Prime Minister in select cities on Saturday and it will progressively cover the entire country over the next couple of years.

The cumulative economic impact of 5G on India is estimated to reach $450 billion (nearly Rs. 36,61,200 crore) by 2035.

Capable of supporting ultra-high-speed internet, the fifth generation or 5G service is expected to unleash new economic opportunities and societal benefits, serving as a transformational force for Indian society.

The three major telecom operators of the country will demonstrate one use case each in front of the Prime Minister to show the potential of 5G technology in India.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio will connect a teacher from a school in Mumbai with students in three different locations in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Odisha.

This, according to official sources, will demonstrate how 5G will facilitate education by bringing teachers closer to students, obliviating the physical distance between them. It will demonstrate the power of Augmented Reality (AR) on screen and how that is being used to teach children across the country, remotely, without the need of an AR device.

In the Airtel demo, a girl from Uttar Pradesh will witness a lively and immersive education experience to learn about the solar system with the help of virtual reality and augmented reality. The girl will share her experience of learning with the Prime Minister by appearing on the dias through a hologram.

The Vodafone Idea test case will demonstrate the safety of workers in an under-construction tunnel of Delhi Metro through the creation of a ‘digital twin’ of the tunnel on the dias. The digital twin will help give safety alerts to workers in real-time from a remote location.

Modi will take a live demo from the dias to monitor the work in real-time through utilising VR and artificial intelligence.

“Prime Minister, Narendra Modi will launch 5G services in India on October 1, 2022, and also inaugurate the 6th Edition of India Mobile Congress 2022 to be held from October 1-4, 2022, at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi,” the release added.

The various use cases that will be demonstrated in front of the Prime Minister in the exhibition include precision drone-based farming, high-security routers and AI-based cyber threat detection platforms, automated guided vehicles, smart ambulances, augmented reality/virtual reality /mix reality in education and skill development, sewage monitoring system, smart-agri programme and health diagnostics, among others.

5G offers speed multiple times faster than 4G, supports lag-free connectivity, and can enable billions of connected devices to share data in real-time.

It will help in providing seamless coverage, high data rate, low latency, and highly reliable communications. Also, it will increase energy efficiency, spectrum efficiency and network efficiency.

5G technology will help in connecting billions of Internet of Things devices, allow higher quality video services with mobility at high speed, delivery of critical services such as telesurgery and autonomous cars, among others.

It will help in real-time monitoring of disasters, precision agriculture, minimising the role of humans in dangerous industrial operations such as in deep mines, offshore activities etc. Unlike existing mobile communication networks, 5G networks will allow tailoring of requirements for each of these different use cases within the same network.

Besides powering ultra-low latency connections, which allow downloading full-length high-quality video or movie to a mobile device in a matter of seconds (even in crowded areas), 5G can enable solutions such as e-health, connected vehicles, more-immersive augmented reality and metaverse experiences, life-saving use cases, and advanced mobile cloud gaming, among others.

“5G can unleash new economic opportunities and societal benefits giving it the potential for being a transformational force for Indian society. It will help the country leapfrog the traditional barriers to development, spur innovations by startups and business enterprises as well as advance the ‘Digital India’ vision,” the official release said.

The launch of 5G services in India, the world’s second-biggest smartphone market after China, follows years of intense preparation.

India’s biggest ever auction of telecom spectrum held recently had received a record Rs. 1.5 lakh crore of bids, with Mukesh Ambani’s Jio cornering nearly half of all the airwaves sold with a Rs. 88,078-crore bid.

Telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Bharti Airtel made a successful bid of Rs. 43,084 crore, while Vodafone Idea bought spectrum for Rs. 18,799 crore.

Gautam Adani’s group, whose entry in the auction was billed by some as another flashpoint in the rivalry with Ambani, paid Rs. 212 crore for 400 MHz. Adani group bought spectrum in the 26 GHz band, which is suitable for setting up a private network for end-to-end communication.

The auction aggregated the demand for a robust 5G ecosystem that can cater to its use cases involving IoT (Internet of Things), M2M (Machine-to-Machine communication), AI (Artificial Intelligence), Edge Computing, and robotics.

The Telecom Department has amended Right of Way (RoW) Rules in August 2022, wherein the charges for permissions to lay cables and set up towers have been made reasonable and a ceiling has been fixed for rates for installation of 5G small cells and optical fibre cable on street furniture.

The Department of Telecom has set up a 5G testbed with the help of IITs, IISc Bengaluru and SAMEER to develop technology in 2018.

A 5G hackathon was commenced in 2020 to trigger ideation and prototyping of use-cases by startups and has led to spurring innovative products, the official release said.

An inter-ministerial committee on 5G use cases has been functioning since 2021, in coordination with 12 central ministries, enabling the setting up of 5G use-case labs. Consultations with industry have been held enabling the 5G ecosystem to make handsets available.

C-DOT is also developing a 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) in collaboration with local industry and startups. It has already tested 4G Core in collaboration with TCS and Tejas Networks successfully.

“All these will help in answering the Prime Minister’s clarion call on ‘Jai Anusandhan’. All these efforts are game-changers for India’s manufacturing and Telecom ecosystem leading to domestic 5G enterprise carrier grade stacks as well as innovative impactful 5G use-cases,” the release said.

 

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Vi 5G Launch in India to Depend on Use Case, Customers Demand, Competitive Dynamics: CEO Ravinder Takker

Vodafone Idea (Vi)’s 5G service launch will depend on factors like use cases, customer demand, competition, and more, said Managing Director and CEO Ravinder Takker at the 27th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company on Monday. Takker revealed that Vi has already taken Rs. 4,940 crore investment and is in active discussion with investors to acquire more funding. Vi recently bid to acquire 5G spectrum airwaves in India which has reportedly added an annual instalment liability of Rs. 1,680 crore on the company.

According to the Press Trust of India, Vi has proposed to appoint its chief financial officer Akshaya Moondra as the CEO of the company and move Takker to a non-executive director role.

The telecom company has acquired 5G spectrum worth Rs. 18,800 crore during the 5G spectrum auction in India. These include the 3.3GHz band in 17 priority circles and 26GHz bands in 16 circles.

During the AGM meeting on Monday, Takker said, “5G roll-out will depend on various factors such as how use cases will evolve, demand from customers, capacity requirement as well as competitive dynamics.” However, the 5G bid has reportedly added an annual instalment liability of Rs. 1,680 crore on the company.

In addition, Takker claimed that the current mobile services rates being offered by Vi are not sustainable and it needs to raise the tariffs further.

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Department of Telecom Said to Receive Rs. 17,876 Crore From Operators as Upfront Payment for 5G Spectrum

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has received upfront payment of around Rs 17,876 crore from Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Adani Data Networks and Vodafone Idea for spectrum they won in a recent auction, according to sources. While all telecom operators have opted to make payments in 20 annual installments, Bharti Airtel has paid Rs 8,312.4 crore equivalent to four annual installments.

Reliance Jio has made payment of Rs. 7,864.78 crore, Vodafone Idea Rs. 1,679.98 crore and Adani Data Networks Rs. 18.94 crore.

“DoT has received a total payment of around Rs. 17,876 crore. Only Bharti Airtel has paid for four annual installments at one go,” an official source said.

The country’s biggest-ever auction of telecom spectrum received a record Rs. 1.5 lakh crore worth of bids, with Mukesh Ambani’s Jio cornering nearly half of all airwaves sold with a Rs. 87,946.93 crore bid.

Gautam Adani’s group has placed bids worth Rs 211.86 crore for the 400 MHz in a band that is not used for offering public telephony services.

Telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Bharti Airtel made a successful bid of Rs. 43,039.63 crore, while Vodafone Idea Ltd bought spectrum for Rs. 18,786.25 crore.

On Wednesday, telecom operator Airtel announced that it had paid Rs. 8,312.4 crore to the Department of Telecom towards dues for spectrum acquired in the recently concluded 5G auctions.

With the payment, Airtel has paid four years of 2022 spectrum dues upfront. The company had an option to pay Rs. 3,848.88 crore upfront and the rest in 19 annual instalments.

Airtel said it believes that this upfront payment, coupled with the moratorium on spectrum dues and AGR (adjusted gross revenue)-related payments for four years, will free up future cash flows and allow Airtel to dedicate resources to single-mindedly concentrate on the 5G rollout.

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5G Should Be Priced at Premium to 4G With More Data, Overall Tariffs Expected to Rise, Vodafone Idea MD Says

Debt-ridden Vodafone Idea expects 5G to be priced at a premium with more data bundled with plans compared to 4G services at present, a top company official said on Thursday. Vodafone Idea (VIL) Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Ravinder Takkar, during an earnings call, said the company has spent a significant amount in acquiring spectrum in the recently-held auctions which calls for a need to charge premium for 5G services.

It expects overall tariff for mobile phone services to go up by the year-end.

“Given the fact that a fair amount of money has been spent on spectrum, we believe that 5G should be priced at a premium to 4G. You can price it at a premium, but of course within that premium you could have a situation where a number of gigabytes that you get are more because you are consuming potentially more, given the extra bandwidth that you get in 5G,” Takkar said.

He added that the increase in data consumption on the 5G network will depend on use cases that are developed and adopted by consumers.

Vodafone Idea acquired spectrum worth Rs. 18,800 crore which includes radiowaves in the mid band (3300 MHz band) in 17 priority circles and spectrum in 26 GHz band in 16 circles for 5G services. The company also acquired additional 4G spectrum in three circles of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab.

The fresh spectrum bid adds an annual installment liability of Rs. 1,680 crore on the company.

VIL has posted marginal narrowing of its consolidated loss to Rs. 7,296.7 crore for the June quarter compared to the year-ago period, as tariff hikes boosted its realisations. The telco’s loss stood at Rs. 7,319.1 crore in the year-ago quarter.

VIL’s revenue from operations grew to about Rs. 10,410 crore in the quarter ended June 30, 2022, improving nearly 14 per cent from the year-ago period.

Its Average Revenue Per User or ARPU — a key monitorable for telecom players — stood at Rs. 128 per subscriber for the quarter, compared to Rs. 104 in Q1 FY22. This represented an improvement of 23.4 per cent year-on-year, helped by tariff hikes.

“Just to summarise that on the 4G pricing, I think there is certainly an opportunity based on the value that has been continuously provided to the consumers and how the first few price increases have been absorbed in a seamless manner, I think there’s an opportunity to do that soon,” Takkar said.

He also said the investment in the company’s network has been impacted due to liquidity issues.

VIL’s Chief Financial Officer Akshaya Moondra said the company has strategically placed bids for spectrum and its ongoing fundraising plans include capital expenditure calculation for the 5G network.

The debt-ridden firm said there is positive momentum in its fundraising exercise with promoters’ recent investment in the company.

At the end of the April-June 2022 quarter, VIL’s total gross debt (excluding lease liabilities and including interest accrued but not due) stood at Rs. 1,99,080 crore, comprising of deferred spectrum payment obligations of Rs. 1,16,600 crore, AGR liabilities of Rs. 67,270 crore that are due to the government, and debt from banks and financial institutions of Rs. 15,200 crore.

Moondra said the company has cleared a lot of bank debt and the Department of Telecom (DoT) has returned a bank guarantee worth Rs. 17,000 crore.

“We are engaged with the bank that our exposure has come down. Look at our external debt and EBITDA, we are in a very fairly comfortable position. There is a fairly long moratorium to service the government’s debt. Banks understand this and based on our discussion with them, we should be able to take it to a conclusion in the near future. We will be taking new debt primarily for investments,” he said.

Talking about conversion of interest into equity allocation to the government, Moondra said the company has confirmed an amount of Rs. 16,130 crore to the DoT and final confirmation from the department in this regard is awaited.

The government is expected to get around 33 per cent stake in VIL once the conversion of interest into equity is confirmed.

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