Report Wire

Tag: Vodafone

  • 5G spectrum public sale enters sixth day; garners practically Rs 1.50 lakh crore thus far

    The public sale of the 5G spectrum able to providing ultra-high-speed web entered the sixth day of bidding on Sunday after receiving bids price 1,49,966 crore within the first 5 days from gamers like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.

    The bidding resumed on Sunday morning with the thirty first spherical, and the next spherical is presently underway, sources stated.

    The pitched battle in Uttar Pradesh East circle – the place demand for 1800 MHz had peaked since Wednesday – appears to be cooling off now, indicating that the auctions could also be getting into the ultimate leg, in line with business sources.

    That stated, a lot would rely upon how the bidding progresses by the day, they added.

    As of Saturday, the full worth of bids within the telecom spectrum public sale had come throughout the hanging distance of the Rs 1.50 lakh crore mark.

    “The 5G auction shows that the industry wants to expand. It has come out of problems and is getting into a growth phase. The auction results are very good, close to Rs 1,49,966 crore has been committed by the industry for buying the spectrum,” Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated at a briefing in Mumbai, after a telecom traders’ roundtable on Saturday.

    The minister noticed that the public sale and its “good response” underlines the business’s maturity.

    Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio, Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and a unit of billionaire Gautam Adani’s flagship Adani Enterprises are within the race to bid for the 5G spectrum, which presents speeds about 10 instances quicker than 4G, lag-free connectivity and might allow billions of linked gadgets to share knowledge in real-time.

    Besides powering ultra-low latency connections, which permit downloading full-length high-quality video or film to a cellular system in a matter of seconds (even in crowded areas), the Fifth Generation or 5G would allow options resembling e-health, linked autos, more-immersive augmented actuality and metaverse experiences, life-saving use instances, and superior cellular cloud gaming, amongst others.

    The reserve worth mounted for spectrum is a “fair number” and the identical is seen from the public sale end result, the minister had asserted.

    Incrementally, Rs 111-112 crore got here in on Saturday, the provisional proceeds rising from the Rs 1,49,855 crore acquired until Friday from gamers, resembling Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.

    Notably, the demand in Uttar Pradesh East, after surpassing the out there quantum for 3 straight days since Wednesday, fell under provide ranges on Saturday.

    Earlier, the demand was for 75 blocks in opposition to the provision of 54 blocks, consultants stated, including that by Saturday night, the demand was for 50 blocks, 4 lower than the provision within the circle.

    Seven recent rounds have been carried out on Saturday, and bidding spilled over to Sunday (a departure from the previous when bidding has usually taken place between Monday and Saturday). Up till Friday, about 71 per cent of the full spectrum placed on the block had been provisionally offered.

    After a flying begin on Tuesday that noticed gamers pouring in Rs 1.45 lakh crore on the primary day, the numbers moved up solely incrementally over Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday as Jio and Airtel engaged in intense bidding in Uttar Pradesh East circle for 1800 MHz band.

    In all, 72 GHz (gigahertz) of radiowaves price not less than Rs 4.3 lakh crore is on the block.

    The public sale is being held for spectrum in numerous low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz), mid (3300 MHz) and excessive (26 GHz) frequency bands.

  • VIL shareholders approve Rs 436 cr fairness allocation to Vodafone

    Debt-ridden telecom operator Vodafone Idea’s shareholders have accepted fairness allocation value Rs 436.21 crore to its promoter entity, the Vodafone Group.

    As per voting outcomes submitted to the inventory exchanges on Friday night, 99.94 per cent of Vodafone Idea (VIL) shareholders accepted allocation of the fairness to Vodafone Group agency Euro Pacific Securities.

    Vodafone Group at current holds 58.46 per cent stake within the firm and Aditya Birla Group 16.53 per cent. The firm had raised Rs 3,375 crore from Vodafone Group and Rs 1,125 crore from Aditya Birla Group in March.

    VIL has been attempting to lift funds within the vary of Rs 20,000-25,000 crore from exterior sources for the reason that final two years however has failed to draw any investor.

    The authorities introduced a reform bundle in September final 12 months which has largely benefited Vodafone Idea. The authorities has allowed VIL to transform round Rs 16,100 crore curiosity dues into about 33 per cent stake within the firm to offer liquidity for funding within the enterprise.

    Still, analysts have mentioned excessive leverage and weak stability sheet have impaired the corporate’s means to put money into the community. As on March 31, 2022, the overall debt (together with curiosity accrued however not due) of the group was Rs 1,97,878.2 crore. The firm has round Rs 8,160 crore of funds due over the following 12 month, as per analysts.

  • Vodafone raises stake in Vodafone Idea to 47.61%

    British telecom main Vodafone has raised its stake in debt-ridden Vodafone Idea Limited to 47.61 per cent by its subsidiary Prime Metals, a regulatory submitting stated on Monday.

    The firm earlier held a 44.39 per cent stake in Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL).

    “Prime Metals held 2,18,55,26,081 equity shares, representing 7.61 per cent of the equity share capital, of Vodafone Idea Limited (the “Company”). PML has acquired 570,958,646 fairness shares of the corporate by allotment of fairness shares pursuant to a preferential subject of the corporate,” the submitting stated.

    On Thursday, Vodafone Idea had stated that its board has authorised the allotment of 338.3 crore fairness shares at Rs 13.30 per scrip to 3 promoter group entities – Euro Pacific Securities, Prime Metals and Oriana Investments – for about Rs 4,500 crore.

    This contains allotment of 1,96,66,35,338 fairness shares to Euro Pacific Securities (promoter), 57,09,58,646 fairness shares to Prime Metals (promoter), and 84,58,64,661 fairness shares to Oriana Investments (promoter group).

    The telecom operator in March had introduced a Rs 14,500-crore fundraising plan, the place promoters would inject Rs 4,500 crore.

  • Tata Teleservices to transform curiosity quantity on AGR dues into fairness; govt holding seen at 9.5%

    After Vodafone Idea, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) on Tuesday mentioned it’ll go for conversion of the curiosity quantity on AGR dues into fairness and put up conversion, the federal government’s holding within the firm is predicted to be round 9.5 per cent.
    The announcement of Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) got here inside hours of Voda Idea additionally deciding to go for changing the curiosity quantity on AGR dues into authorities fairness.
    In a submitting to the BSE, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) mentioned Net Present Value or NPV of curiosity is predicted to be practically Rs 850 crore as per the corporate’s estimates, topic to affirmation by the Department of Telecom (DoT).
    “… pursuant to the Empowered Committee of the Board of Directors, at its meeting held on January 11, 2022, the company is expressing its desire for the conversion of the full amount of such interest related to AGR dues into equity subject to mutual agreement on the terms and conditions,” the submitting mentioned.
    The situations embody these associated to the governance of the corporate put up conversion of the curiosity quantity into fairness shares and varied regulatory/authorized provisions, it added.
    The firm will talk the choice to the DoT. “Following conversion, it is expected that the government will hold approximately 9.5 per cent of the total outstanding shares of the company,” it mentioned.
    The common worth of the corporate’s shares on the related date of August 14, 2021 as per the calculation technique supplied within the DoT communication works out to be about Rs 41.50 per share, topic to remaining affirmation by the DoT, as per the submitting.
    According to the submitting, in case of conversion, it’ll lead to dilution of stakes of all the present shareholders of the corporate, together with the promoters.
    Earlier, DoT had given telcos’ a time interval of 90 days to train the choice of changing the curiosity that might accrue on installment fee through the moratorium interval into fairness.
    As on September 2021, promoters and promoter group held about 74.36 per cent stake within the firm whereas public shareholding was pegged at 25.64 per cent, as per knowledge availabe on BSE web site.
    On Tuesday, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) shares closed at Rs 291.05 apiece on BSE, 5 per cent increased than the earlier shut.
    The firm’s Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues stood at Rs 16,798 crore, of which the corporate has already made fee to the tune of Rs 4,197 crore.
    On October 29, 2021, the corporate had said that it’ll avail the choice for deferment of AGR-related dues by a interval of 4 years with quick impact.
    Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) too has determined to go for changing about Rs 16,000 crore curiosity dues legal responsibility payable to the federal government into fairness which is able to quantity to round 35.8 per cent stake within the firm.
    If the plan goes by, the federal government will develop into the most important shareholder within the firm which is reeling below a debt burden of about Rs 1.95 lakh crore.
    Last week, telecom operator Bharti Airtel made it clear that it’ll not avail the choice of conversion of the curiosity on deferred spectrum and AGR dues to fairness supplied below the reforms bundle.
    The telecom sector had bought a shot within the arm with the federal government final yr approving a blockbuster reduction bundle that included a four-year break for corporations from paying statutory dues, permission to share scarce airwaves, change within the definition of income on which levies are paid and 100 per cent overseas funding by the automated route.
    The authorities had additionally given telcos the choice to transform the curiosity quantity pertaining to the moratorium interval into fairness.
    In a word on VIL on Tuesday, CLSA mentioned that even after reduction, the corporate will possible “struggle” to fund annual spectrum funds past a further four-year moratorium except ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) reaches Rs 250-300.
    “At the end of the four-year moratorium, there will also be an option to convert principal dues into equity, at the discretion of the government,” it noticed.
    Credit Suisse, in a report, mentioned its calculations present that VIL’s money movement state of affairs would “remain stretched” even after four-year moratorium with the corporate needing frequent fairness injections within the absence of sustained operational enchancment.

  • Vodafone Idea brings again Rs 601 pay as you go plan: Check advantages, validity

    Vodafone Idea has introduced again the Rs 601 pay as you go plan, however with new parameters. The well-liked recharge plan now comes with a diminished validity of 28 days after the value hike by the telecom operator. The plan additionally comes with a complimentary one 12 months entry to Disney+ Hotstar. Here’s all you want to know concerning the plan.
    The Vodafone Idea Rs 601 plan gives 3GB 4G knowledge per day for a validity of 28 days. The plan additionally contains limitless calling to all home networks and 100 SMS per day. It additionally bundles in a 12 months’s subscription to well-liked streaming service Disney+ Hotstar, providing unique content material, dwell sports activities and extra.

    Additionally, customers who recharge with the Rs 601 plan additionally get 2GB backup knowledge that they’ll declare by way of the Vi app or just by dialling “121249”. Other advantages obtainable on the plan embody weekend knowledge rollover and free knowledge entry at night time, between 12am to 6am.
    The recharge is out there on the Vi app in addition to different main platforms. However, customers who recharge by way of the Vi app are set to obtain a Rs 100 low cost.

    Vi premium cellular numbers can now be home-delivered
    Vi additionally not too long ago introduced a brand new service that permits customers to get customised or premium cellular numbers delivered to their houses in choose cities. The service is out there in main cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bengaluru and Jaipur.
    Premium cellphone numbers could also be freed from price, however might also price between Rs 500 to Rs 2000 relying on the quantity.

  • Voda Idea pre-paid plans get costlier as we speak. Compare 1.5GB information pack with Airtel, Jio  

    Vodafone Idea revised pre-paid tariff plans begin as we speak. With the announcement of Airtel first, Voda Idea additionally elevated its tariff plans to generate extra income and assist the already ailing telecom operator. With almost 25 per cent enhance in pre-paid tariff plans, the subscribers need to shell out extra who’s already battling publish covid financial crunch, job losses and wage cuts. Along with Vodafone Idea, Airtel had prior introduced the revision which might be relevant tomorrow, Nov 26.

    Vodafone Idea turned the most important service supplier within the nation publish the merger of Vodafone and Idea. This hike in tariffs has come at very essential time as a result of individuals are nonetheless working from dwelling and the web courses for college kids proceed.

    Starting as we speak (November 25), Vodafone Idea pre-paid pack will value you extra. Here we evaluate their present plans with Airtel and Jio. Jio is but to announce it pre-paid plan which is anticipated anytime quickly. Meanwhile, we’ll simplify the accessible packs of Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Jio for you.

    Vodafone

    The mostly used 1.5GB information per day pack of ₹249 is not going to value ₹299 for 28 days. The 1GB information pack might be charged at ₹269 as an alternative of earlier ₹219.

    The 2GB information pack of ₹299 presently strikes to ₹359 for 28 days interval. The 56 days pack will now value you ₹539 for 2GB information per day from the present ₹449. Similarly, the 1.5GB information pack legitimate for 56 days might be levied at ₹479 as an alternative of ₹399.

    The 84 days pack which is now priced at ₹699 which allots 2GB information every day will now transfer ₹839 beginning November 25. The 1.5GB information pack per day prices ₹719 from the present ₹599 for 84 days.

    The yearly pack of ₹1499 will now value ₹1799 for 24GB information. The high up packs have been revised too. The ₹48 pack goes to ₹58 for 28 days.

    Airtel and Jio

    As per the most recent introduced tariff plans of Airtel, the present pack of ₹298 with 2GB information per day will now value you ₹359 with 28 days of validity beginning November 26 whereas the Jio presents the identical pack at ₹249 for 2GB information per day for 28 days interval.

    Similarly, the present ₹399 pack with 56 days validity will now change into of ₹479 having 1.5GB information/day whereas the Jio presently presents the 56 days pack at ₹444 together with 2GB information/day.

    The 449 pack for Airtel will now value you ₹549 bundled with 2GB information per day for 56 days interval. Jio has ₹599 plan however for 84 days and 2GB information per day.

    The ₹698 pack of Airtel pay as you go which presents 2GB information for 84 days will now value you ₹839 whereas the ₹888 pack of Jio presents 2GB information for 84 days as properly however it comes with extra 5GB information for the utilization.

    Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a sound e mail * Thank you for subscribing to our e-newsletter.

    Never miss a narrative! Stay linked and knowledgeable with Mint.
    Download
    our App Now!!

  • Vodafone Idea loss narrows to 7,132 crore

    Vodafone Idea (Vi) on Friday reported a consolidated web lack of Rs 7,132.3 crore for the quarter ended September as in opposition to a web lack of Rs 7,319 crore within the earlier quarter.
    The firm’s consolidated income from operations rose 2.8 per cent sequentially to Rs 9,406.4 crore for the quarter.
    Ravinder Takkar, MD & CEO, Vodafone Idea, mentioned, “During the last quarter, we witnessed a recovery in our operating momentum as the economy has started to gradually open up aided by the ongoing rapid vaccination drive.”
    The firm mentioned it has opted for 4 years of deferment for each spectrum and AGR dues.

  • Vodafone Idea claims peak pace of three.7Gbps in new mmWave 5G trial

    Vodafone Idea (Vi) claimed to have achieved a peak 5G information pace of three.7Gbps on the mmWave spectrum band in a current check carried out in Pune, Maharashtra. Peak obtain speeds of as much as 1.5Gbps within the 3.5Ghz band 5G trial community in Gandhinagar and Pune.
    The announcement by Vodafone Idea comes lower than a month after rival Airtel introduced that it efficiently carried out cloud gaming classes on a smartphone with Asphalt 9: Legends in Manesar, Haryana. The check concerned recreation streamers Naman Mathur, higher often known as ‘Mortal’ and Salman Ahmad, higher often known as ‘Mamba’.

    “In Pune city, Vi has deployed its 5G trial in a lab setup of end-to-end captive network of Cloud Core, new generation Transport and Radio Access Network,” the corporate mentioned in an announcement, including that “Vi has been allocated mmWave high bands like 26 GHz by the DoT, along with the traditional 3.5 GHz spectrum band, for 5G network trials.”

    “We are pleased with the speed and latency results in the initial stages of the 5G trials on the Govt allocated 5G spectrum bands. Having established a robust 4G network pan-India, delivering fastest 4G speeds and a 5G-ready network, we are now testing the NextGen 5G technology to be able to bring a truly digital experience for enterprises and consumers in India, in the future,” Jagbir Singh, CTO, Vodafone Idea Limited mentioned.
    One of the three main telcos in India, Vi will likely be competing towards Airtel and Reliance Jio to launch India’s first steady 5G community as quickly as attainable.

  • Task reduce out for DoT to persuade FinMin on telecom aid package deal

    The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) could discover it tough to persuade the Finance Ministry to provide the go forward for telecom sector-specific aid because the latter has expressed apprehensions concerning the bailout choices laid out by the division, sources advised The Indian Express.
    Among the aid package deal choices chosen by the DoT are a risk of extending the moratorium on spectrum fee obligations by one other couple of years or permitting the telcos to encash, for some years, the financial institution ensures the businesses have submitted earlier than asking them to re-submit these, the sources stated.
    “The discussions are still on. A sector-specific relief will be difficult because the government has received requests from other sectors such as the food and beverages, hotels industry as well for relief,” a senior authorities official stated. The discussions for aid to the telecom sector have gained tempo after Kumar Mangalam Birla, former non-executive chairman and director of Vodafone Idea (Vi), wrote to the Central authorities in June providing to “hand over” his 27 per cent stake within the firm to any public sector, authorities, or home monetary entity or to every other agency that the federal government might imagine match, to maintain Vi going.
    The June letter, nevertheless, was not the primary time that Birla had raised the request for a package deal from the federal government. In December 2019, he had, following the Supreme Court judgment on adjusted gross income, stated that Vodafone Idea must “shut shop” if there was no aid forthcoming from the federal government.

    Following his remark, the bulk stakeholder in Vi, Vodafone Group’s chief govt officer Nick Read too had dominated out any additional fairness infusion within the debt-laden telecom three way partnership it runs in India.
    For a while now, Vi has been unsuccessfully scouting the globe, attempting to both increase funds of as much as Rs 25,000 crore or usher in a strategic associate. In his June 7 letter, Birla made a point out of the corporate’s efforts to lift the funds and stated that each one the non-Chinese traders they’d talked to to date had requested to be assured that the Indian authorities wished to “have a three-player telecom market”.
    “To actively participate in this fundraising, potential foreign investors (mostly non-Chinese and we are yet to approach any Chinese investors) want to see clear government intent to have a three-player telecom market (consistent with its public stance) through positive actions on long-standing requests such as clarity on AGR (adjusted gross revenue) liability, adequate moratorium on spectrum payments, and most importantly, a floor pricing regime above cost of service,” Birla wrote.

  • India’s attraction towards Vodafone arbitration award in senior court docket, listening to in September

    Indian authorities’s attraction towards a verdict of a world arbitration tribunal that overturned its demand for Rs 22,100 crore in again taxes from Vodafone Group Plc has been transferred to a senior court docket in Singapore and hearings are scheduled in September, sources mentioned.
    An worldwide arbitration court docket had on September 25 final yr rejected tax authorities’ demand for Rs 22,100 crore in again taxes and penalties regarding the British telecom big’s 2007 acquisition of an Indian operator.
    The authorities in December utilized in Singapore to put aside the award totally on jurisdictional grounds. The proceedings have been transferred to a senior court docket, with a listening to date set for September, two sources with data of the matter mentioned.
    The attraction was filed within the Singapore court docket because the Southeast Asian nation was the seat of arbitration.
    The authorities has equally challenged the order of a three-member tribunal on the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that requested India to return USD 1.2 billion, plus curiosity and value, to British oil and gasoline firm Cairn Energy plc.

    The authorities had used a 2012 regulation, that gave tax authorities the ability to reopen previous instances, to hunt taxes from Vodafone and Cairn over alleged capital beneficial properties made a number of years in the past.
    Both Vodafone and Cairn had challenged the tax calls for below bilateral funding safety treaties and initiated the arbitration. India misplaced each arbitrations.
    Sources mentioned the federal government believes that taxation will not be coated below funding safety treaties with varied international locations and the regulation on taxation is a sovereign proper of the nation.
    While the treaties are primarily geared toward safety of investments, the tax is levied on “returns” earned by entities.
    The 2012 regulation, generally referred as retrospective tax regulation, was enacted after the Supreme Court in January that yr rejected proceedings introduced by tax authorities towards Vodafone International Holdings BV for its failure to deduct withholding tax from USD 11.1 billion paid to the Hutchison Telecommunications in 2007 for getting out a its 67 per cent stake in a wholly-owned Cayman Island integrated subsidiary that not directly held pursuits in Vodafone India Ltd.
    The Finance Act 2012, which amended varied provisions of the Income Tax Act 1961 with retrospective impact, contained provisions meant to tax any achieve on switch of shares in a non-Indian firm, which derives substantial worth from underlying Indian belongings, similar to Vodaone’s transaction with Hutchison in 2007. It sought to topic a purchaser, similar to Vodafone, to a retrospective obligation to withhold tax.
    Using that regulation, tax authorities in January 2013 slapped Vodafone with a tax demand of Rs 14,200 crore, together with principal tax of Rs 7,990 crore and curiosity however no penalties. In February 2016, it up to date the tax demand to Rs 22,100 crore plus curiosity.
    Vodafone challenged this tax demand by bringing an arbitration continuing below the Netherlands-India Bilateral Investment Treaty. The arbitration tribunal unanimously dominated in Vodafone’s favour.
    As per the award, the federal government has to reimburse Vodafone 60 per cent of its authorized prices and half of the 6,000-euros price borne by Vodafone for appointing an arbitrator on the panel.
    Sources mentioned the Government of India’s legal responsibility got here to Rs 85 crore in authorized price.
    In the separate case of Cairn, India has been requested to pay with curiosity the worth of shares it bought, the dividend it seized, and tax refunds it withheld to recuperate a part of tax demand from the British agency.
    Cairn Energy, which gave the nation its largest oil discovery, was in March 2015 slapped with a requirement for Rs 10,247 crore tax on alleged capital beneficial properties it made when it in 2006 reorganised its India enterprise earlier than itemizing of the native unit.

    Vodafone International Holding (a Netherland firm) had in February 2007 purchased 100 per cent shares of Cayman Island-based firm CGP Investments for USD 11.1 billion to not directly get 67 per cent management of Hutchison Essar Ltd – an Indian firm.
    The tax division felt the deal was designed to keep away from capital achieve tax in India and imposed a tax demand, which was rejected by the Supreme Court in 2012.
    To cease abuse and plug the loophole of such oblique switch of Indian belongings, the federal government in 2012 amended the regulation to make such transfers taxable in India.