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AGR暂停4年，印度计划防止jio领导的双头垄断
政府还在评估是否收购财务陷入困境的沃达丰Idea的一小部分股份，以减轻投资者对这家电信公司未来的担忧。
新德里:电信部除了未来降低频谱使用费(SUC)外，印度交通部还提议暂停四年调整后的总收入(AGR)和频谱支付，以改善负债累累的行业的健康状况，并保留三个私营参与者市场。
一位政府高级官员说，其他重要建议包括减少银行担保，重新定义AGR以排除“非电信”项目，以及允许电信公司放弃未使用的频谱。
政府也在评估是否持有这家陷入财务困境的公司的少量股份沃达丰的想法，以减轻投资者对该电信公司未来的担忧。官员们表示，这可能只是航空公司所欠费用的一小部分。在其1.9万亿卢比的债务总额中，该电信公司欠政府超过1.6万亿卢比的AGR和频谱付款。
“延迟支付AGR会费和频谱拍卖应该大大有助于公司的运营盈利能力。如果在四年时间内，该公司能够改善其运营业绩，但只是因为支付这些会费而受到拖累，那么政府可以介入并将部分会费转换为股权，”该官员解释道。
最后阶段的DoT-Finmin讨论
这位官员补充说，财政部和交通部之间关于救助计划的讨论已进入最后阶段。这位官员补充称:“除非在最后时刻出现任何问题，否则该计划最早可能在本周宣布。”
一些人说，这些提议甚至可能在周三提交内阁批准。
削减SUC和银行担保以及重新定义AGR等措施可能很快就会宣布。但这名官员说，双方仍在讨论是否将“延迟AGR和频谱支付费用”部分与救助计划合并，还是在稍后阶段单独宣布。
如果最终敲定，该方案虽然旨在缓解一个债务超过8万亿卢比的行业，但可能特别缓解资金紧张的沃达丰Idea目前的现金流困境，并有助于其留在另外两家私营企业Reliance Jio Infocomm和Bharti Airtel的市场。国营Bharat Sanchar Nigam有限公司是印度第四大电信公司。周二，沃达丰Idea的股价收于8.28卢比，在印度证交所上涨14.68%。
从目前的情况来看，英国沃达丰集团和印度的合资企业是多元化的Aditya Birla集团(ABG)需要支付约900亿卢比作为其下一期AGR分期付款，该分期将于2022年3月到期。专家表示，推迟四年的选择可能会使其AGR支出增加近3600亿卢比，缓解其当前的现金流问题。
此外，沃达丰Idea每年支付约500亿卢比的许可费和SUC，其中前者约为320亿卢比。此外，从2022年4月开始，它需要每年支付约1.4亿卢比的频谱费用。
对Airtel来说，任何AGR付款的延迟都将使其将价值约1800亿卢比(低于每年450亿卢比)的付款推迟4年。然而，它是否会选择延迟频谱付款仍有待观察，因为暂停付款将附带利息因素。
这位官员说:“电信部认为许可证费用不需要立即降低，SUC应该只在未来降低，这意味着从下一次拍卖开始。”
他说，政府的一个部门认为，由于SUC是在一份具有法律约束力的申请通知(NIA)中，任何对它的追溯性更改都可能不成立。
ABG主席Kumar Mangalam Birla上周会见了电信部长Ashwini Vaishnaw。今年6月，他曾写信给政府，表示除非政府提供一些缓解措施，否则电信公司将无法生存，甚至提出将沃达丰Idea的ABG股份转让给一家国有实体，这可能有助于重振公司。政府反过来要求该公司分享一旦政府宣布救助计划，它多久才能获得投资的细节。8月初，Birla辞去了电信公司董事长的职务，由Himanshu Kapania接任。
正如早些时候报道的那样，政府已经询问了即将到来的投资金额，以及公司中期计划的细节，包括它如何预期每用户平均收入(ARPU)和相关指标在这样的一揽子计划后提高。
Kumar Mangalam Birla会见电信部长，讨论该行业的救援计划
目前还不清楚会议上发生了什么，但这是在电信部和财政部准备为电信行业提供救助计划的背景下发生的。消息人士告诉《印度经济时报》，拟议的措施可能会一次性宣布，也可能在未来几个月陆续宣布。
尽管在过去11个月里进行了多次尝试，但沃达丰Idea未能完成其2500亿卢比的融资计划。Birla曾指责电信行业的不生存能力是其无法筹集资金的主要原因。
专家表示，交通部的最新提议虽然被推迟，但可能有助于改善该行业的财务状况。
一个关键步骤是重新审视AGR的定义，以排除非电信项目。这一直是政府和电信公司之间长期斗争的主题，交通部于2019年9月在最高法院胜诉。
法院随后支持政府，并扩大了AGR的定义，包括非电信项目。但分析师表示，这让印度老牌电信公司Bharti Airtel和Vodafone Idea面临总计10.2万亿卢比的agr相关许可费和SUC会费，将本已陷入困境的Vodafone Idea进一步推向可能致命的金融危机。
“因此，排除所有非电信收入的AGR的新定义实际上有助于消除电信公司和政府之间争论的所有疑问和灰色地带，”一位高级官员早些时候告诉印度经济时报。
牌照费及特许经营协议是按总年度增收额缴付。因此，降低AGR将意味着减少相关征费。
分析师表示，一项条款允许电信公司向政府交出频段，但如果有部分频段未被使用，将被处以小额罚款，这也将帮助沃达丰Idea收回部分现金。
“VIL已经在几个市场失去了阵地。如果政府让VIL放弃未充分利用的频谱，该公司可以审查其频谱需求，并决定撤出某些市场，这可以减轻其债务负担和损失，”法国巴黎银行(BNP Paribas)在一份报告中表示。VIL可以考虑将其网络/用户出售给这些领域的竞争对手，帮助其进一步减轻债务负担。”
根据一些行业估计，沃达丰Idea目前没有使用其向政府支付分期付款的近三分之一的频谱。
沃达丰的想法处于“困难阶段”，希望政府支持
Kapania在取代Kumar Mangalam Birla担任陷入困境的航空公司董事长后写给股东的第一封信中表示:“由于该行业继续处于不可持续的财务压力之下，贵公司希望政府将提供必要的支持，以解决该行业面临的所有结构性问题。”
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<\/figure>New Delhi: The Department of Telecommunications<\/a> (DoT) has proposed a four-year moratorium on adjusted gross revenue (AGR) and spectrum payments apart from a reduction in spectrum usage charge (SUC) prospectively, among measures to improve the health of the debt-laden sector and retain a three-private player market.
Other crucial proposals include a reduction in bank guarantees, redefining AGR to exclude \u2018non-telecom\u2019 items, again prospectively, and allowing telcos to surrender unused spectrum, a senior government official said.
The government is also evaluating whether to take a small stake in financially struggling Vodafone Idea<\/a>, in order to allay investor concerns regarding the future of the telco. This, officials say, could be a small quantum against part of the dues the carrier owes the government. Of its total Rs1.9 lakh crore debt, the telco owes over Rs1.6 lakh crore to the government towards its AGR and spectrum payments.
<\/div><\/div>Another option being considered is keeping a window open for the government to convert a part of the company's dues to it as equity after four years.
\u201cDeferment in payment of AGR dues and spectrum auction should considerably help the operational profitability of the company. If in four years' time, the company is able to improve its operational performance but is being dragged only due to the payment of these dues, then the government could step in and convert a part of the dues into equity,\" the official explained.
DoT-Finmin discussions in final stages
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The official added that discussions between the ministry of finance and DoT regarding the relief package are in the final stages. \u201cBarring any last-minute issues, the package could be announced as early as this week,\u201d the official added.
Some say the proposals may even be presented to Cabinet for approval on Wednesday.
Steps such as reductions in SUC and bank guarantees as well as redefining AGR may be announced shortly. But discussions are still on over whether to club the \u2018deferment of AGR and spectrum payment dues\u2019 part with the relief package or announce that separately at a later stage, the official said.
\ue816If finalised, the package, while meant for giving relief to an industry with more than Rs8 lakh crore of debt, could specifically ease cash-strapped Vodafone Idea\u2019s immediate cash flow woes and help in its bid to remain in a market that has Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel as the other two private players. State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.<\/a> is the fourth telco in India. Shares of Vodafone Idea closed at Rs 8.28, up 14.68% on the BSE on Tuesday.
\u201cDeferment in payment of AGR dues and spectrum auction should considerably help the operational profitability of the company. If in four years' time, the company is able to improve its operational performance but is being dragged only due to the payment of these dues, then the government could step in and convert a part of the dues into equity,\" the official explained.
DoT-Finmin discussions in final stages
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The official added that discussions between the ministry of finance and DoT regarding the relief package are in the final stages. \u201cBarring any last-minute issues, the package could be announced as early as this week,\u201d the official added.
Some say the proposals may even be presented to Cabinet for approval on Wednesday.
Steps such as reductions in SUC and bank guarantees as well as redefining AGR may be announced shortly. But discussions are still on over whether to club the \u2018deferment of AGR and spectrum payment dues\u2019 part with the relief package or announce that separately at a later stage, the official said.
\ue816If finalised, the package, while meant for giving relief to an industry with more than Rs8 lakh crore of debt, could specifically ease cash-strapped Vodafone Idea\u2019s immediate cash flow woes and help in its bid to remain in a market that has Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel as the other two private players. State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.<\/a> is the fourth telco in India. Shares of Vodafone Idea closed at Rs 8.28, up 14.68% on the BSE on Tuesday.
<\/div><\/div>The company\u2013which had Rs920 crore in cash and cash equivalents at June end and has Rs1.9 lakh crore of debt \u2013 faces Rs58,254 crore in AGR dues, of which it has paid Rs7,854 crore. Analysts fear Vodafone Idea may fall short of its annual payment commitments, including an AGR instalment and spectrum payment, by around Rs23,000 crore in FY23, pushing it towards bankruptcy.
As things stand, the JV between UK\u2019s Vodafone Group and India\u2019s diversified Aditya Birla Group<\/a> (ABG) needs to pay around Rs9,000 crore as its next AGR instalment, which falls due in March 2022. A deferral option of four years could push its AGR payout of almost Rs 36,000 crore by that much, easing its immediate cash flow problems, said experts.
Additionally, Vodafone Idea pays licence fees and SUC of about Rs 5,000 crore annually, out of which the former is around Rs3,200 crore. Also, it needs to pay around Rs14,000 crore toward spectrum payments every year, starting April 2022.
For Airtel, any deferral of AGR payment would allow it to push payouts worth about Rs 18,000 crore (less than Rs4,500 crore annual installment) by four years. However, it remains to be seen whether it will opt for a deferment of spectrum payments, since there will be an interest element attached to the moratorium.
\u201cDoT (Department of Telecommunications) feels that the licence fees need not be reduced right now and the SUC should only be reduced prospectively, implying from the next auction onwards,\u201d the official said.
A section of the government felt that since SUC was in the Notice Inviting Application (NIA), a legally binding document, any change to it retrospectively might not be tenable, he said.
ABG chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla met telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw last week. In June, he had written to the government that the telco won't survive unless the government provides some relief, and had even offered to give up the ABG stake in Vodafone Idea to a state-owned entity which could help revive the company. The government, in turn, had asked the company to share details of how soon it will be able to get investments, once the government announces a relief package. Birla, in early August, resigned as the chairman of the telco, and was replaced by Himanshu Kapania.
As reported earlier, the government has asked for the amount of investment that will be forthcoming, as well as details of the company's medium-term plans, including how it expects the average revenue per user (ARPU) and related metrics to improve following such a package.
As things stand, the JV between UK\u2019s Vodafone Group and India\u2019s diversified Aditya Birla Group<\/a> (ABG) needs to pay around Rs9,000 crore as its next AGR instalment, which falls due in March 2022. A deferral option of four years could push its AGR payout of almost Rs 36,000 crore by that much, easing its immediate cash flow problems, said experts.
Additionally, Vodafone Idea pays licence fees and SUC of about Rs 5,000 crore annually, out of which the former is around Rs3,200 crore. Also, it needs to pay around Rs14,000 crore toward spectrum payments every year, starting April 2022.
For Airtel, any deferral of AGR payment would allow it to push payouts worth about Rs 18,000 crore (less than Rs4,500 crore annual installment) by four years. However, it remains to be seen whether it will opt for a deferment of spectrum payments, since there will be an interest element attached to the moratorium.
\u201cDoT (Department of Telecommunications) feels that the licence fees need not be reduced right now and the SUC should only be reduced prospectively, implying from the next auction onwards,\u201d the official said.
A section of the government felt that since SUC was in the Notice Inviting Application (NIA), a legally binding document, any change to it retrospectively might not be tenable, he said.
ABG chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla met telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw last week. In June, he had written to the government that the telco won't survive unless the government provides some relief, and had even offered to give up the ABG stake in Vodafone Idea to a state-owned entity which could help revive the company. The government, in turn, had asked the company to share details of how soon it will be able to get investments, once the government announces a relief package. Birla, in early August, resigned as the chairman of the telco, and was replaced by Himanshu Kapania.
As reported earlier, the government has asked for the amount of investment that will be forthcoming, as well as details of the company's medium-term plans, including how it expects the average revenue per user (ARPU) and related metrics to improve following such a package.