VOD.L - Vodafone Group Plc

Vodafone Group exits Facebook-led Libra currency group

The association has seen an exodus of its backers including financial companies Paypal Holdings Inc and Mastercard Inc amid regulatory scrutiny. Facebook announced in June last year a plan to launch the digital currency in partnership with other members of the association, but the project quickly ran into trouble with skeptical regulators around the world.

Vodafone Abandons Facebook-Led Libra Cryptocurrency Project

(Bloomberg) -- Telecom giant Vodafone Group Plc left the Libra Association, becoming the latest company to exit the Facebook-led group trying to create a new global cryptocurrency.The Libra Association, which was finalized last October, once expected to have as many as 28 total members when the project was announced in June. It is now down to 20 following earlier departures from Visa Inc., Mastercard Inc. and others that had committed to the project but then left before the group signed an official charter.“Vodafone is no longer a member of the Libra Association,” Dante Disparte, head of policy and communication for the association, said in a statement. “Although the makeup of the Association members may change over time, the design of Libra’s governance and technology ensures the Libra payment system will remain resilient. The Association is continuing the work to achieve a safe, transparent, and consumer-friendly implementation of the Libra payment system.”The idea for Libra -- a global, digital currency intended to make cross-border money transfers as easy as sending a text message -- has faced opposition at every turn. Facebook, the world’s largest social network, first proposed the idea last June, along with a number of high-profile partners. Many of them are no longer involved, and Facebook has pledged to appease all U.S. regulators before launching the currency. It’s unclear how long that might take.Coindesk earlier reported news of Vodafone’s departure from the group.In a statement, U.K.-based Vodafone said it plans to focus on its own digital payments efforts instead. Vodafone partly owns Safaricom Plc, which operates the M-Pesa mobile-payments app in Kenya, where more people keep their money on their phones rather than in banks. The text message-based app is used by about 35 million people globally to spend, borrow and send money to friends and family.“We will continue to monitor the development of the Libra Association and do not rule out the possibility of future co-operation,” Vodafone spokesman Steve Shepperson-Smith said.\--With assistance from Jenny Surane and Scott Moritz.To contact the reporter on this story: Kurt Wagner in San Francisco at kwagner71@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Robin AjelloFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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Exclusive: New Indian law to protect foreign investors to exclude tax demands - documents

New legislation will improve protection for foreign investors in India by offering relief from possible policy changes but will uphold the state's right to tax them, according to its draft and government documents seen by Reuters. The bill also attempts to upgrade India's investment climate and boost foreign investment by setting up new adjudicating authorities to swiftly resolve disputes. It is part of India's efforts to become a $5 trillion economy by 2024, from around $2.7 trillion currently, the documents said.

BT, Vodafone may seek Johnson's support for Huawei - sources

Britain's BT and Vodafone are considering urging Prime Minister Boris Johnson not to risk the rollout of next generation mobile networks by banning China's Huawei [HWT.UL], sources said, confirming a Sky News report on Friday. Britain is set to take a final decision on Huawei's role in building new 5G networks this month. U.S. government officials have pushed for a total ban on Huawei on security grounds, and reports said they presented new evidence on Monday about the risks of using the Chinese company's equipment, branding it "madness".

UK's BT, Vodafone may seek PM Johnson's support for Huawei: sources

Britain's BT and Vodafone are considering urging Prime Minister Boris Johnson not to risk the rollout of next generation mobile networks by banning China's Huawei [HWT.UL], sources said, confirming a Sky News report on Friday. Britain is set to take a final decision on Huawei's role in building new 5G networks this month. U.S. government officials have pushed for a total ban on Huawei on security grounds, and reports said they presented new evidence on Monday about the risks of using the Chinese company's equipment, branding it "madness".

Franklin Cuts Vodafone Idea’s Debt Value to Zero on Court Snub

(Bloomberg) -- Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) Pvt. marked down its debt exposure to Vodafone Group Plc’s India venture to zero, concerned by the operator having to pay $4 billion in back-fees as early as next week. The carrier’s shares suffered a record plunge.The payment deadline has led to “significant uncertainty with respect to our exposure” to the carrier, the fund house said in a statement on Friday. Shares of Vodafone Idea tumbled as much as 39%, reflecting concerns over the future of the beleaguered company.Local wireless operators including Vodafone Idea Ltd. and Bharti Airtel Ltd. suffered a blow Thursday, when the Supreme Court rejected their appeal against an October verdict requiring them to pay as much as $13 billion for spectrum and license fees. The companies were counting on some relief, such as a reversal of the earlier order, reduced liabilities or staggered payment.The court’s rebuff adds to the woes of India’s debt funds hit by a lingering shadow banking crisis that’s shaken the nation’s credit markets in the past 18 months. The order also puts a severe burden on the survivors of a tariff war sparked by the 2016 entry of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., an upstart that disrupted the industry with free calls and cheap data.Both Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, with a combined net debt of about $30 billion, reported record losses in the September quarter.Vodafone CEO Says India Venture Is at Risk of Collapse“Experience in India suggests it is unwise to talk of uncertainties, but it is very hard to see how Vodafone Idea survives,” analysts at New Street Research LLP wrote in a report. “A 2-player outcome would therefore be by far the most likely outcome,” which is positive for Bharti, they said.While Bharti Airtel, run by tycoon Sunil Mittal, has managed to raise the $3 billion it needs to pay from a sale of shares and convertible bonds, Vodafone Idea’s billionaire Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla has warned that the company may have to cease operations and file for insolvency if the government doesn’t ease their burden.Vodafone Group, the British carrier that owns 45% of the venture, wrote off the carrying value of its shares in Vodafone Idea in its earnings for the half-year through September after analysts flagged the possibility of further impairments.India is open to discussing ways to help ease the payment of these dues by wireless carriers, according to a government official with knowledge of the matter. Stripping out interest from the dues or paying the amount in tranches are some ideas that the government can discuss, this official said.Shares of Bharti Airtel climbed 5.5% at close on Friday in Mumbai after the court order raised the prospects of a telecom duopoly in India. The company’s perpetual, dollar-denominated bonds declined the most in more than two months.Not EasyThe court on Thursday also rejected requests by telecom companies for rehearing the petition seeking relaxations on penalties sought by the government and deadline for the payment.“We wonder how weaker operators like Vodafone Idea will make this payment, and not that Bharti Airtel is getting any respite as the amount has to be paid up,” said Gaurang Shah, vice president at Geojit Financial Services Ltd. “It isn’t easy to raise tariffs and retain customers. It remains to be seen how companies now respond to this decision because the court has twice spelled it out for them.”For two decades, the operators had challenged the way authorities calculated their annual adjusted gross revenue, a share of which is paid as license and spectrum fees. With the October ruling, the court upheld the government’s method, while rejecting the companies’ plea to exclude revenue from non-telecommunications businesses.“We are evaluating filing a curative petition,” Airtel said in a statement after the ruling, an option echoed by Vodafone Idea as well. “The industry continues to face severe financial stress and the outcome could further erode the viability of the sector as a whole.”The government had raised a total demand of around 920 billion rupees ($13 billion) against all telecom operators, including defunct ones, according to filings in the court.Here’s a list of companies and the amount they have to pay to the government:Last year, Vodafone Idea had raised 250 billion rupees from a rights issue.“Vodafone may have some cash through rights issue but it won’t be enough to meet the overall dues,” said Rajiv Sharma, an analyst at Sbicap Securities. “If there’s not enough relief, then it is going to be a matter of time before they shut down.”In the past decade, India has seen a consolidation in the telecommunications industry. Three non-state operators are left now, from about a dozen four years ago. While Vodafone’s local unit announced its merger with Birla’s Idea Cellular Ltd. in 2017, Aircel Ltd. and tycoon Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications Ltd. slipped into bankruptcy last year. Others including Norway’s Telenor group and UAE’s Etisalat group exited the market.\--With assistance from P R Sanjai, Thomas Seal, Bijou George and Rahul Satija.To contact the reporter on this story: Upmanyu Trivedi in New Delhi at utrivedi2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Sam Nagarajan at samnagarajan@bloomberg.net, ;Arijit Ghosh at aghosh@bloomberg.net, Bhuma Shrivastava, Ravil ShirodkarFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

Indian court rejects plea for relief on $13 billion telco levy; Vodafone tumbles

Shares of Vodafone Idea fell as much as 40% on Friday, losing $975 million in market value, after India's top court rejected mobile carriers' petitions for a review of its order to pay billions of dollars in levies to the government. India's mobile carriers had filed petitions to review an October ruling by the Supreme Court that upheld a long-standing government demand that wireless carriers pay 920 billion rupees (9.95 billion pounds) in overdue levies and interest. The court's rejection on Thursday of petitions by Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and the now-defunct Tata Teleservices is likely to add to the financial woes of India's telecoms sector, which has been badly bruised by a price war.

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Vodafone Hutchison Australia partners with Nokia to kick off 5G rollout

The 5G drive comes as the joint venture is caught in a legal appeal process against an antitrust regulator's move to block its proposed A$15 billion mega-merger with TPG Telecom Ltd . In a joint statement, the companies said Vodafone Hutchison Australia, the 50-50 joint venture, would kick off its 5G rollout in the first half of 2020 with Nokia as the network vendor.

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Robey Warshaw employs fewer than 20 people but worked on Comcast's blockbuster $39bn takeover of Sky last year.