Vodafone Idea launches 5G services starting in Mumbai; stock goes up 5%
Vodafone Idea also plans more capex investments of ₹50,000-55,000 crore over three years for expanding both its 4G and 5G services to other cities.
Vodafone Idea announced the launch of its 5G services on Wednesday, starting in Mumbai.
This is an important launch since it signals optimism for the troubled telecom company, which has struggled to compete with rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.
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For this, the company had partnered with Finnish tech giant Nokia for using its 5G equipment, and the service will slowly expand across India in a phased manner, it announced in its official statement.
Vodafone Idea also has deployed an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based SON (Self-Organizing Networks) system, which is to continuously optimizes network performance.
This comes after the company raised funds totalling ₹26,000 crore for capital expenditure (capex) deployment. This includes the largest Follow-on Public Offer (FPO) in India of ₹18,000 crore, along with a promoter contribution of ₹4,000 crore,
On top of this, Vodafone Idea also plans more capex investment of ₹50,000 to 55,000 crore over three years for expanding the 5G services to other cities, as well as for expanding its 4G network with a target of covering 90% of Indians.
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Pricing of the Vodafone Idea 5G
Vodafone announced that it will offer unlimited 5G services as an add-on for plans starting at ₹299, calling it “the most competitively priced option in the market.”
However, this is an 'introductory offer' and the duration of it is uncertain. The company is yet to provide more details.
5G services were first launched in India in October 2022 and this space is currently dominated by Jio with 170 million subscribers for its 5G services and Bharti Airtel with 120 million subscribers, according to a report by news agency PTI.
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"Our focus is on introducing 5G meaningfully for our users," said Jagbir Singh, CTO of Vodafone Idea. “We have invested in building a robust 5G network, by deploying the latest 5G technology.”
How did Vodafone Idea shares perform?
At 12:30 pm IST, the Vodafone Idea Ltd shares were trading at ₹7.45 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). This was a rise of 4.93% or ₹0.35 from the previous close. Its intraday high was ₹7.46.
