NEW DELHI/BENGALURU, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Debt-ridden Vodafone
Idea Ltd said on Monday it is rebranding itself, as
the company, which has been losing customers, looks to change
its image three years after announcing the merger of two of
India's biggest telecom service providers.
The company's shares, which rose 10% in morning trade, were
up 3.3% at 0750 GMT.
The loss-making telecom carrier on Friday approved
fundraising of up to 250 billion rupees at a time it owes
roughly 500 billion rupees ($6.81 billion) in dues to the
government. The dues, according to an Indian Supreme Court
order, will have to be paid over a ten-year period.
Vodafone Idea, a joint venture between Britain's Vodafone
Group and India's Idea Cellular, said it will go by the
brand name "Vi".
"Vi's focus will be to deliver ... a superior network
experience, better customer service and leading products and
services," Vodafone Group Chief Executive Officer Nick Read
said.
On a media call before the announcement, Vodafone Idea CEO
Ravinder Takkar said the company would make its next payment of
government dues on March 2022, and was contemplating raising
tariffs.
Telecom carriers in the country have already raised some
subscription tariffs as they look for ways to pay down
government levies.
Vodafone Idea lost 4.7 million customers in May alone, while
market leader Reliance Jio added 3.7 million. The Indian unit of
Vodafone had gross debt of 1.19 trillion Indian rupees as of
June end.
A newspaper report last week said Verizon Communications Inc
and Amazon.com Inc may invest more than $4
billion for a stake in Vodafone Idea, but the telecom company
said on Thursday its board had no investment proposal to
consider from them.
(Reporting by Sanklap Phartiyal in New Delhi, Euan Rocha in
Mumbai, Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak
Dasgupta)