Bharti Airtel<\/a> Chairman Sunil Mittal<\/a> said that the telco's “inner strength” may have been underestimated by some, as the telco emerged stronger from the “reset” of the industry<\/a>. India’s No. 2 telco recently reported its first consolidated net profit after six straight quarters. Speaking to ET’s Anandita Singh Mankotia and Romit Guha, Mittal said Airtel<\/a> had pivoted to a technology company. He expects muted bidding in the upcoming 4G spectrum auctions, with likely no takers again for the 700 MHz band due to its high price. Edited excerpts:

Is the worst over for telecom? For Airtel?<\/b>

For Airtel, certainly yes. The reset of the
industry<\/a> has only strengthened Airtel in a big way. Perhaps, some people may have underestimated its inner strength. The muscles Airtel had developed leading this industry have come with a very heavy emphasis on investing in our networks, IT technology coupled with extreme customer focus.

How important is market leadership?<\/b>

I'm not saying it for the sake of saying, but for us, being number one is very important. However, the definition of number one varies. Being number one in the minds of customers is most important. I think that is our input, output could be being the number 1 or two in the market share. I say that as a founder of this company as a person who has led the telecom revolution in the private sector from day one. This is non-negotiable for us.

Our focus is on customer care, service, quality of the service, network, digital services and not on giving out deals which may determine the outcome of the number of customers on our network.

You trail
Jio<\/a> in revenue market share (RMS) by 6-7% percentage points, as per Trai…<\/b>

No, it's not that much. It is more like 2-3% point, as per our published data. Our data set is based on very stringent norms. If a customer hasn’t used our service for 30 days, we don't count him\/her as a customer. And that's why our VLR is at 96-97%.

What is Airtel’s revenue market share as per your estimates?<\/b>

Vodafone results are still not out, but we should be closer to 35%.

What is your RMS target for the next few years?<\/b>

It is a good place to be in at 35%, when you are three private operators and BSNL. Will we improve the share? Yes…But the math is stacked against fast increase in market share from here. With a 10% annual growth rate, one needs to get about 60% of the new adds to increase your market share by one percentage point.

What was your capital expenditure in the last five years?<\/b>

It is about Rs20,000 crore a year. Give or take another Rs500 crore. Without spectrum costs.

And do you expect the pace to continue?<\/b>

Yes. We plan to build more than 20,000-30,000 cell sites this year, more fibre & FTTH roll out. Some more investments on the DTH (direct-to-home) side and into building data centers…then, the cycle will start for 5G.

Airtel wanted to retain only spectrum related debt and retire the rest….<\/b>

Yes, but as we start to get the debt down, some new obligation such as AGR payments, new spectrum auctions come in. Airtel has raised about $12 billion in the last two and a half years but most of it has gone to AGR payments, spectrum instalments and debt. The bank bank debt however, is about Rs 5000-Rs6000 crores…we can actually clean up the bank debt in the next few months.

Is that a realistic aim for you?<\/b>

The cash flows that have been generated now show that it is a possibility that we will be ending up paying the banks faster or we can keep the banks and pay the DoT faster. DoT is more expensive, the 2010 auctions are at 10% interest rate, bank debt is at 7%.

There is an issue with the bank guarantees as well…<\/b>

Bank guarantee is something which the DoT must reconsider because those are from historical times. Now that you have exposure of tens of thousands of crores of spectrum payments to these operators without any such instruments, why bother about these small bank guarantees. Secondly, RBI norms mandate provisioning of that much capital allocation, thus reducing the capital pool, and the cost of bank guarantee has quadrupled.

Last two years you raised $12 billion, any figures for the next two years?<\/b>

We are in a reasonably good shape for now. No plan as such to raise more capital.

Not planning to raise funds even by sale of assets?<\/b>

Possibly yes. Invit is becoming a very popular medium for monetizing assets, yet keeping operational control. There are large assets sitting in towers - 42% is worth some Rs25,000 crores; also a large amount of fiber, could be worth tens of thousands of crores. Data centre was partially sold. We have minority assets like in Bangladesh which is a billion dollars. So, there are opportunities of divestment, should the need arise.

Is there a talk to restructure your digital assets in a way that will enable you to monetize them a lot more freely?<\/b>

Yeah. There is something called Airtel Digital now, under which all the digital entities are being housed. There is a discussion going on how to restructure that part. Around 119 million active monthly users are sitting here.

So will your restructuring be on the lines of
Jio Platforms<\/a>?<\/b>

Not exactly the same…So in
Jio<\/a>, you get a piece of what is on top (Jio Platforms<\/a>) and thus, also a piece of Jio.

But here it could be sitting alongside. What we are thinking about is a step-up company, which will then be the holding company of Airtel and Digital…Digital could become parallel (to Airtel)…the thinking is to restructure it so that we have similar outcomes (on potential monetization).

So, potentially you can have two monetizable vehicles?<\/b>

Yes. The advantage you have in a separate digital story is that if he (investor) only wants to come there (digital) and not in telecom, that can be done.

Will this step-up company have to mirror the Airtel shareholding?<\/b>

Everybody will have the same economic interest.

If I am an Airtel shareholder, will I get a stake in the step-up company?<\/b>

Has to be. Whatever (entity) comes out, anybody who owns Airtel today, because everything belongs to Airtel, will have to belong to all.

What is your vision behind this restructuring?<\/b>

It is really important that when you're giving digital services to the customers they don't have any kind of regulatory overhang of the telecom service, because that's not a regulated industry.

So this could also be an offshoot of the AGR judgment?<\/b>

Yeah possibly, but the final result could be: you have a listed company and you can bring a listing here too after two-three years.

Airtel will continue to be listed?<\/b>

It is a $45 billion company, can’t take it private.

So do investments in Jio Platforms by
Google<\/a> and Facebook mean they can’t invest in your companies?<\/b>

Google<\/a> works very closely with us and Facebook has done a number of deals recently. Whether they want to invest in us is up to them.

In fact, it was an odd move for OTT (Google and Facebook) companies to be part of a telecom company (Jio).

Did you hold discussions with Amazon or other strategic investors in the past and is there any possibility of one coming in, in the next 6-12 months?<\/b>

We haven’t had any such conversations. We have not reached out for investments.

What is your vision for Airtel for the next five years?<\/b>

Very clearly, Airtel has pivoted today to the technology company. But we are still not going to start competing with the OTT platforms, we are going for the partnership model while developing products. IQ & Safepay are fully Indian homegrown solutions. These are the small innovations that you do on top of, what you call the dumb pipe, so that you are actually having a very smart ecosystem.

So are you taking in learnings from Jio?<\/b>

No, I would say the ecosystem has changed.

What have they (Jio) done, differently from us? Jio Chat, Jio Magazines, Jio Music, each one of those, there are equivalent things that have been sitting on our side.

We are B2B2C. And, frankly speaking, globally, telco’s have not been able to make B2C successful.

Read also<\/h4>
<\/a><\/figure>
Sunil Mittal hints at mobile services rate hike<\/a><\/h5><\/div>
<\/a><\/figure>
Tariff hike needed as pricing &#39;unsustainable&#39;, market condition to drive decision: Mittal<\/a><\/h5><\/div>
<\/a><\/figure>
Airtel will not foray into ecommerce, content creation; top two telcos can corner 80% share: Mittal<\/a><\/h5><\/div>
<\/a><\/figure>
Mukesh Ambani, Sunil Mittal differ on 5G rollout timelines in India<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Where does financial services figure in your broader scheme?<\/b>

Very strong focus.

Financial services is going to be the next important area of business for telecom companies. I personally believe that Airtel Payments Bank is a multibillion dollar opportunity. If you go further to Bitcoin, whatever shape they take, it is going to disrupt the existing traditional banking network. That is an area where telecom companies can play a huge role.

And what are the next steps?<\/b>

Tie-up with insurance companies, mutual funds, to sell them...

You expressed a desire for a small bank licence?<\/b>

We desire it, should the RBI permit. The reason for that is lending. In payment bank, lending is not allowed. Even if they allow us lending even up to a lakh of rupees, we are fine.

Have you proposed this clause to permit lending of up-to Rs 1 lakh for payments banks with the RBI?<\/b>

Yes, there is a small group of payments banks which has been in discussions with the RBI.

There has been speculation that you have been in talks to buy Dish TV and Paytm. Your comments.<\/b>

Paytm, No.

We were in talks with Dish. But not for a long time now. We will not make any bids which are not welcomed by the owners.

We have to wait for them to take the call but we would be happy to consolidate and buy a DTH company.

Now, with the government focussing on privatization, are you as a Group going to look at participating in this process?<\/b>

Will we like to have a nice PSU tucked in in the group, the answer in principle would be yes. But the question is which one… most of the assets on the table is manufacturing, hardcore sort of assets, so unlikely. But if there is something in the services sector, something which has got manufacturing-marketing out there, branding marketing, but right now, we don’t see anything.

You were looking to sell Bharti Realty’s real estate parcels. You had held talks with Brookfield…<\/b>

A lot of people have been expressing interest, but we have not concluded anything. Our rental run rate is about Rs600 crores a year. Should we take it to a Reit or should we do an asset sale, are being discussed.

When is
Bharti Airtel<\/a>’s next AGR instalment due?<\/b>

We are done for four years. We have paid Rs18,000 crore. And it’s over a 10-year period, and we owe totally some Rs40,000 crore, which is Rs4,000 crore a year. It doesn’t seem to be their (telecom department’s) interpretation, but that's how we read the judgement.

It cannot be anybody's case that since I paid more money, I should be penalized. Others didn’t. My competitors can use that money to build networks, but I am sitting there with my money in DoT.

Do you think it's a good time to move away from auction as a method for spectrum allocation?<\/b>

After the last Supreme Court judgment, it’s hard for anybody to do anything else.

But two things were very important: one was to put enough spectrum and not create artificial scarcity. And the second: keep it at a reasonable price.

One part is done, all the spectrum which is available is put on auction. On the other side, instead of 12 operators, you have three now, so whatever is the reserve price, is your clearing price now.

So, have the reserve price right, else, a lot of spectrum won’t get sold. What benefit is that giving to the nation, to the customers, to the quality of the network or for revenue to the government?

What will be a good time for 5G auctions?<\/b>

Anytime in FY 2022, but the pricing has to be right. You can't have a Rs50,000 crore spectrum slug, when a large part of that will not be used because there won’t be any ecosystem around.

At Rs50,000 crore price for the 5G spectrum, Rs7,500 crore per year will go up in smoke, if we don’t use the spectrum. The actual price for pan-India is Rs56,000 crore. It's too expensive.

So,
Trai<\/a> has stuck with its 5G price recommendation, so now it is basically up to the government…<\/b>

Let's see if there is a player in the market who wants to clear that price and be comfortable. But otherwise, I think there is unanimity, and even in the government, that the pricing is too high.

Will there be any takers for the 700 MHz band at the lower prices in these auctions?<\/b>

My own view is, it’s not happening.

When the initial price came in, there was a big justification, we have done the modelling, calculations, but no buyer. Just because nobody bought it, they have brought it down. No justification. But for all these years, nobody could use 700 MHz, despite it being the best spectrum in terms of coverage.

Every year you have not used it, there’s no money for the government as well.

Jio has been the most aggressive with some Rs10,000 crore as EMD (earnest money deposits)…<\/b>

It was expected. They need to renew a lot of spectrum.

We have to renew in some places, we may let go in some places. We will be spending some amount of money, but nothing huge.

Vodafone Idea will probably be the lowest spenders, but they have enough spectrum.

In the broadband sphere, how do you fare against Jio?<\/b>

They probably have more fibre on the ground, but we have more customers.

But this has been a missed opportunity. All these years we have been focussed on mobile.

Read also<\/h4>
<\/a><\/figure>
Sunil Mittal hints at mobile services rate hike<\/a><\/h5><\/div>
<\/a><\/figure>
Tariff hike needed as pricing &#39;unsustainable&#39;, market condition to drive decision: Mittal<\/a><\/h5><\/div>
<\/a><\/figure>
Airtel will not foray into ecommerce, content creation; top two telcos can corner 80% share: Mittal<\/a><\/h5><\/div>
<\/a><\/figure>
Mukesh Ambani, Sunil Mittal differ on 5G rollout timelines in India<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Where do you see the satellite venture with the UK government (OneWeb) going from here?<\/b>

Every month you will see a launch. 110 satellites are up now. We need to send 650 satellites, they will go up by April 2022. Then we’ll be up and running.

This will be nothing but telecom in space. The future is probably shifting now.

If you extrapolate this 10 years from now, will there be ground networks at all? Who knows.

Then what is the future of Airtel 10 years from now?<\/b>

Airtel is a customer connected company. Whether the network will be 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G or Space G, that could keep on evolving.

Future of telecom is fast moving to space. Today it will be sparse areas, tomorrow it may start to compete in the main areas as well. In fact, SpaceX is offering in cities, it is going direct to consumers.

But we are following B-2-B. We will go to telecom companies who will be resellers in every country.

OneWeb won’t become a consumer branded operator. It will go to Airtel, even Jio to resell.

Are you satisfied with Airtel’s network quality?<\/b>

Earlier when I used to go out and meet people I carried a little note to register people’s complaints. Now, I hear more compliments which I have not heard in the last 35 years…Across all speed testing platforms, be it Ookla or Opensignal, you can see our data speeds.

But Trai has ranked one of your rival operators as No. 1 repeatedly….<\/b>

It is a monopoly, that is just incredible. Eventually the customer decides.

Airtel gave out contradictory signals on 5G – at one end, you say India will be ready for 5G only after 2 years, but on the other, you say you can roll out 5G in a few months…<\/b>

There is no disconnect. 5G ecosystem is developing. We say 150 countries have launched 5G networks, but just fly to Singapore, you can maybe find five spots which may show you a 5G signal. When we hear that India is falling behind, that’s not true.

What we have demonstrated is that our network has readiness, but ecosystem also needs to develop. Thankfully devices have started to come in. 4-5% of new devices are 5G enabled, but it is not 50%.

You were looking to sell real estate parcels, like the one in Aerocity, and had held talks with Brookfield. Any progress?<\/b>

A lot of people have been expressing interest, but we have not concluded anything. And it’s not just Aerocity. Our rental run rate is about Rs600 crores a year. Should we take it to a REIT or should we do an asset sale, are being discussed.

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“1号在顾客心目中的地位是最重要的,不可转让的:Airtel主席苏尼尔•米塔尔

“重置的行业只有加强Airtel在很大程度上。也许,有些人可能低估了其内在的力量。肌肉Airtel领先发展这个行业是有很重的强调投资于我们的网络,技术再加上极端的客户关注,”米塔尔说。

辛格Anandita Bhada Romit古哈
  • 2021年2月15日更新12:05点坚持
阅读: 100年行业专业人士
读者的形象读到100年行业专业人士
Bharti Airtel主席苏尼尔•米塔尔说电信的“内在的力量”可能是低估了一些,随着电信出现强大的“重置”行业。印度第二大电信最近报道首次连续六个季度后合并净利润。对ET的Anandita辛格Mankotia Romit·古米塔尔说附近的旅馆旋转一个技术公司。他预计沉默在即将到来的4 g频谱拍卖竞标,可能没有人再为700 MHz频段由于其高昂的代价。编辑摘录:

电信是最糟糕的?附近的旅馆吗?

Airtel,肯定是的。的重置行业只有加强Airtel在很大程度上。也许,有些人可能低估了其内在的力量。肌肉Airtel领先发展这个行业是有很重的强调投资于我们的网络,它的技术加上极端的顾客导向。

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市场领导地位有多重要?

我不是说这是为了说,但对我们来说,是非常重要的。然而,一号的定义各不相同。是第一个在顾客心目中的地位是最重要的。我认为这是我们的输入、输出可以在1号或两市场份额。我说,作为该公司的创始人了电信革命的人从一开始就在私营部门。对我们来说这是没有商量余地的。

我们的重点是客户关怀、服务质量的服务,网络、数字服务,而不是分发交易可能决定我们的网络上的客户数量的结果。

你跟踪Jio收入市场份额(RMS) 6 - 7%百分点,按火车…

不,它不是。它更像是2 - 3%,根据公布的数据。我们的数据集是基于非常严格的规范。如果客户没有使用我们的服务30天,我们不把他/她的客户。这就是为什么我们的VLR在96 - 97%。

Airtel的按你们的估计收入市场份额?

沃达丰(Vodafone)结果还没有出来,但是我们应该接近35%。

你RMS未来几年的目标是什么?

这是一个好地方为35%,当你私人运营商和BSNL三。我们会改善分享吗?是的…但是数学是不利于快速增加市场份额。以10%的年增长率,需要大约60%的新增加了你的市场份额提高百分之一。

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你的资本支出在过去五年?

它是关于Rs20,000卢比的一年。给或另一个Rs500卢比。没有谱的成本。

和你期望的速度继续吗?

是的。我们计划建立超过20000 - 30000细胞的网站,今年更多的纤维和FTTH推出。一些投资的对数(direct-to-home)一边和构建数据中心…然后,5 g的周期将开始。

Airtel想仅保留光谱相关债务和其余…退休。

是的,但是当我们开始的债务,一些新的义务如AGR支付,新的频谱拍卖进来。Airtel已经筹集了大约120亿美元在过去两年半,但大部分去了AGR支付,分期付款和债务。然而,银行银行债务大约是Rs 5000 - rs6000卢比…我们可以清理银行债务在未来几个月。

是一个现实的目标吗?

现金流生成现在显示它是可能的,我们将最终支付银行更快或者我们可以保持银行和支付点得更快。点是更昂贵的,2010年的拍卖是在10%的利率,银行债务为7%。

有一个问题与银行担保…

银行担保是点必须考虑,因为这些都是历史时期。现在您已经接触成千上万的卢比的频谱向这些运营商没有任何仪器,为什么要对这些小银行担保。其次,央行规范要求配置的资本配置,从而减少资本池,银行担保的成本翻了两番。

过去两年你筹集了120亿美元,在未来两年的数据吗?

现在我们处于一个相当良好。没有计划筹集更多资金。

甚至不打算筹集资金通过出售资产?

可能是的。Invit资产货币化是成为一个非常受欢迎的媒介,然而保持操作控制。有大型资产价值约Rs25,000卢比坐在塔- 42%;还大量的纤维,可以值得成千上万的卢比。数据中心部分出售。我们在孟加拉等少数资产是十亿美元。所以有机会撤资,如果形势需要。

有跟重组你的数字资产的方式将使您能够赚钱更多的自由吗?

是的。现在叫做Airtel数字,所有数字实体被安置。有一个讨论关于如何重组这部分。每月约1.19亿活跃用户是坐在这里。

所以你的重组将行Jio平台吗?

不完全相同的…所以Jio,你会得到一块上(Jio平台),因此,也一块Jio。

但这可能是坐在旁边。我们考虑的是升压公司的控股公司将Airtel和数字…数字可能成为并行(旅馆)…思考是重组,这样我们也有类似的结果(潜在盈利)。

所以,可能你可以有两个monetizable车辆?

是的。在一个单独的数字故事的优势,如果他(投资者)只有想来(数字)和电信,可以做。

这将升压公司需要镜子Airtel股权?

每个人都会有相同的经济利益。

如果我是一个旅馆的股东,我将得到一个升压股份公司吗?

必须是。无论(实体)出来,谁拥有今天的旅馆,因为一切都属于Airtel,必须属于所有人。

你的视力这一重组背后是什么?

它是非常重要的,当你给数字服务客户他们没有任何监管的电信服务,因为这不是一个规范的行业。

这也可以AGR的一个分支判断吗?

是的可能,但最终结果可能是:你有一个上市公司,你也可以把一个清单后2 - 3年。

Airtel将继续上市?

它是一个450亿美元的公司,不能私人。

如此Jio投资平台谷歌和Facebook意味着他们不能投资于你的公司?

谷歌与我们密切合作和Facebook最近做了交易数量。他们是否想要投资于美国。

事实上,这是一个奇怪的举动,奥特(谷歌和Facebook)公司是一家电信公司(Jio)的一部分。

你进行讨论与亚马逊或其他战略投资者在过去,有一个未来的可能性,在未来6 - 12个月?

我们还没有任何这样的对话。我们还没有达到投资。

你的愿景Airtel在今后五年?

很显然,Airtel的今天,科技公司。但我们还没有开始与奥特平台竞争,我们的伙伴关系模型在开发产品。智商& Safepay完全印度本土的解决方案。这些小创新你的顶部,你所说的哑管道,所以你实际上是一个非常聪明的生态系统。

所以你从Jio在学习吗?

不,我想说生态系统已经发生了改变。

他们(Jio)做的,不同于我们吗?Jio聊天,Jio杂志,Jio音乐,其中,每一个有等价的东西已经坐在我们这一边。

我们是B2B2C。坦白地说,在全球范围内,电信一直未能让B2C成功。

读也


图在你的更广泛的金融服务方案在哪里?

很强的焦点。

金融服务是电信公司的下一个重要的业务领域。我个人认为,Airtel支付银行是一个数十亿美元的机会。如果你去进一步比特币,无论他们形状,它会破坏现有的传统银行网络。这是一个地方电信公司可以发挥巨大的作用。

接下来的步骤是什么?

与保险公司合作,共同基金,出售他们…

你表达了渴望小银行执照吗?

我们渴望它,应该RBI许可证。原因是贷款。支付银行贷款是不允许的。即使他们甚至使我们贷款的十万的卢比,我们都很好。

你提出这个条款允许贷款引入Rs负载和印度央行支付银行吗?

是的,有一小群支付银行已与印度储备银行。

外界一直猜测你已经买菜电视和Paytm进行谈判。您的评论。

Paytm,不。

我们在与菜。但不是很长一段时间了。我们不会做任何投标不受到业主的欢迎。

我们必须等待他们接电话,但我们很乐意巩固和买一个潜公司。

现在,政府关注私有化,你作为一个群体去看看参与这个过程吗?

将我们想有一个好的事业单位塞在组中,答案原则上是肯定的。但问题是哪一个…的大部分资产是制造业,核心资产,所以不太可能。但是如果有一些服务业,manufacturing-marketing事物,品牌营销,但是现在,我们没有看到任何东西。

你是打算出售Bharti物业的房地产包裹。你有与布鲁克菲尔德举行会谈…

很多人表达了兴趣,但我们还没有得出任何东西。我们的租赁运行速度是Rs600卢比一年。我们应该把它Reit或我们应该做一个资产出售,正在讨论。

是什么时候Bharti Airtel接下来的AGR分批交?

我们做了四年。我们已经支付Rs18,000卢比。十年为一个周期,我们欠完全一些Rs40,000卢比,这是Rs4,000卢比的一年。这似乎没有他们的电信部门的解释,但我们阅读判断。

它不能被任何人的情况下,因为我花了更多的钱,我应该受到处罚。其他人没有。我的竞争对手可以使用这笔钱来构建网络,但我坐在那里在点我的钱。

你认为这是一个好时机离开拍卖作为频谱分配的方法吗?

去年最高法院判决后,任何人都很难再去做其他事。

但是有两件事是非常重要的:一个是把足够的频谱和不创造人为的稀缺性。第二:保持在一个合理的价格。

一部分已经完成,所有可用的频谱是拍卖。另一方面,而不是12个运营商,你现在有三个,所以无论底价,现在你的结算价格。

所以有底价吧,别的,很多频谱不会被出售。的国家,好处是给什么客户,网络的质量或收入的政府?

什么将会是一个好时机5 g拍卖?

随时在2022财政年度,但价格是正确的。你不能有一个Rs50,000卢比的光谱段塞,当的很大一部分将不会使用,因为不会有任何生态系统。

在Rs50,000卢比的价格5 g频谱,Rs7,500卢比的每年将化为乌有,如果我们不使用频谱。pan-India的实际价格是Rs56,000卢比。太贵了。

所以,火车已经坚持了5 g的价格建议,所以现在基本上是政府…

看看市场有一个球员谁想清楚价格和舒适。但除此之外,我认为有一致,甚至在政府定价太高。

会有任何接受者的700 MHz频带在这些拍卖的价格更低吗?

我个人的观点是,它没有发生。

最初的价格进来的时候,有一个大的理由,我们所做的造型,计算,但没有买家。只是因为没有人买它,他们带来了下来。没有理由。但这么多年来,没人可以使用700 MHz,尽管它是最好的光谱覆盖。

每年你没有使用它,政府没有钱。

Jio最为积极与一些Rs10,000卢比,EMD(保证金存款)…

这是预期。他们需要更新很多频谱。

我们必须更新在一些地方,我们可能会在一些地方。我们将花一些钱,但没有巨大的。

沃达丰的想法可能会最低消费,但他们有足够的频谱。

在宽带领域,如何对Jio机票多少钱?

他们可能有更多的纤维在地面上,但我们有更多的顾客。

但这是一个错失的机会。这些年来我们一直致力于移动。

读也


你在哪里看到卫星与英国政府(OneWeb)从这里?

每个月你将看到一个发射。110卫星了。我们需要发送650个卫星,他们将在2022年4月上升。然后我们将会启动并运行。

这将是电信在太空。未来可能是转移了。

如果你推断这10年后,地面会有网络吗?谁知道呢。

那么什么是Airtel 10年后的未来?

Airtel公司是客户连接。网络是否2 G、3 G, 4 G, G 5 G或空间,可以继续发展。

电信是快速移动的未来空间。今天将稀疏的区域,明天就可能开始在主要领域竞争。事实上,SpaceX公司提供在城市,它会直接给消费者。

但是我们B-2-B之后。我们要去电信公司在每个国家将经销商。

OneWeb不会成为一个消费品牌运营商。它将去附近的旅馆,甚至Jio转售。

你满意的旅馆的网络质量呢?

早些时候我出去见面时我带了一个小纸条的人登记人的投诉。现在,我听到更多的赞美,我没有听说过在过去的35年…在所有速度测试平台,无论是Ookla或Opensignal中,您可以看到我们的数据传输速度。

但是火车已经排在你的竞争对手之一1号多次…。

它是一个垄断,这是难以置信的。最终客户决定。

Airtel发出了相互矛盾的信号5 g -一端,你说印度将准备5 g之后才2年,但另一方面,你说你可以在几个月内推出5克…

没有断开。5 g生态系统发展。我们说150个国家推出了5 g网络,但就飞到新加坡,你也许可以找到五可能给你一个5 g信号。当我们听到印度落后了,这不是真的。

我们已经证明了我们的网络已经准备就绪,但生态系统也需要时间来培养。值得庆幸的是设备已经开始进来。4 - 5%的新设备启用5克,但不是50%。

你是打算出售房地产包裹,如Aerocity,与布鲁克菲尔德举行了会谈。任何进展?

很多人表达了兴趣,但我们还没有得出任何东西。而且不只是Aerocity。我们的租赁运行速度是Rs600卢比一年。我们应该把它REIT或我们应该做一个资产出售,正在讨论。

  • 发布于2021年2月15日09:02点坚持

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Bharti Airtel<\/a> Chairman Sunil Mittal<\/a> said that the telco's “inner strength” may have been underestimated by some, as the telco emerged stronger from the “reset” of the industry<\/a>. India’s No. 2 telco recently reported its first consolidated net profit after six straight quarters. Speaking to ET’s Anandita Singh Mankotia and Romit Guha, Mittal said Airtel<\/a> had pivoted to a technology company. He expects muted bidding in the upcoming 4G spectrum auctions, with likely no takers again for the 700 MHz band due to its high price. Edited excerpts:

Is the worst over for telecom? For Airtel?<\/b>

For Airtel, certainly yes. The reset of the
industry<\/a> has only strengthened Airtel in a big way. Perhaps, some people may have underestimated its inner strength. The muscles Airtel had developed leading this industry have come with a very heavy emphasis on investing in our networks, IT technology coupled with extreme customer focus.

How important is market leadership?<\/b>

I'm not saying it for the sake of saying, but for us, being number one is very important. However, the definition of number one varies. Being number one in the minds of customers is most important. I think that is our input, output could be being the number 1 or two in the market share. I say that as a founder of this company as a person who has led the telecom revolution in the private sector from day one. This is non-negotiable for us.

Our focus is on customer care, service, quality of the service, network, digital services and not on giving out deals which may determine the outcome of the number of customers on our network.

You trail
Jio<\/a> in revenue market share (RMS) by 6-7% percentage points, as per Trai…<\/b>

No, it's not that much. It is more like 2-3% point, as per our published data. Our data set is based on very stringent norms. If a customer hasn’t used our service for 30 days, we don't count him\/her as a customer. And that's why our VLR is at 96-97%.

What is Airtel’s revenue market share as per your estimates?<\/b>

Vodafone results are still not out, but we should be closer to 35%.

What is your RMS target for the next few years?<\/b>

It is a good place to be in at 35%, when you are three private operators and BSNL. Will we improve the share? Yes…But the math is stacked against fast increase in market share from here. With a 10% annual growth rate, one needs to get about 60% of the new adds to increase your market share by one percentage point.

What was your capital expenditure in the last five years?<\/b>

It is about Rs20,000 crore a year. Give or take another Rs500 crore. Without spectrum costs.

And do you expect the pace to continue?<\/b>

Yes. We plan to build more than 20,000-30,000 cell sites this year, more fibre & FTTH roll out. Some more investments on the DTH (direct-to-home) side and into building data centers…then, the cycle will start for 5G.

Airtel wanted to retain only spectrum related debt and retire the rest….<\/b>

Yes, but as we start to get the debt down, some new obligation such as AGR payments, new spectrum auctions come in. Airtel has raised about $12 billion in the last two and a half years but most of it has gone to AGR payments, spectrum instalments and debt. The bank bank debt however, is about Rs 5000-Rs6000 crores…we can actually clean up the bank debt in the next few months.

Is that a realistic aim for you?<\/b>

The cash flows that have been generated now show that it is a possibility that we will be ending up paying the banks faster or we can keep the banks and pay the DoT faster. DoT is more expensive, the 2010 auctions are at 10% interest rate, bank debt is at 7%.

There is an issue with the bank guarantees as well…<\/b>

Bank guarantee is something which the DoT must reconsider because those are from historical times. Now that you have exposure of tens of thousands of crores of spectrum payments to these operators without any such instruments, why bother about these small bank guarantees. Secondly, RBI norms mandate provisioning of that much capital allocation, thus reducing the capital pool, and the cost of bank guarantee has quadrupled.

Last two years you raised $12 billion, any figures for the next two years?<\/b>

We are in a reasonably good shape for now. No plan as such to raise more capital.

Not planning to raise funds even by sale of assets?<\/b>

Possibly yes. Invit is becoming a very popular medium for monetizing assets, yet keeping operational control. There are large assets sitting in towers - 42% is worth some Rs25,000 crores; also a large amount of fiber, could be worth tens of thousands of crores. Data centre was partially sold. We have minority assets like in Bangladesh which is a billion dollars. So, there are opportunities of divestment, should the need arise.

Is there a talk to restructure your digital assets in a way that will enable you to monetize them a lot more freely?<\/b>

Yeah. There is something called Airtel Digital now, under which all the digital entities are being housed. There is a discussion going on how to restructure that part. Around 119 million active monthly users are sitting here.

So will your restructuring be on the lines of
Jio Platforms<\/a>?<\/b>

Not exactly the same…So in
Jio<\/a>, you get a piece of what is on top (Jio Platforms<\/a>) and thus, also a piece of Jio.

But here it could be sitting alongside. What we are thinking about is a step-up company, which will then be the holding company of Airtel and Digital…Digital could become parallel (to Airtel)…the thinking is to restructure it so that we have similar outcomes (on potential monetization).

So, potentially you can have two monetizable vehicles?<\/b>

Yes. The advantage you have in a separate digital story is that if he (investor) only wants to come there (digital) and not in telecom, that can be done.

Will this step-up company have to mirror the Airtel shareholding?<\/b>

Everybody will have the same economic interest.

If I am an Airtel shareholder, will I get a stake in the step-up company?<\/b>

Has to be. Whatever (entity) comes out, anybody who owns Airtel today, because everything belongs to Airtel, will have to belong to all.

What is your vision behind this restructuring?<\/b>

It is really important that when you're giving digital services to the customers they don't have any kind of regulatory overhang of the telecom service, because that's not a regulated industry.

So this could also be an offshoot of the AGR judgment?<\/b>

Yeah possibly, but the final result could be: you have a listed company and you can bring a listing here too after two-three years.

Airtel will continue to be listed?<\/b>

It is a $45 billion company, can’t take it private.

So do investments in Jio Platforms by
Google<\/a> and Facebook mean they can’t invest in your companies?<\/b>

Google<\/a> works very closely with us and Facebook has done a number of deals recently. Whether they want to invest in us is up to them.

In fact, it was an odd move for OTT (Google and Facebook) companies to be part of a telecom company (Jio).

Did you hold discussions with Amazon or other strategic investors in the past and is there any possibility of one coming in, in the next 6-12 months?<\/b>

We haven’t had any such conversations. We have not reached out for investments.

What is your vision for Airtel for the next five years?<\/b>

Very clearly, Airtel has pivoted today to the technology company. But we are still not going to start competing with the OTT platforms, we are going for the partnership model while developing products. IQ & Safepay are fully Indian homegrown solutions. These are the small innovations that you do on top of, what you call the dumb pipe, so that you are actually having a very smart ecosystem.

So are you taking in learnings from Jio?<\/b>

No, I would say the ecosystem has changed.

What have they (Jio) done, differently from us? Jio Chat, Jio Magazines, Jio Music, each one of those, there are equivalent things that have been sitting on our side.

We are B2B2C. And, frankly speaking, globally, telco’s have not been able to make B2C successful.

Read also<\/h4>
<\/a><\/figure>
Sunil Mittal hints at mobile services rate hike<\/a><\/h5><\/div>
<\/a><\/figure>
Tariff hike needed as pricing &#39;unsustainable&#39;, market condition to drive decision: Mittal<\/a><\/h5><\/div>
<\/a><\/figure>
Airtel will not foray into ecommerce, content creation; top two telcos can corner 80% share: Mittal<\/a><\/h5><\/div>
<\/a><\/figure>
Mukesh Ambani, Sunil Mittal differ on 5G rollout timelines in India<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Where does financial services figure in your broader scheme?<\/b>

Very strong focus.

Financial services is going to be the next important area of business for telecom companies. I personally believe that Airtel Payments Bank is a multibillion dollar opportunity. If you go further to Bitcoin, whatever shape they take, it is going to disrupt the existing traditional banking network. That is an area where telecom companies can play a huge role.

And what are the next steps?<\/b>

Tie-up with insurance companies, mutual funds, to sell them...

You expressed a desire for a small bank licence?<\/b>

We desire it, should the RBI permit. The reason for that is lending. In payment bank, lending is not allowed. Even if they allow us lending even up to a lakh of rupees, we are fine.

Have you proposed this clause to permit lending of up-to Rs 1 lakh for payments banks with the RBI?<\/b>

Yes, there is a small group of payments banks which has been in discussions with the RBI.

There has been speculation that you have been in talks to buy Dish TV and Paytm. Your comments.<\/b>

Paytm, No.

We were in talks with Dish. But not for a long time now. We will not make any bids which are not welcomed by the owners.

We have to wait for them to take the call but we would be happy to consolidate and buy a DTH company.

Now, with the government focussing on privatization, are you as a Group going to look at participating in this process?<\/b>

Will we like to have a nice PSU tucked in in the group, the answer in principle would be yes. But the question is which one… most of the assets on the table is manufacturing, hardcore sort of assets, so unlikely. But if there is something in the services sector, something which has got manufacturing-marketing out there, branding marketing, but right now, we don’t see anything.

You were looking to sell Bharti Realty’s real estate parcels. You had held talks with Brookfield…<\/b>

A lot of people have been expressing interest, but we have not concluded anything. Our rental run rate is about Rs600 crores a year. Should we take it to a Reit or should we do an asset sale, are being discussed.

When is
Bharti Airtel<\/a>’s next AGR instalment due?<\/b>

We are done for four years. We have paid Rs18,000 crore. And it’s over a 10-year period, and we owe totally some Rs40,000 crore, which is Rs4,000 crore a year. It doesn’t seem to be their (telecom department’s) interpretation, but that's how we read the judgement.

It cannot be anybody's case that since I paid more money, I should be penalized. Others didn’t. My competitors can use that money to build networks, but I am sitting there with my money in DoT.

Do you think it's a good time to move away from auction as a method for spectrum allocation?<\/b>

After the last Supreme Court judgment, it’s hard for anybody to do anything else.

But two things were very important: one was to put enough spectrum and not create artificial scarcity. And the second: keep it at a reasonable price.

One part is done, all the spectrum which is available is put on auction. On the other side, instead of 12 operators, you have three now, so whatever is the reserve price, is your clearing price now.

So, have the reserve price right, else, a lot of spectrum won’t get sold. What benefit is that giving to the nation, to the customers, to the quality of the network or for revenue to the government?

What will be a good time for 5G auctions?<\/b>

Anytime in FY 2022, but the pricing has to be right. You can't have a Rs50,000 crore spectrum slug, when a large part of that will not be used because there won’t be any ecosystem around.

At Rs50,000 crore price for the 5G spectrum, Rs7,500 crore per year will go up in smoke, if we don’t use the spectrum. The actual price for pan-India is Rs56,000 crore. It's too expensive.

So,
Trai<\/a> has stuck with its 5G price recommendation, so now it is basically up to the government…<\/b>

Let's see if there is a player in the market who wants to clear that price and be comfortable. But otherwise, I think there is unanimity, and even in the government, that the pricing is too high.

Will there be any takers for the 700 MHz band at the lower prices in these auctions?<\/b>

My own view is, it’s not happening.

When the initial price came in, there was a big justification, we have done the modelling, calculations, but no buyer. Just because nobody bought it, they have brought it down. No justification. But for all these years, nobody could use 700 MHz, despite it being the best spectrum in terms of coverage.

Every year you have not used it, there’s no money for the government as well.

Jio has been the most aggressive with some Rs10,000 crore as EMD (earnest money deposits)…<\/b>

It was expected. They need to renew a lot of spectrum.

We have to renew in some places, we may let go in some places. We will be spending some amount of money, but nothing huge.

Vodafone Idea will probably be the lowest spenders, but they have enough spectrum.

In the broadband sphere, how do you fare against Jio?<\/b>

They probably have more fibre on the ground, but we have more customers.

But this has been a missed opportunity. All these years we have been focussed on mobile.

Read also<\/h4>
<\/a><\/figure>
Sunil Mittal hints at mobile services rate hike<\/a><\/h5><\/div>
<\/a><\/figure>
Tariff hike needed as pricing &#39;unsustainable&#39;, market condition to drive decision: Mittal<\/a><\/h5><\/div>
<\/a><\/figure>
Airtel will not foray into ecommerce, content creation; top two telcos can corner 80% share: Mittal<\/a><\/h5><\/div>
<\/a><\/figure>
Mukesh Ambani, Sunil Mittal differ on 5G rollout timelines in India<\/a><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Where do you see the satellite venture with the UK government (OneWeb) going from here?<\/b>

Every month you will see a launch. 110 satellites are up now. We need to send 650 satellites, they will go up by April 2022. Then we’ll be up and running.

This will be nothing but telecom in space. The future is probably shifting now.

If you extrapolate this 10 years from now, will there be ground networks at all? Who knows.

Then what is the future of Airtel 10 years from now?<\/b>

Airtel is a customer connected company. Whether the network will be 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G or Space G, that could keep on evolving.

Future of telecom is fast moving to space. Today it will be sparse areas, tomorrow it may start to compete in the main areas as well. In fact, SpaceX is offering in cities, it is going direct to consumers.

But we are following B-2-B. We will go to telecom companies who will be resellers in every country.

OneWeb won’t become a consumer branded operator. It will go to Airtel, even Jio to resell.

Are you satisfied with Airtel’s network quality?<\/b>

Earlier when I used to go out and meet people I carried a little note to register people’s complaints. Now, I hear more compliments which I have not heard in the last 35 years…Across all speed testing platforms, be it Ookla or Opensignal, you can see our data speeds.

But Trai has ranked one of your rival operators as No. 1 repeatedly….<\/b>

It is a monopoly, that is just incredible. Eventually the customer decides.

Airtel gave out contradictory signals on 5G – at one end, you say India will be ready for 5G only after 2 years, but on the other, you say you can roll out 5G in a few months…<\/b>

There is no disconnect. 5G ecosystem is developing. We say 150 countries have launched 5G networks, but just fly to Singapore, you can maybe find five spots which may show you a 5G signal. When we hear that India is falling behind, that’s not true.

What we have demonstrated is that our network has readiness, but ecosystem also needs to develop. Thankfully devices have started to come in. 4-5% of new devices are 5G enabled, but it is not 50%.

You were looking to sell real estate parcels, like the one in Aerocity, and had held talks with Brookfield. Any progress?<\/b>

A lot of people have been expressing interest, but we have not concluded anything. And it’s not just Aerocity. Our rental run rate is about Rs600 crores a year. Should we take it to a REIT or should we do an asset sale, are being discussed.

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