Vodafone Idea to start 5G services in Delhi-NCR soon

NEW DELHI:  Vodafone Idea (VIL) will soon start 5G services in Delhi-NCR as the telecom service provider has initiated its network upgrade process. The telecom operator, in a message to its Delhi subscribers, said Vi network is being upgraded to 5G. “Good News!! Vi network is being upgraded to 5G! Your network experience will now be superior, soon you will experience better coverage and superfast Internet service in Delhi-NCR with our Vi network,” reads the message of the company. 

Experts say the network upgrade of the telco to 5G will help it to stop its subscriber-base erosion. Vi has been losing its subscribers over the past 15 months due to poor connectivity issues.  The company lost 1.8 million subscribers in June 2022, leaving it with 256.6 million network users. As per the latest telecom regulator data, Reliance Jio has a 36% market share, Airtel has 31.63% and Vi’s market share decreased to 22.37%. Analysts say Vodafone needs to make its presence felt faster to grab 5G customers before Jio or Airtel makes offers. 

“To remain in the telecom tug of war, Vodafone needs to make its presence felt faster to grab 5G customers before Jio or Airtel makes offers. It’s just a technology upgrade to give better and faster experience to subscribers. The development follows after Bharti Airtel announced that its 5G coverage planning is completed for 5,000 top cities and a pan-India rollout by March 2024 and Jio planning for 1,000 cities very soon,” said Prashanth Tapse, Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research) of Mehta Equities.  

Recently, the company in a statement said its network investment initiatives continue to deliver significant capacity uplift with data capacity at 2.9x times compared to September 2018. Vi had reported a consolidated loss of Rs 7,296.7 crore in the April-June 2022 quarter as compared to Rs 7,319 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.