Telecom sector yet to emerge from the woods; govt needs to rationalize telecom levies: Sunil Mittal, Bharti Airtel

The government needs to look at rationalizing levies on the Indian telecom sector, Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal has said in a message to shareholders in its annual report for FY19-20, underlining the need to close long-standing legal disputes that have adversely affected the performance of telecom operators.

Billionaire Sunil Mittal has said that the telecom sector in India is yet to emerge “from the woods”, adding that the adjusted gross revenues (AGR) have caused significant distress to the industry.

“India still has some of the lowest data tariffs globally and the industry is barely able to cover the cost of capital. It requires much more support to repair the deep damage to its finances and make it viable for telecom operators to invest in future technologies,” Mittal said in the company’s FY20 annual report.

Exhorting the government to “look into the urgent needs of operators”, Bharti Enterprises founder said that although the recent tariff increase had provided some cushion, the sector is still way below the levels to make the industry viable.

The 62-year-old said that the world is in the midst of an “unprecedented crisis” in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic that has caused disruption for economies as well as businesses worldwide. He noted that road to recovery is likely to be a long one.

“While I remain highly optimistic that we will soon have a vaccine, the world will have to adjust to the new normal,” Mittal said. Terming telecom as the “oxygen for the digital world”, telecom and digital technologies have become the bedrock of people’s lives. During the Coronavirus-induced lockdown, Airtel’s network engineers, as well as field staff, worked tirelessly in order to ensure that networks run seamlessly, Mittal said.

From building digital channels to rolling the innovative peer-to-peer mobile recharges, Airtel stepped up the game when it mattered the most, he added.