RCom, Ericsson in talks to settle Rs1,000-cr debt

Girja Shankar Kaura

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 18

Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Communications (RCom) on Friday said it was in “advanced” talks with Swedish gear maker Ericsson to resolve their dispute over the telco’s dues worth over Rs 1,000 crore.

In a statement issued here, RCom spokesperson said, “We confirm that RCom and Ericsson are at an advanced stage of discussions to expeditiously resolve commercial issues. This will enable Reliance Communications to exit the NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) process.”

The company added that it is confident of speedily proceeding with its plan to sell wireless assets to Reliance Jio for Rs 18,000 crore to trim its Rs 46,000-crore debt from as many as 31 domestic and international banks.

“RCom is confident to expeditiously proceed with its monetisation plan with Reliance Jio and overall resolution plan with the lenders, keeping in mind interests of all stakeholders,” the spokesperson added.

The talks to settle the dues comes a few days after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted three petitions filed by Ericsson against RCom and its subsidiaries and ordered bankruptcy proceedings against the telecom operator.

A settlement outside the insolvency process, if allowed, may help RCom to move ahead with a plan to sell its wireless assets – spectrum, towers, fibre network and switching nodes – to Reliance Jio for Rs 18,000 crore.

Ericsson had signed a seven-year deal in 2014 to operate and manage RCom’s nationwide telecom network but has not been paid for the service.