Government Evaluates Contingency Options in Case of Default AGR Dues of Vodafone Idea

DoT officials appealed to India’s two important MNP providers Syniverse Technologies India and MNP Interconnection Telecom Solutions India on how many porting requests the providers can process in day, as the government is looking for alternate solutions in case if Vodafone Idea fails to pay their AGR dues. As per the sources of ET Telecom, services providers noted that approximately 500,000 customers could be ported out each day in a combined process. However, both the services providers were silent on queries at the time of the press conference. According to the telecom experts, the capacity to port 500,000 customers in a day will be still difficult as MNP providers have to cater over 300 million subscribers of Vodafone Idea. Also, recipient telcos like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel will face trouble as they do not have enough capacity to absorb a massive number of subscribers to their networks.

Porting Process Will Create Panic Around Industry

In the entire process, SBICap Securities research head Rajiv Sharma noted that “Porting process will result in a panic situation as the telcos currently operate at 70 % to 80 % of their network utilisation. Without additional spectrum, dividing one-third of the telecom industry between two telecom operators will be difficult”.

However, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio have already started discussions regarding their network case and expansion in case if Vodafone Idea falls. Currently, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio have 283 Million and 370 Million subscribers, respectively.

Vodafone Idea Has to Pay Rs 57,000 Crore to DoT

Vodafone Idea has to pay Rs 57,000 crore AGR dues to DoT. The telco giant estimated their AGR dues at Rs 23,000 crore out of which Rs 7,000 crore is the principal amount. So far, telco giant has just paid Rs 3,500 crore. As per the cash experts, Vodafone Idea will face difficulty in paying their self-assessed AGR dues. Not only this, the telco has requested DoT to not encash its bank guarantees against unpaid AGR dues, as it would lead to shutting down of the telco giant. Government is also planning to create stress funds for telcos which would offer soft loans on easy terms.