Vodafone, the world's second-largest telecom service provider by subscribers, said Thursday that slow government clearances had made it difficult for foreign companies to do business in India, even as the company continues to face taxation issues in the country. The UK-based telco, which has invested about $20 billion in India, said the Indian government should accelerate the decision-making process and facilitate mark consolidation to improve the sector, which has been reeling under spectrum constraints. Vodafone India head Marten Pieters said the company had sought the government's approval in December last year to bring in funds from the parent company to buy airwaves and is still awaiting the clearances. He added that spectrum availability remains a key challenge.
"Industry structure is government's responsibility and it should make available more quantum of spectrum," he said at The Economist's India summit. In China, telecom companies are regulated and three players invested $50 billion in networks there last year. Comparatively, India put in only 10 per cent of that amount in its networks. Pieters said in India, spectrum availability is not on a par with international markets such as the US and the scarcity of airwaves is causing hurdles such as low voice quality. If the new government sets the conditions right, private industry can invest a lot more in the country and that could mitigate the general perception that doing business is India is difficult.
Pieters added that Vodafone India plans to raise equity as a lot of money goes into the purchase of spectrum. The company, which is caught in a Rs 20,000-crore tax tangle is awaiting a nod from the authorities for the equity sale. The sector regulator had proposed rules on spectrum sharing and trading but the telecom department is yet to take a final decision, Vodafone India's top executive remarked. Concepts such as the Digital India programme, financial inclusion and smart cities are close to the company's operations, he added.
0 comments:
Post a Comment