Vodafone Idea, the wireless carrier based in Mumbai, India, that is struggling to survive, had some good news last week as the government withdrew its demands for what it called retrospective taxation, according to the Economic Times. However, it still suffers an existential threat from its losses and debt, owing the government for spectrum it purchased and adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.
American Tower stands to be affected by the difficulties at the carrier, having purchased over 42,000 communications sites from Viom in India in 2016, and close to 20,000 sites in 2018 from transactions with Idea Cellular and Vodafone India.
Idea Cellular and Vodafone India completed a merger in August 2018 to become Vodafone Idea, which made it the largest telecom in India with 400 million subscribers at the time. But since then, it has lost 100 million subscribers to well-financed new market entrant Reliance Jio Platforms, according to the Economic Times.
American Tower has not seen a significant increase in accounts receivables in India so far in 2021, according to its second quarter earnings call. The tower company plans to closely monitor the situation at Vodafone Idea, according to Rod Smith, American Tower Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer.
“We continue to be pleased with the way that our customers are paying in India,” Smith said, according to a Motley Fool transcript. “We continue to watch India. And certainly, the amount of liabilities through the AGR and some of the activity between our customers and the government as they try to negotiate those fees, we watch quite closely.”
India is seeing the allocation of additional spectrum and strong growth, but there are still issues, Tom Bartlett, American Tower President and Chief Executive Officer, said on the Q2, 2120 earnings call. Organic tenant billings declined 1.6 percent, in part, because of churn in the market.
“We’ve got the churn issues that we have to deal with in that particular market, but we’re getting our arms around it and making sure that we really nail those there,” Bartlett said. “But it’s not a growth issue, they’ve got new spectrum, they’ve got 4G.”
Failure of the carrier would be one of the biggest in corporate history in India, according to Economic Times. Effects would ripple across the economy, adversely affecting the banks and network vendor partners Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei and ZTE.
Further compounding its problems, the carrier’s non-executive chairman, Kumar Mangalam Birla, stepped down after seeking a government bailout package, according to the Times of India. It is currently waiting for the government to respond to its pleas.
“The company, which is the country’s third-biggest telecom company, has given clear indications that it may not be in a capacity to service bank debt or make statutory government payments in case the Centre doesn’t step in with an incentive package,” according to the Times of India. “Banks are on tenterhooks over the possible default of Vodafone Idea.”
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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