Telecom lobby COAI dials distress

Industry association COAI has sent out a distress signal to the government seeking easier terms for payment of statutory dues by telcos, including extension of loans at lower rates to cover AGR liabilities and faster implementation of floor prices, to rescue the troubled sector.

With the telecom industry plunging into an unprecedented crisis, the association has raised an alarm over banks’ unwillingness to take any risk with regard to the sector, and asserted the “need to give a clear message to banks that the government is there to support the sector”.

“Banks are unwilling to take any risk for the telecom sector and are constantly asking telecom service providers to reduce their exposures by refusing to issue new bank guarantees or even to renew bank guarantees,” COAI director-general Rajan Mathews has said in a letter to telecom secretary Anshu Prakash.