Vi planning phased 5G rollout with new tariff plans this year: CEO

Telco expects thousands of new sites by March under partnership with global vendors

Vodafone Idea (Vi) chief executive officer Akshaya Moondra said the beleaguered telco is preparing for a phased rollout of 5G and launching tailored “first-of-their-kind tariff plans” for customers this year.

 

He explained that thousands of new sites, mostly expected to be for 4G, will go live by March as part of the telco's new partnership with the three global vendors under the three-year investment plan.

 

In September last year, the telco signed a mega $3.6 billion (Rs 30,000 crore) deal with global telecom equipment makers Nokia, Ericsson, and Samsung, for the supply of network equipment over a three-year period.

 

Marking its first-ever sourcing agreement with South Korean giant Samsung, the latest deal is part of its total capital expenditure target of $6.6 billion (Rs 55,000 crore) over the next three years.

 

It added over 48,000 sites in 2024, and increased the capacity to 58,000 sites. Moondra said network testing service OpenSignal has recognised the telco as 'India's Best 4G Network'. “Vi has excelled across all performance metrics of 4G download and upload speeds, 4G video and gaming experiences, and 4G voice app calling performance,” he said in a letter to customers on New Year.

 

On Monday, Vi held an extra-ordinary general meeting of the company to seek shareholder approval for a proposal to raise Rs 1,980 crore from entities belonging to promoter Vodafone Group PLC through a preferential issue.