NEW DELHI: Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) is going to defer its annual 5G spectrum purchase instalment by a month. The company said it is ready to pay the interest for the delay.
“The company has submitted a letter today (Tuesday) to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India, that it proposes to pay spectrum auction instalment of Rs 1,680 crore, which is due on August 17, 2023, to DoT, by availing the grace period of 30 days with interest, in accordance with the terms of Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) dated June 15, 2022, for auction of spectrum,” said the company in an exchange filing on Monday.
VIL purchased 5G spectrum worth Rs 18,799 crore in an auction held in August last year. The telco has chosen to settle its dues to the government in 20 equal instalments and made the initial payment of Rs 1,680 crore in August 2022.
In its earnings report for April to June 2023, the company posted a loss of Rs 7,840 crore.
However, its Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) rose 3% sequentially to Rs 139. VIL stated that its 4G customer base grew from 122.6 million to 122.9 million compared to the previous quarter.
During this quarter, the company lost 4.5 million mobile subscribers, bringing its user base to 221.4 million as of June 2023.
In a separate exchange filing on Monday, the company informed that one of its promoters is ready to infuse Rs 2,000 crore in the event of any fund requirement for meeting its impending payment obligation
to DoT.