Supreme Court Verdict Gives Vodafone Idea “Some Breathing Room”

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American Tower Corporation (ATC), one of the leading infrastructure providers engaged in the telecom space said that the Supreme Court verdict on the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) case gives “Vodafone some breathing room.” Tom Bartlett, president and CEO of ATC on Tuesday reflected on the Indian telecom space at the Goldman Sachs 29th Annual Communacopia Conference. Bartlett said that the company is “optimistic” about what it is seeing in the Indian telecom marketplace, having been in the market since 2007. ATC India is said to own and operate 78,000 tower sites across India with the company offering its services to “all major telecom service providers” in India.

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AGR Verdict Provides “Some Visibility” to Indian Telecom Operators

Bartlett said that the Supreme Court verdict provides “some visibility” on how the telecom operators can “manage their cash flows going forward.”

The Supreme Court in early September, enabled telecom operators to pay up their AGR dues over a period of 10 years. It is reported that Vodafone Idea owes Rs 58,000 crores in AGR dues. Further, the Department of Telecom estimates that Bharti Airtel owes Rs 43,780 crores.

“I wish it were 30 years, but it’s 10 years,” Bartlett said. “It gives Vodafone some breathing room, in terms of how they’re going to be able to kind of manage their business, going forward.”

Bartlett also highlighted Vodafone’s decision about “getting back into the market to raise capital.” The Vodafone Idea board in early September approved up to Rs 25,000 crore fund-raising plan through sales and debt.

Further, Bartlett said that the past seven months have demonstrated how “significant” wireless connectivity is to a market like India and “to bring it back to health.”

“The government itself is also looking at ways that it can be supportive to the wireless carriers,” he said. “They’re trying to do as much as they can, in terms of lowering fees for spectrum, providing more spectrums, ensuring that they have the ability to raise pricing.”