The letter was written on February 20, two weeks after the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs had approved the 100 per cent ownership proposal of Vodafone Plc in Vodafone India, at a proposed investment of Rs 10,141 crore (Rs 101.41 billion).
Even after investing almost Rs 6,000 crore, Ajay Piramal, chairman of the company, insists it is a short-term investment.
Reliance Jio's major subscriber losses continued for the third straight month with 7.96 million users leaving the telecom operator in September, even as the state-owned BSNL stood out as the lone gainer, data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) showed on Thursday. Market leader Jio's subscriber loss has continued since July when the three private telecom operators - Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea (Vi) - brought in a broad-based hike in tariffs.
The government should convert Vodafone Idea's (Vi) debt into equity to avoid a duopoly in the telecom sector, Deutsche Bank Research said in its report on Monday. This, the bank suggested, would be the only viable solution in the backdrop of the Supreme Court dismissing the telecom company's application for recomputation of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.
The government is expected to outline a policy framework for artificial intelligence (AI) at the annual India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2024, beginning Tuesday, officials said. Apart from industry participation, the four-day event will feature booths from over 15 ministries showcasing how AI is being integrated into their departments.
Piramal owns an 11 per cent stake in Vodafone India.
Vodafone India has doubled its mobile Internet rates for 2G and 3G customers across the country, and it is being implemented in a phased manner.
Continuing to push back against the stringent quality of service (QoS) norms brought in by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), telcos have informed the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) that collection and submission of monthly and site-to-cell-level data should be eased, officials and industry sources said. In place since October last year, the QoS norms call for data for network availability, call drop, voice packet drop rate in uplink and downlink, among other parameters, to be collected at the cell level.
Debt-ridden telecom operator Vodafone Idea on Tuesday approved the allotment of equity shares worth Rs 16,133 crore to the government, which post-allocation has become the largest shareholder with a 33.44 per cent stake in the company. The shares have been allocated to the government in lieu of conversion of interest dues arising from deferment of adjusted gross revenue and spectrum auction payments, the company said in a regulatory filing. "...it is hereby informed that the board of directors of the company has, at its meeting held today approved the allotment of 16,133,198,899 equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each at an issue price of Rs 10 per equity share aggregating to Rs 161,331,848,990 to the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, Government of India," the filing said.
After Finance Minister P Chidambaram's indication the tax department would not act rashly on the issue, the company on Thursday said it was ready to discuss a solution with the government.
India's largest telecom operator in terms of subscriber numbers has been struggling to raise its share of subscribers in the market for fourth-generation technology services.
The company has already made payments for the spectrum according to rules.
4G services typically make it much faster than 3G services to surf the web on mobile phones, tablets and laptops.
The last time these two indexes recorded a negative performance on a calendar year basis was in CY19.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
SC directs CBI to take action over extra spectrum allocation during NDA rule.
A new board has been constituted for the merged entity 'Vodafone Idea Ltd' with 12 directors (including six independent directors) and Kumar Mangalam Birla as its Chairman. The board has appointed Balesh Sharma as the CEO, the companies said in a joint statement. The combination will have an all-India revenue market share of 32.2 per cent and take the numero uno slot in nine telecom circles, it said adding that both Vodafone and Idea brands will continue.
Losing subscribers for the fourth straight month, Reliance Jio witnessed 3.76 million users leave the telecom operator in October, data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) showed on Monday. Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel reversed three months of decline, and added 1.92 million users, indicating it has overcome the impact of the broad-based tariff hikes imposed by private sector telcos in July.
The foreign investment regulator cleared a decision on Vodafone Group Plc's $1.6 billion plan to take full ownership of its local unit.
Bharti Airtel is expected to see its highest revenue growth, and subscriber addition during the third quarter (October-December) of FY25 among telcos, said analysts. The telco's top line in Q3 may see the fastest sequential growth at 5 per cent compared to 3 per cent for Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea (Vi). Airtel's annual mobile revenue growth would rise to 16 per cent, IIFL Capital said in an analyst note.
Vodafone Idea, the country's third largest telecom operator, on Wednesday reported a staggering Rs 73,878 crore of net loss in fiscal ended March 2020 -- the highest ever by any Indian firm -- after it provisioned for Supreme Court-mandated statutory dues. The firm, which has to pay Rs 51,400 crore dues after the apex court ordered the non-telecom revenues to be included in calculating statutory dues, said the liability has "cast significant doubt on the company's ability to continue as a going concern".
VIL, in which Vodafone holds 45.39 per cent stake, is staring at unpaid statutory dues of Rs 53,038 crore, including Rs 24,729 crore of spectrum dues and Rs 28,309 crore in licence fee, and has already warned of shutdown if no relief is given.
The brand integration not only marks the completion of the largest telecom merger in the world, but will also set the company on its future journey to offer strong digital experiences to 1 billion Indians on its 4G network.
To avail the benefit, customers will have to SMS 'BETTER' on 199 and the 10-minute talk time will be credited
In the course of the investigations, CBI has found irregular allocation of additional spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz to 10 MHz to GSM operators, including Bharti and Vodafone during Mahajan's rule.
The latest ad, done by O&M again, Vodafone's ad agency, shows two engineers tinkering away in a dimly-lit highway tunnel.
Vodafone, according to sources, in its response to the Finance Ministry's offer for conciliation, had expressed keenness to settle the long-pending capital gains tax dispute.
The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,183.15 million at the end of May to 1,186.63 million at the end of June.
The arbitration of any court is legally binding and the government) can approach the Singapore high court.
The I-T department had said Vodafone India under-priced shares in a rights issue to its parent. The tax demand was for the two financial years ended March 2011.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday stayed a new income tax demand of Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion) on Vodafone India Services in an alleged transfer-pricing case from 2010-11.
The Indian equity markets will soon account for over a fifth of a key emerging market (EM) benchmark tracked by funds with assets exceeding $500 billion. This development is expected to funnel as much as $3 billion into the domestic markets. Following the latest review undertaken by global index provider MSCI, India's weighting in the MSCI EM index will surpass 20 per cent for the first time, narrowing its gap with the current top-weighted China to fewer than 400 basis points.
The Finance Ministry has already circulated a draft Cabinet note withdrawing the conciliation offer to Vodafone to resolve the Rs 20,000-crore (Rs 200-billion) tax dispute case.
The company at present provides monthly mobile services at starting price of Rs 24 without data, and plans with data service starts from Rs 33 onward. It did not disclose the quantum of hike.
A presentation by the CBI to a Joint Parliamentary Committee last week said the decision led to a loss of Rs 508 crore to the exchequer.
The British telecom major has disputed the tax demand over its acquisition of 67 per cent stake in Hutchison, now called Vodafone India, arguing that no tax was due as the transaction was conducted offshore.
The chief of the British telco's Indian subsidiary, which is the second largest cellular operator in India, also said the recent decisions by telecom authorities have disappointed the sector.
Vodafone India on Thursday launched tariff plans wherein customers can get calls, SMSes and 3G data bundled with an iPhone starting at Rs 2,099 per month.
Fundraising momentum is expected to accelerate further in the New Year, potentially surpassing 2024's record figures
Vodafone is locked in twin tax disputes with the government.
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