VI signs mega deal for 4G, 5G expansion
NEW DELHI:
Vodafone Idea
has awarded contracts worth approximately Rs 30,000 crore to Nokia,
Ericsson
, and Samsung for 4G and
5G network
equipment over the next three years. This move is part of the company’s announced three-year
capital expenditure
plan of around Rs 55,000 crore.
“Vodafone Idea (“VIL” or “Company”) has concluded a mega ~USD 3.6 billion (~Rs. 300 billion) deal with Nokia, Ericsson, and Samsung, for the supply of network equipment over a period of three years.
The deal marks the first step towards the rollout of the company’s transformative three-year capex plan of ~USD 6.6 billion (Rs. 550 billion),” the company said in a press release.
The statement further revealed that this initiative seeks to extend 4G coverage from 1.03 billion to 1.2 billion people and enhance capacity to support data growth.
“The company has continued with its existing long-term partners Nokia and Ericsson and also onboarded Samsung as a new partner,” said the company while stating that “the top priority for the company is to expand the 4G coverage to 1.2 billion Indians.”
Following a recent equity raise of Rs. 240 billion and an additional spectrum acquisition of Rs. 35 billion in the June 2024 auction, Vodafone Idea has undertaken a series of quick capital expenditures to enhance its network capabilities. The company has deployed additional spectrum on existing sites and established new ones, leading to a roughly 15% increase in capacity and expanding population coverage by 16 million by the end of September 2024.
These infrastructure upgrades are already improving customer experience in selected areas where rollouts have been completed. Simultaneously, Vodafone Idea is in the process of finalizing long-term contracts to sustain its ongoing expansion efforts.
The CEO of
VI
Ltd Akshaya Moondra said, “We are committed to investing in emerging network technologies to provide a best-in-class experience to our customers. We have kickstarted the investment cycle. We are on our journey of VIL 2.0 and from hereon, VIL will stage a smart turnaround to effectively participate in the industry growth opportunities.”
He further talked about the contract with the partners and added in his statement, “Nokia and Ericsson have been our partners since our inception and this marks another milestone in that continuing partnership. We are pleased to start our new partnership with Samsung. We look forward to working closely with all our partners as we move into the 5G era.”
