Vodafone has strongly denied the news that they are about to leave India. In a statement, they have said that these media reports are baseless, and ‘malicious’
Their statement:
“Vodafone is aware of the unfounded and baseless rumours circulating in some of the Indian media that we have decided to exit the market. We would like to categorically state that this is not true and is malicious,”
Earlier:
Telecom circle in India is right now abuzz with rumors that Vodafone, which is India’s biggest telecom provider by numbers right now, can leave India, and stop all its operations ‘any minute’ now.
This can be a rumor as of now, but this news is coming from a IANS report.
Vodafone-Idea has refused to comment on this news, at the time of writing.
In case Vodafone-Idea stops their operations, and quit India, then it will be massive blow to the telecom industry. And to the 38 crore users.
Is Vodafone Leaving India?
As per an IANS report, Vodafone-Idea considering quitting their Indian operations, and “pack up and leave any day now”.
When the TheNewsMinute contacted Vodafone-Idea for a statement, then they were asked to contact Ben Padovan, Group Head of Corporate Communications, Vodafone Group Plc.
There has been no reply or confirmation about this news as of now.
Why Will Vodafone Leave India?
Mounting losses, and massive erosion in their userbase is being stated as the possible reason for their shutdown.
The rumors about a possible shutdown by Vodafone started to afloat, after reports came in that Vodafone-Idea is attempting a debt recast, as they are attempting to contact their lenders.
This news was denied by Vodafone, as they said in a statement: “There has been reportage in some media alleging that Vodafone Idea has approached its lenders for debt recast. We categorically deny and dismiss this as baseless and factually incorrect. We have not made any request for debt recast to any lender or asked for reworking of payment terms. We continue to pay all our debts as and when these fall due,”
Interestingly, the news about a possible shutdown comes at a time when the Supreme Court has ordered Vodafone-Idea to pay a penalty of Rs 28,300 crore, over the AGR issue.
After this verdict, their share prices fell to a 52-week low to Rs 3.86, even as their market capitalisation fell to a ‘measly’ Rs 11,091 crore.
In the last quarter, Vodafone-Idea’s subscriber base dropped by over 36 lakh to reach 38 crore, compared to 33.9 crore of Jio and 32.85 crore of Airtel.
This is a developing story, and we will keep you updated, as more details come in.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.