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    Categories: Telecom

Aircel Will File For Bankruptcy; Idea Launches Rs 109 Plan For 1GB/Day!

As per incoming reports, Aircel has become 4th telco to vanish off the radar, after brutal Jio tsunami hit the Indian telecom sector. Unable to cope with the debt of Rs 15,000 crore, Aircel will soon file for bankruptcy, and maybe dissolve all their existing operations.

Meanwhile, Idea Cellular too has launched Rs 109 plan for 1 GB/Day and unlimited calls.

After Jio, Airtel and BSNL’s similar plans, Idea was forced to launch a similar plan, as Rs 100 becomes the new standard for 1 GB/day plans.

Aircel Will Soon File For Bankruptcy!

Confirmed reports indicate that Aircel will very soon file for bankruptcy in front of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), and the reports sound confirmed because their Board has been dissolved.

Aircel was the last small telecom operator to have survived after Jio’s free tsunami hit the telecom industry, and Malaysian parent company Maxis has said enough is enough now.

Their owner, businessman Ananda Krishnan had attempted to infuse some venture capital into their telecom company since September 2017 but failed to do so.

As of now, Aircel’s debts amount to Rs 15,500 crore, and since September, they have been unable to make any payments to the lenders.

Another report indicates that they will stop paying salaries from last week of February.

A person close to the development inside Aircel said, “There is no cash to run the business and no visibility to free any more up,”

They have around 5000 employees as of now, and their future hangs in uncertainty.

Out of Rs 400 crore monthly revenues, they pay Rs 100 crore per month for termination charges to other telcos; and Rs 280 crore is paid for maintaining their network and paying their vendors.

This way, Aircel has become the 4th company to end their operations after Jio storm hit the industry. Telenor has sold their operations to Airtel; Tata Teleservices has also sold off their wireless business to Airtel and Reliance Communications has surrendered their services to Jio.

Aircel owes huge sums of money to SBI, GTL Infra, Bharti Infratel, Indus Towers and ATC, and negotiations are currently on.

Idea Too Launches Rs 109 Plan for 1GB/day

Meanwhile facing intense competition from Airtel and Jio, Idea has also decided to launch Rs 109 plan for offering 1GB/day, and unlimited calling.

This new plan currently covers Andhra and Telangana regions, and is valid for 14 days, unlike Airtel and Jio, whose Rs 93 and Rs 98 plans are valid for 28 days respectively.

Under Idea’s Rs 109 plan, users can get 1 GB/day for 14 days, along with unlimited calling including while in roaming on other networks; and 100 SMS per day for 14 days.

Note here, that unlimited voice calling is limited to 250 minutes per day and 1000 minutes per week only.

BSNL is closely following the tariff war, as they had recently launched Rs 149 plan with unlimited calling and data (3G), only for post-paid users.

Mohul Ghosh: Mohul keenly observes the nuances of Indian startup world; and tries to demystify the secrets behind Technology, Marketing, Mobile and Internet. He is a Writer by passion, Marketer by choice and Entrepreneur by compulsion. Follow him on Twitter here: @_mohul
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