“Consumers are concerned and we are also concerned, and this is a priority issue and I mentioned in particular Delhi, Eastern UP, Bihar and Mumbai”, he said. Vodafone, along with other telcos, have been in the crosshairs of the government on the issue over rising call drops.
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Vodafone group is supposed to be the leading growing in telecom industry. It’s linked to the quantity of spectrum that we’ve, it is linked to the convenience of getting permits, proper of the way.
Upbeat about the Indian operation, Colao said Vodafone would maintain its investment level in India. “We are intrinsically a part of Digital India”. It is not a problem of money, but problem of operating conditions. “It’s too expensive…in my job I always have to say spectrum is too expensive”.
However, without divulging any further details Colao said, I cannot give you a date but I can tell you we are positively inclined to an initial public offering and have started a few preparatory work. Solutions to call drops need to cover aspects such as more spectrum, more telecom towers, access to sites and right of way. It’s vicious cycle – more sites, more issues, more bureaucratic administrative problems, more drops. “If you can break this, I assume India will get the identical service as the remaining”. In 2013, it made commitment to invest about Rs 8,500 crore annually. “Vodafone is one the great digital partners of India”.
“Thanks to competition, the price of technology is coming down every year”. The share sale will also offer investors an opportunity to reap dividends from a market where wireless growth is outpacing that of more mature countries such as Vodafone s home market, the United Kingdom.
“I was in Gujarat round January-February when the Prime Minister elaborated his imaginative and prescient for Digital India…” Colao said Vodafone is working with the government to resolve the issue, but disagreed with the regulator and the telecom department’s proposal to force telcos to compensate subscribers for call drops, saying this doesn’t happen anywhere in the world.
Talking about recent move by the Indian government to allow spectrum trading and sharing, he said: “It is a positive move”.
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Asked on Vodafone’s stand on Net neutrality, the CEO stated there ought to be no discrimination on guidelines among the many similar type of service albeit telecom operators ought to be allowed to phase Internet providers.
