India is a top-class telecom investment destination: Anshu Prakash

New Delhi: India as a destination for telecom is world-class and the spectrum auction could be expected to be utilized well by the telcos given India’s communication potential, Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash has said. “India as a destination for telecom (investment) is top class,” Prakash said in an interview. His assertion comes as in recent times, Vodafone Group’s comments on pulling out from India unless relief given on Adjusted Gross Revenues have hit the headlines.

In November, Vodafone Group’s CEO Nick Read had highlighted the stress in the sector after Supreme Court’s verdict on AGR dues. However, he had later said he was misquoted. Earlier the same month, Vodafone Idea’s chairman K.M. Birla said that without sufficient relief, the telco will have to shut down.

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has clarified that the government does not want a monopoly in the telecom sector. Days after Vodafone CEO’s exit threat, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had even said that the government doesn’t want any telecom company to shut its operations in India.

Both Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel posted huge losses in Q2FY20. While Vodafone Idea recorded a loss of Rs 50,921 crore, Bharti Airtel’s loss figure for the quarter stood at Rs 23,045 crore. The Digital Communications Commission - the policy-making arm of the sector on Friday cleared TRAI recommended price based auction of the spectrum including 5G spectrum for the first time at a value of Rs 5.22 lakh crore. (IANS)

Also Read: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India paper on floor prices could lead to tariff hikes

Also Watch: Women bodies protest against CAA-2019 in Biswanath