Vodafone CEO Nick Read seeks moratorium on spectrum payment

Vodafone Group CEO Nick Read said the telecom operator is focussed on the integration of Vodafone Idea in India.
Vodafone Idea Business
Nick Read and Vodafone chairman Gerard Kleisterlee met India’s telecom secretary Anshu Prakash, seeking relief measures, including a two-year moratorium on deferred spectrum payments. The two executives also met commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Monday, according to media reports.

The department of telecommunications (DoT) has not accepted their demand for two-year moratorium for spectrum payments.

Vodafone Idea has the highest liability in terms of deferred spectrum payments, PTI reported on Monday.

Vodafone Idea chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and CEO Ravinder Takker had recently met telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in order to seek some relief for the sector.

Gross revenue of Indian telecom operators dipped 7.13 percent in 2018. Licence fee and spectrum charges that the government collects from mobile operators fell 10.29 percent and 17.7 percent, respectively.

The adjusted gross revenue (AGR) earned by telecom operator companies from the sale of telecom services dropped over 10 percent to Rs 1,44,446 crore in 2018 from Rs 1,60,814 crore in 2017.