Indian telecom service provider Aircel has told its employees to be ready for difficult times. While the company is facing serious fund issues and intense competition from the market, Aircel has reportedly warned more than 5,000 of its employees to be prepared for "difficult times".
"We have had no funding for some time and have been dependent on cash generation from our current business operations," Aircel's Chief Executive Officer Kaizad Heerjee said in an email to employees earlier this week, reported Economic Times.
To replace the resigned directors, the Aircel board has brought in Sandeep Vats, Prakash Mishra, and Lakshami Subramaniam. The board will regroup to "review and evaluate the options for the company" in the critical weeks ahead, Kaizad Heerjee said.
Aircel will soon file for bankruptcy at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), the Economic Times report added.
After the entry of the Mukesh Ambai led-Reliance Jio in the Indian telecom market, competition has gotten tougher for Maxis-owned Aircel.
The Economic Survey 2018 findings pointed out that the country's telecom sector is going through bad times, with increasing losses and growing debt amid heightened competition due to the entry of Reliance Jio into the market.
Jio's lower tariff offers and data plans resulted in falling revenues for other telecom companies.
Earlier this month, Idea Cellular, the telecom company led by Kumar Mangalam Birla, suspended interconnect services with Aircel Ltd due to non-payment of dues. It is expected that this action may impact millions of Aircel consumers in the country.
In January 2018, Aircel shut down its services in six circles to focus on better-performing areas. In December last year, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India allowed Aircel customers who joined the network in the last 90 days to port to other telecom networks.
