Image Credit (Vi)
India’s third largest telecom operator Vodafone Idea (Vi) plans to launch commercial 5G services in the country in the next 6-7 months. The company is currently conducting 5G network trials in Mumbai, Pune and Delhi. He also plans to stop 3G services and use this bandwidth to improve 4G coverage.
Akshaya Moondra, CEO of Vi, says the company is trying to get clarity on monetization of 5G services before its public rollout. The telco is working with its partners to adopt new technologies such as vRAN and ORAN for its 5G infrastructure.
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He further added that Vi is the only unprofitable private operator in the country. Moondra, however, declined to comment on the long-term Vi financing negotiations the company is trying to initiate. This is important for Vi as it has to pay its dues to the government and other vendors like Indus Towers to expand its services in the country.
From a consumer perspective, Vi is expected to start rolling out 5G services by the end of 2024. The company has secured 5G spectrum allocation in 17 circles across India which include Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata , Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West), West Bengal.
Some users in Mumbai and Pune already have access to Vi 5G networks, which bodes well for Vi subscribers.
Vi currently has 228 million users in India. However, this number is falling as users opt out of the operator by transferring to a competitor. In contrast, Jio has 449 million users while Airtel has 277 million users, according to the latest data from TRAI.
