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How do you see the journey of VIL since integration?<\/strong>
To start off by saying that it has been a difficult, challenging task. The biggest thing was we had to take these two companies, which were fierce competitors, build competitive networks, were operating in the same territory, had duplication of not only the networks, but also organization brands… it is on record as the largest telco integration ever done in the world. It is certainly one of the fastest telco integrations ever done in the world in terms of the sheer size, scale, customer numbers, number of sites, and so on…that has been challenging, but a very rewarding journey from that perspective.
Then, of course, we got hit by a lot of external stuff, whether it was the AGR (adjusted gross revenue), whether it was other litigation that was taking place or some of the regulatory changes that took place. We tend to forget. In the middle of these fights where the regulator decided the IUC (interconnection usage charge) will be zero, unheard of in the world. Nobody else does it today. But India decided this is where they want to go, for no reason; reduced international termination. All kinds of stuff just kept on happening, which was really, in some ways, bleeding the industry<\/a> and was really causing a lot of challenges. All of those were handled…came through a very difficult time, to where we are. It has turned out to be an OK outcome in the end.
What is Vodafone Idea now?<\/strong>
About two years ago, even Airtel was also complaining about how bad the situation is, because one of the competitors basically giving a free service or practically a free service, destroying the market. And the industry talk was about how will the industry turn around. Multiple price increases were unimaginable. But, first December 2019, and then in December 2020…reasonable price increases started to take place. The overall penetration of 4G services really started to explode, data usage started to explode. All the industry strands started to move in the right direction. Even some of the actions taken by the government - starting to change some of the regulation like let's not charge for spectrum user charges going forward, let's give the industry a four-year moratorium to try to recover from a liquidity perspective, other good other options, changing the definition of AGR. So, you start to see a bit of a turnaround in the health, which I think has been very positive.
Is the worst over for Vodafone Idea?<\/strong>
Where we are in terms of operational efficiency, in terms of trying to not only consolidate the network, we have started to see that the brand is starting to stick, the brand metrics are improving and going in the right direction, and there's real traction in the market. Customer numbers started to stabilize… three quarters of revenue growth in a row, three quarters of ARPU growth in a row, three quarters of 4G subs growth in a row.
So, with the improvement that you are talking about, why has the funding not closed as yet?
<\/strong>
If you look externally, two years ago, our promoters were really going out and saying these businesses are really very difficult, there's no more money coming. There were all kinds of allegations that they're trying to get out of the business. Well, just a little over a month ago, Rs4500 crores of equity coming in from both promoters. And there is no promoter in the world, no matter how rich they are, who will put in money - a lot of money - unless they believe that there is some
benefit and value that they see, because they can all use the money for something else. And, and so that's been a turnaround.
What about the talks with lenders? External investors? You have been talking to Apollo Global for a while now…can you confirm?
<\/strong>
I cannot comment on specific entities we are engaged with for fund raise.
They (lenders) have bank guarantees of Rs 16,000 crores back from the government… which means their exposure on those have gone down. And now we are in deep engagement with them for essentially working on a new package around how we progress forward, how they can help us with their support on our liquidity as well as our funding issues.
And then, of course, with external third-party investors as well, new investors as well, their engagement is deep as well. And I think there's confidence building, and I am confident that those investments will come through as well. So, we find ourselves in a very, very good journey.
What is giving you this sense of optimism? You still lag your competitors by a long way. You are still losing revenue market share…
<\/strong>
This is history. And obviously you have to learn from it. I think they're the big macro trends…the runway is quite long. A large country like India, with three private players is a great industry structure. At 58%, smartphone penetration, 56% 4G penetration in the country, there's almost as much market in front...then start talking about 5G<\/a>, and about 6G. Like the Prime Minister said,how this industry is the platform for digital growth…if we start thinking about adoption of digital services, if we start thinking about how we will bring this infrastructure, into our cities in our everyday life and new technologies in the enterprise, businesses and IoT, and so on. I will say we are at the tip of the iceberg. If smartphone 4G penetration is 55-60%, we are at 1-5% on the other stuff, imagine the runway that we have in front of us.
We have to think about five years, what's going to happen. I think there's a great sense of optimism about where this will go.
This is a marathon we are on. And we have been running this thing well, and we will continue to do.
But what about pricing?
<\/strong>
We all always complain about pricing, it's low. But in some ways, that is what creates an opportunity, which means prices can only go one way, which is up…prices will go up as they have in the last two years. And we expect that journey to continue. Which means that the consumers win as well as the industry wins. I've always talked about the fact that the share of wallet that telecom has in the overall housework is so small. I'm very bullish from that perspective. And of course, the younger and younger you go, the customers and consumers are more and more and more engaged, which means, again, they value these services, a lot more than probably some of the older generations. They see that as essential.
Any timeline for the funding discussions to close?
<\/strong>
I don't want to put timelines but we are closer than we've ever been. When we started off the engagement with lenders, investors, everybody, including us, had a sort of a checklist that there are essential for funding to happen. And now I would say almost all, if not all, have been checked off, which means we are closer than we've ever been. There is no real impediment.
What is\/are the steps that still need to be checked before the funding closes?
<\/strong>
There's one more step, which is the government conversion…we know it will happen…It's just a process that takes time. Again, we hear from the government and the right people is that it's just around the corner. It's very difficult for somebody to put money on the table without knowing what the share will be.
What is amount that you're looking to restructure with lenders?
<\/strong>
Our total debt which is close to Rs 2 lakh crores. Around 90% of this is with the Government…we don't need to pay at least for the next four years. And by the way, four years later, if I can't pay, we have other options. If I look at the rest of the debt, it is 10% of my debt, so less than Rs 20,000 crores. Now that debt from a bank perspective, is perfectly manageable and very adequate for my size business. We want them to support us for more investments that we need to make. So the discussions are both in that sense, not just about existing repayments but how can banks support us for future investments as well.
So what is the total amount that, as per your assessment, that you need right now to make Vodafone Idea competitive?
<\/strong>
The number hasn't really changed from total of about Rs 25,000 crores. Of that about Rs 4500-5000 crores have already come. So now we're down to about let's say a round figure of about Rs 20,000 crores. So we are looking at about Rs 10,000 crores from lenders and Rs 10,000 crores from equity.
We had a significant amount of bank payments in December, January, February, about Rs 6000-7000 crores. We paid all of them on time. These steps give confidence that the company will deliver on promises. Building credibility is necessary
So, which of the two – funding from equity investors or talks with lenders - will materialize first?
<\/strong>
I would think that that they will probably happen simultaneously. Because in some ways, they are a little bit linked, because generally, any lender would like to know, is there a confirmation that this equity is coming in? And external investors would want to know if banks and lenders are on board. The discussions are holistic and together.
Some say Vodafone idea would need Rs 40-50,000 crores…
<\/strong>
We've done our business plans and know what we want. We've looked at our position, where do we need to invest? And we're confident that this is the right amount, the diligence has been done as well.
Were you hurt, upset, angry when Sunil Mittal said that Vodafone Idea is suffering due a cultural mismatch? Also, it was indicated that a lack of governance credibility is hurting Vodafone Idea’s efforts to raise funds.
<\/strong>
It doesn't hurt me or upset me. The comments maybe surprised me.
On what basis does he say that? I don't know. He is entitled to his opinion, like everybody is. He is a person who's been in the industry for a very long time. By his own admission, his company had been at the brink of collapse multiple times. And by his admission, he has recovered stronger from each one of those. So, if he has seen himself emerge stronger from his tough times, I don't know why he thinks that we will not fight. In fact, if anything, actually, we've never said that we were at the brink of collapse. He said his company was at the brink of collapse, but we weren't. So from that perspective, frankly, I don't really understand the basis of his comments.
But I can tell you on the flip side, I'm very happy if he believes that I'm half a competitor. I prefer to be in that position. Because frankly it's always good to be the underdog and then fight from that side. So for me, instead of getting upset about it, actually, it gives us more reason to say, good, actually, we are in a place where we are actually going to surprise people, as we have in the last two years. We have come out stronger - from where we were two or three years ago to where we are.
Vodafone Idea has lost a lot of revenue market share, subscriber market share. It added active market share in the month of March. Is that the start of a trend for the telco?
<\/strong>
In the Q1 of this year, we're in the midst of this raging second wave pandemic, when we got hit on. But since then, the trend has sort of recovered. And I think the trends are all in the positive direction. Revenues, APRUs, 4G subscribers have stabilized. Now, if we lose customers, it's really on 2G. If we lose customers, it's predominantly because SIM consolidation is starting to take place, which I think is an industry phenomenon and even the biggest player has been impacted by those things. And it's not necessarily a bad thing, longer-term, it's a healthy thing for the industry. Because it means that people actually consolidate their spending which doesn’t mean they will spend less.
So, would we see Vodafone Idea report net subscriber additions in the current quarter through June?
<\/strong>
I can't give you forward looking information.
But I can tell you that if you look at subscriber trends, if you look at where we are on more importantly 4G numbers, if you look at APRU numbers, I think those trends are all going in the right direction, and they will continue.
Can you throw some light on your capex plans for FY23? You really need to up your spending to catch up with rivals…
<\/strong>
We could surely use more capex. Having said that, I think we have done reasonably well, given, again, the constraints…we compete quite rigorously in the market. Our coverage is a little bit behind on 4G compared to our competitors. But to give you an idea, we cover 1 billion as a population for 4G. If we look at my competitors, they might be more about let's say, 200 million more. But in the areas where I am present, our network quality is as good, if not better, we compete for customer acquisition. So given the lack of capex and the challenges that we've had, I think we've managed to hold our own weight.
But I think how much capex we will spend beyond what we are capable of doing through our internal accurals obviously depends on the funding discussion. External funding is really for capex…which is why we are keen to get that going, because I think it'll give us even a more competitive edge in the market. Prioritisation of capex is on coverage.
What is the status of your asset monetisation plans? Fibre, data centre, land…
<\/strong>
We're not doing that any of those things is because the discussion that we're having right now with lenders and investors is the right discussion. And that's what we are focused on. The second part is that any of these divestments, they are time consuming. Our focus right now is really on other priorities, We will not say that we will never look at them. They're very valuable assets. But for now, our focus is really to get our funding closed.
Gopal Vittal said the other day said that tariffs would increase once more in 2022. Your views? And would you take the lead?
<\/strong>
I fully agree with the fact that there needs to be a price increase this year.
We have always said that we will take the lead if required. But I need to do it when it's the right time for my business. If there's somebody else taking the lead, it becomes easier. But I will certainly not shy away from taking the lead. And if I'm not the first one, I'll be very quick to follow up.
5G auctions<\/a> are coming up. Your views on the pricing? How aggressive can you be or will you be, given your financial constraints?
<\/strong>
I think in my position, frankly, would be very happy if the spectrum was just given to us, right? I mean, even one rupee is too high. While pricing could have been improved, we must commend TRAI on things like payment terms.
If we look at the statements that the government has made, Prime Minister himself talked about the fact that how this is an accelerator to the economy, and so on. I think from that perspective, frankly, trying to take money from spectrum, if that slows down the rollout, I think that is probably not the best thing for the for the country.
Having said that, we have still not seen the final numbers, I think those are still in the Cabinet discussion.
5G has been launched in less than 100 countries across the globe. I would say that it's fair to say that even after a few years of having launched the service, it is very difficult to see how many of those countries have monetized 5G. It's very hard to see what benefit we will get…we know clearly that it provides a higher capacity and a cheaper price. But that's a cost reduction element rather than a revenue increase element. So, I think the use cases are really to be worked upon. And I think it's important that we continue to work on use cases. I think it's a possibility that Indian use cases may come out sooner and faster than global cases.
India has a way to surprise…there's a use case that doesn't work in other countries, but because of the uniqueness of India, it may fly in India. So, while it's difficult to see, what are the monetization use cases today, I think I remain optimistic in the longer-term.
5G is a long-term play…when the auction happens, at some point, it doesn't mean that tomorrow 5G gets deployed, that suddenly it'll change the way our businesses run, the way consumers suddenly will start to see something which is dramatically different. Because that doesn't exist today. But can it happen in the next 2-4 years? I certainly see that that is a possibility. It's not an immediate turnaround.
How aggressive or competitive Vodafone Idea will be in the 5G auctions?
<\/strong>
I can't talk about my 5G strategy for obvious reasons. We have to also look at the government and reserve prices and so on so forth.
But we are going to be competitive in that (5G) market. Maybe other people like to think that we are not competitive, I can tell you that our intent is to be always competitive in everything that we do. And frankly, I think we do a reasonable job of being competitive. I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you if I didn't think I would be a competitive player.
Read also<\/h4><\/a><\/figure>Capital raise essential to Vodafone Idea’s participation in 5G auction, market competitiveness: Analysts<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Cultural differences have hurt merged Vodafone Idea: Sunil Mittal<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Investment in 5G ‘super-critical’: Vodafone Idea<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Nokia set to replace Huawei gear in parts of Vodafone Idea's India network: Sources<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Have you stopped working with Huawei and ZTE completely in terms of giving new orders for wireline or wireless?
<\/strong>
No. I won't say that we have stopped working with them. There's a huge legacy of Huawei, ZTE in this country right now, the networks that they provide support to us on. So I think that work continues, whether it's fixed core or transport infrastructure. What is clear to us is that we have to obviously follow the government guidelines and mandate…we have to make sure that those are followed to the strictest level. The trajectory going forward with 5G and so on is a bit on hold with the Chinese suppliers because of the government policy and issues.
Does that sort of disturb the cost balance? With fewer equipment suppliers in the market…
<\/strong>
No, we have contracts with them, if we need to buy existing stuff. I think this is where Open RAN players have become an important element of the ecosystem development. We as an industry are reasonably good at managing those things (cost). And I think we will continue to manage that. So, but I would say that there hasn’t been any dramatic change because I think the European suppliers have been supportive. They're also keen to increase their market share as well. So they tend to be aggressive also (in pricing).
Are you also talking to Samsung for gear supplies?
<\/strong>
We talk to everybody in the market.
Do you think VIL can tap new vendors to bring down network costs with uncertainty over Huawei and ZTE’s participation in 5G roll outs?
<\/strong>
Our promoter shareholder group has done a lot of work in the OpenRAN space. And they are one of the few companies in the world which have deployed commercially open RAN products that are serving customers. Obviously, we learn a lot from that. We learn from that, what products they're using, what vendors they're using, and of course, we are in discussions with all of them. So, we see obviously that as an opportunity. And certainly, Open RAN is important for the industry for not only technological innovation, supplier ecosystem, also for overall bringing the cost structure down.
Some say OpenRAN is not mature. Your comments.
<\/strong>
Like anything in technology, nothing changes overnight. But a part of it is not new. It's been happening for five years…I mean, there's no way that Vodafone UK deploys this technology. So what we have now proven is that the technology works, not only in commercial use, it works with existing technology and customer experiences have been good. And then I think over time, other things like reducing costs, and other things also start to come in.
Can you throw some colour on the enterprise and digital businesses?
<\/strong>
Both of these are very important pillars.
Let's start with enterprise. The business has fundamentally changed in the last couple of years because of the COVID, lockdown. Earlier you had bigger businesses that were going through transition, now you see small and medium-sized businesses also transforming as well towards digitalization. And we, of course, participate in that part of it as well. We talk to them not only in services like Cloud and IoT, but also in digitalization of their businesses.
Your competitors are really driving up the digital business. What about Vodafone Idea?
<\/strong>
We have taken I would say a reasonably different strategy compared to the rest of the industry. Our model is very much based on the fact that we have infrastructure,customers, capabilities within our business, which are absolutely critical for any digital player to scale up and make their life easier. Because we see in India all the time, a new digital player comes in, finds it easy to get the first 1 million, 5 million, 10 million customers. If you're lucky, you get to 20 million. But you reach a point and ask, how do I continue to grow my business. And I think this is the area where we can really help in terms of bringing that through partnerships.
And our focus is really on partnerships. I don't want to compete with them. So our plan and our strategy is really to take the top two-three players in every industry. I do a very deep partnership with them. which is based on trust because we're not competing. But it's also based on the fact that I will provide you deep integration with my business. And that creates stickiness for them. And then, of course, using the capabilities that I have in my network, to actually help them grow faster. And also for my customers to be able to experience additional services.
How much does enterprises contribute to your total revenue?
<\/strong>
I don't think we've disclosed that number, but I can tell you is that it is significant.
Is it the same with digital as well?
<\/strong>
Digital is also growing as faster. Obviously, it's smaller than the enterprise business today. But here, I think the engagement levels are really the ones that are important right now. I think revenue will come along. There's reasonable revenue.
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- Telecom乐动扑克News
- 19分钟阅读
乐动娱乐招聘ETTelecom采访:沃达丰主意的Ravinder Takkar资金,未来计划,5 g的策略,中国供应商
”还没有真正从总数量约Rs 25000卢比。Rs 4500 - 5000卢比,大约已经来了。所以现在我们下降到假设圆图的Rs 20000卢比。所以我们看Rs 10000卢比从银行和Rs 10000卢比股本。”
沃达丰的想法MD和首席执行官Ravinder Takkar与ET的Romit古汗和丹麦电信的旅行到目前为止,未来的挑战和机遇。编辑摘录:
你如何看待维尔从集成的旅程吗?
开始说,这是一个困难的,具有挑战性的任务。最大的事情是我们必须把这两个公司,都是激烈的竞争者,构建有竞争力的网络,是在同一领域,不仅网络的重复,但也组织品牌…这是历史上最大的电信集成过世界。当然是最快的一个电信集成过世界上规模,规模、客户数量,数量的网站,等等…,有挑战性,但是一个非常有益的旅程从这个角度来看。
当然,我们有很多外在的东西,不管是AGR(调整后的总收益),是否发生的其他诉讼或监管变革的发生。我们倾向于忘记。在这些斗争中监管机构决定IUC(互连使用费用)将是零,世界上前所未闻的。今天没有其他人呢。但是印度决定这是他们想要去的地方,没有任何理由;减少国际终止。各种各样的东西一直在发生,这是真的,在某些方面,出血了行业真的是导致很多挑战。所有这些都处理…经历了一个非常困难的时候,我们在哪儿。它已经变成了一个好的结果。
沃达丰是什么想法呢?
大约两年前,甚至Airtel也抱怨的情况有多糟糕,因为竞争对手基本上给予免费服务或几乎免费服务,破坏市场。行业和产业将如何扭转。多个价格上涨是不可想象的。但是,2020年12月2019年12月,然后…合理价格上涨开始发生。4 g服务的整体渗透真正开始爆炸,数据使用开始爆炸。所有的行业链开始朝着正确的方向前进。甚至一些政府采取行动,开始改变一些监管像我们不要收费频谱用户收费,让我们给这个行业四年暂停试图恢复从流动性的角度来看,其他好的选择,改变AGR的定义。所以,你开始看到有点好转的健康,我认为这是非常积极的。
在沃达丰想法是最糟糕的?
我们在运营效率方面,不仅在试图巩固网络,我们已经开始看到品牌开始,品牌指标改善,在正确的方向上,在市场上有真正的牵引。客户数量开始稳定…连续三个季度的营收增长,四分之三的ARPU连续增长,四分之三的4 g潜艇连续增长。
所以,改进你在说什么,为什么不封闭的资金吗?
如果你从外部看,两年前,我们的启动子真的出去,说这些企业都是非常困难的,没有更多的钱来了。有各种各样的指控,他们试图摆脱业务。仅仅一个多月前,Rs4500卢比的股本来自两个启动子。世界上没有启动子,不管他们是多么的富有,谁会把钱——很多钱——除非他们认为有一些
好处和价值,他们看到的,因为他们都可以用这些钱去做一些其他。,所以这是一个转变。
与银行的谈判呢?外部投资者呢?你已经跟阿波罗全球了…你能确认吗?
我不能评论我们对基金筹集与具体的实体。
他们(银行)有银行担保的Rs 16000卢比从政府…这意味着他们暴露在这些已经下降。现在我们在深层本质上与他们接触一个新的包在我们如何向前进步,他们如何能帮助我们与他们的支持对我们的流动性以及我们的资金问题。
然后,当然,与外部第三方投资者,新投资者,订婚也深。我认为有建立信任,我相信,这些投资将会通过。所以,我们发现自己在一个非常好的旅行。
给你这种乐观的感觉是什么?你仍然落后于你的竞争对手很长一段路。你还是失去收入市场份额…
这是历史。很明显,你必须从中吸取教训。我认为他们大宏观趋势…跑道很长。像印度这样的大国,三家私人玩家是一个伟大的产业结构。智能手机普及率为58%,56% 4 g渗透,有差不多的市场面前……然后开始谈论5克,大约6克。就像总理说的,这个行业是如何数字增长的平台…如果我们开始考虑采用数字服务,如果我们开始思考如何将这个基础设施,在我们的城市在我们的日常生活和新技术在企业中,企业和物联网,等等。我想说我们在冰山的一角。如果智能手机4 g渗透是55 - 60%,我们在1 - 5%的东西,想象跑道,我们已经在我们面前。
我们必须要考虑五年,会发生什么。我认为这是一种伟大的乐观情绪这将去哪里。
这是我们在一场马拉松。这个东西,我们已经运行得很好,我们会继续做的。
但是定价呢?
我们总是抱怨价格,很低。但在某些方面,这就是创造了一个机会,这意味着价格只会朝着一个方向走,这是…价格会上升,在过去的两年里。我们希望继续旅程。这意味着消费者赢得以及行业获胜。我总是谈论这一事实的钱包份额,电信已经在整个家务是如此之小。从这个角度来看,我很乐观。当然,年轻的和年轻的,客户和消费者也越来越多,这意味着,再一次,他们这些服务价值,可能远远超过一些老一辈。他们认为这是至关重要的。
资金关闭讨论时间表吗?
我不想把时间但我们比我们更接近。当我们开始参与银行,投资者,每个人,包括我们的一个清单,有资金发生的必要条件。现在我想说的几乎所有,即使不是全部,已经检查了,这意味着我们比我们更接近。没有真正的障碍。
是什么/是仍然需要检查的步骤之前融资关闭?
还有一个步骤,也就是政府转换…我们知道它将会发生…它只是一个过程,需要时间。再一次,我们听到从政府和合适的人马上就来了。很难有人把钱放在桌子上不知道的分享会。
是什么,你想与银行重组?
我们的总债务也接近Rs 2十万的卢比。大约90%的与政府这是…我们不需要支付至少在接下来的四年。顺便说一下,四年后,如果我不能支付,我们有其他的选择。如果我看其余的债务,它是10%的债务,所以不到Rs 20000卢比。现在债务从银行的角度来看,是完全可控的,非常适合我的尺寸。我们希望他们能支持我们,我们需要更多的投资。所以的讨论都是在这个意义上,不仅仅是现有的还款但是银行如何支持我们未来的投资。
总额是多少,根据你的评估,你现在需要使沃达丰知道竞争吗?
没有真正从总数量约Rs 25000卢比。Rs 4500 - 5000卢比,大约已经来了。所以现在我们下降到假设圆图的Rs 20000卢比。所以我们看Rs 10000卢比从银行和Rs 10000卢比权益。
我们有大量的银行支付12月,1月,2月,Rs 6000 - 7000卢比。我们支付他们所有的时间。这些步骤给信心,公司会兑现承诺。建立信任是必要的
的两个——资金从股票投资者或与银行的谈判,将实现第一?
我认为,他们可能会同时发生。因为在某些方面,他们是有点联系,因为一般来说,任何银行想知道,是否有确认这个股权来了吗?和外部投资者想知道银行和贷款机构。讨论是全面的和在一起。
有人说,沃达丰的想法需要Rs 40 - 50000卢比…
我们已经完成了我们的商业计划和知道我们想要什么。我们看着我们的立场,我们需要投资在哪里?我们相信,这是正确的数量,勤奋已经完成。
是你受伤,难过,生气当苏尼尔•米塔尔表示,沃达丰想法痛苦是由于文化不匹配吗?也表明,一个缺乏治理信誉损害沃达丰想法的努力筹集资金。
我不伤害我或沮丧。的评论也许让我吃惊。
他说,在什么基础上?我不知道。他有权他的意见,就像每个人都是。他是一个人在这个行业很长时间了。据他自己承认,他的公司已经多次在崩溃的边缘。他承认,他已经恢复强从每个其中之一。所以,如果他看到自己出现更强的从他的艰难时期,我不知道为什么他认为我们不会打架。事实上,如果有的话,事实上,我们从来没有说过我们在崩溃的边缘。他说他的公司是在崩溃的边缘,但我们没有。所以从这个角度来看,坦率地说,我并不真正了解他的言论的基础。
但我可以告诉你,另一方面,我很高兴,如果他认为我竞争对手的一半。我更喜欢在那个位置。因为,坦率地说,总是好的失败者,然后从那边战斗。所以对我来说,而不是为这件事苦恼,其实,它让我们更有理由说,好了,实际上,我们是在一个地方,我们会惊喜的人,正如我们在过去的两年里。我们出来更强——从我们两、三年前的我们在哪里。
沃达丰的想法已经失去了很多收入市场份额,用户市场份额。还活跃在3月的市场份额。是电信的趋势的开始吗?
在今年的第一季度,我们在这激烈的第二波大流行,当我们得到了。但自那以后,这种趋势已经恢复。我认为这一趋势都在积极的方向上。收入、APRUs 4 g用户已经企稳。现在,如果我们失去了顾客,这是在2 g。如果我们失去了顾客,主要是因为SIM整合开始发生,我认为这是一个行业的现象,甚至已经被这些事情影响最大的球员。不一定是一件坏事,长期来看,这是一个健康的事情。因为这意味着人们实际上巩固他们的支出并不意味着他们将花费更少。
所以,我们看到沃达丰主意报告净新增用户数在当前季度到6月吗?
我不能给你前瞻性信息。
但我可以告诉你,如果你看用户的趋势,如果你看看我们在4 g数字更重要的是,如果你看看APRU的数字,我认为这些趋势都是在正确的方向上,他们将继续下去。
你能把一些FY23光你的资本支出计划吗?你真的需要支出赶上竞争对手…
我们肯定可以使用更多的资本支出。话虽如此,我认为我们做得相当不错,,约束…我们在市场上竞争非常严格。我们的报道有点落后于4 g比我们的竞争对手。但是给你一个想法,我们覆盖10亿人口的4 g。如果我们看看我的竞争对手,他们可能更对我们说,2亿多。但是在我现在的地方,我们的网络质量一样好,如果不是更好,我们争夺顾客。由于缺乏资本支出,我们的挑战,我认为我们已经设法保持自己的体重。
但我认为资本支出我们将花多少钱超出我们能够做的通过我们的内部accurals显然取决于资金的讨论。外部融资是资本支出…这就是为什么我们渴望得到,因为我认为它会给我们更多的市场竞争优势。资本支出的优先顺序覆盖。
你的资产盈利计划的状态是什么?纤维、数据中心、土地…
我们不做任何的事情是因为我们的讨论与放贷机构和投资者现在是正确的讨论。这就是我们关注的。第二部分是这些资产剥离,耗费时间。我们现在很关注其他优先级,我们不会说我们永远不会看他们。他们非常有价值的资产。但是现在,我们的重点是让我们的资金关闭。
塔·Vittal说有一天说,关税将在2022年再次增加。你的观点呢?和你会带头?
我完全同意这一事实需要今年价格上涨。
我们一直说,如果需要我们会带头。但是我需要做的是正确的时候对我的生意。如果有人带头,它变得更容易。但是我肯定不会回避带头。如果我不是第一个,我将很快跟进。
5 g拍卖上来。你对价格的看法吗?如何积极的你能或你会给你的财务约束?
坦率地说,我认为在我的位置会很高兴如果频谱只是给我们,对吗?我的意思是,连一个卢比太高了。虽然价格可能已经改善,我们必须赞扬火车之类的付款条件。
如果我们看一下语句,政府,总理本人谈到这一事实如何这是一个经济加速器,等等。我觉得从这个角度来看,坦率地说,试图从光谱拿钱,如果这减缓了推广,我认为这可能不是最好的国家。
已经说过,我们还没有看到最后的数字,我认为那些仍在内阁讨论。
5克已经启动在全球100个国家。我认为这是公平地说,即使几年推出的服务,很难看到有多少国家的货币化5 g。很难看到有什么好处,我们将得到…我们清楚地知道,它提供了一个更高的容量和更便宜的价格。但这是一个降低成本元素而不是收入增加的元素。所以,我认为用例是真的是在工作。我认为重要的是我们继续努力的用例。我认为这是一个可能性,印度用例可能会很快出来,速度比全球的情况下。
印度有一种惊喜…有一个用例不工作在其他国家,但由于印度的独特性,它可能在印度飞。因此,尽管很难看到,今天的货币化的用例是什么,我想我在长期保持乐观。
5 g是一个长期的玩…拍卖情况发生时,在某种程度上,这并不意味着明天5 g部署,突然它会改变我们的企业运行的方式,消费者突然将开始看到这是截然不同的。因为今天是不存在的。但是这可能发生在未来2 - 4年?我当然知道这是一个可能性。它不是立即好转。
如何积极的或竞争沃达丰想法将在5 g拍卖?
我不能谈论我5 g战略原因很明显。我们也要看政府和储备价格等等等等。
但我们要竞争(5克)市场。也许别人觉得我们不是竞争,我可以告诉你,我们的意图是总是有竞争力的,我们所做的一切。坦白说,我认为我们做一个合理的工作的竞争力。我不会坐在这里和你谈话,如果我不认为我将会是一个有竞争力的球员。
读也
你跟华为和中兴完全停止工作的给有线或无线新订单吗?
不。我不会说我们已经停止与他们合作。有很大的遗产的华为、中兴现在在这个国家,他们向我们提供支持的网络。所以我认为工作仍在继续,无论是固定核心或交通基础设施。清楚的是,我们显然必须按照政府的指导方针,要求…我们必须确保这些遵循最严格的水平。5 g的轨迹前进等等有点暂停与中国供应商,因为政府的政策和问题。
这种干扰成本平衡吗?用更少的设备供应商在市场上…
不,我们有合同,如果我们需要买现有的东西。我想这就是打开了球员成为一个生态系统发展的重要因素。我们作为一个行业相当擅长管理这些事情(成本)。我认为我们将继续管理。但我想说,没有任何戏剧性的变化,因为我认为欧洲供应商支持。他们也希望增加他们的市场份额。所以他们也往往是积极的(定价)。
你还跟三星齿轮供应吗?
我们跟每个人的市场。
你认为维尔可以利用新的供应商来降低网络成本和不确定性华为和中兴参与5 g辊出局?
我们的发起人股东团体OpenRAN空间做了很多工作。他们是世界上为数不多的公司已部署商业开放经营的产品服务客户。显然,我们学到很多东西。我们学习,他们使用什么产品,他们正在使用什么供应商,当然,我们在与他们的讨论。所以,我们看到显然是一个机会。当然,开放不仅是重要的工业技术创新、供应商生态系统,全面降低成本结构。
有人说OpenRAN并不成熟。您的评论。
像任何技术一样,一夜之间就没有什么变化。但它的一部分并不新鲜。它已经发生了五年…我的意思是,没有办法,沃达丰英国部署这项技术。我们已经证明,这种技术是可行的,不仅在商业使用,它与现有的技术和客户体验好。我认为随着时间的推移,其他的东西,如降低成本,其他事情也开始进来。
你能把一些色彩在企业和数字业务吗?
这些都是非常重要的支柱。
让我们开始与企业。业务已经从根本上改变了过去几年因为COVID,封锁。早些时候你有更大的企业,要通过转变,现在你看到中小企业也将走向数字化。当然,我们参与其中的一部分。我们不仅跟他们在云计算和物联网等服务,而且在数字化的企业。
你的竞争对手是真正推动数字业务。沃达丰的想法呢?
我们可以说相当不同的策略相比,其他的行业。我们的模型是基于事实基础设施,顾客,在我们的业务功能,绝对是至关重要的任何数字播放器扩大规模,让他们的生活更轻松。因为我们看到在印度,一个新的数码播放器,发现很容易得到第一个100万,500万,1000万的客户。如果你幸运的话,你会得到2000万。但你到达一个点,问,我如何继续我的生意增长。我认为这是我们真的可以帮助的地方将通过合作伙伴关系。
和我们的重点是合作关系。我不想与他们竞争。所以我们的计划,我们的战略是把前2 - 3玩家在每一个行业。我做了很深的合作关系。这是基于信任,因为我们不是竞争。但它也是基于这样一个事实,我将提供你和我的业务深度集成。这为他们创造了粘性。然后,当然,使用功能,我已经在我的网络,来帮助他们成长得更快。和我的客户能够附加服务经验。
企业贡献你的总收入是多少?
我不认为我们已经披露的这一数字,但我可以告诉你是显著的。
是与数字相同的吗?
数字也增长得更快。显然,今天小于企业业务。但在这里,我想接触水平现在真的是很重要的。我认为收入将出现。有合理的收入。
<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>Vodafone Idea<\/a> MD and CEO Ravinder Takkar<\/a> <\/strong>speaks to ET's Romit Guha and Danish Khan on the telco's journey so far, the challenges and opportunities ahead. Edited excerpts:
How do you see the journey of VIL since integration?<\/strong>
To start off by saying that it has been a difficult, challenging task. The biggest thing was we had to take these two companies, which were fierce competitors, build competitive networks, were operating in the same territory, had duplication of not only the networks, but also organization brands… it is on record as the largest telco integration ever done in the world. It is certainly one of the fastest telco integrations ever done in the world in terms of the sheer size, scale, customer numbers, number of sites, and so on…that has been challenging, but a very rewarding journey from that perspective.
Then, of course, we got hit by a lot of external stuff, whether it was the AGR (adjusted gross revenue), whether it was other litigation that was taking place or some of the regulatory changes that took place. We tend to forget. In the middle of these fights where the regulator decided the IUC (interconnection usage charge) will be zero, unheard of in the world. Nobody else does it today. But India decided this is where they want to go, for no reason; reduced international termination. All kinds of stuff just kept on happening, which was really, in some ways, bleeding the industry<\/a> and was really causing a lot of challenges. All of those were handled…came through a very difficult time, to where we are. It has turned out to be an OK outcome in the end.
What is Vodafone Idea now?<\/strong>
About two years ago, even Airtel was also complaining about how bad the situation is, because one of the competitors basically giving a free service or practically a free service, destroying the market. And the industry talk was about how will the industry turn around. Multiple price increases were unimaginable. But, first December 2019, and then in December 2020…reasonable price increases started to take place. The overall penetration of 4G services really started to explode, data usage started to explode. All the industry strands started to move in the right direction. Even some of the actions taken by the government - starting to change some of the regulation like let's not charge for spectrum user charges going forward, let's give the industry a four-year moratorium to try to recover from a liquidity perspective, other good other options, changing the definition of AGR. So, you start to see a bit of a turnaround in the health, which I think has been very positive.
Is the worst over for Vodafone Idea?<\/strong>
Where we are in terms of operational efficiency, in terms of trying to not only consolidate the network, we have started to see that the brand is starting to stick, the brand metrics are improving and going in the right direction, and there's real traction in the market. Customer numbers started to stabilize… three quarters of revenue growth in a row, three quarters of ARPU growth in a row, three quarters of 4G subs growth in a row.
So, with the improvement that you are talking about, why has the funding not closed as yet?
<\/strong>
If you look externally, two years ago, our promoters were really going out and saying these businesses are really very difficult, there's no more money coming. There were all kinds of allegations that they're trying to get out of the business. Well, just a little over a month ago, Rs4500 crores of equity coming in from both promoters. And there is no promoter in the world, no matter how rich they are, who will put in money - a lot of money - unless they believe that there is some
benefit and value that they see, because they can all use the money for something else. And, and so that's been a turnaround.
What about the talks with lenders? External investors? You have been talking to Apollo Global for a while now…can you confirm?
<\/strong>
I cannot comment on specific entities we are engaged with for fund raise.
They (lenders) have bank guarantees of Rs 16,000 crores back from the government… which means their exposure on those have gone down. And now we are in deep engagement with them for essentially working on a new package around how we progress forward, how they can help us with their support on our liquidity as well as our funding issues.
And then, of course, with external third-party investors as well, new investors as well, their engagement is deep as well. And I think there's confidence building, and I am confident that those investments will come through as well. So, we find ourselves in a very, very good journey.
What is giving you this sense of optimism? You still lag your competitors by a long way. You are still losing revenue market share…
<\/strong>
This is history. And obviously you have to learn from it. I think they're the big macro trends…the runway is quite long. A large country like India, with three private players is a great industry structure. At 58%, smartphone penetration, 56% 4G penetration in the country, there's almost as much market in front...then start talking about 5G<\/a>, and about 6G. Like the Prime Minister said,how this industry is the platform for digital growth…if we start thinking about adoption of digital services, if we start thinking about how we will bring this infrastructure, into our cities in our everyday life and new technologies in the enterprise, businesses and IoT, and so on. I will say we are at the tip of the iceberg. If smartphone 4G penetration is 55-60%, we are at 1-5% on the other stuff, imagine the runway that we have in front of us.
We have to think about five years, what's going to happen. I think there's a great sense of optimism about where this will go.
This is a marathon we are on. And we have been running this thing well, and we will continue to do.
But what about pricing?
<\/strong>
We all always complain about pricing, it's low. But in some ways, that is what creates an opportunity, which means prices can only go one way, which is up…prices will go up as they have in the last two years. And we expect that journey to continue. Which means that the consumers win as well as the industry wins. I've always talked about the fact that the share of wallet that telecom has in the overall housework is so small. I'm very bullish from that perspective. And of course, the younger and younger you go, the customers and consumers are more and more and more engaged, which means, again, they value these services, a lot more than probably some of the older generations. They see that as essential.
Any timeline for the funding discussions to close?
<\/strong>
I don't want to put timelines but we are closer than we've ever been. When we started off the engagement with lenders, investors, everybody, including us, had a sort of a checklist that there are essential for funding to happen. And now I would say almost all, if not all, have been checked off, which means we are closer than we've ever been. There is no real impediment.
What is\/are the steps that still need to be checked before the funding closes?
<\/strong>
There's one more step, which is the government conversion…we know it will happen…It's just a process that takes time. Again, we hear from the government and the right people is that it's just around the corner. It's very difficult for somebody to put money on the table without knowing what the share will be.
What is amount that you're looking to restructure with lenders?
<\/strong>
Our total debt which is close to Rs 2 lakh crores. Around 90% of this is with the Government…we don't need to pay at least for the next four years. And by the way, four years later, if I can't pay, we have other options. If I look at the rest of the debt, it is 10% of my debt, so less than Rs 20,000 crores. Now that debt from a bank perspective, is perfectly manageable and very adequate for my size business. We want them to support us for more investments that we need to make. So the discussions are both in that sense, not just about existing repayments but how can banks support us for future investments as well.
So what is the total amount that, as per your assessment, that you need right now to make Vodafone Idea competitive?
<\/strong>
The number hasn't really changed from total of about Rs 25,000 crores. Of that about Rs 4500-5000 crores have already come. So now we're down to about let's say a round figure of about Rs 20,000 crores. So we are looking at about Rs 10,000 crores from lenders and Rs 10,000 crores from equity.
We had a significant amount of bank payments in December, January, February, about Rs 6000-7000 crores. We paid all of them on time. These steps give confidence that the company will deliver on promises. Building credibility is necessary
So, which of the two – funding from equity investors or talks with lenders - will materialize first?
<\/strong>
I would think that that they will probably happen simultaneously. Because in some ways, they are a little bit linked, because generally, any lender would like to know, is there a confirmation that this equity is coming in? And external investors would want to know if banks and lenders are on board. The discussions are holistic and together.
Some say Vodafone idea would need Rs 40-50,000 crores…
<\/strong>
We've done our business plans and know what we want. We've looked at our position, where do we need to invest? And we're confident that this is the right amount, the diligence has been done as well.
Were you hurt, upset, angry when Sunil Mittal said that Vodafone Idea is suffering due a cultural mismatch? Also, it was indicated that a lack of governance credibility is hurting Vodafone Idea’s efforts to raise funds.
<\/strong>
It doesn't hurt me or upset me. The comments maybe surprised me.
On what basis does he say that? I don't know. He is entitled to his opinion, like everybody is. He is a person who's been in the industry for a very long time. By his own admission, his company had been at the brink of collapse multiple times. And by his admission, he has recovered stronger from each one of those. So, if he has seen himself emerge stronger from his tough times, I don't know why he thinks that we will not fight. In fact, if anything, actually, we've never said that we were at the brink of collapse. He said his company was at the brink of collapse, but we weren't. So from that perspective, frankly, I don't really understand the basis of his comments.
But I can tell you on the flip side, I'm very happy if he believes that I'm half a competitor. I prefer to be in that position. Because frankly it's always good to be the underdog and then fight from that side. So for me, instead of getting upset about it, actually, it gives us more reason to say, good, actually, we are in a place where we are actually going to surprise people, as we have in the last two years. We have come out stronger - from where we were two or three years ago to where we are.
Vodafone Idea has lost a lot of revenue market share, subscriber market share. It added active market share in the month of March. Is that the start of a trend for the telco?
<\/strong>
In the Q1 of this year, we're in the midst of this raging second wave pandemic, when we got hit on. But since then, the trend has sort of recovered. And I think the trends are all in the positive direction. Revenues, APRUs, 4G subscribers have stabilized. Now, if we lose customers, it's really on 2G. If we lose customers, it's predominantly because SIM consolidation is starting to take place, which I think is an industry phenomenon and even the biggest player has been impacted by those things. And it's not necessarily a bad thing, longer-term, it's a healthy thing for the industry. Because it means that people actually consolidate their spending which doesn’t mean they will spend less.
So, would we see Vodafone Idea report net subscriber additions in the current quarter through June?
<\/strong>
I can't give you forward looking information.
But I can tell you that if you look at subscriber trends, if you look at where we are on more importantly 4G numbers, if you look at APRU numbers, I think those trends are all going in the right direction, and they will continue.
Can you throw some light on your capex plans for FY23? You really need to up your spending to catch up with rivals…
<\/strong>
We could surely use more capex. Having said that, I think we have done reasonably well, given, again, the constraints…we compete quite rigorously in the market. Our coverage is a little bit behind on 4G compared to our competitors. But to give you an idea, we cover 1 billion as a population for 4G. If we look at my competitors, they might be more about let's say, 200 million more. But in the areas where I am present, our network quality is as good, if not better, we compete for customer acquisition. So given the lack of capex and the challenges that we've had, I think we've managed to hold our own weight.
But I think how much capex we will spend beyond what we are capable of doing through our internal accurals obviously depends on the funding discussion. External funding is really for capex…which is why we are keen to get that going, because I think it'll give us even a more competitive edge in the market. Prioritisation of capex is on coverage.
What is the status of your asset monetisation plans? Fibre, data centre, land…
<\/strong>
We're not doing that any of those things is because the discussion that we're having right now with lenders and investors is the right discussion. And that's what we are focused on. The second part is that any of these divestments, they are time consuming. Our focus right now is really on other priorities, We will not say that we will never look at them. They're very valuable assets. But for now, our focus is really to get our funding closed.
Gopal Vittal said the other day said that tariffs would increase once more in 2022. Your views? And would you take the lead?
<\/strong>
I fully agree with the fact that there needs to be a price increase this year.
We have always said that we will take the lead if required. But I need to do it when it's the right time for my business. If there's somebody else taking the lead, it becomes easier. But I will certainly not shy away from taking the lead. And if I'm not the first one, I'll be very quick to follow up.
5G auctions<\/a> are coming up. Your views on the pricing? How aggressive can you be or will you be, given your financial constraints?
<\/strong>
I think in my position, frankly, would be very happy if the spectrum was just given to us, right? I mean, even one rupee is too high. While pricing could have been improved, we must commend TRAI on things like payment terms.
If we look at the statements that the government has made, Prime Minister himself talked about the fact that how this is an accelerator to the economy, and so on. I think from that perspective, frankly, trying to take money from spectrum, if that slows down the rollout, I think that is probably not the best thing for the for the country.
Having said that, we have still not seen the final numbers, I think those are still in the Cabinet discussion.
5G has been launched in less than 100 countries across the globe. I would say that it's fair to say that even after a few years of having launched the service, it is very difficult to see how many of those countries have monetized 5G. It's very hard to see what benefit we will get…we know clearly that it provides a higher capacity and a cheaper price. But that's a cost reduction element rather than a revenue increase element. So, I think the use cases are really to be worked upon. And I think it's important that we continue to work on use cases. I think it's a possibility that Indian use cases may come out sooner and faster than global cases.
India has a way to surprise…there's a use case that doesn't work in other countries, but because of the uniqueness of India, it may fly in India. So, while it's difficult to see, what are the monetization use cases today, I think I remain optimistic in the longer-term.
5G is a long-term play…when the auction happens, at some point, it doesn't mean that tomorrow 5G gets deployed, that suddenly it'll change the way our businesses run, the way consumers suddenly will start to see something which is dramatically different. Because that doesn't exist today. But can it happen in the next 2-4 years? I certainly see that that is a possibility. It's not an immediate turnaround.
How aggressive or competitive Vodafone Idea will be in the 5G auctions?
<\/strong>
I can't talk about my 5G strategy for obvious reasons. We have to also look at the government and reserve prices and so on so forth.
But we are going to be competitive in that (5G) market. Maybe other people like to think that we are not competitive, I can tell you that our intent is to be always competitive in everything that we do. And frankly, I think we do a reasonable job of being competitive. I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you if I didn't think I would be a competitive player.
Read also<\/h4><\/a><\/figure>Capital raise essential to Vodafone Idea’s participation in 5G auction, market competitiveness: Analysts<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Cultural differences have hurt merged Vodafone Idea: Sunil Mittal<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Investment in 5G ‘super-critical’: Vodafone Idea<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Nokia set to replace Huawei gear in parts of Vodafone Idea's India network: Sources<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Have you stopped working with Huawei and ZTE completely in terms of giving new orders for wireline or wireless?
<\/strong>
No. I won't say that we have stopped working with them. There's a huge legacy of Huawei, ZTE in this country right now, the networks that they provide support to us on. So I think that work continues, whether it's fixed core or transport infrastructure. What is clear to us is that we have to obviously follow the government guidelines and mandate…we have to make sure that those are followed to the strictest level. The trajectory going forward with 5G and so on is a bit on hold with the Chinese suppliers because of the government policy and issues.
Does that sort of disturb the cost balance? With fewer equipment suppliers in the market…
<\/strong>
No, we have contracts with them, if we need to buy existing stuff. I think this is where Open RAN players have become an important element of the ecosystem development. We as an industry are reasonably good at managing those things (cost). And I think we will continue to manage that. So, but I would say that there hasn’t been any dramatic change because I think the European suppliers have been supportive. They're also keen to increase their market share as well. So they tend to be aggressive also (in pricing).
Are you also talking to Samsung for gear supplies?
<\/strong>
We talk to everybody in the market.
Do you think VIL can tap new vendors to bring down network costs with uncertainty over Huawei and ZTE’s participation in 5G roll outs?
<\/strong>
Our promoter shareholder group has done a lot of work in the OpenRAN space. And they are one of the few companies in the world which have deployed commercially open RAN products that are serving customers. Obviously, we learn a lot from that. We learn from that, what products they're using, what vendors they're using, and of course, we are in discussions with all of them. So, we see obviously that as an opportunity. And certainly, Open RAN is important for the industry for not only technological innovation, supplier ecosystem, also for overall bringing the cost structure down.
Some say OpenRAN is not mature. Your comments.
<\/strong>
Like anything in technology, nothing changes overnight. But a part of it is not new. It's been happening for five years…I mean, there's no way that Vodafone UK deploys this technology. So what we have now proven is that the technology works, not only in commercial use, it works with existing technology and customer experiences have been good. And then I think over time, other things like reducing costs, and other things also start to come in.
Can you throw some colour on the enterprise and digital businesses?
<\/strong>
Both of these are very important pillars.
Let's start with enterprise. The business has fundamentally changed in the last couple of years because of the COVID, lockdown. Earlier you had bigger businesses that were going through transition, now you see small and medium-sized businesses also transforming as well towards digitalization. And we, of course, participate in that part of it as well. We talk to them not only in services like Cloud and IoT, but also in digitalization of their businesses.
Your competitors are really driving up the digital business. What about Vodafone Idea?
<\/strong>
We have taken I would say a reasonably different strategy compared to the rest of the industry. Our model is very much based on the fact that we have infrastructure,customers, capabilities within our business, which are absolutely critical for any digital player to scale up and make their life easier. Because we see in India all the time, a new digital player comes in, finds it easy to get the first 1 million, 5 million, 10 million customers. If you're lucky, you get to 20 million. But you reach a point and ask, how do I continue to grow my business. And I think this is the area where we can really help in terms of bringing that through partnerships.
And our focus is really on partnerships. I don't want to compete with them. So our plan and our strategy is really to take the top two-three players in every industry. I do a very deep partnership with them. which is based on trust because we're not competing. But it's also based on the fact that I will provide you deep integration with my business. And that creates stickiness for them. And then, of course, using the capabilities that I have in my network, to actually help them grow faster. And also for my customers to be able to experience additional services.
How much does enterprises contribute to your total revenue?
<\/strong>
I don't think we've disclosed that number, but I can tell you is that it is significant.
Is it the same with digital as well?
<\/strong>
Digital is also growing as faster. Obviously, it's smaller than the enterprise business today. But here, I think the engagement levels are really the ones that are important right now. I think revenue will come along. There's reasonable revenue.
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<\/a><\/figure>Capital raise essential to Vodafone Idea’s participation in 5G auction, market competitiveness: Analysts<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Cultural differences have hurt merged Vodafone Idea: Sunil Mittal<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Investment in 5G ‘super-critical’: Vodafone Idea<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Nokia set to replace Huawei gear in parts of Vodafone Idea's India network: Sources<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Have you stopped working with Huawei and ZTE completely in terms of giving new orders for wireline or wireless?
<\/strong>
No. I won't say that we have stopped working with them. There's a huge legacy of Huawei, ZTE in this country right now, the networks that they provide support to us on. So I think that work continues, whether it's fixed core or transport infrastructure. What is clear to us is that we have to obviously follow the government guidelines and mandate…we have to make sure that those are followed to the strictest level. The trajectory going forward with 5G and so on is a bit on hold with the Chinese suppliers because of the government policy and issues.
Does that sort of disturb the cost balance? With fewer equipment suppliers in the market…
<\/strong>
No, we have contracts with them, if we need to buy existing stuff. I think this is where Open RAN players have become an important element of the ecosystem development. We as an industry are reasonably good at managing those things (cost). And I think we will continue to manage that. So, but I would say that there hasn’t been any dramatic change because I think the European suppliers have been supportive. They're also keen to increase their market share as well. So they tend to be aggressive also (in pricing).
Are you also talking to Samsung for gear supplies?
<\/strong>
We talk to everybody in the market.
Do you think VIL can tap new vendors to bring down network costs with uncertainty over Huawei and ZTE’s participation in 5G roll outs?
<\/strong>
Our promoter shareholder group has done a lot of work in the OpenRAN space. And they are one of the few companies in the world which have deployed commercially open RAN products that are serving customers. Obviously, we learn a lot from that. We learn from that, what products they're using, what vendors they're using, and of course, we are in discussions with all of them. So, we see obviously that as an opportunity. And certainly, Open RAN is important for the industry for not only technological innovation, supplier ecosystem, also for overall bringing the cost structure down.
Some say OpenRAN is not mature. Your comments.
<\/strong>
Like anything in technology, nothing changes overnight. But a part of it is not new. It's been happening for five years…I mean, there's no way that Vodafone UK deploys this technology. So what we have now proven is that the technology works, not only in commercial use, it works with existing technology and customer experiences have been good. And then I think over time, other things like reducing costs, and other things also start to come in.
Can you throw some colour on the enterprise and digital businesses?
<\/strong>
Both of these are very important pillars.
Let's start with enterprise. The business has fundamentally changed in the last couple of years because of the COVID, lockdown. Earlier you had bigger businesses that were going through transition, now you see small and medium-sized businesses also transforming as well towards digitalization. And we, of course, participate in that part of it as well. We talk to them not only in services like Cloud and IoT, but also in digitalization of their businesses.
Your competitors are really driving up the digital business. What about Vodafone Idea?
<\/strong>
We have taken I would say a reasonably different strategy compared to the rest of the industry. Our model is very much based on the fact that we have infrastructure,customers, capabilities within our business, which are absolutely critical for any digital player to scale up and make their life easier. Because we see in India all the time, a new digital player comes in, finds it easy to get the first 1 million, 5 million, 10 million customers. If you're lucky, you get to 20 million. But you reach a point and ask, how do I continue to grow my business. And I think this is the area where we can really help in terms of bringing that through partnerships.
And our focus is really on partnerships. I don't want to compete with them. So our plan and our strategy is really to take the top two-three players in every industry. I do a very deep partnership with them. which is based on trust because we're not competing. But it's also based on the fact that I will provide you deep integration with my business. And that creates stickiness for them. And then, of course, using the capabilities that I have in my network, to actually help them grow faster. And also for my customers to be able to experience additional services.
How much does enterprises contribute to your total revenue?
<\/strong>
I don't think we've disclosed that number, but I can tell you is that it is significant.
Is it the same with digital as well?
<\/strong>
Digital is also growing as faster. Obviously, it's smaller than the enterprise business today. But here, I think the engagement levels are really the ones that are important right now. I think revenue will come along. There's reasonable revenue.
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- Telecom乐动扑克News
- 19分钟阅读
乐动娱乐招聘ETTelecom采访:沃达丰主意的Ravinder Takkar资金,未来计划,5 g的策略,中国供应商
”还没有真正从总数量约Rs 25000卢比。Rs 4500 - 5000卢比,大约已经来了。所以现在我们下降到假设圆图的Rs 20000卢比。所以我们看Rs 10000卢比从银行和Rs 10000卢比股本。”
沃达丰的想法MD和首席执行官Ravinder Takkar与ET的Romit古汗和丹麦电信的旅行到目前为止,未来的挑战和机遇。编辑摘录:
你如何看待维尔从集成的旅程吗?
开始说,这是一个困难的,具有挑战性的任务。最大的事情是我们必须把这两个公司,都是激烈的竞争者,构建有竞争力的网络,是在同一领域,不仅网络的重复,但也组织品牌…这是历史上最大的电信集成过世界。当然是最快的一个电信集成过世界上规模,规模、客户数量,数量的网站,等等…,有挑战性,但是一个非常有益的旅程从这个角度来看。
当然,我们有很多外在的东西,不管是AGR(调整后的总收益),是否发生的其他诉讼或监管变革的发生。我们倾向于忘记。在这些斗争中监管机构决定IUC(互连使用费用)将是零,世界上前所未闻的。今天没有其他人呢。但是印度决定这是他们想要去的地方,没有任何理由;减少国际终止。各种各样的东西一直在发生,这是真的,在某些方面,出血了行业真的是导致很多挑战。所有这些都处理…经历了一个非常困难的时候,我们在哪儿。它已经变成了一个好的结果。
沃达丰是什么想法呢?
大约两年前,甚至Airtel也抱怨的情况有多糟糕,因为竞争对手基本上给予免费服务或几乎免费服务,破坏市场。行业和产业将如何扭转。多个价格上涨是不可想象的。但是,2020年12月2019年12月,然后…合理价格上涨开始发生。4 g服务的整体渗透真正开始爆炸,数据使用开始爆炸。所有的行业链开始朝着正确的方向前进。甚至一些政府采取行动,开始改变一些监管像我们不要收费频谱用户收费,让我们给这个行业四年暂停试图恢复从流动性的角度来看,其他好的选择,改变AGR的定义。所以,你开始看到有点好转的健康,我认为这是非常积极的。
在沃达丰想法是最糟糕的?
我们在运营效率方面,不仅在试图巩固网络,我们已经开始看到品牌开始,品牌指标改善,在正确的方向上,在市场上有真正的牵引。客户数量开始稳定…连续三个季度的营收增长,四分之三的ARPU连续增长,四分之三的4 g潜艇连续增长。
所以,改进你在说什么,为什么不封闭的资金吗?
如果你从外部看,两年前,我们的启动子真的出去,说这些企业都是非常困难的,没有更多的钱来了。有各种各样的指控,他们试图摆脱业务。仅仅一个多月前,Rs4500卢比的股本来自两个启动子。世界上没有启动子,不管他们是多么的富有,谁会把钱——很多钱——除非他们认为有一些
好处和价值,他们看到的,因为他们都可以用这些钱去做一些其他。,所以这是一个转变。
与银行的谈判呢?外部投资者呢?你已经跟阿波罗全球了…你能确认吗?
我不能评论我们对基金筹集与具体的实体。
他们(银行)有银行担保的Rs 16000卢比从政府…这意味着他们暴露在这些已经下降。现在我们在深层本质上与他们接触一个新的包在我们如何向前进步,他们如何能帮助我们与他们的支持对我们的流动性以及我们的资金问题。
然后,当然,与外部第三方投资者,新投资者,订婚也深。我认为有建立信任,我相信,这些投资将会通过。所以,我们发现自己在一个非常好的旅行。
给你这种乐观的感觉是什么?你仍然落后于你的竞争对手很长一段路。你还是失去收入市场份额…
这是历史。很明显,你必须从中吸取教训。我认为他们大宏观趋势…跑道很长。像印度这样的大国,三家私人玩家是一个伟大的产业结构。智能手机普及率为58%,56% 4 g渗透,有差不多的市场面前……然后开始谈论5克,大约6克。就像总理说的,这个行业是如何数字增长的平台…如果我们开始考虑采用数字服务,如果我们开始思考如何将这个基础设施,在我们的城市在我们的日常生活和新技术在企业中,企业和物联网,等等。我想说我们在冰山的一角。如果智能手机4 g渗透是55 - 60%,我们在1 - 5%的东西,想象跑道,我们已经在我们面前。
我们必须要考虑五年,会发生什么。我认为这是一种伟大的乐观情绪这将去哪里。
这是我们在一场马拉松。这个东西,我们已经运行得很好,我们会继续做的。
但是定价呢?
我们总是抱怨价格,很低。但在某些方面,这就是创造了一个机会,这意味着价格只会朝着一个方向走,这是…价格会上升,在过去的两年里。我们希望继续旅程。这意味着消费者赢得以及行业获胜。我总是谈论这一事实的钱包份额,电信已经在整个家务是如此之小。从这个角度来看,我很乐观。当然,年轻的和年轻的,客户和消费者也越来越多,这意味着,再一次,他们这些服务价值,可能远远超过一些老一辈。他们认为这是至关重要的。
资金关闭讨论时间表吗?
我不想把时间但我们比我们更接近。当我们开始参与银行,投资者,每个人,包括我们的一个清单,有资金发生的必要条件。现在我想说的几乎所有,即使不是全部,已经检查了,这意味着我们比我们更接近。没有真正的障碍。
是什么/是仍然需要检查的步骤之前融资关闭?
还有一个步骤,也就是政府转换…我们知道它将会发生…它只是一个过程,需要时间。再一次,我们听到从政府和合适的人马上就来了。很难有人把钱放在桌子上不知道的分享会。
是什么,你想与银行重组?
我们的总债务也接近Rs 2十万的卢比。大约90%的与政府这是…我们不需要支付至少在接下来的四年。顺便说一下,四年后,如果我不能支付,我们有其他的选择。如果我看其余的债务,它是10%的债务,所以不到Rs 20000卢比。现在债务从银行的角度来看,是完全可控的,非常适合我的尺寸。我们希望他们能支持我们,我们需要更多的投资。所以的讨论都是在这个意义上,不仅仅是现有的还款但是银行如何支持我们未来的投资。
总额是多少,根据你的评估,你现在需要使沃达丰知道竞争吗?
没有真正从总数量约Rs 25000卢比。Rs 4500 - 5000卢比,大约已经来了。所以现在我们下降到假设圆图的Rs 20000卢比。所以我们看Rs 10000卢比从银行和Rs 10000卢比权益。
我们有大量的银行支付12月,1月,2月,Rs 6000 - 7000卢比。我们支付他们所有的时间。这些步骤给信心,公司会兑现承诺。建立信任是必要的
的两个——资金从股票投资者或与银行的谈判,将实现第一?
我认为,他们可能会同时发生。因为在某些方面,他们是有点联系,因为一般来说,任何银行想知道,是否有确认这个股权来了吗?和外部投资者想知道银行和贷款机构。讨论是全面的和在一起。
有人说,沃达丰的想法需要Rs 40 - 50000卢比…
我们已经完成了我们的商业计划和知道我们想要什么。我们看着我们的立场,我们需要投资在哪里?我们相信,这是正确的数量,勤奋已经完成。
是你受伤,难过,生气当苏尼尔•米塔尔表示,沃达丰想法痛苦是由于文化不匹配吗?也表明,一个缺乏治理信誉损害沃达丰想法的努力筹集资金。
我不伤害我或沮丧。的评论也许让我吃惊。
他说,在什么基础上?我不知道。他有权他的意见,就像每个人都是。他是一个人在这个行业很长时间了。据他自己承认,他的公司已经多次在崩溃的边缘。他承认,他已经恢复强从每个其中之一。所以,如果他看到自己出现更强的从他的艰难时期,我不知道为什么他认为我们不会打架。事实上,如果有的话,事实上,我们从来没有说过我们在崩溃的边缘。他说他的公司是在崩溃的边缘,但我们没有。所以从这个角度来看,坦率地说,我并不真正了解他的言论的基础。
但我可以告诉你,另一方面,我很高兴,如果他认为我竞争对手的一半。我更喜欢在那个位置。因为,坦率地说,总是好的失败者,然后从那边战斗。所以对我来说,而不是为这件事苦恼,其实,它让我们更有理由说,好了,实际上,我们是在一个地方,我们会惊喜的人,正如我们在过去的两年里。我们出来更强——从我们两、三年前的我们在哪里。
沃达丰的想法已经失去了很多收入市场份额,用户市场份额。还活跃在3月的市场份额。是电信的趋势的开始吗?
在今年的第一季度,我们在这激烈的第二波大流行,当我们得到了。但自那以后,这种趋势已经恢复。我认为这一趋势都在积极的方向上。收入、APRUs 4 g用户已经企稳。现在,如果我们失去了顾客,这是在2 g。如果我们失去了顾客,主要是因为SIM整合开始发生,我认为这是一个行业的现象,甚至已经被这些事情影响最大的球员。不一定是一件坏事,长期来看,这是一个健康的事情。因为这意味着人们实际上巩固他们的支出并不意味着他们将花费更少。
所以,我们看到沃达丰主意报告净新增用户数在当前季度到6月吗?
我不能给你前瞻性信息。
但我可以告诉你,如果你看用户的趋势,如果你看看我们在4 g数字更重要的是,如果你看看APRU的数字,我认为这些趋势都是在正确的方向上,他们将继续下去。
你能把一些FY23光你的资本支出计划吗?你真的需要支出赶上竞争对手…
我们肯定可以使用更多的资本支出。话虽如此,我认为我们做得相当不错,,约束…我们在市场上竞争非常严格。我们的报道有点落后于4 g比我们的竞争对手。但是给你一个想法,我们覆盖10亿人口的4 g。如果我们看看我的竞争对手,他们可能更对我们说,2亿多。但是在我现在的地方,我们的网络质量一样好,如果不是更好,我们争夺顾客。由于缺乏资本支出,我们的挑战,我认为我们已经设法保持自己的体重。
但我认为资本支出我们将花多少钱超出我们能够做的通过我们的内部accurals显然取决于资金的讨论。外部融资是资本支出…这就是为什么我们渴望得到,因为我认为它会给我们更多的市场竞争优势。资本支出的优先顺序覆盖。
你的资产盈利计划的状态是什么?纤维、数据中心、土地…
我们不做任何的事情是因为我们的讨论与放贷机构和投资者现在是正确的讨论。这就是我们关注的。第二部分是这些资产剥离,耗费时间。我们现在很关注其他优先级,我们不会说我们永远不会看他们。他们非常有价值的资产。但是现在,我们的重点是让我们的资金关闭。
塔·Vittal说有一天说,关税将在2022年再次增加。你的观点呢?和你会带头?
我完全同意这一事实需要今年价格上涨。
我们一直说,如果需要我们会带头。但是我需要做的是正确的时候对我的生意。如果有人带头,它变得更容易。但是我肯定不会回避带头。如果我不是第一个,我将很快跟进。
5 g拍卖上来。你对价格的看法吗?如何积极的你能或你会给你的财务约束?
坦率地说,我认为在我的位置会很高兴如果频谱只是给我们,对吗?我的意思是,连一个卢比太高了。虽然价格可能已经改善,我们必须赞扬火车之类的付款条件。
如果我们看一下语句,政府,总理本人谈到这一事实如何这是一个经济加速器,等等。我觉得从这个角度来看,坦率地说,试图从光谱拿钱,如果这减缓了推广,我认为这可能不是最好的国家。
已经说过,我们还没有看到最后的数字,我认为那些仍在内阁讨论。
5克已经启动在全球100个国家。我认为这是公平地说,即使几年推出的服务,很难看到有多少国家的货币化5 g。很难看到有什么好处,我们将得到…我们清楚地知道,它提供了一个更高的容量和更便宜的价格。但这是一个降低成本元素而不是收入增加的元素。所以,我认为用例是真的是在工作。我认为重要的是我们继续努力的用例。我认为这是一个可能性,印度用例可能会很快出来,速度比全球的情况下。
印度有一种惊喜…有一个用例不工作在其他国家,但由于印度的独特性,它可能在印度飞。因此,尽管很难看到,今天的货币化的用例是什么,我想我在长期保持乐观。
5 g是一个长期的玩…拍卖情况发生时,在某种程度上,这并不意味着明天5 g部署,突然它会改变我们的企业运行的方式,消费者突然将开始看到这是截然不同的。因为今天是不存在的。但是这可能发生在未来2 - 4年?我当然知道这是一个可能性。它不是立即好转。
如何积极的或竞争沃达丰想法将在5 g拍卖?
我不能谈论我5 g战略原因很明显。我们也要看政府和储备价格等等等等。
但我们要竞争(5克)市场。也许别人觉得我们不是竞争,我可以告诉你,我们的意图是总是有竞争力的,我们所做的一切。坦白说,我认为我们做一个合理的工作的竞争力。我不会坐在这里和你谈话,如果我不认为我将会是一个有竞争力的球员。
读也
你跟华为和中兴完全停止工作的给有线或无线新订单吗?
不。我不会说我们已经停止与他们合作。有很大的遗产的华为、中兴现在在这个国家,他们向我们提供支持的网络。所以我认为工作仍在继续,无论是固定核心或交通基础设施。清楚的是,我们显然必须按照政府的指导方针,要求…我们必须确保这些遵循最严格的水平。5 g的轨迹前进等等有点暂停与中国供应商,因为政府的政策和问题。
这种干扰成本平衡吗?用更少的设备供应商在市场上…
不,我们有合同,如果我们需要买现有的东西。我想这就是打开了球员成为一个生态系统发展的重要因素。我们作为一个行业相当擅长管理这些事情(成本)。我认为我们将继续管理。但我想说,没有任何戏剧性的变化,因为我认为欧洲供应商支持。他们也希望增加他们的市场份额。所以他们也往往是积极的(定价)。
你还跟三星齿轮供应吗?
我们跟每个人的市场。
你认为维尔可以利用新的供应商来降低网络成本和不确定性华为和中兴参与5 g辊出局?
我们的发起人股东团体OpenRAN空间做了很多工作。他们是世界上为数不多的公司已部署商业开放经营的产品服务客户。显然,我们学到很多东西。我们学习,他们使用什么产品,他们正在使用什么供应商,当然,我们在与他们的讨论。所以,我们看到显然是一个机会。当然,开放不仅是重要的工业技术创新、供应商生态系统,全面降低成本结构。
有人说OpenRAN并不成熟。您的评论。
像任何技术一样,一夜之间就没有什么变化。但它的一部分并不新鲜。它已经发生了五年…我的意思是,没有办法,沃达丰英国部署这项技术。我们已经证明,这种技术是可行的,不仅在商业使用,它与现有的技术和客户体验好。我认为随着时间的推移,其他的东西,如降低成本,其他事情也开始进来。
你能把一些色彩在企业和数字业务吗?
这些都是非常重要的支柱。
让我们开始与企业。业务已经从根本上改变了过去几年因为COVID,封锁。早些时候你有更大的企业,要通过转变,现在你看到中小企业也将走向数字化。当然,我们参与其中的一部分。我们不仅跟他们在云计算和物联网等服务,而且在数字化的企业。
你的竞争对手是真正推动数字业务。沃达丰的想法呢?
我们可以说相当不同的策略相比,其他的行业。我们的模型是基于事实基础设施,顾客,在我们的业务功能,绝对是至关重要的任何数字播放器扩大规模,让他们的生活更轻松。因为我们看到在印度,一个新的数码播放器,发现很容易得到第一个100万,500万,1000万的客户。如果你幸运的话,你会得到2000万。但你到达一个点,问,我如何继续我的生意增长。我认为这是我们真的可以帮助的地方将通过合作伙伴关系。
和我们的重点是合作关系。我不想与他们竞争。所以我们的计划,我们的战略是把前2 - 3玩家在每一个行业。我做了很深的合作关系。这是基于信任,因为我们不是竞争。但它也是基于这样一个事实,我将提供你和我的业务深度集成。这为他们创造了粘性。然后,当然,使用功能,我已经在我的网络,来帮助他们成长得更快。和我的客户能够附加服务经验。
企业贡献你的总收入是多少?
我不认为我们已经披露的这一数字,但我可以告诉你是显著的。
是与数字相同的吗?
数字也增长得更快。显然,今天小于企业业务。但在这里,我想接触水平现在真的是很重要的。我认为收入将出现。有合理的收入。
<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>Vodafone Idea<\/a> MD and CEO Ravinder Takkar<\/a> <\/strong>speaks to ET's Romit Guha and Danish Khan on the telco's journey so far, the challenges and opportunities ahead. Edited excerpts:
How do you see the journey of VIL since integration?<\/strong>
To start off by saying that it has been a difficult, challenging task. The biggest thing was we had to take these two companies, which were fierce competitors, build competitive networks, were operating in the same territory, had duplication of not only the networks, but also organization brands… it is on record as the largest telco integration ever done in the world. It is certainly one of the fastest telco integrations ever done in the world in terms of the sheer size, scale, customer numbers, number of sites, and so on…that has been challenging, but a very rewarding journey from that perspective.
Then, of course, we got hit by a lot of external stuff, whether it was the AGR (adjusted gross revenue), whether it was other litigation that was taking place or some of the regulatory changes that took place. We tend to forget. In the middle of these fights where the regulator decided the IUC (interconnection usage charge) will be zero, unheard of in the world. Nobody else does it today. But India decided this is where they want to go, for no reason; reduced international termination. All kinds of stuff just kept on happening, which was really, in some ways, bleeding the industry<\/a> and was really causing a lot of challenges. All of those were handled…came through a very difficult time, to where we are. It has turned out to be an OK outcome in the end.
What is Vodafone Idea now?<\/strong>
About two years ago, even Airtel was also complaining about how bad the situation is, because one of the competitors basically giving a free service or practically a free service, destroying the market. And the industry talk was about how will the industry turn around. Multiple price increases were unimaginable. But, first December 2019, and then in December 2020…reasonable price increases started to take place. The overall penetration of 4G services really started to explode, data usage started to explode. All the industry strands started to move in the right direction. Even some of the actions taken by the government - starting to change some of the regulation like let's not charge for spectrum user charges going forward, let's give the industry a four-year moratorium to try to recover from a liquidity perspective, other good other options, changing the definition of AGR. So, you start to see a bit of a turnaround in the health, which I think has been very positive.
Is the worst over for Vodafone Idea?<\/strong>
Where we are in terms of operational efficiency, in terms of trying to not only consolidate the network, we have started to see that the brand is starting to stick, the brand metrics are improving and going in the right direction, and there's real traction in the market. Customer numbers started to stabilize… three quarters of revenue growth in a row, three quarters of ARPU growth in a row, three quarters of 4G subs growth in a row.
So, with the improvement that you are talking about, why has the funding not closed as yet?
<\/strong>
If you look externally, two years ago, our promoters were really going out and saying these businesses are really very difficult, there's no more money coming. There were all kinds of allegations that they're trying to get out of the business. Well, just a little over a month ago, Rs4500 crores of equity coming in from both promoters. And there is no promoter in the world, no matter how rich they are, who will put in money - a lot of money - unless they believe that there is some
benefit and value that they see, because they can all use the money for something else. And, and so that's been a turnaround.
What about the talks with lenders? External investors? You have been talking to Apollo Global for a while now…can you confirm?
<\/strong>
I cannot comment on specific entities we are engaged with for fund raise.
They (lenders) have bank guarantees of Rs 16,000 crores back from the government… which means their exposure on those have gone down. And now we are in deep engagement with them for essentially working on a new package around how we progress forward, how they can help us with their support on our liquidity as well as our funding issues.
And then, of course, with external third-party investors as well, new investors as well, their engagement is deep as well. And I think there's confidence building, and I am confident that those investments will come through as well. So, we find ourselves in a very, very good journey.
What is giving you this sense of optimism? You still lag your competitors by a long way. You are still losing revenue market share…
<\/strong>
This is history. And obviously you have to learn from it. I think they're the big macro trends…the runway is quite long. A large country like India, with three private players is a great industry structure. At 58%, smartphone penetration, 56% 4G penetration in the country, there's almost as much market in front...then start talking about 5G<\/a>, and about 6G. Like the Prime Minister said,how this industry is the platform for digital growth…if we start thinking about adoption of digital services, if we start thinking about how we will bring this infrastructure, into our cities in our everyday life and new technologies in the enterprise, businesses and IoT, and so on. I will say we are at the tip of the iceberg. If smartphone 4G penetration is 55-60%, we are at 1-5% on the other stuff, imagine the runway that we have in front of us.
We have to think about five years, what's going to happen. I think there's a great sense of optimism about where this will go.
This is a marathon we are on. And we have been running this thing well, and we will continue to do.
But what about pricing?
<\/strong>
We all always complain about pricing, it's low. But in some ways, that is what creates an opportunity, which means prices can only go one way, which is up…prices will go up as they have in the last two years. And we expect that journey to continue. Which means that the consumers win as well as the industry wins. I've always talked about the fact that the share of wallet that telecom has in the overall housework is so small. I'm very bullish from that perspective. And of course, the younger and younger you go, the customers and consumers are more and more and more engaged, which means, again, they value these services, a lot more than probably some of the older generations. They see that as essential.
Any timeline for the funding discussions to close?
<\/strong>
I don't want to put timelines but we are closer than we've ever been. When we started off the engagement with lenders, investors, everybody, including us, had a sort of a checklist that there are essential for funding to happen. And now I would say almost all, if not all, have been checked off, which means we are closer than we've ever been. There is no real impediment.
What is\/are the steps that still need to be checked before the funding closes?
<\/strong>
There's one more step, which is the government conversion…we know it will happen…It's just a process that takes time. Again, we hear from the government and the right people is that it's just around the corner. It's very difficult for somebody to put money on the table without knowing what the share will be.
What is amount that you're looking to restructure with lenders?
<\/strong>
Our total debt which is close to Rs 2 lakh crores. Around 90% of this is with the Government…we don't need to pay at least for the next four years. And by the way, four years later, if I can't pay, we have other options. If I look at the rest of the debt, it is 10% of my debt, so less than Rs 20,000 crores. Now that debt from a bank perspective, is perfectly manageable and very adequate for my size business. We want them to support us for more investments that we need to make. So the discussions are both in that sense, not just about existing repayments but how can banks support us for future investments as well.
So what is the total amount that, as per your assessment, that you need right now to make Vodafone Idea competitive?
<\/strong>
The number hasn't really changed from total of about Rs 25,000 crores. Of that about Rs 4500-5000 crores have already come. So now we're down to about let's say a round figure of about Rs 20,000 crores. So we are looking at about Rs 10,000 crores from lenders and Rs 10,000 crores from equity.
We had a significant amount of bank payments in December, January, February, about Rs 6000-7000 crores. We paid all of them on time. These steps give confidence that the company will deliver on promises. Building credibility is necessary
So, which of the two – funding from equity investors or talks with lenders - will materialize first?
<\/strong>
I would think that that they will probably happen simultaneously. Because in some ways, they are a little bit linked, because generally, any lender would like to know, is there a confirmation that this equity is coming in? And external investors would want to know if banks and lenders are on board. The discussions are holistic and together.
Some say Vodafone idea would need Rs 40-50,000 crores…
<\/strong>
We've done our business plans and know what we want. We've looked at our position, where do we need to invest? And we're confident that this is the right amount, the diligence has been done as well.
Were you hurt, upset, angry when Sunil Mittal said that Vodafone Idea is suffering due a cultural mismatch? Also, it was indicated that a lack of governance credibility is hurting Vodafone Idea’s efforts to raise funds.
<\/strong>
It doesn't hurt me or upset me. The comments maybe surprised me.
On what basis does he say that? I don't know. He is entitled to his opinion, like everybody is. He is a person who's been in the industry for a very long time. By his own admission, his company had been at the brink of collapse multiple times. And by his admission, he has recovered stronger from each one of those. So, if he has seen himself emerge stronger from his tough times, I don't know why he thinks that we will not fight. In fact, if anything, actually, we've never said that we were at the brink of collapse. He said his company was at the brink of collapse, but we weren't. So from that perspective, frankly, I don't really understand the basis of his comments.
But I can tell you on the flip side, I'm very happy if he believes that I'm half a competitor. I prefer to be in that position. Because frankly it's always good to be the underdog and then fight from that side. So for me, instead of getting upset about it, actually, it gives us more reason to say, good, actually, we are in a place where we are actually going to surprise people, as we have in the last two years. We have come out stronger - from where we were two or three years ago to where we are.
Vodafone Idea has lost a lot of revenue market share, subscriber market share. It added active market share in the month of March. Is that the start of a trend for the telco?
<\/strong>
In the Q1 of this year, we're in the midst of this raging second wave pandemic, when we got hit on. But since then, the trend has sort of recovered. And I think the trends are all in the positive direction. Revenues, APRUs, 4G subscribers have stabilized. Now, if we lose customers, it's really on 2G. If we lose customers, it's predominantly because SIM consolidation is starting to take place, which I think is an industry phenomenon and even the biggest player has been impacted by those things. And it's not necessarily a bad thing, longer-term, it's a healthy thing for the industry. Because it means that people actually consolidate their spending which doesn’t mean they will spend less.
So, would we see Vodafone Idea report net subscriber additions in the current quarter through June?
<\/strong>
I can't give you forward looking information.
But I can tell you that if you look at subscriber trends, if you look at where we are on more importantly 4G numbers, if you look at APRU numbers, I think those trends are all going in the right direction, and they will continue.
Can you throw some light on your capex plans for FY23? You really need to up your spending to catch up with rivals…
<\/strong>
We could surely use more capex. Having said that, I think we have done reasonably well, given, again, the constraints…we compete quite rigorously in the market. Our coverage is a little bit behind on 4G compared to our competitors. But to give you an idea, we cover 1 billion as a population for 4G. If we look at my competitors, they might be more about let's say, 200 million more. But in the areas where I am present, our network quality is as good, if not better, we compete for customer acquisition. So given the lack of capex and the challenges that we've had, I think we've managed to hold our own weight.
But I think how much capex we will spend beyond what we are capable of doing through our internal accurals obviously depends on the funding discussion. External funding is really for capex…which is why we are keen to get that going, because I think it'll give us even a more competitive edge in the market. Prioritisation of capex is on coverage.
What is the status of your asset monetisation plans? Fibre, data centre, land…
<\/strong>
We're not doing that any of those things is because the discussion that we're having right now with lenders and investors is the right discussion. And that's what we are focused on. The second part is that any of these divestments, they are time consuming. Our focus right now is really on other priorities, We will not say that we will never look at them. They're very valuable assets. But for now, our focus is really to get our funding closed.
Gopal Vittal said the other day said that tariffs would increase once more in 2022. Your views? And would you take the lead?
<\/strong>
I fully agree with the fact that there needs to be a price increase this year.
We have always said that we will take the lead if required. But I need to do it when it's the right time for my business. If there's somebody else taking the lead, it becomes easier. But I will certainly not shy away from taking the lead. And if I'm not the first one, I'll be very quick to follow up.
5G auctions<\/a> are coming up. Your views on the pricing? How aggressive can you be or will you be, given your financial constraints?
<\/strong>
I think in my position, frankly, would be very happy if the spectrum was just given to us, right? I mean, even one rupee is too high. While pricing could have been improved, we must commend TRAI on things like payment terms.
If we look at the statements that the government has made, Prime Minister himself talked about the fact that how this is an accelerator to the economy, and so on. I think from that perspective, frankly, trying to take money from spectrum, if that slows down the rollout, I think that is probably not the best thing for the for the country.
Having said that, we have still not seen the final numbers, I think those are still in the Cabinet discussion.
5G has been launched in less than 100 countries across the globe. I would say that it's fair to say that even after a few years of having launched the service, it is very difficult to see how many of those countries have monetized 5G. It's very hard to see what benefit we will get…we know clearly that it provides a higher capacity and a cheaper price. But that's a cost reduction element rather than a revenue increase element. So, I think the use cases are really to be worked upon. And I think it's important that we continue to work on use cases. I think it's a possibility that Indian use cases may come out sooner and faster than global cases.
India has a way to surprise…there's a use case that doesn't work in other countries, but because of the uniqueness of India, it may fly in India. So, while it's difficult to see, what are the monetization use cases today, I think I remain optimistic in the longer-term.
5G is a long-term play…when the auction happens, at some point, it doesn't mean that tomorrow 5G gets deployed, that suddenly it'll change the way our businesses run, the way consumers suddenly will start to see something which is dramatically different. Because that doesn't exist today. But can it happen in the next 2-4 years? I certainly see that that is a possibility. It's not an immediate turnaround.
How aggressive or competitive Vodafone Idea will be in the 5G auctions?
<\/strong>
I can't talk about my 5G strategy for obvious reasons. We have to also look at the government and reserve prices and so on so forth.
But we are going to be competitive in that (5G) market. Maybe other people like to think that we are not competitive, I can tell you that our intent is to be always competitive in everything that we do. And frankly, I think we do a reasonable job of being competitive. I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you if I didn't think I would be a competitive player.
Read also<\/h4><\/a><\/figure>Capital raise essential to Vodafone Idea’s participation in 5G auction, market competitiveness: Analysts<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Cultural differences have hurt merged Vodafone Idea: Sunil Mittal<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Investment in 5G ‘super-critical’: Vodafone Idea<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Nokia set to replace Huawei gear in parts of Vodafone Idea's India network: Sources<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Have you stopped working with Huawei and ZTE completely in terms of giving new orders for wireline or wireless?
<\/strong>
No. I won't say that we have stopped working with them. There's a huge legacy of Huawei, ZTE in this country right now, the networks that they provide support to us on. So I think that work continues, whether it's fixed core or transport infrastructure. What is clear to us is that we have to obviously follow the government guidelines and mandate…we have to make sure that those are followed to the strictest level. The trajectory going forward with 5G and so on is a bit on hold with the Chinese suppliers because of the government policy and issues.
Does that sort of disturb the cost balance? With fewer equipment suppliers in the market…
<\/strong>
No, we have contracts with them, if we need to buy existing stuff. I think this is where Open RAN players have become an important element of the ecosystem development. We as an industry are reasonably good at managing those things (cost). And I think we will continue to manage that. So, but I would say that there hasn’t been any dramatic change because I think the European suppliers have been supportive. They're also keen to increase their market share as well. So they tend to be aggressive also (in pricing).
Are you also talking to Samsung for gear supplies?
<\/strong>
We talk to everybody in the market.
Do you think VIL can tap new vendors to bring down network costs with uncertainty over Huawei and ZTE’s participation in 5G roll outs?
<\/strong>
Our promoter shareholder group has done a lot of work in the OpenRAN space. And they are one of the few companies in the world which have deployed commercially open RAN products that are serving customers. Obviously, we learn a lot from that. We learn from that, what products they're using, what vendors they're using, and of course, we are in discussions with all of them. So, we see obviously that as an opportunity. And certainly, Open RAN is important for the industry for not only technological innovation, supplier ecosystem, also for overall bringing the cost structure down.
Some say OpenRAN is not mature. Your comments.
<\/strong>
Like anything in technology, nothing changes overnight. But a part of it is not new. It's been happening for five years…I mean, there's no way that Vodafone UK deploys this technology. So what we have now proven is that the technology works, not only in commercial use, it works with existing technology and customer experiences have been good. And then I think over time, other things like reducing costs, and other things also start to come in.
Can you throw some colour on the enterprise and digital businesses?
<\/strong>
Both of these are very important pillars.
Let's start with enterprise. The business has fundamentally changed in the last couple of years because of the COVID, lockdown. Earlier you had bigger businesses that were going through transition, now you see small and medium-sized businesses also transforming as well towards digitalization. And we, of course, participate in that part of it as well. We talk to them not only in services like Cloud and IoT, but also in digitalization of their businesses.
Your competitors are really driving up the digital business. What about Vodafone Idea?
<\/strong>
We have taken I would say a reasonably different strategy compared to the rest of the industry. Our model is very much based on the fact that we have infrastructure,customers, capabilities within our business, which are absolutely critical for any digital player to scale up and make their life easier. Because we see in India all the time, a new digital player comes in, finds it easy to get the first 1 million, 5 million, 10 million customers. If you're lucky, you get to 20 million. But you reach a point and ask, how do I continue to grow my business. And I think this is the area where we can really help in terms of bringing that through partnerships.
And our focus is really on partnerships. I don't want to compete with them. So our plan and our strategy is really to take the top two-three players in every industry. I do a very deep partnership with them. which is based on trust because we're not competing. But it's also based on the fact that I will provide you deep integration with my business. And that creates stickiness for them. And then, of course, using the capabilities that I have in my network, to actually help them grow faster. And also for my customers to be able to experience additional services.
How much does enterprises contribute to your total revenue?
<\/strong>
I don't think we've disclosed that number, but I can tell you is that it is significant.
Is it the same with digital as well?
<\/strong>
Digital is also growing as faster. Obviously, it's smaller than the enterprise business today. But here, I think the engagement levels are really the ones that are important right now. I think revenue will come along. There's reasonable revenue.
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<\/a><\/figure>Cultural differences have hurt merged Vodafone Idea: Sunil Mittal<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Investment in 5G ‘super-critical’: Vodafone Idea<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Nokia set to replace Huawei gear in parts of Vodafone Idea's India network: Sources<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Have you stopped working with Huawei and ZTE completely in terms of giving new orders for wireline or wireless?
<\/strong>
No. I won't say that we have stopped working with them. There's a huge legacy of Huawei, ZTE in this country right now, the networks that they provide support to us on. So I think that work continues, whether it's fixed core or transport infrastructure. What is clear to us is that we have to obviously follow the government guidelines and mandate…we have to make sure that those are followed to the strictest level. The trajectory going forward with 5G and so on is a bit on hold with the Chinese suppliers because of the government policy and issues.
Does that sort of disturb the cost balance? With fewer equipment suppliers in the market…
<\/strong>
No, we have contracts with them, if we need to buy existing stuff. I think this is where Open RAN players have become an important element of the ecosystem development. We as an industry are reasonably good at managing those things (cost). And I think we will continue to manage that. So, but I would say that there hasn’t been any dramatic change because I think the European suppliers have been supportive. They're also keen to increase their market share as well. So they tend to be aggressive also (in pricing).
Are you also talking to Samsung for gear supplies?
<\/strong>
We talk to everybody in the market.
Do you think VIL can tap new vendors to bring down network costs with uncertainty over Huawei and ZTE’s participation in 5G roll outs?
<\/strong>
Our promoter shareholder group has done a lot of work in the OpenRAN space. And they are one of the few companies in the world which have deployed commercially open RAN products that are serving customers. Obviously, we learn a lot from that. We learn from that, what products they're using, what vendors they're using, and of course, we are in discussions with all of them. So, we see obviously that as an opportunity. And certainly, Open RAN is important for the industry for not only technological innovation, supplier ecosystem, also for overall bringing the cost structure down.
Some say OpenRAN is not mature. Your comments.
<\/strong>
Like anything in technology, nothing changes overnight. But a part of it is not new. It's been happening for five years…I mean, there's no way that Vodafone UK deploys this technology. So what we have now proven is that the technology works, not only in commercial use, it works with existing technology and customer experiences have been good. And then I think over time, other things like reducing costs, and other things also start to come in.
Can you throw some colour on the enterprise and digital businesses?
<\/strong>
Both of these are very important pillars.
Let's start with enterprise. The business has fundamentally changed in the last couple of years because of the COVID, lockdown. Earlier you had bigger businesses that were going through transition, now you see small and medium-sized businesses also transforming as well towards digitalization. And we, of course, participate in that part of it as well. We talk to them not only in services like Cloud and IoT, but also in digitalization of their businesses.
Your competitors are really driving up the digital business. What about Vodafone Idea?
<\/strong>
We have taken I would say a reasonably different strategy compared to the rest of the industry. Our model is very much based on the fact that we have infrastructure,customers, capabilities within our business, which are absolutely critical for any digital player to scale up and make their life easier. Because we see in India all the time, a new digital player comes in, finds it easy to get the first 1 million, 5 million, 10 million customers. If you're lucky, you get to 20 million. But you reach a point and ask, how do I continue to grow my business. And I think this is the area where we can really help in terms of bringing that through partnerships.
And our focus is really on partnerships. I don't want to compete with them. So our plan and our strategy is really to take the top two-three players in every industry. I do a very deep partnership with them. which is based on trust because we're not competing. But it's also based on the fact that I will provide you deep integration with my business. And that creates stickiness for them. And then, of course, using the capabilities that I have in my network, to actually help them grow faster. And also for my customers to be able to experience additional services.
How much does enterprises contribute to your total revenue?
<\/strong>
I don't think we've disclosed that number, but I can tell you is that it is significant.
Is it the same with digital as well?
<\/strong>
Digital is also growing as faster. Obviously, it's smaller than the enterprise business today. But here, I think the engagement levels are really the ones that are important right now. I think revenue will come along. There's reasonable revenue.
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- Telecom乐动扑克News
- 19分钟阅读
乐动娱乐招聘ETTelecom采访:沃达丰主意的Ravinder Takkar资金,未来计划,5 g的策略,中国供应商
”还没有真正从总数量约Rs 25000卢比。Rs 4500 - 5000卢比,大约已经来了。所以现在我们下降到假设圆图的Rs 20000卢比。所以我们看Rs 10000卢比从银行和Rs 10000卢比股本。”
沃达丰的想法MD和首席执行官Ravinder Takkar与ET的Romit古汗和丹麦电信的旅行到目前为止,未来的挑战和机遇。编辑摘录:
你如何看待维尔从集成的旅程吗?
开始说,这是一个困难的,具有挑战性的任务。最大的事情是我们必须把这两个公司,都是激烈的竞争者,构建有竞争力的网络,是在同一领域,不仅网络的重复,但也组织品牌…这是历史上最大的电信集成过世界。当然是最快的一个电信集成过世界上规模,规模、客户数量,数量的网站,等等…,有挑战性,但是一个非常有益的旅程从这个角度来看。
当然,我们有很多外在的东西,不管是AGR(调整后的总收益),是否发生的其他诉讼或监管变革的发生。我们倾向于忘记。在这些斗争中监管机构决定IUC(互连使用费用)将是零,世界上前所未闻的。今天没有其他人呢。但是印度决定这是他们想要去的地方,没有任何理由;减少国际终止。各种各样的东西一直在发生,这是真的,在某些方面,出血了行业真的是导致很多挑战。所有这些都处理…经历了一个非常困难的时候,我们在哪儿。它已经变成了一个好的结果。
沃达丰是什么想法呢?
大约两年前,甚至Airtel也抱怨的情况有多糟糕,因为竞争对手基本上给予免费服务或几乎免费服务,破坏市场。行业和产业将如何扭转。多个价格上涨是不可想象的。但是,2020年12月2019年12月,然后…合理价格上涨开始发生。4 g服务的整体渗透真正开始爆炸,数据使用开始爆炸。所有的行业链开始朝着正确的方向前进。甚至一些政府采取行动,开始改变一些监管像我们不要收费频谱用户收费,让我们给这个行业四年暂停试图恢复从流动性的角度来看,其他好的选择,改变AGR的定义。所以,你开始看到有点好转的健康,我认为这是非常积极的。
在沃达丰想法是最糟糕的?
我们在运营效率方面,不仅在试图巩固网络,我们已经开始看到品牌开始,品牌指标改善,在正确的方向上,在市场上有真正的牵引。客户数量开始稳定…连续三个季度的营收增长,四分之三的ARPU连续增长,四分之三的4 g潜艇连续增长。
所以,改进你在说什么,为什么不封闭的资金吗?
如果你从外部看,两年前,我们的启动子真的出去,说这些企业都是非常困难的,没有更多的钱来了。有各种各样的指控,他们试图摆脱业务。仅仅一个多月前,Rs4500卢比的股本来自两个启动子。世界上没有启动子,不管他们是多么的富有,谁会把钱——很多钱——除非他们认为有一些
好处和价值,他们看到的,因为他们都可以用这些钱去做一些其他。,所以这是一个转变。
与银行的谈判呢?外部投资者呢?你已经跟阿波罗全球了…你能确认吗?
我不能评论我们对基金筹集与具体的实体。
他们(银行)有银行担保的Rs 16000卢比从政府…这意味着他们暴露在这些已经下降。现在我们在深层本质上与他们接触一个新的包在我们如何向前进步,他们如何能帮助我们与他们的支持对我们的流动性以及我们的资金问题。
然后,当然,与外部第三方投资者,新投资者,订婚也深。我认为有建立信任,我相信,这些投资将会通过。所以,我们发现自己在一个非常好的旅行。
给你这种乐观的感觉是什么?你仍然落后于你的竞争对手很长一段路。你还是失去收入市场份额…
这是历史。很明显,你必须从中吸取教训。我认为他们大宏观趋势…跑道很长。像印度这样的大国,三家私人玩家是一个伟大的产业结构。智能手机普及率为58%,56% 4 g渗透,有差不多的市场面前……然后开始谈论5克,大约6克。就像总理说的,这个行业是如何数字增长的平台…如果我们开始考虑采用数字服务,如果我们开始思考如何将这个基础设施,在我们的城市在我们的日常生活和新技术在企业中,企业和物联网,等等。我想说我们在冰山的一角。如果智能手机4 g渗透是55 - 60%,我们在1 - 5%的东西,想象跑道,我们已经在我们面前。
我们必须要考虑五年,会发生什么。我认为这是一种伟大的乐观情绪这将去哪里。
这是我们在一场马拉松。这个东西,我们已经运行得很好,我们会继续做的。
但是定价呢?
我们总是抱怨价格,很低。但在某些方面,这就是创造了一个机会,这意味着价格只会朝着一个方向走,这是…价格会上升,在过去的两年里。我们希望继续旅程。这意味着消费者赢得以及行业获胜。我总是谈论这一事实的钱包份额,电信已经在整个家务是如此之小。从这个角度来看,我很乐观。当然,年轻的和年轻的,客户和消费者也越来越多,这意味着,再一次,他们这些服务价值,可能远远超过一些老一辈。他们认为这是至关重要的。
资金关闭讨论时间表吗?
我不想把时间但我们比我们更接近。当我们开始参与银行,投资者,每个人,包括我们的一个清单,有资金发生的必要条件。现在我想说的几乎所有,即使不是全部,已经检查了,这意味着我们比我们更接近。没有真正的障碍。
是什么/是仍然需要检查的步骤之前融资关闭?
还有一个步骤,也就是政府转换…我们知道它将会发生…它只是一个过程,需要时间。再一次,我们听到从政府和合适的人马上就来了。很难有人把钱放在桌子上不知道的分享会。
是什么,你想与银行重组?
我们的总债务也接近Rs 2十万的卢比。大约90%的与政府这是…我们不需要支付至少在接下来的四年。顺便说一下,四年后,如果我不能支付,我们有其他的选择。如果我看其余的债务,它是10%的债务,所以不到Rs 20000卢比。现在债务从银行的角度来看,是完全可控的,非常适合我的尺寸。我们希望他们能支持我们,我们需要更多的投资。所以的讨论都是在这个意义上,不仅仅是现有的还款但是银行如何支持我们未来的投资。
总额是多少,根据你的评估,你现在需要使沃达丰知道竞争吗?
没有真正从总数量约Rs 25000卢比。Rs 4500 - 5000卢比,大约已经来了。所以现在我们下降到假设圆图的Rs 20000卢比。所以我们看Rs 10000卢比从银行和Rs 10000卢比权益。
我们有大量的银行支付12月,1月,2月,Rs 6000 - 7000卢比。我们支付他们所有的时间。这些步骤给信心,公司会兑现承诺。建立信任是必要的
的两个——资金从股票投资者或与银行的谈判,将实现第一?
我认为,他们可能会同时发生。因为在某些方面,他们是有点联系,因为一般来说,任何银行想知道,是否有确认这个股权来了吗?和外部投资者想知道银行和贷款机构。讨论是全面的和在一起。
有人说,沃达丰的想法需要Rs 40 - 50000卢比…
我们已经完成了我们的商业计划和知道我们想要什么。我们看着我们的立场,我们需要投资在哪里?我们相信,这是正确的数量,勤奋已经完成。
是你受伤,难过,生气当苏尼尔•米塔尔表示,沃达丰想法痛苦是由于文化不匹配吗?也表明,一个缺乏治理信誉损害沃达丰想法的努力筹集资金。
我不伤害我或沮丧。的评论也许让我吃惊。
他说,在什么基础上?我不知道。他有权他的意见,就像每个人都是。他是一个人在这个行业很长时间了。据他自己承认,他的公司已经多次在崩溃的边缘。他承认,他已经恢复强从每个其中之一。所以,如果他看到自己出现更强的从他的艰难时期,我不知道为什么他认为我们不会打架。事实上,如果有的话,事实上,我们从来没有说过我们在崩溃的边缘。他说他的公司是在崩溃的边缘,但我们没有。所以从这个角度来看,坦率地说,我并不真正了解他的言论的基础。
但我可以告诉你,另一方面,我很高兴,如果他认为我竞争对手的一半。我更喜欢在那个位置。因为,坦率地说,总是好的失败者,然后从那边战斗。所以对我来说,而不是为这件事苦恼,其实,它让我们更有理由说,好了,实际上,我们是在一个地方,我们会惊喜的人,正如我们在过去的两年里。我们出来更强——从我们两、三年前的我们在哪里。
沃达丰的想法已经失去了很多收入市场份额,用户市场份额。还活跃在3月的市场份额。是电信的趋势的开始吗?
在今年的第一季度,我们在这激烈的第二波大流行,当我们得到了。但自那以后,这种趋势已经恢复。我认为这一趋势都在积极的方向上。收入、APRUs 4 g用户已经企稳。现在,如果我们失去了顾客,这是在2 g。如果我们失去了顾客,主要是因为SIM整合开始发生,我认为这是一个行业的现象,甚至已经被这些事情影响最大的球员。不一定是一件坏事,长期来看,这是一个健康的事情。因为这意味着人们实际上巩固他们的支出并不意味着他们将花费更少。
所以,我们看到沃达丰主意报告净新增用户数在当前季度到6月吗?
我不能给你前瞻性信息。
但我可以告诉你,如果你看用户的趋势,如果你看看我们在4 g数字更重要的是,如果你看看APRU的数字,我认为这些趋势都是在正确的方向上,他们将继续下去。
你能把一些FY23光你的资本支出计划吗?你真的需要支出赶上竞争对手…
我们肯定可以使用更多的资本支出。话虽如此,我认为我们做得相当不错,,约束…我们在市场上竞争非常严格。我们的报道有点落后于4 g比我们的竞争对手。但是给你一个想法,我们覆盖10亿人口的4 g。如果我们看看我的竞争对手,他们可能更对我们说,2亿多。但是在我现在的地方,我们的网络质量一样好,如果不是更好,我们争夺顾客。由于缺乏资本支出,我们的挑战,我认为我们已经设法保持自己的体重。
但我认为资本支出我们将花多少钱超出我们能够做的通过我们的内部accurals显然取决于资金的讨论。外部融资是资本支出…这就是为什么我们渴望得到,因为我认为它会给我们更多的市场竞争优势。资本支出的优先顺序覆盖。
你的资产盈利计划的状态是什么?纤维、数据中心、土地…
我们不做任何的事情是因为我们的讨论与放贷机构和投资者现在是正确的讨论。这就是我们关注的。第二部分是这些资产剥离,耗费时间。我们现在很关注其他优先级,我们不会说我们永远不会看他们。他们非常有价值的资产。但是现在,我们的重点是让我们的资金关闭。
塔·Vittal说有一天说,关税将在2022年再次增加。你的观点呢?和你会带头?
我完全同意这一事实需要今年价格上涨。
我们一直说,如果需要我们会带头。但是我需要做的是正确的时候对我的生意。如果有人带头,它变得更容易。但是我肯定不会回避带头。如果我不是第一个,我将很快跟进。
5 g拍卖上来。你对价格的看法吗?如何积极的你能或你会给你的财务约束?
坦率地说,我认为在我的位置会很高兴如果频谱只是给我们,对吗?我的意思是,连一个卢比太高了。虽然价格可能已经改善,我们必须赞扬火车之类的付款条件。
如果我们看一下语句,政府,总理本人谈到这一事实如何这是一个经济加速器,等等。我觉得从这个角度来看,坦率地说,试图从光谱拿钱,如果这减缓了推广,我认为这可能不是最好的国家。
已经说过,我们还没有看到最后的数字,我认为那些仍在内阁讨论。
5克已经启动在全球100个国家。我认为这是公平地说,即使几年推出的服务,很难看到有多少国家的货币化5 g。很难看到有什么好处,我们将得到…我们清楚地知道,它提供了一个更高的容量和更便宜的价格。但这是一个降低成本元素而不是收入增加的元素。所以,我认为用例是真的是在工作。我认为重要的是我们继续努力的用例。我认为这是一个可能性,印度用例可能会很快出来,速度比全球的情况下。
印度有一种惊喜…有一个用例不工作在其他国家,但由于印度的独特性,它可能在印度飞。因此,尽管很难看到,今天的货币化的用例是什么,我想我在长期保持乐观。
5 g是一个长期的玩…拍卖情况发生时,在某种程度上,这并不意味着明天5 g部署,突然它会改变我们的企业运行的方式,消费者突然将开始看到这是截然不同的。因为今天是不存在的。但是这可能发生在未来2 - 4年?我当然知道这是一个可能性。它不是立即好转。
如何积极的或竞争沃达丰想法将在5 g拍卖?
我不能谈论我5 g战略原因很明显。我们也要看政府和储备价格等等等等。
但我们要竞争(5克)市场。也许别人觉得我们不是竞争,我可以告诉你,我们的意图是总是有竞争力的,我们所做的一切。坦白说,我认为我们做一个合理的工作的竞争力。我不会坐在这里和你谈话,如果我不认为我将会是一个有竞争力的球员。
读也
你跟华为和中兴完全停止工作的给有线或无线新订单吗?
不。我不会说我们已经停止与他们合作。有很大的遗产的华为、中兴现在在这个国家,他们向我们提供支持的网络。所以我认为工作仍在继续,无论是固定核心或交通基础设施。清楚的是,我们显然必须按照政府的指导方针,要求…我们必须确保这些遵循最严格的水平。5 g的轨迹前进等等有点暂停与中国供应商,因为政府的政策和问题。
这种干扰成本平衡吗?用更少的设备供应商在市场上…
不,我们有合同,如果我们需要买现有的东西。我想这就是打开了球员成为一个生态系统发展的重要因素。我们作为一个行业相当擅长管理这些事情(成本)。我认为我们将继续管理。但我想说,没有任何戏剧性的变化,因为我认为欧洲供应商支持。他们也希望增加他们的市场份额。所以他们也往往是积极的(定价)。
你还跟三星齿轮供应吗?
我们跟每个人的市场。
你认为维尔可以利用新的供应商来降低网络成本和不确定性华为和中兴参与5 g辊出局?
我们的发起人股东团体OpenRAN空间做了很多工作。他们是世界上为数不多的公司已部署商业开放经营的产品服务客户。显然,我们学到很多东西。我们学习,他们使用什么产品,他们正在使用什么供应商,当然,我们在与他们的讨论。所以,我们看到显然是一个机会。当然,开放不仅是重要的工业技术创新、供应商生态系统,全面降低成本结构。
有人说OpenRAN并不成熟。您的评论。
像任何技术一样,一夜之间就没有什么变化。但它的一部分并不新鲜。它已经发生了五年…我的意思是,没有办法,沃达丰英国部署这项技术。我们已经证明,这种技术是可行的,不仅在商业使用,它与现有的技术和客户体验好。我认为随着时间的推移,其他的东西,如降低成本,其他事情也开始进来。
你能把一些色彩在企业和数字业务吗?
这些都是非常重要的支柱。
让我们开始与企业。业务已经从根本上改变了过去几年因为COVID,封锁。早些时候你有更大的企业,要通过转变,现在你看到中小企业也将走向数字化。当然,我们参与其中的一部分。我们不仅跟他们在云计算和物联网等服务,而且在数字化的企业。
你的竞争对手是真正推动数字业务。沃达丰的想法呢?
我们可以说相当不同的策略相比,其他的行业。我们的模型是基于事实基础设施,顾客,在我们的业务功能,绝对是至关重要的任何数字播放器扩大规模,让他们的生活更轻松。因为我们看到在印度,一个新的数码播放器,发现很容易得到第一个100万,500万,1000万的客户。如果你幸运的话,你会得到2000万。但你到达一个点,问,我如何继续我的生意增长。我认为这是我们真的可以帮助的地方将通过合作伙伴关系。
和我们的重点是合作关系。我不想与他们竞争。所以我们的计划,我们的战略是把前2 - 3玩家在每一个行业。我做了很深的合作关系。这是基于信任,因为我们不是竞争。但它也是基于这样一个事实,我将提供你和我的业务深度集成。这为他们创造了粘性。然后,当然,使用功能,我已经在我的网络,来帮助他们成长得更快。和我的客户能够附加服务经验。
企业贡献你的总收入是多少?
我不认为我们已经披露的这一数字,但我可以告诉你是显著的。
是与数字相同的吗?
数字也增长得更快。显然,今天小于企业业务。但在这里,我想接触水平现在真的是很重要的。我认为收入将出现。有合理的收入。
<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>Vodafone Idea<\/a> MD and CEO Ravinder Takkar<\/a> <\/strong>speaks to ET's Romit Guha and Danish Khan on the telco's journey so far, the challenges and opportunities ahead. Edited excerpts:
How do you see the journey of VIL since integration?<\/strong>
To start off by saying that it has been a difficult, challenging task. The biggest thing was we had to take these two companies, which were fierce competitors, build competitive networks, were operating in the same territory, had duplication of not only the networks, but also organization brands… it is on record as the largest telco integration ever done in the world. It is certainly one of the fastest telco integrations ever done in the world in terms of the sheer size, scale, customer numbers, number of sites, and so on…that has been challenging, but a very rewarding journey from that perspective.
Then, of course, we got hit by a lot of external stuff, whether it was the AGR (adjusted gross revenue), whether it was other litigation that was taking place or some of the regulatory changes that took place. We tend to forget. In the middle of these fights where the regulator decided the IUC (interconnection usage charge) will be zero, unheard of in the world. Nobody else does it today. But India decided this is where they want to go, for no reason; reduced international termination. All kinds of stuff just kept on happening, which was really, in some ways, bleeding the industry<\/a> and was really causing a lot of challenges. All of those were handled…came through a very difficult time, to where we are. It has turned out to be an OK outcome in the end.
What is Vodafone Idea now?<\/strong>
About two years ago, even Airtel was also complaining about how bad the situation is, because one of the competitors basically giving a free service or practically a free service, destroying the market. And the industry talk was about how will the industry turn around. Multiple price increases were unimaginable. But, first December 2019, and then in December 2020…reasonable price increases started to take place. The overall penetration of 4G services really started to explode, data usage started to explode. All the industry strands started to move in the right direction. Even some of the actions taken by the government - starting to change some of the regulation like let's not charge for spectrum user charges going forward, let's give the industry a four-year moratorium to try to recover from a liquidity perspective, other good other options, changing the definition of AGR. So, you start to see a bit of a turnaround in the health, which I think has been very positive.
Is the worst over for Vodafone Idea?<\/strong>
Where we are in terms of operational efficiency, in terms of trying to not only consolidate the network, we have started to see that the brand is starting to stick, the brand metrics are improving and going in the right direction, and there's real traction in the market. Customer numbers started to stabilize… three quarters of revenue growth in a row, three quarters of ARPU growth in a row, three quarters of 4G subs growth in a row.
So, with the improvement that you are talking about, why has the funding not closed as yet?
<\/strong>
If you look externally, two years ago, our promoters were really going out and saying these businesses are really very difficult, there's no more money coming. There were all kinds of allegations that they're trying to get out of the business. Well, just a little over a month ago, Rs4500 crores of equity coming in from both promoters. And there is no promoter in the world, no matter how rich they are, who will put in money - a lot of money - unless they believe that there is some
benefit and value that they see, because they can all use the money for something else. And, and so that's been a turnaround.
What about the talks with lenders? External investors? You have been talking to Apollo Global for a while now…can you confirm?
<\/strong>
I cannot comment on specific entities we are engaged with for fund raise.
They (lenders) have bank guarantees of Rs 16,000 crores back from the government… which means their exposure on those have gone down. And now we are in deep engagement with them for essentially working on a new package around how we progress forward, how they can help us with their support on our liquidity as well as our funding issues.
And then, of course, with external third-party investors as well, new investors as well, their engagement is deep as well. And I think there's confidence building, and I am confident that those investments will come through as well. So, we find ourselves in a very, very good journey.
What is giving you this sense of optimism? You still lag your competitors by a long way. You are still losing revenue market share…
<\/strong>
This is history. And obviously you have to learn from it. I think they're the big macro trends…the runway is quite long. A large country like India, with three private players is a great industry structure. At 58%, smartphone penetration, 56% 4G penetration in the country, there's almost as much market in front...then start talking about 5G<\/a>, and about 6G. Like the Prime Minister said,how this industry is the platform for digital growth…if we start thinking about adoption of digital services, if we start thinking about how we will bring this infrastructure, into our cities in our everyday life and new technologies in the enterprise, businesses and IoT, and so on. I will say we are at the tip of the iceberg. If smartphone 4G penetration is 55-60%, we are at 1-5% on the other stuff, imagine the runway that we have in front of us.
We have to think about five years, what's going to happen. I think there's a great sense of optimism about where this will go.
This is a marathon we are on. And we have been running this thing well, and we will continue to do.
But what about pricing?
<\/strong>
We all always complain about pricing, it's low. But in some ways, that is what creates an opportunity, which means prices can only go one way, which is up…prices will go up as they have in the last two years. And we expect that journey to continue. Which means that the consumers win as well as the industry wins. I've always talked about the fact that the share of wallet that telecom has in the overall housework is so small. I'm very bullish from that perspective. And of course, the younger and younger you go, the customers and consumers are more and more and more engaged, which means, again, they value these services, a lot more than probably some of the older generations. They see that as essential.
Any timeline for the funding discussions to close?
<\/strong>
I don't want to put timelines but we are closer than we've ever been. When we started off the engagement with lenders, investors, everybody, including us, had a sort of a checklist that there are essential for funding to happen. And now I would say almost all, if not all, have been checked off, which means we are closer than we've ever been. There is no real impediment.
What is\/are the steps that still need to be checked before the funding closes?
<\/strong>
There's one more step, which is the government conversion…we know it will happen…It's just a process that takes time. Again, we hear from the government and the right people is that it's just around the corner. It's very difficult for somebody to put money on the table without knowing what the share will be.
What is amount that you're looking to restructure with lenders?
<\/strong>
Our total debt which is close to Rs 2 lakh crores. Around 90% of this is with the Government…we don't need to pay at least for the next four years. And by the way, four years later, if I can't pay, we have other options. If I look at the rest of the debt, it is 10% of my debt, so less than Rs 20,000 crores. Now that debt from a bank perspective, is perfectly manageable and very adequate for my size business. We want them to support us for more investments that we need to make. So the discussions are both in that sense, not just about existing repayments but how can banks support us for future investments as well.
So what is the total amount that, as per your assessment, that you need right now to make Vodafone Idea competitive?
<\/strong>
The number hasn't really changed from total of about Rs 25,000 crores. Of that about Rs 4500-5000 crores have already come. So now we're down to about let's say a round figure of about Rs 20,000 crores. So we are looking at about Rs 10,000 crores from lenders and Rs 10,000 crores from equity.
We had a significant amount of bank payments in December, January, February, about Rs 6000-7000 crores. We paid all of them on time. These steps give confidence that the company will deliver on promises. Building credibility is necessary
So, which of the two – funding from equity investors or talks with lenders - will materialize first?
<\/strong>
I would think that that they will probably happen simultaneously. Because in some ways, they are a little bit linked, because generally, any lender would like to know, is there a confirmation that this equity is coming in? And external investors would want to know if banks and lenders are on board. The discussions are holistic and together.
Some say Vodafone idea would need Rs 40-50,000 crores…
<\/strong>
We've done our business plans and know what we want. We've looked at our position, where do we need to invest? And we're confident that this is the right amount, the diligence has been done as well.
Were you hurt, upset, angry when Sunil Mittal said that Vodafone Idea is suffering due a cultural mismatch? Also, it was indicated that a lack of governance credibility is hurting Vodafone Idea’s efforts to raise funds.
<\/strong>
It doesn't hurt me or upset me. The comments maybe surprised me.
On what basis does he say that? I don't know. He is entitled to his opinion, like everybody is. He is a person who's been in the industry for a very long time. By his own admission, his company had been at the brink of collapse multiple times. And by his admission, he has recovered stronger from each one of those. So, if he has seen himself emerge stronger from his tough times, I don't know why he thinks that we will not fight. In fact, if anything, actually, we've never said that we were at the brink of collapse. He said his company was at the brink of collapse, but we weren't. So from that perspective, frankly, I don't really understand the basis of his comments.
But I can tell you on the flip side, I'm very happy if he believes that I'm half a competitor. I prefer to be in that position. Because frankly it's always good to be the underdog and then fight from that side. So for me, instead of getting upset about it, actually, it gives us more reason to say, good, actually, we are in a place where we are actually going to surprise people, as we have in the last two years. We have come out stronger - from where we were two or three years ago to where we are.
Vodafone Idea has lost a lot of revenue market share, subscriber market share. It added active market share in the month of March. Is that the start of a trend for the telco?
<\/strong>
In the Q1 of this year, we're in the midst of this raging second wave pandemic, when we got hit on. But since then, the trend has sort of recovered. And I think the trends are all in the positive direction. Revenues, APRUs, 4G subscribers have stabilized. Now, if we lose customers, it's really on 2G. If we lose customers, it's predominantly because SIM consolidation is starting to take place, which I think is an industry phenomenon and even the biggest player has been impacted by those things. And it's not necessarily a bad thing, longer-term, it's a healthy thing for the industry. Because it means that people actually consolidate their spending which doesn’t mean they will spend less.
So, would we see Vodafone Idea report net subscriber additions in the current quarter through June?
<\/strong>
I can't give you forward looking information.
But I can tell you that if you look at subscriber trends, if you look at where we are on more importantly 4G numbers, if you look at APRU numbers, I think those trends are all going in the right direction, and they will continue.
Can you throw some light on your capex plans for FY23? You really need to up your spending to catch up with rivals…
<\/strong>
We could surely use more capex. Having said that, I think we have done reasonably well, given, again, the constraints…we compete quite rigorously in the market. Our coverage is a little bit behind on 4G compared to our competitors. But to give you an idea, we cover 1 billion as a population for 4G. If we look at my competitors, they might be more about let's say, 200 million more. But in the areas where I am present, our network quality is as good, if not better, we compete for customer acquisition. So given the lack of capex and the challenges that we've had, I think we've managed to hold our own weight.
But I think how much capex we will spend beyond what we are capable of doing through our internal accurals obviously depends on the funding discussion. External funding is really for capex…which is why we are keen to get that going, because I think it'll give us even a more competitive edge in the market. Prioritisation of capex is on coverage.
What is the status of your asset monetisation plans? Fibre, data centre, land…
<\/strong>
We're not doing that any of those things is because the discussion that we're having right now with lenders and investors is the right discussion. And that's what we are focused on. The second part is that any of these divestments, they are time consuming. Our focus right now is really on other priorities, We will not say that we will never look at them. They're very valuable assets. But for now, our focus is really to get our funding closed.
Gopal Vittal said the other day said that tariffs would increase once more in 2022. Your views? And would you take the lead?
<\/strong>
I fully agree with the fact that there needs to be a price increase this year.
We have always said that we will take the lead if required. But I need to do it when it's the right time for my business. If there's somebody else taking the lead, it becomes easier. But I will certainly not shy away from taking the lead. And if I'm not the first one, I'll be very quick to follow up.
5G auctions<\/a> are coming up. Your views on the pricing? How aggressive can you be or will you be, given your financial constraints?
<\/strong>
I think in my position, frankly, would be very happy if the spectrum was just given to us, right? I mean, even one rupee is too high. While pricing could have been improved, we must commend TRAI on things like payment terms.
If we look at the statements that the government has made, Prime Minister himself talked about the fact that how this is an accelerator to the economy, and so on. I think from that perspective, frankly, trying to take money from spectrum, if that slows down the rollout, I think that is probably not the best thing for the for the country.
Having said that, we have still not seen the final numbers, I think those are still in the Cabinet discussion.
5G has been launched in less than 100 countries across the globe. I would say that it's fair to say that even after a few years of having launched the service, it is very difficult to see how many of those countries have monetized 5G. It's very hard to see what benefit we will get…we know clearly that it provides a higher capacity and a cheaper price. But that's a cost reduction element rather than a revenue increase element. So, I think the use cases are really to be worked upon. And I think it's important that we continue to work on use cases. I think it's a possibility that Indian use cases may come out sooner and faster than global cases.
India has a way to surprise…there's a use case that doesn't work in other countries, but because of the uniqueness of India, it may fly in India. So, while it's difficult to see, what are the monetization use cases today, I think I remain optimistic in the longer-term.
5G is a long-term play…when the auction happens, at some point, it doesn't mean that tomorrow 5G gets deployed, that suddenly it'll change the way our businesses run, the way consumers suddenly will start to see something which is dramatically different. Because that doesn't exist today. But can it happen in the next 2-4 years? I certainly see that that is a possibility. It's not an immediate turnaround.
How aggressive or competitive Vodafone Idea will be in the 5G auctions?
<\/strong>
I can't talk about my 5G strategy for obvious reasons. We have to also look at the government and reserve prices and so on so forth.
But we are going to be competitive in that (5G) market. Maybe other people like to think that we are not competitive, I can tell you that our intent is to be always competitive in everything that we do. And frankly, I think we do a reasonable job of being competitive. I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you if I didn't think I would be a competitive player.
Read also<\/h4><\/a><\/figure>Capital raise essential to Vodafone Idea’s participation in 5G auction, market competitiveness: Analysts<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Cultural differences have hurt merged Vodafone Idea: Sunil Mittal<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Investment in 5G ‘super-critical’: Vodafone Idea<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Nokia set to replace Huawei gear in parts of Vodafone Idea's India network: Sources<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Have you stopped working with Huawei and ZTE completely in terms of giving new orders for wireline or wireless?
<\/strong>
No. I won't say that we have stopped working with them. There's a huge legacy of Huawei, ZTE in this country right now, the networks that they provide support to us on. So I think that work continues, whether it's fixed core or transport infrastructure. What is clear to us is that we have to obviously follow the government guidelines and mandate…we have to make sure that those are followed to the strictest level. The trajectory going forward with 5G and so on is a bit on hold with the Chinese suppliers because of the government policy and issues.
Does that sort of disturb the cost balance? With fewer equipment suppliers in the market…
<\/strong>
No, we have contracts with them, if we need to buy existing stuff. I think this is where Open RAN players have become an important element of the ecosystem development. We as an industry are reasonably good at managing those things (cost). And I think we will continue to manage that. So, but I would say that there hasn’t been any dramatic change because I think the European suppliers have been supportive. They're also keen to increase their market share as well. So they tend to be aggressive also (in pricing).
Are you also talking to Samsung for gear supplies?
<\/strong>
We talk to everybody in the market.
Do you think VIL can tap new vendors to bring down network costs with uncertainty over Huawei and ZTE’s participation in 5G roll outs?
<\/strong>
Our promoter shareholder group has done a lot of work in the OpenRAN space. And they are one of the few companies in the world which have deployed commercially open RAN products that are serving customers. Obviously, we learn a lot from that. We learn from that, what products they're using, what vendors they're using, and of course, we are in discussions with all of them. So, we see obviously that as an opportunity. And certainly, Open RAN is important for the industry for not only technological innovation, supplier ecosystem, also for overall bringing the cost structure down.
Some say OpenRAN is not mature. Your comments.
<\/strong>
Like anything in technology, nothing changes overnight. But a part of it is not new. It's been happening for five years…I mean, there's no way that Vodafone UK deploys this technology. So what we have now proven is that the technology works, not only in commercial use, it works with existing technology and customer experiences have been good. And then I think over time, other things like reducing costs, and other things also start to come in.
Can you throw some colour on the enterprise and digital businesses?
<\/strong>
Both of these are very important pillars.
Let's start with enterprise. The business has fundamentally changed in the last couple of years because of the COVID, lockdown. Earlier you had bigger businesses that were going through transition, now you see small and medium-sized businesses also transforming as well towards digitalization. And we, of course, participate in that part of it as well. We talk to them not only in services like Cloud and IoT, but also in digitalization of their businesses.
Your competitors are really driving up the digital business. What about Vodafone Idea?
<\/strong>
We have taken I would say a reasonably different strategy compared to the rest of the industry. Our model is very much based on the fact that we have infrastructure,customers, capabilities within our business, which are absolutely critical for any digital player to scale up and make their life easier. Because we see in India all the time, a new digital player comes in, finds it easy to get the first 1 million, 5 million, 10 million customers. If you're lucky, you get to 20 million. But you reach a point and ask, how do I continue to grow my business. And I think this is the area where we can really help in terms of bringing that through partnerships.
And our focus is really on partnerships. I don't want to compete with them. So our plan and our strategy is really to take the top two-three players in every industry. I do a very deep partnership with them. which is based on trust because we're not competing. But it's also based on the fact that I will provide you deep integration with my business. And that creates stickiness for them. And then, of course, using the capabilities that I have in my network, to actually help them grow faster. And also for my customers to be able to experience additional services.
How much does enterprises contribute to your total revenue?
<\/strong>
I don't think we've disclosed that number, but I can tell you is that it is significant.
Is it the same with digital as well?
<\/strong>
Digital is also growing as faster. Obviously, it's smaller than the enterprise business today. But here, I think the engagement levels are really the ones that are important right now. I think revenue will come along. There's reasonable revenue.
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<\/a><\/figure>Investment in 5G ‘super-critical’: Vodafone Idea<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Nokia set to replace Huawei gear in parts of Vodafone Idea's India network: Sources<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Have you stopped working with Huawei and ZTE completely in terms of giving new orders for wireline or wireless?
<\/strong>
No. I won't say that we have stopped working with them. There's a huge legacy of Huawei, ZTE in this country right now, the networks that they provide support to us on. So I think that work continues, whether it's fixed core or transport infrastructure. What is clear to us is that we have to obviously follow the government guidelines and mandate…we have to make sure that those are followed to the strictest level. The trajectory going forward with 5G and so on is a bit on hold with the Chinese suppliers because of the government policy and issues.
Does that sort of disturb the cost balance? With fewer equipment suppliers in the market…
<\/strong>
No, we have contracts with them, if we need to buy existing stuff. I think this is where Open RAN players have become an important element of the ecosystem development. We as an industry are reasonably good at managing those things (cost). And I think we will continue to manage that. So, but I would say that there hasn’t been any dramatic change because I think the European suppliers have been supportive. They're also keen to increase their market share as well. So they tend to be aggressive also (in pricing).
Are you also talking to Samsung for gear supplies?
<\/strong>
We talk to everybody in the market.
Do you think VIL can tap new vendors to bring down network costs with uncertainty over Huawei and ZTE’s participation in 5G roll outs?
<\/strong>
Our promoter shareholder group has done a lot of work in the OpenRAN space. And they are one of the few companies in the world which have deployed commercially open RAN products that are serving customers. Obviously, we learn a lot from that. We learn from that, what products they're using, what vendors they're using, and of course, we are in discussions with all of them. So, we see obviously that as an opportunity. And certainly, Open RAN is important for the industry for not only technological innovation, supplier ecosystem, also for overall bringing the cost structure down.
Some say OpenRAN is not mature. Your comments.
<\/strong>
Like anything in technology, nothing changes overnight. But a part of it is not new. It's been happening for five years…I mean, there's no way that Vodafone UK deploys this technology. So what we have now proven is that the technology works, not only in commercial use, it works with existing technology and customer experiences have been good. And then I think over time, other things like reducing costs, and other things also start to come in.
Can you throw some colour on the enterprise and digital businesses?
<\/strong>
Both of these are very important pillars.
Let's start with enterprise. The business has fundamentally changed in the last couple of years because of the COVID, lockdown. Earlier you had bigger businesses that were going through transition, now you see small and medium-sized businesses also transforming as well towards digitalization. And we, of course, participate in that part of it as well. We talk to them not only in services like Cloud and IoT, but also in digitalization of their businesses.
Your competitors are really driving up the digital business. What about Vodafone Idea?
<\/strong>
We have taken I would say a reasonably different strategy compared to the rest of the industry. Our model is very much based on the fact that we have infrastructure,customers, capabilities within our business, which are absolutely critical for any digital player to scale up and make their life easier. Because we see in India all the time, a new digital player comes in, finds it easy to get the first 1 million, 5 million, 10 million customers. If you're lucky, you get to 20 million. But you reach a point and ask, how do I continue to grow my business. And I think this is the area where we can really help in terms of bringing that through partnerships.
And our focus is really on partnerships. I don't want to compete with them. So our plan and our strategy is really to take the top two-three players in every industry. I do a very deep partnership with them. which is based on trust because we're not competing. But it's also based on the fact that I will provide you deep integration with my business. And that creates stickiness for them. And then, of course, using the capabilities that I have in my network, to actually help them grow faster. And also for my customers to be able to experience additional services.
How much does enterprises contribute to your total revenue?
<\/strong>
I don't think we've disclosed that number, but I can tell you is that it is significant.
Is it the same with digital as well?
<\/strong>
Digital is also growing as faster. Obviously, it's smaller than the enterprise business today. But here, I think the engagement levels are really the ones that are important right now. I think revenue will come along. There's reasonable revenue.
<\/body>","next_sibling":[{"msid":91731962,"title":"Netflix saw 3.6 million service cancellations in US in Q1","entity_type":"ARTICLE","link":"\/news\/netflix-saw-3-6-million-service-cancellations-in-us-in-q1\/91731962","category_name":null,"category_name_seo":"telecomnews"}],"related_content":[],"seoschemas":false,"msid":91731901,"entity_type":"ARTICLE","title":"ETTelecom Interviews: Vodafone Idea\u2019s Ravinder Takkar on funding, future plans, 5G strategy, Chinese vendors","synopsis":"\"The number hasn't really changed from total of about Rs 25,000 crores. Of that about Rs 4500-5000 crores have already come. So now we're down to about let's say a round figure of about Rs 20,000 crores. So we are looking at about Rs 10,000 crores from lenders and Rs 10,000 crores from equity.\"","titleseo":"telecomnews\/ettelecom-interviews-vodafone-ideas-ravinder-takkar-on-funding-future-plans-5g-strategy-chinese-vendors","status":"ACTIVE","authors":[{"author_name":"Romit Guha","author_link":"\/author\/479232631\/romit-guha","author_image":"https:\/\/etimg.etb2bimg.com\/authorthumb\/479232631.cms?width=250&height=250","author_additional":{"thumbsize":false,"msid":479232631,"author_name":"Romit Guha","author_seo_name":"romit-guha","designation":"Correspondent","agency":false}},{"author_name":"Danish Khan","author_link":"\/author\/479206691\/danish-khan","author_image":"https:\/\/etimg.etb2bimg.com\/authorthumb\/479206691.cms?width=250&height=250&imgsize=7874","author_additional":{"thumbsize":true,"msid":479206691,"author_name":"Danish Khan","author_seo_name":"danish-khan","designation":"Senior Assistant Editor","agency":false}}],"analytics":{"comments":0,"views":6068,"shares":0,"engagementtimems":19901000},"Alttitle":{"minfo":""},"artag":"ETTelecom","artdate":"2022-05-23 07:43:38","lastupd":"2022-05-23 11:23:45","breadcrumbTags":["Vodafone Idea","Industry","Interviews","5G","Vodafone Idea 5G","Bharti Airtel","Vodafone Idea news","Vodafone Idea fundraise","5G auctions","Ravinder Takkar"],"secinfo":{"seolocation":"telecomnews\/ettelecom-interviews-vodafone-ideas-ravinder-takkar-on-funding-future-plans-5g-strategy-chinese-vendors"}}" data-authors="[" romit guha","danish khan"]" data-category-name="" data-category_id="" data-date="2022-05-23" data-index="article_1">
- Telecom乐动扑克News
- 19分钟阅读
乐动娱乐招聘ETTelecom采访:沃达丰主意的Ravinder Takkar资金,未来计划,5 g的策略,中国供应商
”还没有真正从总数量约Rs 25000卢比。Rs 4500 - 5000卢比,大约已经来了。所以现在我们下降到假设圆图的Rs 20000卢比。所以我们看Rs 10000卢比从银行和Rs 10000卢比股本。”
沃达丰的想法MD和首席执行官Ravinder Takkar与ET的Romit古汗和丹麦电信的旅行到目前为止,未来的挑战和机遇。编辑摘录:
你如何看待维尔从集成的旅程吗?
开始说,这是一个困难的,具有挑战性的任务。最大的事情是我们必须把这两个公司,都是激烈的竞争者,构建有竞争力的网络,是在同一领域,不仅网络的重复,但也组织品牌…这是历史上最大的电信集成过世界。当然是最快的一个电信集成过世界上规模,规模、客户数量,数量的网站,等等…,有挑战性,但是一个非常有益的旅程从这个角度来看。
当然,我们有很多外在的东西,不管是AGR(调整后的总收益),是否发生的其他诉讼或监管变革的发生。我们倾向于忘记。在这些斗争中监管机构决定IUC(互连使用费用)将是零,世界上前所未闻的。今天没有其他人呢。但是印度决定这是他们想要去的地方,没有任何理由;减少国际终止。各种各样的东西一直在发生,这是真的,在某些方面,出血了行业真的是导致很多挑战。所有这些都处理…经历了一个非常困难的时候,我们在哪儿。它已经变成了一个好的结果。
沃达丰是什么想法呢?
大约两年前,甚至Airtel也抱怨的情况有多糟糕,因为竞争对手基本上给予免费服务或几乎免费服务,破坏市场。行业和产业将如何扭转。多个价格上涨是不可想象的。但是,2020年12月2019年12月,然后…合理价格上涨开始发生。4 g服务的整体渗透真正开始爆炸,数据使用开始爆炸。所有的行业链开始朝着正确的方向前进。甚至一些政府采取行动,开始改变一些监管像我们不要收费频谱用户收费,让我们给这个行业四年暂停试图恢复从流动性的角度来看,其他好的选择,改变AGR的定义。所以,你开始看到有点好转的健康,我认为这是非常积极的。
在沃达丰想法是最糟糕的?
我们在运营效率方面,不仅在试图巩固网络,我们已经开始看到品牌开始,品牌指标改善,在正确的方向上,在市场上有真正的牵引。客户数量开始稳定…连续三个季度的营收增长,四分之三的ARPU连续增长,四分之三的4 g潜艇连续增长。
所以,改进你在说什么,为什么不封闭的资金吗?
如果你从外部看,两年前,我们的启动子真的出去,说这些企业都是非常困难的,没有更多的钱来了。有各种各样的指控,他们试图摆脱业务。仅仅一个多月前,Rs4500卢比的股本来自两个启动子。世界上没有启动子,不管他们是多么的富有,谁会把钱——很多钱——除非他们认为有一些
好处和价值,他们看到的,因为他们都可以用这些钱去做一些其他。,所以这是一个转变。
与银行的谈判呢?外部投资者呢?你已经跟阿波罗全球了…你能确认吗?
我不能评论我们对基金筹集与具体的实体。
他们(银行)有银行担保的Rs 16000卢比从政府…这意味着他们暴露在这些已经下降。现在我们在深层本质上与他们接触一个新的包在我们如何向前进步,他们如何能帮助我们与他们的支持对我们的流动性以及我们的资金问题。
然后,当然,与外部第三方投资者,新投资者,订婚也深。我认为有建立信任,我相信,这些投资将会通过。所以,我们发现自己在一个非常好的旅行。
给你这种乐观的感觉是什么?你仍然落后于你的竞争对手很长一段路。你还是失去收入市场份额…
这是历史。很明显,你必须从中吸取教训。我认为他们大宏观趋势…跑道很长。像印度这样的大国,三家私人玩家是一个伟大的产业结构。智能手机普及率为58%,56% 4 g渗透,有差不多的市场面前……然后开始谈论5克,大约6克。就像总理说的,这个行业是如何数字增长的平台…如果我们开始考虑采用数字服务,如果我们开始思考如何将这个基础设施,在我们的城市在我们的日常生活和新技术在企业中,企业和物联网,等等。我想说我们在冰山的一角。如果智能手机4 g渗透是55 - 60%,我们在1 - 5%的东西,想象跑道,我们已经在我们面前。
我们必须要考虑五年,会发生什么。我认为这是一种伟大的乐观情绪这将去哪里。
这是我们在一场马拉松。这个东西,我们已经运行得很好,我们会继续做的。
但是定价呢?
我们总是抱怨价格,很低。但在某些方面,这就是创造了一个机会,这意味着价格只会朝着一个方向走,这是…价格会上升,在过去的两年里。我们希望继续旅程。这意味着消费者赢得以及行业获胜。我总是谈论这一事实的钱包份额,电信已经在整个家务是如此之小。从这个角度来看,我很乐观。当然,年轻的和年轻的,客户和消费者也越来越多,这意味着,再一次,他们这些服务价值,可能远远超过一些老一辈。他们认为这是至关重要的。
资金关闭讨论时间表吗?
我不想把时间但我们比我们更接近。当我们开始参与银行,投资者,每个人,包括我们的一个清单,有资金发生的必要条件。现在我想说的几乎所有,即使不是全部,已经检查了,这意味着我们比我们更接近。没有真正的障碍。
是什么/是仍然需要检查的步骤之前融资关闭?
还有一个步骤,也就是政府转换…我们知道它将会发生…它只是一个过程,需要时间。再一次,我们听到从政府和合适的人马上就来了。很难有人把钱放在桌子上不知道的分享会。
是什么,你想与银行重组?
我们的总债务也接近Rs 2十万的卢比。大约90%的与政府这是…我们不需要支付至少在接下来的四年。顺便说一下,四年后,如果我不能支付,我们有其他的选择。如果我看其余的债务,它是10%的债务,所以不到Rs 20000卢比。现在债务从银行的角度来看,是完全可控的,非常适合我的尺寸。我们希望他们能支持我们,我们需要更多的投资。所以的讨论都是在这个意义上,不仅仅是现有的还款但是银行如何支持我们未来的投资。
总额是多少,根据你的评估,你现在需要使沃达丰知道竞争吗?
没有真正从总数量约Rs 25000卢比。Rs 4500 - 5000卢比,大约已经来了。所以现在我们下降到假设圆图的Rs 20000卢比。所以我们看Rs 10000卢比从银行和Rs 10000卢比权益。
我们有大量的银行支付12月,1月,2月,Rs 6000 - 7000卢比。我们支付他们所有的时间。这些步骤给信心,公司会兑现承诺。建立信任是必要的
的两个——资金从股票投资者或与银行的谈判,将实现第一?
我认为,他们可能会同时发生。因为在某些方面,他们是有点联系,因为一般来说,任何银行想知道,是否有确认这个股权来了吗?和外部投资者想知道银行和贷款机构。讨论是全面的和在一起。
有人说,沃达丰的想法需要Rs 40 - 50000卢比…
我们已经完成了我们的商业计划和知道我们想要什么。我们看着我们的立场,我们需要投资在哪里?我们相信,这是正确的数量,勤奋已经完成。
是你受伤,难过,生气当苏尼尔•米塔尔表示,沃达丰想法痛苦是由于文化不匹配吗?也表明,一个缺乏治理信誉损害沃达丰想法的努力筹集资金。
我不伤害我或沮丧。的评论也许让我吃惊。
他说,在什么基础上?我不知道。他有权他的意见,就像每个人都是。他是一个人在这个行业很长时间了。据他自己承认,他的公司已经多次在崩溃的边缘。他承认,他已经恢复强从每个其中之一。所以,如果他看到自己出现更强的从他的艰难时期,我不知道为什么他认为我们不会打架。事实上,如果有的话,事实上,我们从来没有说过我们在崩溃的边缘。他说他的公司是在崩溃的边缘,但我们没有。所以从这个角度来看,坦率地说,我并不真正了解他的言论的基础。
但我可以告诉你,另一方面,我很高兴,如果他认为我竞争对手的一半。我更喜欢在那个位置。因为,坦率地说,总是好的失败者,然后从那边战斗。所以对我来说,而不是为这件事苦恼,其实,它让我们更有理由说,好了,实际上,我们是在一个地方,我们会惊喜的人,正如我们在过去的两年里。我们出来更强——从我们两、三年前的我们在哪里。
沃达丰的想法已经失去了很多收入市场份额,用户市场份额。还活跃在3月的市场份额。是电信的趋势的开始吗?
在今年的第一季度,我们在这激烈的第二波大流行,当我们得到了。但自那以后,这种趋势已经恢复。我认为这一趋势都在积极的方向上。收入、APRUs 4 g用户已经企稳。现在,如果我们失去了顾客,这是在2 g。如果我们失去了顾客,主要是因为SIM整合开始发生,我认为这是一个行业的现象,甚至已经被这些事情影响最大的球员。不一定是一件坏事,长期来看,这是一个健康的事情。因为这意味着人们实际上巩固他们的支出并不意味着他们将花费更少。
所以,我们看到沃达丰主意报告净新增用户数在当前季度到6月吗?
我不能给你前瞻性信息。
但我可以告诉你,如果你看用户的趋势,如果你看看我们在4 g数字更重要的是,如果你看看APRU的数字,我认为这些趋势都是在正确的方向上,他们将继续下去。
你能把一些FY23光你的资本支出计划吗?你真的需要支出赶上竞争对手…
我们肯定可以使用更多的资本支出。话虽如此,我认为我们做得相当不错,,约束…我们在市场上竞争非常严格。我们的报道有点落后于4 g比我们的竞争对手。但是给你一个想法,我们覆盖10亿人口的4 g。如果我们看看我的竞争对手,他们可能更对我们说,2亿多。但是在我现在的地方,我们的网络质量一样好,如果不是更好,我们争夺顾客。由于缺乏资本支出,我们的挑战,我认为我们已经设法保持自己的体重。
但我认为资本支出我们将花多少钱超出我们能够做的通过我们的内部accurals显然取决于资金的讨论。外部融资是资本支出…这就是为什么我们渴望得到,因为我认为它会给我们更多的市场竞争优势。资本支出的优先顺序覆盖。
你的资产盈利计划的状态是什么?纤维、数据中心、土地…
我们不做任何的事情是因为我们的讨论与放贷机构和投资者现在是正确的讨论。这就是我们关注的。第二部分是这些资产剥离,耗费时间。我们现在很关注其他优先级,我们不会说我们永远不会看他们。他们非常有价值的资产。但是现在,我们的重点是让我们的资金关闭。
塔·Vittal说有一天说,关税将在2022年再次增加。你的观点呢?和你会带头?
我完全同意这一事实需要今年价格上涨。
我们一直说,如果需要我们会带头。但是我需要做的是正确的时候对我的生意。如果有人带头,它变得更容易。但是我肯定不会回避带头。如果我不是第一个,我将很快跟进。
5 g拍卖上来。你对价格的看法吗?如何积极的你能或你会给你的财务约束?
坦率地说,我认为在我的位置会很高兴如果频谱只是给我们,对吗?我的意思是,连一个卢比太高了。虽然价格可能已经改善,我们必须赞扬火车之类的付款条件。
如果我们看一下语句,政府,总理本人谈到这一事实如何这是一个经济加速器,等等。我觉得从这个角度来看,坦率地说,试图从光谱拿钱,如果这减缓了推广,我认为这可能不是最好的国家。
已经说过,我们还没有看到最后的数字,我认为那些仍在内阁讨论。
5克已经启动在全球100个国家。我认为这是公平地说,即使几年推出的服务,很难看到有多少国家的货币化5 g。很难看到有什么好处,我们将得到…我们清楚地知道,它提供了一个更高的容量和更便宜的价格。但这是一个降低成本元素而不是收入增加的元素。所以,我认为用例是真的是在工作。我认为重要的是我们继续努力的用例。我认为这是一个可能性,印度用例可能会很快出来,速度比全球的情况下。
印度有一种惊喜…有一个用例不工作在其他国家,但由于印度的独特性,它可能在印度飞。因此,尽管很难看到,今天的货币化的用例是什么,我想我在长期保持乐观。
5 g是一个长期的玩…拍卖情况发生时,在某种程度上,这并不意味着明天5 g部署,突然它会改变我们的企业运行的方式,消费者突然将开始看到这是截然不同的。因为今天是不存在的。但是这可能发生在未来2 - 4年?我当然知道这是一个可能性。它不是立即好转。
如何积极的或竞争沃达丰想法将在5 g拍卖?
我不能谈论我5 g战略原因很明显。我们也要看政府和储备价格等等等等。
但我们要竞争(5克)市场。也许别人觉得我们不是竞争,我可以告诉你,我们的意图是总是有竞争力的,我们所做的一切。坦白说,我认为我们做一个合理的工作的竞争力。我不会坐在这里和你谈话,如果我不认为我将会是一个有竞争力的球员。
读也
你跟华为和中兴完全停止工作的给有线或无线新订单吗?
不。我不会说我们已经停止与他们合作。有很大的遗产的华为、中兴现在在这个国家,他们向我们提供支持的网络。所以我认为工作仍在继续,无论是固定核心或交通基础设施。清楚的是,我们显然必须按照政府的指导方针,要求…我们必须确保这些遵循最严格的水平。5 g的轨迹前进等等有点暂停与中国供应商,因为政府的政策和问题。
这种干扰成本平衡吗?用更少的设备供应商在市场上…
不,我们有合同,如果我们需要买现有的东西。我想这就是打开了球员成为一个生态系统发展的重要因素。我们作为一个行业相当擅长管理这些事情(成本)。我认为我们将继续管理。但我想说,没有任何戏剧性的变化,因为我认为欧洲供应商支持。他们也希望增加他们的市场份额。所以他们也往往是积极的(定价)。
你还跟三星齿轮供应吗?
我们跟每个人的市场。
你认为维尔可以利用新的供应商来降低网络成本和不确定性华为和中兴参与5 g辊出局?
我们的发起人股东团体OpenRAN空间做了很多工作。他们是世界上为数不多的公司已部署商业开放经营的产品服务客户。显然,我们学到很多东西。我们学习,他们使用什么产品,他们正在使用什么供应商,当然,我们在与他们的讨论。所以,我们看到显然是一个机会。当然,开放不仅是重要的工业技术创新、供应商生态系统,全面降低成本结构。
有人说OpenRAN并不成熟。您的评论。
像任何技术一样,一夜之间就没有什么变化。但它的一部分并不新鲜。它已经发生了五年…我的意思是,没有办法,沃达丰英国部署这项技术。我们已经证明,这种技术是可行的,不仅在商业使用,它与现有的技术和客户体验好。我认为随着时间的推移,其他的东西,如降低成本,其他事情也开始进来。
你能把一些色彩在企业和数字业务吗?
这些都是非常重要的支柱。
让我们开始与企业。业务已经从根本上改变了过去几年因为COVID,封锁。早些时候你有更大的企业,要通过转变,现在你看到中小企业也将走向数字化。当然,我们参与其中的一部分。我们不仅跟他们在云计算和物联网等服务,而且在数字化的企业。
你的竞争对手是真正推动数字业务。沃达丰的想法呢?
我们可以说相当不同的策略相比,其他的行业。我们的模型是基于事实基础设施,顾客,在我们的业务功能,绝对是至关重要的任何数字播放器扩大规模,让他们的生活更轻松。因为我们看到在印度,一个新的数码播放器,发现很容易得到第一个100万,500万,1000万的客户。如果你幸运的话,你会得到2000万。但你到达一个点,问,我如何继续我的生意增长。我认为这是我们真的可以帮助的地方将通过合作伙伴关系。
和我们的重点是合作关系。我不想与他们竞争。所以我们的计划,我们的战略是把前2 - 3玩家在每一个行业。我做了很深的合作关系。这是基于信任,因为我们不是竞争。但它也是基于这样一个事实,我将提供你和我的业务深度集成。这为他们创造了粘性。然后,当然,使用功能,我已经在我的网络,来帮助他们成长得更快。和我的客户能够附加服务经验。
企业贡献你的总收入是多少?
我不认为我们已经披露的这一数字,但我可以告诉你是显著的。
是与数字相同的吗?
数字也增长得更快。显然,今天小于企业业务。但在这里,我想接触水平现在真的是很重要的。我认为收入将出现。有合理的收入。
<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>Vodafone Idea<\/a> MD and CEO Ravinder Takkar<\/a> <\/strong>speaks to ET's Romit Guha and Danish Khan on the telco's journey so far, the challenges and opportunities ahead. Edited excerpts:
How do you see the journey of VIL since integration?<\/strong>
To start off by saying that it has been a difficult, challenging task. The biggest thing was we had to take these two companies, which were fierce competitors, build competitive networks, were operating in the same territory, had duplication of not only the networks, but also organization brands… it is on record as the largest telco integration ever done in the world. It is certainly one of the fastest telco integrations ever done in the world in terms of the sheer size, scale, customer numbers, number of sites, and so on…that has been challenging, but a very rewarding journey from that perspective.
Then, of course, we got hit by a lot of external stuff, whether it was the AGR (adjusted gross revenue), whether it was other litigation that was taking place or some of the regulatory changes that took place. We tend to forget. In the middle of these fights where the regulator decided the IUC (interconnection usage charge) will be zero, unheard of in the world. Nobody else does it today. But India decided this is where they want to go, for no reason; reduced international termination. All kinds of stuff just kept on happening, which was really, in some ways, bleeding the industry<\/a> and was really causing a lot of challenges. All of those were handled…came through a very difficult time, to where we are. It has turned out to be an OK outcome in the end.
What is Vodafone Idea now?<\/strong>
About two years ago, even Airtel was also complaining about how bad the situation is, because one of the competitors basically giving a free service or practically a free service, destroying the market. And the industry talk was about how will the industry turn around. Multiple price increases were unimaginable. But, first December 2019, and then in December 2020…reasonable price increases started to take place. The overall penetration of 4G services really started to explode, data usage started to explode. All the industry strands started to move in the right direction. Even some of the actions taken by the government - starting to change some of the regulation like let's not charge for spectrum user charges going forward, let's give the industry a four-year moratorium to try to recover from a liquidity perspective, other good other options, changing the definition of AGR. So, you start to see a bit of a turnaround in the health, which I think has been very positive.
Is the worst over for Vodafone Idea?<\/strong>
Where we are in terms of operational efficiency, in terms of trying to not only consolidate the network, we have started to see that the brand is starting to stick, the brand metrics are improving and going in the right direction, and there's real traction in the market. Customer numbers started to stabilize… three quarters of revenue growth in a row, three quarters of ARPU growth in a row, three quarters of 4G subs growth in a row.
So, with the improvement that you are talking about, why has the funding not closed as yet?
<\/strong>
If you look externally, two years ago, our promoters were really going out and saying these businesses are really very difficult, there's no more money coming. There were all kinds of allegations that they're trying to get out of the business. Well, just a little over a month ago, Rs4500 crores of equity coming in from both promoters. And there is no promoter in the world, no matter how rich they are, who will put in money - a lot of money - unless they believe that there is some
benefit and value that they see, because they can all use the money for something else. And, and so that's been a turnaround.
What about the talks with lenders? External investors? You have been talking to Apollo Global for a while now…can you confirm?
<\/strong>
I cannot comment on specific entities we are engaged with for fund raise.
They (lenders) have bank guarantees of Rs 16,000 crores back from the government… which means their exposure on those have gone down. And now we are in deep engagement with them for essentially working on a new package around how we progress forward, how they can help us with their support on our liquidity as well as our funding issues.
And then, of course, with external third-party investors as well, new investors as well, their engagement is deep as well. And I think there's confidence building, and I am confident that those investments will come through as well. So, we find ourselves in a very, very good journey.
What is giving you this sense of optimism? You still lag your competitors by a long way. You are still losing revenue market share…
<\/strong>
This is history. And obviously you have to learn from it. I think they're the big macro trends…the runway is quite long. A large country like India, with three private players is a great industry structure. At 58%, smartphone penetration, 56% 4G penetration in the country, there's almost as much market in front...then start talking about 5G<\/a>, and about 6G. Like the Prime Minister said,how this industry is the platform for digital growth…if we start thinking about adoption of digital services, if we start thinking about how we will bring this infrastructure, into our cities in our everyday life and new technologies in the enterprise, businesses and IoT, and so on. I will say we are at the tip of the iceberg. If smartphone 4G penetration is 55-60%, we are at 1-5% on the other stuff, imagine the runway that we have in front of us.
We have to think about five years, what's going to happen. I think there's a great sense of optimism about where this will go.
This is a marathon we are on. And we have been running this thing well, and we will continue to do.
But what about pricing?
<\/strong>
We all always complain about pricing, it's low. But in some ways, that is what creates an opportunity, which means prices can only go one way, which is up…prices will go up as they have in the last two years. And we expect that journey to continue. Which means that the consumers win as well as the industry wins. I've always talked about the fact that the share of wallet that telecom has in the overall housework is so small. I'm very bullish from that perspective. And of course, the younger and younger you go, the customers and consumers are more and more and more engaged, which means, again, they value these services, a lot more than probably some of the older generations. They see that as essential.
Any timeline for the funding discussions to close?
<\/strong>
I don't want to put timelines but we are closer than we've ever been. When we started off the engagement with lenders, investors, everybody, including us, had a sort of a checklist that there are essential for funding to happen. And now I would say almost all, if not all, have been checked off, which means we are closer than we've ever been. There is no real impediment.
What is\/are the steps that still need to be checked before the funding closes?
<\/strong>
There's one more step, which is the government conversion…we know it will happen…It's just a process that takes time. Again, we hear from the government and the right people is that it's just around the corner. It's very difficult for somebody to put money on the table without knowing what the share will be.
What is amount that you're looking to restructure with lenders?
<\/strong>
Our total debt which is close to Rs 2 lakh crores. Around 90% of this is with the Government…we don't need to pay at least for the next four years. And by the way, four years later, if I can't pay, we have other options. If I look at the rest of the debt, it is 10% of my debt, so less than Rs 20,000 crores. Now that debt from a bank perspective, is perfectly manageable and very adequate for my size business. We want them to support us for more investments that we need to make. So the discussions are both in that sense, not just about existing repayments but how can banks support us for future investments as well.
So what is the total amount that, as per your assessment, that you need right now to make Vodafone Idea competitive?
<\/strong>
The number hasn't really changed from total of about Rs 25,000 crores. Of that about Rs 4500-5000 crores have already come. So now we're down to about let's say a round figure of about Rs 20,000 crores. So we are looking at about Rs 10,000 crores from lenders and Rs 10,000 crores from equity.
We had a significant amount of bank payments in December, January, February, about Rs 6000-7000 crores. We paid all of them on time. These steps give confidence that the company will deliver on promises. Building credibility is necessary
So, which of the two – funding from equity investors or talks with lenders - will materialize first?
<\/strong>
I would think that that they will probably happen simultaneously. Because in some ways, they are a little bit linked, because generally, any lender would like to know, is there a confirmation that this equity is coming in? And external investors would want to know if banks and lenders are on board. The discussions are holistic and together.
Some say Vodafone idea would need Rs 40-50,000 crores…
<\/strong>
We've done our business plans and know what we want. We've looked at our position, where do we need to invest? And we're confident that this is the right amount, the diligence has been done as well.
Were you hurt, upset, angry when Sunil Mittal said that Vodafone Idea is suffering due a cultural mismatch? Also, it was indicated that a lack of governance credibility is hurting Vodafone Idea’s efforts to raise funds.
<\/strong>
It doesn't hurt me or upset me. The comments maybe surprised me.
On what basis does he say that? I don't know. He is entitled to his opinion, like everybody is. He is a person who's been in the industry for a very long time. By his own admission, his company had been at the brink of collapse multiple times. And by his admission, he has recovered stronger from each one of those. So, if he has seen himself emerge stronger from his tough times, I don't know why he thinks that we will not fight. In fact, if anything, actually, we've never said that we were at the brink of collapse. He said his company was at the brink of collapse, but we weren't. So from that perspective, frankly, I don't really understand the basis of his comments.
But I can tell you on the flip side, I'm very happy if he believes that I'm half a competitor. I prefer to be in that position. Because frankly it's always good to be the underdog and then fight from that side. So for me, instead of getting upset about it, actually, it gives us more reason to say, good, actually, we are in a place where we are actually going to surprise people, as we have in the last two years. We have come out stronger - from where we were two or three years ago to where we are.
Vodafone Idea has lost a lot of revenue market share, subscriber market share. It added active market share in the month of March. Is that the start of a trend for the telco?
<\/strong>
In the Q1 of this year, we're in the midst of this raging second wave pandemic, when we got hit on. But since then, the trend has sort of recovered. And I think the trends are all in the positive direction. Revenues, APRUs, 4G subscribers have stabilized. Now, if we lose customers, it's really on 2G. If we lose customers, it's predominantly because SIM consolidation is starting to take place, which I think is an industry phenomenon and even the biggest player has been impacted by those things. And it's not necessarily a bad thing, longer-term, it's a healthy thing for the industry. Because it means that people actually consolidate their spending which doesn’t mean they will spend less.
So, would we see Vodafone Idea report net subscriber additions in the current quarter through June?
<\/strong>
I can't give you forward looking information.
But I can tell you that if you look at subscriber trends, if you look at where we are on more importantly 4G numbers, if you look at APRU numbers, I think those trends are all going in the right direction, and they will continue.
Can you throw some light on your capex plans for FY23? You really need to up your spending to catch up with rivals…
<\/strong>
We could surely use more capex. Having said that, I think we have done reasonably well, given, again, the constraints…we compete quite rigorously in the market. Our coverage is a little bit behind on 4G compared to our competitors. But to give you an idea, we cover 1 billion as a population for 4G. If we look at my competitors, they might be more about let's say, 200 million more. But in the areas where I am present, our network quality is as good, if not better, we compete for customer acquisition. So given the lack of capex and the challenges that we've had, I think we've managed to hold our own weight.
But I think how much capex we will spend beyond what we are capable of doing through our internal accurals obviously depends on the funding discussion. External funding is really for capex…which is why we are keen to get that going, because I think it'll give us even a more competitive edge in the market. Prioritisation of capex is on coverage.
What is the status of your asset monetisation plans? Fibre, data centre, land…
<\/strong>
We're not doing that any of those things is because the discussion that we're having right now with lenders and investors is the right discussion. And that's what we are focused on. The second part is that any of these divestments, they are time consuming. Our focus right now is really on other priorities, We will not say that we will never look at them. They're very valuable assets. But for now, our focus is really to get our funding closed.
Gopal Vittal said the other day said that tariffs would increase once more in 2022. Your views? And would you take the lead?
<\/strong>
I fully agree with the fact that there needs to be a price increase this year.
We have always said that we will take the lead if required. But I need to do it when it's the right time for my business. If there's somebody else taking the lead, it becomes easier. But I will certainly not shy away from taking the lead. And if I'm not the first one, I'll be very quick to follow up.
5G auctions<\/a> are coming up. Your views on the pricing? How aggressive can you be or will you be, given your financial constraints?
<\/strong>
I think in my position, frankly, would be very happy if the spectrum was just given to us, right? I mean, even one rupee is too high. While pricing could have been improved, we must commend TRAI on things like payment terms.
If we look at the statements that the government has made, Prime Minister himself talked about the fact that how this is an accelerator to the economy, and so on. I think from that perspective, frankly, trying to take money from spectrum, if that slows down the rollout, I think that is probably not the best thing for the for the country.
Having said that, we have still not seen the final numbers, I think those are still in the Cabinet discussion.
5G has been launched in less than 100 countries across the globe. I would say that it's fair to say that even after a few years of having launched the service, it is very difficult to see how many of those countries have monetized 5G. It's very hard to see what benefit we will get…we know clearly that it provides a higher capacity and a cheaper price. But that's a cost reduction element rather than a revenue increase element. So, I think the use cases are really to be worked upon. And I think it's important that we continue to work on use cases. I think it's a possibility that Indian use cases may come out sooner and faster than global cases.
India has a way to surprise…there's a use case that doesn't work in other countries, but because of the uniqueness of India, it may fly in India. So, while it's difficult to see, what are the monetization use cases today, I think I remain optimistic in the longer-term.
5G is a long-term play…when the auction happens, at some point, it doesn't mean that tomorrow 5G gets deployed, that suddenly it'll change the way our businesses run, the way consumers suddenly will start to see something which is dramatically different. Because that doesn't exist today. But can it happen in the next 2-4 years? I certainly see that that is a possibility. It's not an immediate turnaround.
How aggressive or competitive Vodafone Idea will be in the 5G auctions?
<\/strong>
I can't talk about my 5G strategy for obvious reasons. We have to also look at the government and reserve prices and so on so forth.
But we are going to be competitive in that (5G) market. Maybe other people like to think that we are not competitive, I can tell you that our intent is to be always competitive in everything that we do. And frankly, I think we do a reasonable job of being competitive. I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you if I didn't think I would be a competitive player.
Read also<\/h4><\/a><\/figure>Capital raise essential to Vodafone Idea’s participation in 5G auction, market competitiveness: Analysts<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Cultural differences have hurt merged Vodafone Idea: Sunil Mittal<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Investment in 5G ‘super-critical’: Vodafone Idea<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Nokia set to replace Huawei gear in parts of Vodafone Idea's India network: Sources<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Have you stopped working with Huawei and ZTE completely in terms of giving new orders for wireline or wireless?
<\/strong>
No. I won't say that we have stopped working with them. There's a huge legacy of Huawei, ZTE in this country right now, the networks that they provide support to us on. So I think that work continues, whether it's fixed core or transport infrastructure. What is clear to us is that we have to obviously follow the government guidelines and mandate…we have to make sure that those are followed to the strictest level. The trajectory going forward with 5G and so on is a bit on hold with the Chinese suppliers because of the government policy and issues.
Does that sort of disturb the cost balance? With fewer equipment suppliers in the market…
<\/strong>
No, we have contracts with them, if we need to buy existing stuff. I think this is where Open RAN players have become an important element of the ecosystem development. We as an industry are reasonably good at managing those things (cost). And I think we will continue to manage that. So, but I would say that there hasn’t been any dramatic change because I think the European suppliers have been supportive. They're also keen to increase their market share as well. So they tend to be aggressive also (in pricing).
Are you also talking to Samsung for gear supplies?
<\/strong>
We talk to everybody in the market.
Do you think VIL can tap new vendors to bring down network costs with uncertainty over Huawei and ZTE’s participation in 5G roll outs?
<\/strong>
Our promoter shareholder group has done a lot of work in the OpenRAN space. And they are one of the few companies in the world which have deployed commercially open RAN products that are serving customers. Obviously, we learn a lot from that. We learn from that, what products they're using, what vendors they're using, and of course, we are in discussions with all of them. So, we see obviously that as an opportunity. And certainly, Open RAN is important for the industry for not only technological innovation, supplier ecosystem, also for overall bringing the cost structure down.
Some say OpenRAN is not mature. Your comments.
<\/strong>
Like anything in technology, nothing changes overnight. But a part of it is not new. It's been happening for five years…I mean, there's no way that Vodafone UK deploys this technology. So what we have now proven is that the technology works, not only in commercial use, it works with existing technology and customer experiences have been good. And then I think over time, other things like reducing costs, and other things also start to come in.
Can you throw some colour on the enterprise and digital businesses?
<\/strong>
Both of these are very important pillars.
Let's start with enterprise. The business has fundamentally changed in the last couple of years because of the COVID, lockdown. Earlier you had bigger businesses that were going through transition, now you see small and medium-sized businesses also transforming as well towards digitalization. And we, of course, participate in that part of it as well. We talk to them not only in services like Cloud and IoT, but also in digitalization of their businesses.
Your competitors are really driving up the digital business. What about Vodafone Idea?
<\/strong>
We have taken I would say a reasonably different strategy compared to the rest of the industry. Our model is very much based on the fact that we have infrastructure,customers, capabilities within our business, which are absolutely critical for any digital player to scale up and make their life easier. Because we see in India all the time, a new digital player comes in, finds it easy to get the first 1 million, 5 million, 10 million customers. If you're lucky, you get to 20 million. But you reach a point and ask, how do I continue to grow my business. And I think this is the area where we can really help in terms of bringing that through partnerships.
And our focus is really on partnerships. I don't want to compete with them. So our plan and our strategy is really to take the top two-three players in every industry. I do a very deep partnership with them. which is based on trust because we're not competing. But it's also based on the fact that I will provide you deep integration with my business. And that creates stickiness for them. And then, of course, using the capabilities that I have in my network, to actually help them grow faster. And also for my customers to be able to experience additional services.
How much does enterprises contribute to your total revenue?
<\/strong>
I don't think we've disclosed that number, but I can tell you is that it is significant.
Is it the same with digital as well?
<\/strong>
Digital is also growing as faster. Obviously, it's smaller than the enterprise business today. But here, I think the engagement levels are really the ones that are important right now. I think revenue will come along. There's reasonable revenue.
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<\/a><\/figure>Nokia set to replace Huawei gear in parts of Vodafone Idea's India network: Sources<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Have you stopped working with Huawei and ZTE completely in terms of giving new orders for wireline or wireless?
<\/strong>
No. I won't say that we have stopped working with them. There's a huge legacy of Huawei, ZTE in this country right now, the networks that they provide support to us on. So I think that work continues, whether it's fixed core or transport infrastructure. What is clear to us is that we have to obviously follow the government guidelines and mandate…we have to make sure that those are followed to the strictest level. The trajectory going forward with 5G and so on is a bit on hold with the Chinese suppliers because of the government policy and issues.
Does that sort of disturb the cost balance? With fewer equipment suppliers in the market…
<\/strong>
No, we have contracts with them, if we need to buy existing stuff. I think this is where Open RAN players have become an important element of the ecosystem development. We as an industry are reasonably good at managing those things (cost). And I think we will continue to manage that. So, but I would say that there hasn’t been any dramatic change because I think the European suppliers have been supportive. They're also keen to increase their market share as well. So they tend to be aggressive also (in pricing).
Are you also talking to Samsung for gear supplies?
<\/strong>
We talk to everybody in the market.
Do you think VIL can tap new vendors to bring down network costs with uncertainty over Huawei and ZTE’s participation in 5G roll outs?
<\/strong>
Our promoter shareholder group has done a lot of work in the OpenRAN space. And they are one of the few companies in the world which have deployed commercially open RAN products that are serving customers. Obviously, we learn a lot from that. We learn from that, what products they're using, what vendors they're using, and of course, we are in discussions with all of them. So, we see obviously that as an opportunity. And certainly, Open RAN is important for the industry for not only technological innovation, supplier ecosystem, also for overall bringing the cost structure down.
Some say OpenRAN is not mature. Your comments.
<\/strong>
Like anything in technology, nothing changes overnight. But a part of it is not new. It's been happening for five years…I mean, there's no way that Vodafone UK deploys this technology. So what we have now proven is that the technology works, not only in commercial use, it works with existing technology and customer experiences have been good. And then I think over time, other things like reducing costs, and other things also start to come in.
Can you throw some colour on the enterprise and digital businesses?
<\/strong>
Both of these are very important pillars.
Let's start with enterprise. The business has fundamentally changed in the last couple of years because of the COVID, lockdown. Earlier you had bigger businesses that were going through transition, now you see small and medium-sized businesses also transforming as well towards digitalization. And we, of course, participate in that part of it as well. We talk to them not only in services like Cloud and IoT, but also in digitalization of their businesses.
Your competitors are really driving up the digital business. What about Vodafone Idea?
<\/strong>
We have taken I would say a reasonably different strategy compared to the rest of the industry. Our model is very much based on the fact that we have infrastructure,customers, capabilities within our business, which are absolutely critical for any digital player to scale up and make their life easier. Because we see in India all the time, a new digital player comes in, finds it easy to get the first 1 million, 5 million, 10 million customers. If you're lucky, you get to 20 million. But you reach a point and ask, how do I continue to grow my business. And I think this is the area where we can really help in terms of bringing that through partnerships.
And our focus is really on partnerships. I don't want to compete with them. So our plan and our strategy is really to take the top two-three players in every industry. I do a very deep partnership with them. which is based on trust because we're not competing. But it's also based on the fact that I will provide you deep integration with my business. And that creates stickiness for them. And then, of course, using the capabilities that I have in my network, to actually help them grow faster. And also for my customers to be able to experience additional services.
How much does enterprises contribute to your total revenue?
<\/strong>
I don't think we've disclosed that number, but I can tell you is that it is significant.
Is it the same with digital as well?
<\/strong>
Digital is also growing as faster. Obviously, it's smaller than the enterprise business today. But here, I think the engagement levels are really the ones that are important right now. I think revenue will come along. There's reasonable revenue.
<\/body>","next_sibling":[{"msid":91731962,"title":"Netflix saw 3.6 million service cancellations in US in Q1","entity_type":"ARTICLE","link":"\/news\/netflix-saw-3-6-million-service-cancellations-in-us-in-q1\/91731962","category_name":null,"category_name_seo":"telecomnews"}],"related_content":[],"seoschemas":false,"msid":91731901,"entity_type":"ARTICLE","title":"ETTelecom Interviews: Vodafone Idea\u2019s Ravinder Takkar on funding, future plans, 5G strategy, Chinese vendors","synopsis":"\"The number hasn't really changed from total of about Rs 25,000 crores. Of that about Rs 4500-5000 crores have already come. So now we're down to about let's say a round figure of about Rs 20,000 crores. So we are looking at about Rs 10,000 crores from lenders and Rs 10,000 crores from equity.\"","titleseo":"telecomnews\/ettelecom-interviews-vodafone-ideas-ravinder-takkar-on-funding-future-plans-5g-strategy-chinese-vendors","status":"ACTIVE","authors":[{"author_name":"Romit Guha","author_link":"\/author\/479232631\/romit-guha","author_image":"https:\/\/etimg.etb2bimg.com\/authorthumb\/479232631.cms?width=250&height=250","author_additional":{"thumbsize":false,"msid":479232631,"author_name":"Romit Guha","author_seo_name":"romit-guha","designation":"Correspondent","agency":false}},{"author_name":"Danish Khan","author_link":"\/author\/479206691\/danish-khan","author_image":"https:\/\/etimg.etb2bimg.com\/authorthumb\/479206691.cms?width=250&height=250&imgsize=7874","author_additional":{"thumbsize":true,"msid":479206691,"author_name":"Danish Khan","author_seo_name":"danish-khan","designation":"Senior Assistant Editor","agency":false}}],"analytics":{"comments":0,"views":6068,"shares":0,"engagementtimems":19901000},"Alttitle":{"minfo":""},"artag":"ETTelecom","artdate":"2022-05-23 07:43:38","lastupd":"2022-05-23 11:23:45","breadcrumbTags":["Vodafone Idea","Industry","Interviews","5G","Vodafone Idea 5G","Bharti Airtel","Vodafone Idea news","Vodafone Idea fundraise","5G auctions","Ravinder Takkar"],"secinfo":{"seolocation":"telecomnews\/ettelecom-interviews-vodafone-ideas-ravinder-takkar-on-funding-future-plans-5g-strategy-chinese-vendors"}}" data-authors="[" romit guha","danish khan"]" data-category-name="" data-category_id="" data-date="2022-05-23" data-index="article_1">
- Telecom乐动扑克News
- 19分钟阅读
乐动娱乐招聘ETTelecom采访:沃达丰主意的Ravinder Takkar资金,未来计划,5 g的策略,中国供应商
”还没有真正从总数量约Rs 25000卢比。Rs 4500 - 5000卢比,大约已经来了。所以现在我们下降到假设圆图的Rs 20000卢比。所以我们看Rs 10000卢比从银行和Rs 10000卢比股本。”
沃达丰的想法MD和首席执行官Ravinder Takkar与ET的Romit古汗和丹麦电信的旅行到目前为止,未来的挑战和机遇。编辑摘录:
你如何看待维尔从集成的旅程吗?
开始说,这是一个困难的,具有挑战性的任务。最大的事情是我们必须把这两个公司,都是激烈的竞争者,构建有竞争力的网络,是在同一领域,不仅网络的重复,但也组织品牌…这是历史上最大的电信集成过世界。当然是最快的一个电信集成过世界上规模,规模、客户数量,数量的网站,等等…,有挑战性,但是一个非常有益的旅程从这个角度来看。
当然,我们有很多外在的东西,不管是AGR(调整后的总收益),是否发生的其他诉讼或监管变革的发生。我们倾向于忘记。在这些斗争中监管机构决定IUC(互连使用费用)将是零,世界上前所未闻的。今天没有其他人呢。但是印度决定这是他们想要去的地方,没有任何理由;减少国际终止。各种各样的东西一直在发生,这是真的,在某些方面,出血了行业真的是导致很多挑战。所有这些都处理…经历了一个非常困难的时候,我们在哪儿。它已经变成了一个好的结果。
沃达丰是什么想法呢?
大约两年前,甚至Airtel也抱怨的情况有多糟糕,因为竞争对手基本上给予免费服务或几乎免费服务,破坏市场。行业和产业将如何扭转。多个价格上涨是不可想象的。但是,2020年12月2019年12月,然后…合理价格上涨开始发生。4 g服务的整体渗透真正开始爆炸,数据使用开始爆炸。所有的行业链开始朝着正确的方向前进。甚至一些政府采取行动,开始改变一些监管像我们不要收费频谱用户收费,让我们给这个行业四年暂停试图恢复从流动性的角度来看,其他好的选择,改变AGR的定义。所以,你开始看到有点好转的健康,我认为这是非常积极的。
在沃达丰想法是最糟糕的?
我们在运营效率方面,不仅在试图巩固网络,我们已经开始看到品牌开始,品牌指标改善,在正确的方向上,在市场上有真正的牵引。客户数量开始稳定…连续三个季度的营收增长,四分之三的ARPU连续增长,四分之三的4 g潜艇连续增长。
所以,改进你在说什么,为什么不封闭的资金吗?
如果你从外部看,两年前,我们的启动子真的出去,说这些企业都是非常困难的,没有更多的钱来了。有各种各样的指控,他们试图摆脱业务。仅仅一个多月前,Rs4500卢比的股本来自两个启动子。世界上没有启动子,不管他们是多么的富有,谁会把钱——很多钱——除非他们认为有一些
好处和价值,他们看到的,因为他们都可以用这些钱去做一些其他。,所以这是一个转变。
与银行的谈判呢?外部投资者呢?你已经跟阿波罗全球了…你能确认吗?
我不能评论我们对基金筹集与具体的实体。
他们(银行)有银行担保的Rs 16000卢比从政府…这意味着他们暴露在这些已经下降。现在我们在深层本质上与他们接触一个新的包在我们如何向前进步,他们如何能帮助我们与他们的支持对我们的流动性以及我们的资金问题。
然后,当然,与外部第三方投资者,新投资者,订婚也深。我认为有建立信任,我相信,这些投资将会通过。所以,我们发现自己在一个非常好的旅行。
给你这种乐观的感觉是什么?你仍然落后于你的竞争对手很长一段路。你还是失去收入市场份额…
这是历史。很明显,你必须从中吸取教训。我认为他们大宏观趋势…跑道很长。像印度这样的大国,三家私人玩家是一个伟大的产业结构。智能手机普及率为58%,56% 4 g渗透,有差不多的市场面前……然后开始谈论5克,大约6克。就像总理说的,这个行业是如何数字增长的平台…如果我们开始考虑采用数字服务,如果我们开始思考如何将这个基础设施,在我们的城市在我们的日常生活和新技术在企业中,企业和物联网,等等。我想说我们在冰山的一角。如果智能手机4 g渗透是55 - 60%,我们在1 - 5%的东西,想象跑道,我们已经在我们面前。
我们必须要考虑五年,会发生什么。我认为这是一种伟大的乐观情绪这将去哪里。
这是我们在一场马拉松。这个东西,我们已经运行得很好,我们会继续做的。
但是定价呢?
我们总是抱怨价格,很低。但在某些方面,这就是创造了一个机会,这意味着价格只会朝着一个方向走,这是…价格会上升,在过去的两年里。我们希望继续旅程。这意味着消费者赢得以及行业获胜。我总是谈论这一事实的钱包份额,电信已经在整个家务是如此之小。从这个角度来看,我很乐观。当然,年轻的和年轻的,客户和消费者也越来越多,这意味着,再一次,他们这些服务价值,可能远远超过一些老一辈。他们认为这是至关重要的。
资金关闭讨论时间表吗?
我不想把时间但我们比我们更接近。当我们开始参与银行,投资者,每个人,包括我们的一个清单,有资金发生的必要条件。现在我想说的几乎所有,即使不是全部,已经检查了,这意味着我们比我们更接近。没有真正的障碍。
是什么/是仍然需要检查的步骤之前融资关闭?
还有一个步骤,也就是政府转换…我们知道它将会发生…它只是一个过程,需要时间。再一次,我们听到从政府和合适的人马上就来了。很难有人把钱放在桌子上不知道的分享会。
是什么,你想与银行重组?
我们的总债务也接近Rs 2十万的卢比。大约90%的与政府这是…我们不需要支付至少在接下来的四年。顺便说一下,四年后,如果我不能支付,我们有其他的选择。如果我看其余的债务,它是10%的债务,所以不到Rs 20000卢比。现在债务从银行的角度来看,是完全可控的,非常适合我的尺寸。我们希望他们能支持我们,我们需要更多的投资。所以的讨论都是在这个意义上,不仅仅是现有的还款但是银行如何支持我们未来的投资。
总额是多少,根据你的评估,你现在需要使沃达丰知道竞争吗?
没有真正从总数量约Rs 25000卢比。Rs 4500 - 5000卢比,大约已经来了。所以现在我们下降到假设圆图的Rs 20000卢比。所以我们看Rs 10000卢比从银行和Rs 10000卢比权益。
我们有大量的银行支付12月,1月,2月,Rs 6000 - 7000卢比。我们支付他们所有的时间。这些步骤给信心,公司会兑现承诺。建立信任是必要的
的两个——资金从股票投资者或与银行的谈判,将实现第一?
我认为,他们可能会同时发生。因为在某些方面,他们是有点联系,因为一般来说,任何银行想知道,是否有确认这个股权来了吗?和外部投资者想知道银行和贷款机构。讨论是全面的和在一起。
有人说,沃达丰的想法需要Rs 40 - 50000卢比…
我们已经完成了我们的商业计划和知道我们想要什么。我们看着我们的立场,我们需要投资在哪里?我们相信,这是正确的数量,勤奋已经完成。
是你受伤,难过,生气当苏尼尔•米塔尔表示,沃达丰想法痛苦是由于文化不匹配吗?也表明,一个缺乏治理信誉损害沃达丰想法的努力筹集资金。
我不伤害我或沮丧。的评论也许让我吃惊。
他说,在什么基础上?我不知道。他有权他的意见,就像每个人都是。他是一个人在这个行业很长时间了。据他自己承认,他的公司已经多次在崩溃的边缘。他承认,他已经恢复强从每个其中之一。所以,如果他看到自己出现更强的从他的艰难时期,我不知道为什么他认为我们不会打架。事实上,如果有的话,事实上,我们从来没有说过我们在崩溃的边缘。他说他的公司是在崩溃的边缘,但我们没有。所以从这个角度来看,坦率地说,我并不真正了解他的言论的基础。
但我可以告诉你,另一方面,我很高兴,如果他认为我竞争对手的一半。我更喜欢在那个位置。因为,坦率地说,总是好的失败者,然后从那边战斗。所以对我来说,而不是为这件事苦恼,其实,它让我们更有理由说,好了,实际上,我们是在一个地方,我们会惊喜的人,正如我们在过去的两年里。我们出来更强——从我们两、三年前的我们在哪里。
沃达丰的想法已经失去了很多收入市场份额,用户市场份额。还活跃在3月的市场份额。是电信的趋势的开始吗?
在今年的第一季度,我们在这激烈的第二波大流行,当我们得到了。但自那以后,这种趋势已经恢复。我认为这一趋势都在积极的方向上。收入、APRUs 4 g用户已经企稳。现在,如果我们失去了顾客,这是在2 g。如果我们失去了顾客,主要是因为SIM整合开始发生,我认为这是一个行业的现象,甚至已经被这些事情影响最大的球员。不一定是一件坏事,长期来看,这是一个健康的事情。因为这意味着人们实际上巩固他们的支出并不意味着他们将花费更少。
所以,我们看到沃达丰主意报告净新增用户数在当前季度到6月吗?
我不能给你前瞻性信息。
但我可以告诉你,如果你看用户的趋势,如果你看看我们在4 g数字更重要的是,如果你看看APRU的数字,我认为这些趋势都是在正确的方向上,他们将继续下去。
你能把一些FY23光你的资本支出计划吗?你真的需要支出赶上竞争对手…
我们肯定可以使用更多的资本支出。话虽如此,我认为我们做得相当不错,,约束…我们在市场上竞争非常严格。我们的报道有点落后于4 g比我们的竞争对手。但是给你一个想法,我们覆盖10亿人口的4 g。如果我们看看我的竞争对手,他们可能更对我们说,2亿多。但是在我现在的地方,我们的网络质量一样好,如果不是更好,我们争夺顾客。由于缺乏资本支出,我们的挑战,我认为我们已经设法保持自己的体重。
但我认为资本支出我们将花多少钱超出我们能够做的通过我们的内部accurals显然取决于资金的讨论。外部融资是资本支出…这就是为什么我们渴望得到,因为我认为它会给我们更多的市场竞争优势。资本支出的优先顺序覆盖。
你的资产盈利计划的状态是什么?纤维、数据中心、土地…
我们不做任何的事情是因为我们的讨论与放贷机构和投资者现在是正确的讨论。这就是我们关注的。第二部分是这些资产剥离,耗费时间。我们现在很关注其他优先级,我们不会说我们永远不会看他们。他们非常有价值的资产。但是现在,我们的重点是让我们的资金关闭。
塔·Vittal说有一天说,关税将在2022年再次增加。你的观点呢?和你会带头?
我完全同意这一事实需要今年价格上涨。
我们一直说,如果需要我们会带头。但是我需要做的是正确的时候对我的生意。如果有人带头,它变得更容易。但是我肯定不会回避带头。如果我不是第一个,我将很快跟进。
5 g拍卖上来。你对价格的看法吗?如何积极的你能或你会给你的财务约束?
坦率地说,我认为在我的位置会很高兴如果频谱只是给我们,对吗?我的意思是,连一个卢比太高了。虽然价格可能已经改善,我们必须赞扬火车之类的付款条件。
如果我们看一下语句,政府,总理本人谈到这一事实如何这是一个经济加速器,等等。我觉得从这个角度来看,坦率地说,试图从光谱拿钱,如果这减缓了推广,我认为这可能不是最好的国家。
已经说过,我们还没有看到最后的数字,我认为那些仍在内阁讨论。
5克已经启动在全球100个国家。我认为这是公平地说,即使几年推出的服务,很难看到有多少国家的货币化5 g。很难看到有什么好处,我们将得到…我们清楚地知道,它提供了一个更高的容量和更便宜的价格。但这是一个降低成本元素而不是收入增加的元素。所以,我认为用例是真的是在工作。我认为重要的是我们继续努力的用例。我认为这是一个可能性,印度用例可能会很快出来,速度比全球的情况下。
印度有一种惊喜…有一个用例不工作在其他国家,但由于印度的独特性,它可能在印度飞。因此,尽管很难看到,今天的货币化的用例是什么,我想我在长期保持乐观。
5 g是一个长期的玩…拍卖情况发生时,在某种程度上,这并不意味着明天5 g部署,突然它会改变我们的企业运行的方式,消费者突然将开始看到这是截然不同的。因为今天是不存在的。但是这可能发生在未来2 - 4年?我当然知道这是一个可能性。它不是立即好转。
如何积极的或竞争沃达丰想法将在5 g拍卖?
我不能谈论我5 g战略原因很明显。我们也要看政府和储备价格等等等等。
但我们要竞争(5克)市场。也许别人觉得我们不是竞争,我可以告诉你,我们的意图是总是有竞争力的,我们所做的一切。坦白说,我认为我们做一个合理的工作的竞争力。我不会坐在这里和你谈话,如果我不认为我将会是一个有竞争力的球员。
读也
你跟华为和中兴完全停止工作的给有线或无线新订单吗?
不。我不会说我们已经停止与他们合作。有很大的遗产的华为、中兴现在在这个国家,他们向我们提供支持的网络。所以我认为工作仍在继续,无论是固定核心或交通基础设施。清楚的是,我们显然必须按照政府的指导方针,要求…我们必须确保这些遵循最严格的水平。5 g的轨迹前进等等有点暂停与中国供应商,因为政府的政策和问题。
这种干扰成本平衡吗?用更少的设备供应商在市场上…
不,我们有合同,如果我们需要买现有的东西。我想这就是打开了球员成为一个生态系统发展的重要因素。我们作为一个行业相当擅长管理这些事情(成本)。我认为我们将继续管理。但我想说,没有任何戏剧性的变化,因为我认为欧洲供应商支持。他们也希望增加他们的市场份额。所以他们也往往是积极的(定价)。
你还跟三星齿轮供应吗?
我们跟每个人的市场。
你认为维尔可以利用新的供应商来降低网络成本和不确定性华为和中兴参与5 g辊出局?
我们的发起人股东团体OpenRAN空间做了很多工作。他们是世界上为数不多的公司已部署商业开放经营的产品服务客户。显然,我们学到很多东西。我们学习,他们使用什么产品,他们正在使用什么供应商,当然,我们在与他们的讨论。所以,我们看到显然是一个机会。当然,开放不仅是重要的工业技术创新、供应商生态系统,全面降低成本结构。
有人说OpenRAN并不成熟。您的评论。
像任何技术一样,一夜之间就没有什么变化。但它的一部分并不新鲜。它已经发生了五年…我的意思是,没有办法,沃达丰英国部署这项技术。我们已经证明,这种技术是可行的,不仅在商业使用,它与现有的技术和客户体验好。我认为随着时间的推移,其他的东西,如降低成本,其他事情也开始进来。
你能把一些色彩在企业和数字业务吗?
这些都是非常重要的支柱。
让我们开始与企业。业务已经从根本上改变了过去几年因为COVID,封锁。早些时候你有更大的企业,要通过转变,现在你看到中小企业也将走向数字化。当然,我们参与其中的一部分。我们不仅跟他们在云计算和物联网等服务,而且在数字化的企业。
你的竞争对手是真正推动数字业务。沃达丰的想法呢?
我们可以说相当不同的策略相比,其他的行业。我们的模型是基于事实基础设施,顾客,在我们的业务功能,绝对是至关重要的任何数字播放器扩大规模,让他们的生活更轻松。因为我们看到在印度,一个新的数码播放器,发现很容易得到第一个100万,500万,1000万的客户。如果你幸运的话,你会得到2000万。但你到达一个点,问,我如何继续我的生意增长。我认为这是我们真的可以帮助的地方将通过合作伙伴关系。
和我们的重点是合作关系。我不想与他们竞争。所以我们的计划,我们的战略是把前2 - 3玩家在每一个行业。我做了很深的合作关系。这是基于信任,因为我们不是竞争。但它也是基于这样一个事实,我将提供你和我的业务深度集成。这为他们创造了粘性。然后,当然,使用功能,我已经在我的网络,来帮助他们成长得更快。和我的客户能够附加服务经验。
企业贡献你的总收入是多少?
我不认为我们已经披露的这一数字,但我可以告诉你是显著的。
是与数字相同的吗?
数字也增长得更快。显然,今天小于企业业务。但在这里,我想接触水平现在真的是很重要的。我认为收入将出现。有合理的收入。
<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>Vodafone Idea<\/a> MD and CEO Ravinder Takkar<\/a> <\/strong>speaks to ET's Romit Guha and Danish Khan on the telco's journey so far, the challenges and opportunities ahead. Edited excerpts:
How do you see the journey of VIL since integration?<\/strong>
To start off by saying that it has been a difficult, challenging task. The biggest thing was we had to take these two companies, which were fierce competitors, build competitive networks, were operating in the same territory, had duplication of not only the networks, but also organization brands… it is on record as the largest telco integration ever done in the world. It is certainly one of the fastest telco integrations ever done in the world in terms of the sheer size, scale, customer numbers, number of sites, and so on…that has been challenging, but a very rewarding journey from that perspective.
Then, of course, we got hit by a lot of external stuff, whether it was the AGR (adjusted gross revenue), whether it was other litigation that was taking place or some of the regulatory changes that took place. We tend to forget. In the middle of these fights where the regulator decided the IUC (interconnection usage charge) will be zero, unheard of in the world. Nobody else does it today. But India decided this is where they want to go, for no reason; reduced international termination. All kinds of stuff just kept on happening, which was really, in some ways, bleeding the industry<\/a> and was really causing a lot of challenges. All of those were handled…came through a very difficult time, to where we are. It has turned out to be an OK outcome in the end.
What is Vodafone Idea now?<\/strong>
About two years ago, even Airtel was also complaining about how bad the situation is, because one of the competitors basically giving a free service or practically a free service, destroying the market. And the industry talk was about how will the industry turn around. Multiple price increases were unimaginable. But, first December 2019, and then in December 2020…reasonable price increases started to take place. The overall penetration of 4G services really started to explode, data usage started to explode. All the industry strands started to move in the right direction. Even some of the actions taken by the government - starting to change some of the regulation like let's not charge for spectrum user charges going forward, let's give the industry a four-year moratorium to try to recover from a liquidity perspective, other good other options, changing the definition of AGR. So, you start to see a bit of a turnaround in the health, which I think has been very positive.
Is the worst over for Vodafone Idea?<\/strong>
Where we are in terms of operational efficiency, in terms of trying to not only consolidate the network, we have started to see that the brand is starting to stick, the brand metrics are improving and going in the right direction, and there's real traction in the market. Customer numbers started to stabilize… three quarters of revenue growth in a row, three quarters of ARPU growth in a row, three quarters of 4G subs growth in a row.
So, with the improvement that you are talking about, why has the funding not closed as yet?
<\/strong>
If you look externally, two years ago, our promoters were really going out and saying these businesses are really very difficult, there's no more money coming. There were all kinds of allegations that they're trying to get out of the business. Well, just a little over a month ago, Rs4500 crores of equity coming in from both promoters. And there is no promoter in the world, no matter how rich they are, who will put in money - a lot of money - unless they believe that there is some
benefit and value that they see, because they can all use the money for something else. And, and so that's been a turnaround.
What about the talks with lenders? External investors? You have been talking to Apollo Global for a while now…can you confirm?
<\/strong>
I cannot comment on specific entities we are engaged with for fund raise.
They (lenders) have bank guarantees of Rs 16,000 crores back from the government… which means their exposure on those have gone down. And now we are in deep engagement with them for essentially working on a new package around how we progress forward, how they can help us with their support on our liquidity as well as our funding issues.
And then, of course, with external third-party investors as well, new investors as well, their engagement is deep as well. And I think there's confidence building, and I am confident that those investments will come through as well. So, we find ourselves in a very, very good journey.
What is giving you this sense of optimism? You still lag your competitors by a long way. You are still losing revenue market share…
<\/strong>
This is history. And obviously you have to learn from it. I think they're the big macro trends…the runway is quite long. A large country like India, with three private players is a great industry structure. At 58%, smartphone penetration, 56% 4G penetration in the country, there's almost as much market in front...then start talking about 5G<\/a>, and about 6G. Like the Prime Minister said,how this industry is the platform for digital growth…if we start thinking about adoption of digital services, if we start thinking about how we will bring this infrastructure, into our cities in our everyday life and new technologies in the enterprise, businesses and IoT, and so on. I will say we are at the tip of the iceberg. If smartphone 4G penetration is 55-60%, we are at 1-5% on the other stuff, imagine the runway that we have in front of us.
We have to think about five years, what's going to happen. I think there's a great sense of optimism about where this will go.
This is a marathon we are on. And we have been running this thing well, and we will continue to do.
But what about pricing?
<\/strong>
We all always complain about pricing, it's low. But in some ways, that is what creates an opportunity, which means prices can only go one way, which is up…prices will go up as they have in the last two years. And we expect that journey to continue. Which means that the consumers win as well as the industry wins. I've always talked about the fact that the share of wallet that telecom has in the overall housework is so small. I'm very bullish from that perspective. And of course, the younger and younger you go, the customers and consumers are more and more and more engaged, which means, again, they value these services, a lot more than probably some of the older generations. They see that as essential.
Any timeline for the funding discussions to close?
<\/strong>
I don't want to put timelines but we are closer than we've ever been. When we started off the engagement with lenders, investors, everybody, including us, had a sort of a checklist that there are essential for funding to happen. And now I would say almost all, if not all, have been checked off, which means we are closer than we've ever been. There is no real impediment.
What is\/are the steps that still need to be checked before the funding closes?
<\/strong>
There's one more step, which is the government conversion…we know it will happen…It's just a process that takes time. Again, we hear from the government and the right people is that it's just around the corner. It's very difficult for somebody to put money on the table without knowing what the share will be.
What is amount that you're looking to restructure with lenders?
<\/strong>
Our total debt which is close to Rs 2 lakh crores. Around 90% of this is with the Government…we don't need to pay at least for the next four years. And by the way, four years later, if I can't pay, we have other options. If I look at the rest of the debt, it is 10% of my debt, so less than Rs 20,000 crores. Now that debt from a bank perspective, is perfectly manageable and very adequate for my size business. We want them to support us for more investments that we need to make. So the discussions are both in that sense, not just about existing repayments but how can banks support us for future investments as well.
So what is the total amount that, as per your assessment, that you need right now to make Vodafone Idea competitive?
<\/strong>
The number hasn't really changed from total of about Rs 25,000 crores. Of that about Rs 4500-5000 crores have already come. So now we're down to about let's say a round figure of about Rs 20,000 crores. So we are looking at about Rs 10,000 crores from lenders and Rs 10,000 crores from equity.
We had a significant amount of bank payments in December, January, February, about Rs 6000-7000 crores. We paid all of them on time. These steps give confidence that the company will deliver on promises. Building credibility is necessary
So, which of the two – funding from equity investors or talks with lenders - will materialize first?
<\/strong>
I would think that that they will probably happen simultaneously. Because in some ways, they are a little bit linked, because generally, any lender would like to know, is there a confirmation that this equity is coming in? And external investors would want to know if banks and lenders are on board. The discussions are holistic and together.
Some say Vodafone idea would need Rs 40-50,000 crores…
<\/strong>
We've done our business plans and know what we want. We've looked at our position, where do we need to invest? And we're confident that this is the right amount, the diligence has been done as well.
Were you hurt, upset, angry when Sunil Mittal said that Vodafone Idea is suffering due a cultural mismatch? Also, it was indicated that a lack of governance credibility is hurting Vodafone Idea’s efforts to raise funds.
<\/strong>
It doesn't hurt me or upset me. The comments maybe surprised me.
On what basis does he say that? I don't know. He is entitled to his opinion, like everybody is. He is a person who's been in the industry for a very long time. By his own admission, his company had been at the brink of collapse multiple times. And by his admission, he has recovered stronger from each one of those. So, if he has seen himself emerge stronger from his tough times, I don't know why he thinks that we will not fight. In fact, if anything, actually, we've never said that we were at the brink of collapse. He said his company was at the brink of collapse, but we weren't. So from that perspective, frankly, I don't really understand the basis of his comments.
But I can tell you on the flip side, I'm very happy if he believes that I'm half a competitor. I prefer to be in that position. Because frankly it's always good to be the underdog and then fight from that side. So for me, instead of getting upset about it, actually, it gives us more reason to say, good, actually, we are in a place where we are actually going to surprise people, as we have in the last two years. We have come out stronger - from where we were two or three years ago to where we are.
Vodafone Idea has lost a lot of revenue market share, subscriber market share. It added active market share in the month of March. Is that the start of a trend for the telco?
<\/strong>
In the Q1 of this year, we're in the midst of this raging second wave pandemic, when we got hit on. But since then, the trend has sort of recovered. And I think the trends are all in the positive direction. Revenues, APRUs, 4G subscribers have stabilized. Now, if we lose customers, it's really on 2G. If we lose customers, it's predominantly because SIM consolidation is starting to take place, which I think is an industry phenomenon and even the biggest player has been impacted by those things. And it's not necessarily a bad thing, longer-term, it's a healthy thing for the industry. Because it means that people actually consolidate their spending which doesn’t mean they will spend less.
So, would we see Vodafone Idea report net subscriber additions in the current quarter through June?
<\/strong>
I can't give you forward looking information.
But I can tell you that if you look at subscriber trends, if you look at where we are on more importantly 4G numbers, if you look at APRU numbers, I think those trends are all going in the right direction, and they will continue.
Can you throw some light on your capex plans for FY23? You really need to up your spending to catch up with rivals…
<\/strong>
We could surely use more capex. Having said that, I think we have done reasonably well, given, again, the constraints…we compete quite rigorously in the market. Our coverage is a little bit behind on 4G compared to our competitors. But to give you an idea, we cover 1 billion as a population for 4G. If we look at my competitors, they might be more about let's say, 200 million more. But in the areas where I am present, our network quality is as good, if not better, we compete for customer acquisition. So given the lack of capex and the challenges that we've had, I think we've managed to hold our own weight.
But I think how much capex we will spend beyond what we are capable of doing through our internal accurals obviously depends on the funding discussion. External funding is really for capex…which is why we are keen to get that going, because I think it'll give us even a more competitive edge in the market. Prioritisation of capex is on coverage.
What is the status of your asset monetisation plans? Fibre, data centre, land…
<\/strong>
We're not doing that any of those things is because the discussion that we're having right now with lenders and investors is the right discussion. And that's what we are focused on. The second part is that any of these divestments, they are time consuming. Our focus right now is really on other priorities, We will not say that we will never look at them. They're very valuable assets. But for now, our focus is really to get our funding closed.
Gopal Vittal said the other day said that tariffs would increase once more in 2022. Your views? And would you take the lead?
<\/strong>
I fully agree with the fact that there needs to be a price increase this year.
We have always said that we will take the lead if required. But I need to do it when it's the right time for my business. If there's somebody else taking the lead, it becomes easier. But I will certainly not shy away from taking the lead. And if I'm not the first one, I'll be very quick to follow up.
5G auctions<\/a> are coming up. Your views on the pricing? How aggressive can you be or will you be, given your financial constraints?
<\/strong>
I think in my position, frankly, would be very happy if the spectrum was just given to us, right? I mean, even one rupee is too high. While pricing could have been improved, we must commend TRAI on things like payment terms.
If we look at the statements that the government has made, Prime Minister himself talked about the fact that how this is an accelerator to the economy, and so on. I think from that perspective, frankly, trying to take money from spectrum, if that slows down the rollout, I think that is probably not the best thing for the for the country.
Having said that, we have still not seen the final numbers, I think those are still in the Cabinet discussion.
5G has been launched in less than 100 countries across the globe. I would say that it's fair to say that even after a few years of having launched the service, it is very difficult to see how many of those countries have monetized 5G. It's very hard to see what benefit we will get…we know clearly that it provides a higher capacity and a cheaper price. But that's a cost reduction element rather than a revenue increase element. So, I think the use cases are really to be worked upon. And I think it's important that we continue to work on use cases. I think it's a possibility that Indian use cases may come out sooner and faster than global cases.
India has a way to surprise…there's a use case that doesn't work in other countries, but because of the uniqueness of India, it may fly in India. So, while it's difficult to see, what are the monetization use cases today, I think I remain optimistic in the longer-term.
5G is a long-term play…when the auction happens, at some point, it doesn't mean that tomorrow 5G gets deployed, that suddenly it'll change the way our businesses run, the way consumers suddenly will start to see something which is dramatically different. Because that doesn't exist today. But can it happen in the next 2-4 years? I certainly see that that is a possibility. It's not an immediate turnaround.
How aggressive or competitive Vodafone Idea will be in the 5G auctions?
<\/strong>
I can't talk about my 5G strategy for obvious reasons. We have to also look at the government and reserve prices and so on so forth.
But we are going to be competitive in that (5G) market. Maybe other people like to think that we are not competitive, I can tell you that our intent is to be always competitive in everything that we do. And frankly, I think we do a reasonable job of being competitive. I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you if I didn't think I would be a competitive player.
Read also<\/h4><\/a><\/figure>Capital raise essential to Vodafone Idea’s participation in 5G auction, market competitiveness: Analysts<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Cultural differences have hurt merged Vodafone Idea: Sunil Mittal<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Investment in 5G ‘super-critical’: Vodafone Idea<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Nokia set to replace Huawei gear in parts of Vodafone Idea's India network: Sources<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Have you stopped working with Huawei and ZTE completely in terms of giving new orders for wireline or wireless?
<\/strong>
No. I won't say that we have stopped working with them. There's a huge legacy of Huawei, ZTE in this country right now, the networks that they provide support to us on. So I think that work continues, whether it's fixed core or transport infrastructure. What is clear to us is that we have to obviously follow the government guidelines and mandate…we have to make sure that those are followed to the strictest level. The trajectory going forward with 5G and so on is a bit on hold with the Chinese suppliers because of the government policy and issues.
Does that sort of disturb the cost balance? With fewer equipment suppliers in the market…
<\/strong>
No, we have contracts with them, if we need to buy existing stuff. I think this is where Open RAN players have become an important element of the ecosystem development. We as an industry are reasonably good at managing those things (cost). And I think we will continue to manage that. So, but I would say that there hasn’t been any dramatic change because I think the European suppliers have been supportive. They're also keen to increase their market share as well. So they tend to be aggressive also (in pricing).
Are you also talking to Samsung for gear supplies?
<\/strong>
We talk to everybody in the market.
Do you think VIL can tap new vendors to bring down network costs with uncertainty over Huawei and ZTE’s participation in 5G roll outs?
<\/strong>
Our promoter shareholder group has done a lot of work in the OpenRAN space. And they are one of the few companies in the world which have deployed commercially open RAN products that are serving customers. Obviously, we learn a lot from that. We learn from that, what products they're using, what vendors they're using, and of course, we are in discussions with all of them. So, we see obviously that as an opportunity. And certainly, Open RAN is important for the industry for not only technological innovation, supplier ecosystem, also for overall bringing the cost structure down.
Some say OpenRAN is not mature. Your comments.
<\/strong>
Like anything in technology, nothing changes overnight. But a part of it is not new. It's been happening for five years…I mean, there's no way that Vodafone UK deploys this technology. So what we have now proven is that the technology works, not only in commercial use, it works with existing technology and customer experiences have been good. And then I think over time, other things like reducing costs, and other things also start to come in.
Can you throw some colour on the enterprise and digital businesses?
<\/strong>
Both of these are very important pillars.
Let's start with enterprise. The business has fundamentally changed in the last couple of years because of the COVID, lockdown. Earlier you had bigger businesses that were going through transition, now you see small and medium-sized businesses also transforming as well towards digitalization. And we, of course, participate in that part of it as well. We talk to them not only in services like Cloud and IoT, but also in digitalization of their businesses.
Your competitors are really driving up the digital business. What about Vodafone Idea?
<\/strong>
We have taken I would say a reasonably different strategy compared to the rest of the industry. Our model is very much based on the fact that we have infrastructure,customers, capabilities within our business, which are absolutely critical for any digital player to scale up and make their life easier. Because we see in India all the time, a new digital player comes in, finds it easy to get the first 1 million, 5 million, 10 million customers. If you're lucky, you get to 20 million. But you reach a point and ask, how do I continue to grow my business. And I think this is the area where we can really help in terms of bringing that through partnerships.
And our focus is really on partnerships. I don't want to compete with them. So our plan and our strategy is really to take the top two-three players in every industry. I do a very deep partnership with them. which is based on trust because we're not competing. But it's also based on the fact that I will provide you deep integration with my business. And that creates stickiness for them. And then, of course, using the capabilities that I have in my network, to actually help them grow faster. And also for my customers to be able to experience additional services.
How much does enterprises contribute to your total revenue?
<\/strong>
I don't think we've disclosed that number, but I can tell you is that it is significant.
Is it the same with digital as well?
<\/strong>
Digital is also growing as faster. Obviously, it's smaller than the enterprise business today. But here, I think the engagement levels are really the ones that are important right now. I think revenue will come along. There's reasonable revenue.
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- Telecom乐动扑克News
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乐动娱乐招聘ETTelecom采访:沃达丰主意的Ravinder Takkar资金,未来计划,5 g的策略,中国供应商
”还没有真正从总数量约Rs 25000卢比。Rs 4500 - 5000卢比,大约已经来了。所以现在我们下降到假设圆图的Rs 20000卢比。所以我们看Rs 10000卢比从银行和Rs 10000卢比股本。”
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你如何看待维尔从集成的旅程吗?
开始说,这是一个困难的,具有挑战性的任务。最大的事情是我们必须把这两个公司,都是激烈的竞争者,构建有竞争力的网络,是在同一领域,不仅网络的重复,但也组织品牌…这是历史上最大的电信集成过世界。当然是最快的一个电信集成过世界上规模,规模、客户数量,数量的网站,等等…,有挑战性,但是一个非常有益的旅程从这个角度来看。
当然,我们有很多外在的东西,不管是AGR(调整后的总收益),是否发生的其他诉讼或监管变革的发生。我们倾向于忘记。在这些斗争中监管机构决定IUC(互连使用费用)将是零,世界上前所未闻的。今天没有其他人呢。但是印度决定这是他们想要去的地方,没有任何理由;减少国际终止。各种各样的东西一直在发生,这是真的,在某些方面,出血了行业真的是导致很多挑战。所有这些都处理…经历了一个非常困难的时候,我们在哪儿。它已经变成了一个好的结果。
沃达丰是什么想法呢?
大约两年前,甚至Airtel也抱怨的情况有多糟糕,因为竞争对手基本上给予免费服务或几乎免费服务,破坏市场。行业和产业将如何扭转。多个价格上涨是不可想象的。但是,2020年12月2019年12月,然后…合理价格上涨开始发生。4 g服务的整体渗透真正开始爆炸,数据使用开始爆炸。所有的行业链开始朝着正确的方向前进。甚至一些政府采取行动,开始改变一些监管像我们不要收费频谱用户收费,让我们给这个行业四年暂停试图恢复从流动性的角度来看,其他好的选择,改变AGR的定义。所以,你开始看到有点好转的健康,我认为这是非常积极的。
在沃达丰想法是最糟糕的?
我们在运营效率方面,不仅在试图巩固网络,我们已经开始看到品牌开始,品牌指标改善,在正确的方向上,在市场上有真正的牵引。客户数量开始稳定…连续三个季度的营收增长,四分之三的ARPU连续增长,四分之三的4 g潜艇连续增长。
所以,改进你在说什么,为什么不封闭的资金吗?
如果你从外部看,两年前,我们的启动子真的出去,说这些企业都是非常困难的,没有更多的钱来了。有各种各样的指控,他们试图摆脱业务。仅仅一个多月前,Rs4500卢比的股本来自两个启动子。世界上没有启动子,不管他们是多么的富有,谁会把钱——很多钱——除非他们认为有一些
好处和价值,他们看到的,因为他们都可以用这些钱去做一些其他。,所以这是一个转变。
与银行的谈判呢?外部投资者呢?你已经跟阿波罗全球了…你能确认吗?
我不能评论我们对基金筹集与具体的实体。
他们(银行)有银行担保的Rs 16000卢比从政府…这意味着他们暴露在这些已经下降。现在我们在深层本质上与他们接触一个新的包在我们如何向前进步,他们如何能帮助我们与他们的支持对我们的流动性以及我们的资金问题。
然后,当然,与外部第三方投资者,新投资者,订婚也深。我认为有建立信任,我相信,这些投资将会通过。所以,我们发现自己在一个非常好的旅行。
给你这种乐观的感觉是什么?你仍然落后于你的竞争对手很长一段路。你还是失去收入市场份额…
这是历史。很明显,你必须从中吸取教训。我认为他们大宏观趋势…跑道很长。像印度这样的大国,三家私人玩家是一个伟大的产业结构。智能手机普及率为58%,56% 4 g渗透,有差不多的市场面前……然后开始谈论5克,大约6克。就像总理说的,这个行业是如何数字增长的平台…如果我们开始考虑采用数字服务,如果我们开始思考如何将这个基础设施,在我们的城市在我们的日常生活和新技术在企业中,企业和物联网,等等。我想说我们在冰山的一角。如果智能手机4 g渗透是55 - 60%,我们在1 - 5%的东西,想象跑道,我们已经在我们面前。
我们必须要考虑五年,会发生什么。我认为这是一种伟大的乐观情绪这将去哪里。
这是我们在一场马拉松。这个东西,我们已经运行得很好,我们会继续做的。
但是定价呢?
我们总是抱怨价格,很低。但在某些方面,这就是创造了一个机会,这意味着价格只会朝着一个方向走,这是…价格会上升,在过去的两年里。我们希望继续旅程。这意味着消费者赢得以及行业获胜。我总是谈论这一事实的钱包份额,电信已经在整个家务是如此之小。从这个角度来看,我很乐观。当然,年轻的和年轻的,客户和消费者也越来越多,这意味着,再一次,他们这些服务价值,可能远远超过一些老一辈。他们认为这是至关重要的。
资金关闭讨论时间表吗?
我不想把时间但我们比我们更接近。当我们开始参与银行,投资者,每个人,包括我们的一个清单,有资金发生的必要条件。现在我想说的几乎所有,即使不是全部,已经检查了,这意味着我们比我们更接近。没有真正的障碍。
是什么/是仍然需要检查的步骤之前融资关闭?
还有一个步骤,也就是政府转换…我们知道它将会发生…它只是一个过程,需要时间。再一次,我们听到从政府和合适的人马上就来了。很难有人把钱放在桌子上不知道的分享会。
是什么,你想与银行重组?
我们的总债务也接近Rs 2十万的卢比。大约90%的与政府这是…我们不需要支付至少在接下来的四年。顺便说一下,四年后,如果我不能支付,我们有其他的选择。如果我看其余的债务,它是10%的债务,所以不到Rs 20000卢比。现在债务从银行的角度来看,是完全可控的,非常适合我的尺寸。我们希望他们能支持我们,我们需要更多的投资。所以的讨论都是在这个意义上,不仅仅是现有的还款但是银行如何支持我们未来的投资。
总额是多少,根据你的评估,你现在需要使沃达丰知道竞争吗?
没有真正从总数量约Rs 25000卢比。Rs 4500 - 5000卢比,大约已经来了。所以现在我们下降到假设圆图的Rs 20000卢比。所以我们看Rs 10000卢比从银行和Rs 10000卢比权益。
我们有大量的银行支付12月,1月,2月,Rs 6000 - 7000卢比。我们支付他们所有的时间。这些步骤给信心,公司会兑现承诺。建立信任是必要的
的两个——资金从股票投资者或与银行的谈判,将实现第一?
我认为,他们可能会同时发生。因为在某些方面,他们是有点联系,因为一般来说,任何银行想知道,是否有确认这个股权来了吗?和外部投资者想知道银行和贷款机构。讨论是全面的和在一起。
有人说,沃达丰的想法需要Rs 40 - 50000卢比…
我们已经完成了我们的商业计划和知道我们想要什么。我们看着我们的立场,我们需要投资在哪里?我们相信,这是正确的数量,勤奋已经完成。
是你受伤,难过,生气当苏尼尔•米塔尔表示,沃达丰想法痛苦是由于文化不匹配吗?也表明,一个缺乏治理信誉损害沃达丰想法的努力筹集资金。
我不伤害我或沮丧。的评论也许让我吃惊。
他说,在什么基础上?我不知道。他有权他的意见,就像每个人都是。他是一个人在这个行业很长时间了。据他自己承认,他的公司已经多次在崩溃的边缘。他承认,他已经恢复强从每个其中之一。所以,如果他看到自己出现更强的从他的艰难时期,我不知道为什么他认为我们不会打架。事实上,如果有的话,事实上,我们从来没有说过我们在崩溃的边缘。他说他的公司是在崩溃的边缘,但我们没有。所以从这个角度来看,坦率地说,我并不真正了解他的言论的基础。
但我可以告诉你,另一方面,我很高兴,如果他认为我竞争对手的一半。我更喜欢在那个位置。因为,坦率地说,总是好的失败者,然后从那边战斗。所以对我来说,而不是为这件事苦恼,其实,它让我们更有理由说,好了,实际上,我们是在一个地方,我们会惊喜的人,正如我们在过去的两年里。我们出来更强——从我们两、三年前的我们在哪里。
沃达丰的想法已经失去了很多收入市场份额,用户市场份额。还活跃在3月的市场份额。是电信的趋势的开始吗?
在今年的第一季度,我们在这激烈的第二波大流行,当我们得到了。但自那以后,这种趋势已经恢复。我认为这一趋势都在积极的方向上。收入、APRUs 4 g用户已经企稳。现在,如果我们失去了顾客,这是在2 g。如果我们失去了顾客,主要是因为SIM整合开始发生,我认为这是一个行业的现象,甚至已经被这些事情影响最大的球员。不一定是一件坏事,长期来看,这是一个健康的事情。因为这意味着人们实际上巩固他们的支出并不意味着他们将花费更少。
所以,我们看到沃达丰主意报告净新增用户数在当前季度到6月吗?
我不能给你前瞻性信息。
但我可以告诉你,如果你看用户的趋势,如果你看看我们在4 g数字更重要的是,如果你看看APRU的数字,我认为这些趋势都是在正确的方向上,他们将继续下去。
你能把一些FY23光你的资本支出计划吗?你真的需要支出赶上竞争对手…
我们肯定可以使用更多的资本支出。话虽如此,我认为我们做得相当不错,,约束…我们在市场上竞争非常严格。我们的报道有点落后于4 g比我们的竞争对手。但是给你一个想法,我们覆盖10亿人口的4 g。如果我们看看我的竞争对手,他们可能更对我们说,2亿多。但是在我现在的地方,我们的网络质量一样好,如果不是更好,我们争夺顾客。由于缺乏资本支出,我们的挑战,我认为我们已经设法保持自己的体重。
但我认为资本支出我们将花多少钱超出我们能够做的通过我们的内部accurals显然取决于资金的讨论。外部融资是资本支出…这就是为什么我们渴望得到,因为我认为它会给我们更多的市场竞争优势。资本支出的优先顺序覆盖。
你的资产盈利计划的状态是什么?纤维、数据中心、土地…
我们不做任何的事情是因为我们的讨论与放贷机构和投资者现在是正确的讨论。这就是我们关注的。第二部分是这些资产剥离,耗费时间。我们现在很关注其他优先级,我们不会说我们永远不会看他们。他们非常有价值的资产。但是现在,我们的重点是让我们的资金关闭。
塔·Vittal说有一天说,关税将在2022年再次增加。你的观点呢?和你会带头?
我完全同意这一事实需要今年价格上涨。
我们一直说,如果需要我们会带头。但是我需要做的是正确的时候对我的生意。如果有人带头,它变得更容易。但是我肯定不会回避带头。如果我不是第一个,我将很快跟进。
5 g拍卖上来。你对价格的看法吗?如何积极的你能或你会给你的财务约束?
坦率地说,我认为在我的位置会很高兴如果频谱只是给我们,对吗?我的意思是,连一个卢比太高了。虽然价格可能已经改善,我们必须赞扬火车之类的付款条件。
如果我们看一下语句,政府,总理本人谈到这一事实如何这是一个经济加速器,等等。我觉得从这个角度来看,坦率地说,试图从光谱拿钱,如果这减缓了推广,我认为这可能不是最好的国家。
已经说过,我们还没有看到最后的数字,我认为那些仍在内阁讨论。
5克已经启动在全球100个国家。我认为这是公平地说,即使几年推出的服务,很难看到有多少国家的货币化5 g。很难看到有什么好处,我们将得到…我们清楚地知道,它提供了一个更高的容量和更便宜的价格。但这是一个降低成本元素而不是收入增加的元素。所以,我认为用例是真的是在工作。我认为重要的是我们继续努力的用例。我认为这是一个可能性,印度用例可能会很快出来,速度比全球的情况下。
印度有一种惊喜…有一个用例不工作在其他国家,但由于印度的独特性,它可能在印度飞。因此,尽管很难看到,今天的货币化的用例是什么,我想我在长期保持乐观。
5 g是一个长期的玩…拍卖情况发生时,在某种程度上,这并不意味着明天5 g部署,突然它会改变我们的企业运行的方式,消费者突然将开始看到这是截然不同的。因为今天是不存在的。但是这可能发生在未来2 - 4年?我当然知道这是一个可能性。它不是立即好转。
如何积极的或竞争沃达丰想法将在5 g拍卖?
我不能谈论我5 g战略原因很明显。我们也要看政府和储备价格等等等等。
但我们要竞争(5克)市场。也许别人觉得我们不是竞争,我可以告诉你,我们的意图是总是有竞争力的,我们所做的一切。坦白说,我认为我们做一个合理的工作的竞争力。我不会坐在这里和你谈话,如果我不认为我将会是一个有竞争力的球员。
读也
你跟华为和中兴完全停止工作的给有线或无线新订单吗?
不。我不会说我们已经停止与他们合作。有很大的遗产的华为、中兴现在在这个国家,他们向我们提供支持的网络。所以我认为工作仍在继续,无论是固定核心或交通基础设施。清楚的是,我们显然必须按照政府的指导方针,要求…我们必须确保这些遵循最严格的水平。5 g的轨迹前进等等有点暂停与中国供应商,因为政府的政策和问题。
这种干扰成本平衡吗?用更少的设备供应商在市场上…
不,我们有合同,如果我们需要买现有的东西。我想这就是打开了球员成为一个生态系统发展的重要因素。我们作为一个行业相当擅长管理这些事情(成本)。我认为我们将继续管理。但我想说,没有任何戏剧性的变化,因为我认为欧洲供应商支持。他们也希望增加他们的市场份额。所以他们也往往是积极的(定价)。
你还跟三星齿轮供应吗?
我们跟每个人的市场。
你认为维尔可以利用新的供应商来降低网络成本和不确定性华为和中兴参与5 g辊出局?
我们的发起人股东团体OpenRAN空间做了很多工作。他们是世界上为数不多的公司已部署商业开放经营的产品服务客户。显然,我们学到很多东西。我们学习,他们使用什么产品,他们正在使用什么供应商,当然,我们在与他们的讨论。所以,我们看到显然是一个机会。当然,开放不仅是重要的工业技术创新、供应商生态系统,全面降低成本结构。
有人说OpenRAN并不成熟。您的评论。
像任何技术一样,一夜之间就没有什么变化。但它的一部分并不新鲜。它已经发生了五年…我的意思是,没有办法,沃达丰英国部署这项技术。我们已经证明,这种技术是可行的,不仅在商业使用,它与现有的技术和客户体验好。我认为随着时间的推移,其他的东西,如降低成本,其他事情也开始进来。
你能把一些色彩在企业和数字业务吗?
这些都是非常重要的支柱。
让我们开始与企业。业务已经从根本上改变了过去几年因为COVID,封锁。早些时候你有更大的企业,要通过转变,现在你看到中小企业也将走向数字化。当然,我们参与其中的一部分。我们不仅跟他们在云计算和物联网等服务,而且在数字化的企业。
你的竞争对手是真正推动数字业务。沃达丰的想法呢?
我们可以说相当不同的策略相比,其他的行业。我们的模型是基于事实基础设施,顾客,在我们的业务功能,绝对是至关重要的任何数字播放器扩大规模,让他们的生活更轻松。因为我们看到在印度,一个新的数码播放器,发现很容易得到第一个100万,500万,1000万的客户。如果你幸运的话,你会得到2000万。但你到达一个点,问,我如何继续我的生意增长。我认为这是我们真的可以帮助的地方将通过合作伙伴关系。
和我们的重点是合作关系。我不想与他们竞争。所以我们的计划,我们的战略是把前2 - 3玩家在每一个行业。我做了很深的合作关系。这是基于信任,因为我们不是竞争。但它也是基于这样一个事实,我将提供你和我的业务深度集成。这为他们创造了粘性。然后,当然,使用功能,我已经在我的网络,来帮助他们成长得更快。和我的客户能够附加服务经验。
企业贡献你的总收入是多少?
我不认为我们已经披露的这一数字,但我可以告诉你是显著的。
是与数字相同的吗?
数字也增长得更快。显然,今天小于企业业务。但在这里,我想接触水平现在真的是很重要的。我认为收入将出现。有合理的收入。
How do you see the journey of VIL since integration?<\/strong>
To start off by saying that it has been a difficult, challenging task. The biggest thing was we had to take these two companies, which were fierce competitors, build competitive networks, were operating in the same territory, had duplication of not only the networks, but also organization brands… it is on record as the largest telco integration ever done in the world. It is certainly one of the fastest telco integrations ever done in the world in terms of the sheer size, scale, customer numbers, number of sites, and so on…that has been challenging, but a very rewarding journey from that perspective.
Then, of course, we got hit by a lot of external stuff, whether it was the AGR (adjusted gross revenue), whether it was other litigation that was taking place or some of the regulatory changes that took place. We tend to forget. In the middle of these fights where the regulator decided the IUC (interconnection usage charge) will be zero, unheard of in the world. Nobody else does it today. But India decided this is where they want to go, for no reason; reduced international termination. All kinds of stuff just kept on happening, which was really, in some ways, bleeding the industry<\/a> and was really causing a lot of challenges. All of those were handled…came through a very difficult time, to where we are. It has turned out to be an OK outcome in the end.
What is Vodafone Idea now?<\/strong>
About two years ago, even Airtel was also complaining about how bad the situation is, because one of the competitors basically giving a free service or practically a free service, destroying the market. And the industry talk was about how will the industry turn around. Multiple price increases were unimaginable. But, first December 2019, and then in December 2020…reasonable price increases started to take place. The overall penetration of 4G services really started to explode, data usage started to explode. All the industry strands started to move in the right direction. Even some of the actions taken by the government - starting to change some of the regulation like let's not charge for spectrum user charges going forward, let's give the industry a four-year moratorium to try to recover from a liquidity perspective, other good other options, changing the definition of AGR. So, you start to see a bit of a turnaround in the health, which I think has been very positive.
Is the worst over for Vodafone Idea?<\/strong>
Where we are in terms of operational efficiency, in terms of trying to not only consolidate the network, we have started to see that the brand is starting to stick, the brand metrics are improving and going in the right direction, and there's real traction in the market. Customer numbers started to stabilize… three quarters of revenue growth in a row, three quarters of ARPU growth in a row, three quarters of 4G subs growth in a row.
So, with the improvement that you are talking about, why has the funding not closed as yet?
<\/strong>
If you look externally, two years ago, our promoters were really going out and saying these businesses are really very difficult, there's no more money coming. There were all kinds of allegations that they're trying to get out of the business. Well, just a little over a month ago, Rs4500 crores of equity coming in from both promoters. And there is no promoter in the world, no matter how rich they are, who will put in money - a lot of money - unless they believe that there is some
benefit and value that they see, because they can all use the money for something else. And, and so that's been a turnaround.
What about the talks with lenders? External investors? You have been talking to Apollo Global for a while now…can you confirm?
<\/strong>
I cannot comment on specific entities we are engaged with for fund raise.
They (lenders) have bank guarantees of Rs 16,000 crores back from the government… which means their exposure on those have gone down. And now we are in deep engagement with them for essentially working on a new package around how we progress forward, how they can help us with their support on our liquidity as well as our funding issues.
And then, of course, with external third-party investors as well, new investors as well, their engagement is deep as well. And I think there's confidence building, and I am confident that those investments will come through as well. So, we find ourselves in a very, very good journey.
What is giving you this sense of optimism? You still lag your competitors by a long way. You are still losing revenue market share…
<\/strong>
This is history. And obviously you have to learn from it. I think they're the big macro trends…the runway is quite long. A large country like India, with three private players is a great industry structure. At 58%, smartphone penetration, 56% 4G penetration in the country, there's almost as much market in front...then start talking about 5G<\/a>, and about 6G. Like the Prime Minister said,how this industry is the platform for digital growth…if we start thinking about adoption of digital services, if we start thinking about how we will bring this infrastructure, into our cities in our everyday life and new technologies in the enterprise, businesses and IoT, and so on. I will say we are at the tip of the iceberg. If smartphone 4G penetration is 55-60%, we are at 1-5% on the other stuff, imagine the runway that we have in front of us.
We have to think about five years, what's going to happen. I think there's a great sense of optimism about where this will go.
This is a marathon we are on. And we have been running this thing well, and we will continue to do.
But what about pricing?
<\/strong>
We all always complain about pricing, it's low. But in some ways, that is what creates an opportunity, which means prices can only go one way, which is up…prices will go up as they have in the last two years. And we expect that journey to continue. Which means that the consumers win as well as the industry wins. I've always talked about the fact that the share of wallet that telecom has in the overall housework is so small. I'm very bullish from that perspective. And of course, the younger and younger you go, the customers and consumers are more and more and more engaged, which means, again, they value these services, a lot more than probably some of the older generations. They see that as essential.
Any timeline for the funding discussions to close?
<\/strong>
I don't want to put timelines but we are closer than we've ever been. When we started off the engagement with lenders, investors, everybody, including us, had a sort of a checklist that there are essential for funding to happen. And now I would say almost all, if not all, have been checked off, which means we are closer than we've ever been. There is no real impediment.
What is\/are the steps that still need to be checked before the funding closes?
<\/strong>
There's one more step, which is the government conversion…we know it will happen…It's just a process that takes time. Again, we hear from the government and the right people is that it's just around the corner. It's very difficult for somebody to put money on the table without knowing what the share will be.
What is amount that you're looking to restructure with lenders?
<\/strong>
Our total debt which is close to Rs 2 lakh crores. Around 90% of this is with the Government…we don't need to pay at least for the next four years. And by the way, four years later, if I can't pay, we have other options. If I look at the rest of the debt, it is 10% of my debt, so less than Rs 20,000 crores. Now that debt from a bank perspective, is perfectly manageable and very adequate for my size business. We want them to support us for more investments that we need to make. So the discussions are both in that sense, not just about existing repayments but how can banks support us for future investments as well.
So what is the total amount that, as per your assessment, that you need right now to make Vodafone Idea competitive?
<\/strong>
The number hasn't really changed from total of about Rs 25,000 crores. Of that about Rs 4500-5000 crores have already come. So now we're down to about let's say a round figure of about Rs 20,000 crores. So we are looking at about Rs 10,000 crores from lenders and Rs 10,000 crores from equity.
We had a significant amount of bank payments in December, January, February, about Rs 6000-7000 crores. We paid all of them on time. These steps give confidence that the company will deliver on promises. Building credibility is necessary
So, which of the two – funding from equity investors or talks with lenders - will materialize first?
<\/strong>
I would think that that they will probably happen simultaneously. Because in some ways, they are a little bit linked, because generally, any lender would like to know, is there a confirmation that this equity is coming in? And external investors would want to know if banks and lenders are on board. The discussions are holistic and together.
Some say Vodafone idea would need Rs 40-50,000 crores…
<\/strong>
We've done our business plans and know what we want. We've looked at our position, where do we need to invest? And we're confident that this is the right amount, the diligence has been done as well.
Were you hurt, upset, angry when Sunil Mittal said that Vodafone Idea is suffering due a cultural mismatch? Also, it was indicated that a lack of governance credibility is hurting Vodafone Idea’s efforts to raise funds.
<\/strong>
It doesn't hurt me or upset me. The comments maybe surprised me.
On what basis does he say that? I don't know. He is entitled to his opinion, like everybody is. He is a person who's been in the industry for a very long time. By his own admission, his company had been at the brink of collapse multiple times. And by his admission, he has recovered stronger from each one of those. So, if he has seen himself emerge stronger from his tough times, I don't know why he thinks that we will not fight. In fact, if anything, actually, we've never said that we were at the brink of collapse. He said his company was at the brink of collapse, but we weren't. So from that perspective, frankly, I don't really understand the basis of his comments.
But I can tell you on the flip side, I'm very happy if he believes that I'm half a competitor. I prefer to be in that position. Because frankly it's always good to be the underdog and then fight from that side. So for me, instead of getting upset about it, actually, it gives us more reason to say, good, actually, we are in a place where we are actually going to surprise people, as we have in the last two years. We have come out stronger - from where we were two or three years ago to where we are.
Vodafone Idea has lost a lot of revenue market share, subscriber market share. It added active market share in the month of March. Is that the start of a trend for the telco?
<\/strong>
In the Q1 of this year, we're in the midst of this raging second wave pandemic, when we got hit on. But since then, the trend has sort of recovered. And I think the trends are all in the positive direction. Revenues, APRUs, 4G subscribers have stabilized. Now, if we lose customers, it's really on 2G. If we lose customers, it's predominantly because SIM consolidation is starting to take place, which I think is an industry phenomenon and even the biggest player has been impacted by those things. And it's not necessarily a bad thing, longer-term, it's a healthy thing for the industry. Because it means that people actually consolidate their spending which doesn’t mean they will spend less.
So, would we see Vodafone Idea report net subscriber additions in the current quarter through June?
<\/strong>
I can't give you forward looking information.
But I can tell you that if you look at subscriber trends, if you look at where we are on more importantly 4G numbers, if you look at APRU numbers, I think those trends are all going in the right direction, and they will continue.
Can you throw some light on your capex plans for FY23? You really need to up your spending to catch up with rivals…
<\/strong>
We could surely use more capex. Having said that, I think we have done reasonably well, given, again, the constraints…we compete quite rigorously in the market. Our coverage is a little bit behind on 4G compared to our competitors. But to give you an idea, we cover 1 billion as a population for 4G. If we look at my competitors, they might be more about let's say, 200 million more. But in the areas where I am present, our network quality is as good, if not better, we compete for customer acquisition. So given the lack of capex and the challenges that we've had, I think we've managed to hold our own weight.
But I think how much capex we will spend beyond what we are capable of doing through our internal accurals obviously depends on the funding discussion. External funding is really for capex…which is why we are keen to get that going, because I think it'll give us even a more competitive edge in the market. Prioritisation of capex is on coverage.
What is the status of your asset monetisation plans? Fibre, data centre, land…
<\/strong>
We're not doing that any of those things is because the discussion that we're having right now with lenders and investors is the right discussion. And that's what we are focused on. The second part is that any of these divestments, they are time consuming. Our focus right now is really on other priorities, We will not say that we will never look at them. They're very valuable assets. But for now, our focus is really to get our funding closed.
Gopal Vittal said the other day said that tariffs would increase once more in 2022. Your views? And would you take the lead?
<\/strong>
I fully agree with the fact that there needs to be a price increase this year.
We have always said that we will take the lead if required. But I need to do it when it's the right time for my business. If there's somebody else taking the lead, it becomes easier. But I will certainly not shy away from taking the lead. And if I'm not the first one, I'll be very quick to follow up.
5G auctions<\/a> are coming up. Your views on the pricing? How aggressive can you be or will you be, given your financial constraints?
<\/strong>
I think in my position, frankly, would be very happy if the spectrum was just given to us, right? I mean, even one rupee is too high. While pricing could have been improved, we must commend TRAI on things like payment terms.
If we look at the statements that the government has made, Prime Minister himself talked about the fact that how this is an accelerator to the economy, and so on. I think from that perspective, frankly, trying to take money from spectrum, if that slows down the rollout, I think that is probably not the best thing for the for the country.
Having said that, we have still not seen the final numbers, I think those are still in the Cabinet discussion.
5G has been launched in less than 100 countries across the globe. I would say that it's fair to say that even after a few years of having launched the service, it is very difficult to see how many of those countries have monetized 5G. It's very hard to see what benefit we will get…we know clearly that it provides a higher capacity and a cheaper price. But that's a cost reduction element rather than a revenue increase element. So, I think the use cases are really to be worked upon. And I think it's important that we continue to work on use cases. I think it's a possibility that Indian use cases may come out sooner and faster than global cases.
India has a way to surprise…there's a use case that doesn't work in other countries, but because of the uniqueness of India, it may fly in India. So, while it's difficult to see, what are the monetization use cases today, I think I remain optimistic in the longer-term.
5G is a long-term play…when the auction happens, at some point, it doesn't mean that tomorrow 5G gets deployed, that suddenly it'll change the way our businesses run, the way consumers suddenly will start to see something which is dramatically different. Because that doesn't exist today. But can it happen in the next 2-4 years? I certainly see that that is a possibility. It's not an immediate turnaround.
How aggressive or competitive Vodafone Idea will be in the 5G auctions?
<\/strong>
I can't talk about my 5G strategy for obvious reasons. We have to also look at the government and reserve prices and so on so forth.
But we are going to be competitive in that (5G) market. Maybe other people like to think that we are not competitive, I can tell you that our intent is to be always competitive in everything that we do. And frankly, I think we do a reasonable job of being competitive. I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you if I didn't think I would be a competitive player.
Read also<\/h4><\/a><\/figure>Capital raise essential to Vodafone Idea’s participation in 5G auction, market competitiveness: Analysts<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Cultural differences have hurt merged Vodafone Idea: Sunil Mittal<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Investment in 5G ‘super-critical’: Vodafone Idea<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Nokia set to replace Huawei gear in parts of Vodafone Idea's India network: Sources<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Have you stopped working with Huawei and ZTE completely in terms of giving new orders for wireline or wireless?
<\/strong>
No. I won't say that we have stopped working with them. There's a huge legacy of Huawei, ZTE in this country right now, the networks that they provide support to us on. So I think that work continues, whether it's fixed core or transport infrastructure. What is clear to us is that we have to obviously follow the government guidelines and mandate…we have to make sure that those are followed to the strictest level. The trajectory going forward with 5G and so on is a bit on hold with the Chinese suppliers because of the government policy and issues.
Does that sort of disturb the cost balance? With fewer equipment suppliers in the market…
<\/strong>
No, we have contracts with them, if we need to buy existing stuff. I think this is where Open RAN players have become an important element of the ecosystem development. We as an industry are reasonably good at managing those things (cost). And I think we will continue to manage that. So, but I would say that there hasn’t been any dramatic change because I think the European suppliers have been supportive. They're also keen to increase their market share as well. So they tend to be aggressive also (in pricing).
Are you also talking to Samsung for gear supplies?
<\/strong>
We talk to everybody in the market.
Do you think VIL can tap new vendors to bring down network costs with uncertainty over Huawei and ZTE’s participation in 5G roll outs?
<\/strong>
Our promoter shareholder group has done a lot of work in the OpenRAN space. And they are one of the few companies in the world which have deployed commercially open RAN products that are serving customers. Obviously, we learn a lot from that. We learn from that, what products they're using, what vendors they're using, and of course, we are in discussions with all of them. So, we see obviously that as an opportunity. And certainly, Open RAN is important for the industry for not only technological innovation, supplier ecosystem, also for overall bringing the cost structure down.
Some say OpenRAN is not mature. Your comments.
<\/strong>
Like anything in technology, nothing changes overnight. But a part of it is not new. It's been happening for five years…I mean, there's no way that Vodafone UK deploys this technology. So what we have now proven is that the technology works, not only in commercial use, it works with existing technology and customer experiences have been good. And then I think over time, other things like reducing costs, and other things also start to come in.
Can you throw some colour on the enterprise and digital businesses?
<\/strong>
Both of these are very important pillars.
Let's start with enterprise. The business has fundamentally changed in the last couple of years because of the COVID, lockdown. Earlier you had bigger businesses that were going through transition, now you see small and medium-sized businesses also transforming as well towards digitalization. And we, of course, participate in that part of it as well. We talk to them not only in services like Cloud and IoT, but also in digitalization of their businesses.
Your competitors are really driving up the digital business. What about Vodafone Idea?
<\/strong>
We have taken I would say a reasonably different strategy compared to the rest of the industry. Our model is very much based on the fact that we have infrastructure,customers, capabilities within our business, which are absolutely critical for any digital player to scale up and make their life easier. Because we see in India all the time, a new digital player comes in, finds it easy to get the first 1 million, 5 million, 10 million customers. If you're lucky, you get to 20 million. But you reach a point and ask, how do I continue to grow my business. And I think this is the area where we can really help in terms of bringing that through partnerships.
And our focus is really on partnerships. I don't want to compete with them. So our plan and our strategy is really to take the top two-three players in every industry. I do a very deep partnership with them. which is based on trust because we're not competing. But it's also based on the fact that I will provide you deep integration with my business. And that creates stickiness for them. And then, of course, using the capabilities that I have in my network, to actually help them grow faster. And also for my customers to be able to experience additional services.
How much does enterprises contribute to your total revenue?
<\/strong>
I don't think we've disclosed that number, but I can tell you is that it is significant.
Is it the same with digital as well?
<\/strong>
Digital is also growing as faster. Obviously, it's smaller than the enterprise business today. But here, I think the engagement levels are really the ones that are important right now. I think revenue will come along. There's reasonable revenue.
<\/body>","next_sibling":[{"msid":91731962,"title":"Netflix saw 3.6 million service cancellations in US in Q1","entity_type":"ARTICLE","link":"\/news\/netflix-saw-3-6-million-service-cancellations-in-us-in-q1\/91731962","category_name":null,"category_name_seo":"telecomnews"}],"related_content":[],"seoschemas":false,"msid":91731901,"entity_type":"ARTICLE","title":"ETTelecom Interviews: Vodafone Idea\u2019s Ravinder Takkar on funding, future plans, 5G strategy, Chinese vendors","synopsis":"\"The number hasn't really changed from total of about Rs 25,000 crores. Of that about Rs 4500-5000 crores have already come. So now we're down to about let's say a round figure of about Rs 20,000 crores. So we are looking at about Rs 10,000 crores from lenders and Rs 10,000 crores from equity.\"","titleseo":"telecomnews\/ettelecom-interviews-vodafone-ideas-ravinder-takkar-on-funding-future-plans-5g-strategy-chinese-vendors","status":"ACTIVE","authors":[{"author_name":"Romit Guha","author_link":"\/author\/479232631\/romit-guha","author_image":"https:\/\/etimg.etb2bimg.com\/authorthumb\/479232631.cms?width=250&height=250","author_additional":{"thumbsize":false,"msid":479232631,"author_name":"Romit Guha","author_seo_name":"romit-guha","designation":"Correspondent","agency":false}},{"author_name":"Danish Khan","author_link":"\/author\/479206691\/danish-khan","author_image":"https:\/\/etimg.etb2bimg.com\/authorthumb\/479206691.cms?width=250&height=250&imgsize=7874","author_additional":{"thumbsize":true,"msid":479206691,"author_name":"Danish Khan","author_seo_name":"danish-khan","designation":"Senior Assistant Editor","agency":false}}],"analytics":{"comments":0,"views":6068,"shares":0,"engagementtimems":19901000},"Alttitle":{"minfo":""},"artag":"ETTelecom","artdate":"2022-05-23 07:43:38","lastupd":"2022-05-23 11:23:45","breadcrumbTags":["Vodafone Idea","Industry","Interviews","5G","Vodafone Idea 5G","Bharti Airtel","Vodafone Idea news","Vodafone Idea fundraise","5G auctions","Ravinder Takkar"],"secinfo":{"seolocation":"telecomnews\/ettelecom-interviews-vodafone-ideas-ravinder-takkar-on-funding-future-plans-5g-strategy-chinese-vendors"}}" data-news_link="//www.iser-br.com/news/ettelecom-interviews-vodafone-ideas-ravinder-takkar-on-funding-future-plans-5g-strategy-chinese-vendors/91731901">
<\/a><\/figure>Capital raise essential to Vodafone Idea’s participation in 5G auction, market competitiveness: Analysts<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Cultural differences have hurt merged Vodafone Idea: Sunil Mittal<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Investment in 5G ‘super-critical’: Vodafone Idea<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Nokia set to replace Huawei gear in parts of Vodafone Idea's India network: Sources<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Have you stopped working with Huawei and ZTE completely in terms of giving new orders for wireline or wireless?
<\/strong>
No. I won't say that we have stopped working with them. There's a huge legacy of Huawei, ZTE in this country right now, the networks that they provide support to us on. So I think that work continues, whether it's fixed core or transport infrastructure. What is clear to us is that we have to obviously follow the government guidelines and mandate…we have to make sure that those are followed to the strictest level. The trajectory going forward with 5G and so on is a bit on hold with the Chinese suppliers because of the government policy and issues.
Does that sort of disturb the cost balance? With fewer equipment suppliers in the market…
<\/strong>
No, we have contracts with them, if we need to buy existing stuff. I think this is where Open RAN players have become an important element of the ecosystem development. We as an industry are reasonably good at managing those things (cost). And I think we will continue to manage that. So, but I would say that there hasn’t been any dramatic change because I think the European suppliers have been supportive. They're also keen to increase their market share as well. So they tend to be aggressive also (in pricing).
Are you also talking to Samsung for gear supplies?
<\/strong>
We talk to everybody in the market.
Do you think VIL can tap new vendors to bring down network costs with uncertainty over Huawei and ZTE’s participation in 5G roll outs?
<\/strong>
Our promoter shareholder group has done a lot of work in the OpenRAN space. And they are one of the few companies in the world which have deployed commercially open RAN products that are serving customers. Obviously, we learn a lot from that. We learn from that, what products they're using, what vendors they're using, and of course, we are in discussions with all of them. So, we see obviously that as an opportunity. And certainly, Open RAN is important for the industry for not only technological innovation, supplier ecosystem, also for overall bringing the cost structure down.
Some say OpenRAN is not mature. Your comments.
<\/strong>
Like anything in technology, nothing changes overnight. But a part of it is not new. It's been happening for five years…I mean, there's no way that Vodafone UK deploys this technology. So what we have now proven is that the technology works, not only in commercial use, it works with existing technology and customer experiences have been good. And then I think over time, other things like reducing costs, and other things also start to come in.
Can you throw some colour on the enterprise and digital businesses?
<\/strong>
Both of these are very important pillars.
Let's start with enterprise. The business has fundamentally changed in the last couple of years because of the COVID, lockdown. Earlier you had bigger businesses that were going through transition, now you see small and medium-sized businesses also transforming as well towards digitalization. And we, of course, participate in that part of it as well. We talk to them not only in services like Cloud and IoT, but also in digitalization of their businesses.
Your competitors are really driving up the digital business. What about Vodafone Idea?
<\/strong>
We have taken I would say a reasonably different strategy compared to the rest of the industry. Our model is very much based on the fact that we have infrastructure,customers, capabilities within our business, which are absolutely critical for any digital player to scale up and make their life easier. Because we see in India all the time, a new digital player comes in, finds it easy to get the first 1 million, 5 million, 10 million customers. If you're lucky, you get to 20 million. But you reach a point and ask, how do I continue to grow my business. And I think this is the area where we can really help in terms of bringing that through partnerships.
And our focus is really on partnerships. I don't want to compete with them. So our plan and our strategy is really to take the top two-three players in every industry. I do a very deep partnership with them. which is based on trust because we're not competing. But it's also based on the fact that I will provide you deep integration with my business. And that creates stickiness for them. And then, of course, using the capabilities that I have in my network, to actually help them grow faster. And also for my customers to be able to experience additional services.
How much does enterprises contribute to your total revenue?
<\/strong>
I don't think we've disclosed that number, but I can tell you is that it is significant.
Is it the same with digital as well?
<\/strong>
Digital is also growing as faster. Obviously, it's smaller than the enterprise business today. But here, I think the engagement levels are really the ones that are important right now. I think revenue will come along. There's reasonable revenue.
<\/body>","next_sibling":[{"msid":91731962,"title":"Netflix saw 3.6 million service cancellations in US in Q1","entity_type":"ARTICLE","link":"\/news\/netflix-saw-3-6-million-service-cancellations-in-us-in-q1\/91731962","category_name":null,"category_name_seo":"telecomnews"}],"related_content":[],"seoschemas":false,"msid":91731901,"entity_type":"ARTICLE","title":"ETTelecom Interviews: Vodafone Idea\u2019s Ravinder Takkar on funding, future plans, 5G strategy, Chinese vendors","synopsis":"\"The number hasn't really changed from total of about Rs 25,000 crores. Of that about Rs 4500-5000 crores have already come. So now we're down to about let's say a round figure of about Rs 20,000 crores. So we are looking at about Rs 10,000 crores from lenders and Rs 10,000 crores from equity.\"","titleseo":"telecomnews\/ettelecom-interviews-vodafone-ideas-ravinder-takkar-on-funding-future-plans-5g-strategy-chinese-vendors","status":"ACTIVE","authors":[{"author_name":"Romit Guha","author_link":"\/author\/479232631\/romit-guha","author_image":"https:\/\/etimg.etb2bimg.com\/authorthumb\/479232631.cms?width=250&height=250","author_additional":{"thumbsize":false,"msid":479232631,"author_name":"Romit Guha","author_seo_name":"romit-guha","designation":"Correspondent","agency":false}},{"author_name":"Danish Khan","author_link":"\/author\/479206691\/danish-khan","author_image":"https:\/\/etimg.etb2bimg.com\/authorthumb\/479206691.cms?width=250&height=250&imgsize=7874","author_additional":{"thumbsize":true,"msid":479206691,"author_name":"Danish Khan","author_seo_name":"danish-khan","designation":"Senior Assistant Editor","agency":false}}],"analytics":{"comments":0,"views":6068,"shares":0,"engagementtimems":19901000},"Alttitle":{"minfo":""},"artag":"ETTelecom","artdate":"2022-05-23 07:43:38","lastupd":"2022-05-23 11:23:45","breadcrumbTags":["Vodafone Idea","Industry","Interviews","5G","Vodafone Idea 5G","Bharti Airtel","Vodafone Idea news","Vodafone Idea fundraise","5G auctions","Ravinder Takkar"],"secinfo":{"seolocation":"telecomnews\/ettelecom-interviews-vodafone-ideas-ravinder-takkar-on-funding-future-plans-5g-strategy-chinese-vendors"}}" data-news_link="//www.iser-br.com/news/ettelecom-interviews-vodafone-ideas-ravinder-takkar-on-funding-future-plans-5g-strategy-chinese-vendors/91731901">
<\/a><\/figure>Cultural differences have hurt merged Vodafone Idea: Sunil Mittal<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Investment in 5G ‘super-critical’: Vodafone Idea<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Nokia set to replace Huawei gear in parts of Vodafone Idea's India network: Sources<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Have you stopped working with Huawei and ZTE completely in terms of giving new orders for wireline or wireless?
<\/strong>
No. I won't say that we have stopped working with them. There's a huge legacy of Huawei, ZTE in this country right now, the networks that they provide support to us on. So I think that work continues, whether it's fixed core or transport infrastructure. What is clear to us is that we have to obviously follow the government guidelines and mandate…we have to make sure that those are followed to the strictest level. The trajectory going forward with 5G and so on is a bit on hold with the Chinese suppliers because of the government policy and issues.
Does that sort of disturb the cost balance? With fewer equipment suppliers in the market…
<\/strong>
No, we have contracts with them, if we need to buy existing stuff. I think this is where Open RAN players have become an important element of the ecosystem development. We as an industry are reasonably good at managing those things (cost). And I think we will continue to manage that. So, but I would say that there hasn’t been any dramatic change because I think the European suppliers have been supportive. They're also keen to increase their market share as well. So they tend to be aggressive also (in pricing).
Are you also talking to Samsung for gear supplies?
<\/strong>
We talk to everybody in the market.
Do you think VIL can tap new vendors to bring down network costs with uncertainty over Huawei and ZTE’s participation in 5G roll outs?
<\/strong>
Our promoter shareholder group has done a lot of work in the OpenRAN space. And they are one of the few companies in the world which have deployed commercially open RAN products that are serving customers. Obviously, we learn a lot from that. We learn from that, what products they're using, what vendors they're using, and of course, we are in discussions with all of them. So, we see obviously that as an opportunity. And certainly, Open RAN is important for the industry for not only technological innovation, supplier ecosystem, also for overall bringing the cost structure down.
Some say OpenRAN is not mature. Your comments.
<\/strong>
Like anything in technology, nothing changes overnight. But a part of it is not new. It's been happening for five years…I mean, there's no way that Vodafone UK deploys this technology. So what we have now proven is that the technology works, not only in commercial use, it works with existing technology and customer experiences have been good. And then I think over time, other things like reducing costs, and other things also start to come in.
Can you throw some colour on the enterprise and digital businesses?
<\/strong>
Both of these are very important pillars.
Let's start with enterprise. The business has fundamentally changed in the last couple of years because of the COVID, lockdown. Earlier you had bigger businesses that were going through transition, now you see small and medium-sized businesses also transforming as well towards digitalization. And we, of course, participate in that part of it as well. We talk to them not only in services like Cloud and IoT, but also in digitalization of their businesses.
Your competitors are really driving up the digital business. What about Vodafone Idea?
<\/strong>
We have taken I would say a reasonably different strategy compared to the rest of the industry. Our model is very much based on the fact that we have infrastructure,customers, capabilities within our business, which are absolutely critical for any digital player to scale up and make their life easier. Because we see in India all the time, a new digital player comes in, finds it easy to get the first 1 million, 5 million, 10 million customers. If you're lucky, you get to 20 million. But you reach a point and ask, how do I continue to grow my business. And I think this is the area where we can really help in terms of bringing that through partnerships.
And our focus is really on partnerships. I don't want to compete with them. So our plan and our strategy is really to take the top two-three players in every industry. I do a very deep partnership with them. which is based on trust because we're not competing. But it's also based on the fact that I will provide you deep integration with my business. And that creates stickiness for them. And then, of course, using the capabilities that I have in my network, to actually help them grow faster. And also for my customers to be able to experience additional services.
How much does enterprises contribute to your total revenue?
<\/strong>
I don't think we've disclosed that number, but I can tell you is that it is significant.
Is it the same with digital as well?
<\/strong>
Digital is also growing as faster. Obviously, it's smaller than the enterprise business today. But here, I think the engagement levels are really the ones that are important right now. I think revenue will come along. There's reasonable revenue.
<\/body>","next_sibling":[{"msid":91731962,"title":"Netflix saw 3.6 million service cancellations in US in Q1","entity_type":"ARTICLE","link":"\/news\/netflix-saw-3-6-million-service-cancellations-in-us-in-q1\/91731962","category_name":null,"category_name_seo":"telecomnews"}],"related_content":[],"seoschemas":false,"msid":91731901,"entity_type":"ARTICLE","title":"ETTelecom Interviews: Vodafone Idea\u2019s Ravinder Takkar on funding, future plans, 5G strategy, Chinese vendors","synopsis":"\"The number hasn't really changed from total of about Rs 25,000 crores. Of that about Rs 4500-5000 crores have already come. So now we're down to about let's say a round figure of about Rs 20,000 crores. So we are looking at about Rs 10,000 crores from lenders and Rs 10,000 crores from equity.\"","titleseo":"telecomnews\/ettelecom-interviews-vodafone-ideas-ravinder-takkar-on-funding-future-plans-5g-strategy-chinese-vendors","status":"ACTIVE","authors":[{"author_name":"Romit Guha","author_link":"\/author\/479232631\/romit-guha","author_image":"https:\/\/etimg.etb2bimg.com\/authorthumb\/479232631.cms?width=250&height=250","author_additional":{"thumbsize":false,"msid":479232631,"author_name":"Romit Guha","author_seo_name":"romit-guha","designation":"Correspondent","agency":false}},{"author_name":"Danish Khan","author_link":"\/author\/479206691\/danish-khan","author_image":"https:\/\/etimg.etb2bimg.com\/authorthumb\/479206691.cms?width=250&height=250&imgsize=7874","author_additional":{"thumbsize":true,"msid":479206691,"author_name":"Danish Khan","author_seo_name":"danish-khan","designation":"Senior Assistant Editor","agency":false}}],"analytics":{"comments":0,"views":6068,"shares":0,"engagementtimems":19901000},"Alttitle":{"minfo":""},"artag":"ETTelecom","artdate":"2022-05-23 07:43:38","lastupd":"2022-05-23 11:23:45","breadcrumbTags":["Vodafone Idea","Industry","Interviews","5G","Vodafone Idea 5G","Bharti Airtel","Vodafone Idea news","Vodafone Idea fundraise","5G auctions","Ravinder Takkar"],"secinfo":{"seolocation":"telecomnews\/ettelecom-interviews-vodafone-ideas-ravinder-takkar-on-funding-future-plans-5g-strategy-chinese-vendors"}}" data-news_link="//www.iser-br.com/news/ettelecom-interviews-vodafone-ideas-ravinder-takkar-on-funding-future-plans-5g-strategy-chinese-vendors/91731901">
<\/a><\/figure>Investment in 5G ‘super-critical’: Vodafone Idea<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/a><\/figure>Nokia set to replace Huawei gear in parts of Vodafone Idea's India network: Sources<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Have you stopped working with Huawei and ZTE completely in terms of giving new orders for wireline or wireless?
<\/strong>
No. I won't say that we have stopped working with them. There's a huge legacy of Huawei, ZTE in this country right now, the networks that they provide support to us on. So I think that work continues, whether it's fixed core or transport infrastructure. What is clear to us is that we have to obviously follow the government guidelines and mandate…we have to make sure that those are followed to the strictest level. The trajectory going forward with 5G and so on is a bit on hold with the Chinese suppliers because of the government policy and issues.
Does that sort of disturb the cost balance? With fewer equipment suppliers in the market…
<\/strong>
No, we have contracts with them, if we need to buy existing stuff. I think this is where Open RAN players have become an important element of the ecosystem development. We as an industry are reasonably good at managing those things (cost). And I think we will continue to manage that. So, but I would say that there hasn’t been any dramatic change because I think the European suppliers have been supportive. They're also keen to increase their market share as well. So they tend to be aggressive also (in pricing).
Are you also talking to Samsung for gear supplies?
<\/strong>
We talk to everybody in the market.
Do you think VIL can tap new vendors to bring down network costs with uncertainty over Huawei and ZTE’s participation in 5G roll outs?
<\/strong>
Our promoter shareholder group has done a lot of work in the OpenRAN space. And they are one of the few companies in the world which have deployed commercially open RAN products that are serving customers. Obviously, we learn a lot from that. We learn from that, what products they're using, what vendors they're using, and of course, we are in discussions with all of them. So, we see obviously that as an opportunity. And certainly, Open RAN is important for the industry for not only technological innovation, supplier ecosystem, also for overall bringing the cost structure down.
Some say OpenRAN is not mature. Your comments.
<\/strong>
Like anything in technology, nothing changes overnight. But a part of it is not new. It's been happening for five years…I mean, there's no way that Vodafone UK deploys this technology. So what we have now proven is that the technology works, not only in commercial use, it works with existing technology and customer experiences have been good. And then I think over time, other things like reducing costs, and other things also start to come in.
Can you throw some colour on the enterprise and digital businesses?
<\/strong>
Both of these are very important pillars.
Let's start with enterprise. The business has fundamentally changed in the last couple of years because of the COVID, lockdown. Earlier you had bigger businesses that were going through transition, now you see small and medium-sized businesses also transforming as well towards digitalization. And we, of course, participate in that part of it as well. We talk to them not only in services like Cloud and IoT, but also in digitalization of their businesses.
Your competitors are really driving up the digital business. What about Vodafone Idea?
<\/strong>
We have taken I would say a reasonably different strategy compared to the rest of the industry. Our model is very much based on the fact that we have infrastructure,customers, capabilities within our business, which are absolutely critical for any digital player to scale up and make their life easier. Because we see in India all the time, a new digital player comes in, finds it easy to get the first 1 million, 5 million, 10 million customers. If you're lucky, you get to 20 million. But you reach a point and ask, how do I continue to grow my business. And I think this is the area where we can really help in terms of bringing that through partnerships.
And our focus is really on partnerships. I don't want to compete with them. So our plan and our strategy is really to take the top two-three players in every industry. I do a very deep partnership with them. which is based on trust because we're not competing. But it's also based on the fact that I will provide you deep integration with my business. And that creates stickiness for them. And then, of course, using the capabilities that I have in my network, to actually help them grow faster. And also for my customers to be able to experience additional services.
How much does enterprises contribute to your total revenue?
<\/strong>
I don't think we've disclosed that number, but I can tell you is that it is significant.
Is it the same with digital as well?
<\/strong>
Digital is also growing as faster. Obviously, it's smaller than the enterprise business today. But here, I think the engagement levels are really the ones that are important right now. I think revenue will come along. There's reasonable revenue.
<\/body>","next_sibling":[{"msid":91731962,"title":"Netflix saw 3.6 million service cancellations in US in Q1","entity_type":"ARTICLE","link":"\/news\/netflix-saw-3-6-million-service-cancellations-in-us-in-q1\/91731962","category_name":null,"category_name_seo":"telecomnews"}],"related_content":[],"seoschemas":false,"msid":91731901,"entity_type":"ARTICLE","title":"ETTelecom Interviews: Vodafone Idea\u2019s Ravinder Takkar on funding, future plans, 5G strategy, Chinese vendors","synopsis":"\"The number hasn't really changed from total of about Rs 25,000 crores. Of that about Rs 4500-5000 crores have already come. So now we're down to about let's say a round figure of about Rs 20,000 crores. So we are looking at about Rs 10,000 crores from lenders and Rs 10,000 crores from equity.\"","titleseo":"telecomnews\/ettelecom-interviews-vodafone-ideas-ravinder-takkar-on-funding-future-plans-5g-strategy-chinese-vendors","status":"ACTIVE","authors":[{"author_name":"Romit Guha","author_link":"\/author\/479232631\/romit-guha","author_image":"https:\/\/etimg.etb2bimg.com\/authorthumb\/479232631.cms?width=250&height=250","author_additional":{"thumbsize":false,"msid":479232631,"author_name":"Romit Guha","author_seo_name":"romit-guha","designation":"Correspondent","agency":false}},{"author_name":"Danish Khan","author_link":"\/author\/479206691\/danish-khan","author_image":"https:\/\/etimg.etb2bimg.com\/authorthumb\/479206691.cms?width=250&height=250&imgsize=7874","author_additional":{"thumbsize":true,"msid":479206691,"author_name":"Danish Khan","author_seo_name":"danish-khan","designation":"Senior Assistant Editor","agency":false}}],"analytics":{"comments":0,"views":6068,"shares":0,"engagementtimems":19901000},"Alttitle":{"minfo":""},"artag":"ETTelecom","artdate":"2022-05-23 07:43:38","lastupd":"2022-05-23 11:23:45","breadcrumbTags":["Vodafone Idea","Industry","Interviews","5G","Vodafone Idea 5G","Bharti Airtel","Vodafone Idea news","Vodafone Idea fundraise","5G auctions","Ravinder Takkar"],"secinfo":{"seolocation":"telecomnews\/ettelecom-interviews-vodafone-ideas-ravinder-takkar-on-funding-future-plans-5g-strategy-chinese-vendors"}}" data-news_link="//www.iser-br.com/news/ettelecom-interviews-vodafone-ideas-ravinder-takkar-on-funding-future-plans-5g-strategy-chinese-vendors/91731901">
<\/a><\/figure>
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