Vodafone Idea (Vi)

Vodafone Idea (Vi) to launch 5G services “soon;” Awards optical network equipment contract to ZTE

Posted on by Alan Weissberger

Hindustan Times: Although India telco competitors Reliance Jio and Airtel have launched and made fully operational their 5G services in several regions, the Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Group collaboration telco is yet to announce the launch of next generation service. However, Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, indicated that the Vi will soon launch 5G services.  Speaking on the side-lines of the AIMA Awards to CNBC -TV18, Birla said, “5G rollout will begin soon.” He did not, however, provide a specific launch date.

Kumar Mangalam Birla is chairman of Aditya Birla Group.(YouTube/@IIT Bombay Official Channel)

Vi is now lagging far behind in the race to 5G with being the only private telecom operator to not have this next-gen services. In October of last year, Bharti Airtel launched its Airtel 5G Plus service in select areas. Reliance Jio, its competitor, is also offering Jio True 5G in multiple locations. The state-owned telecom operator BSNL is also planning to launch 5G by this August.

Vodafone Idea has been losing subscribers. The debt-ridden telco lost 2.47 million subscribers in December 2022.  During the same period, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio gained 1.7 million subscribers, followed by Airtel, which gained 1.52 million subscribers, reported Business Insider.

Airtel, like its rival Reliance Jio, is offering 5G services at the same tariff levels as 4G, luring users away from competitors, primarily Vodafone Idea. According to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, the number of porting requests increased over the last year to more than 12 million in November.

References:

https://www.hindustantimes.com/technology/when-will-vodafone-idea-launch-5g-service-kumar-mangalam-birla-hints-101681627265852.html

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Vodafone Idea earlier this month awarded a fresh optical transmission equipment network order worth around Rs 230 crore to Chinese company ZTE for Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh. The telco is upgrading its network, and for a fresh network deployment or upgrade and maintenance, telcos have to take approval from the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) and provide information regarding vendors and their technology. Notably, ZTE hasn’t been given the trusted sources approval by the NSCS (India’s National Security Council), said an ET report.  Vodafone Idea’s optical transmission network has deployments from both Huawei and ZTE across all telecom circles.

Airtel, another Indian telecom operator, had last year awarded a telecom infrastructure expansion contract worth Rs 150 crore to Huawei. Under the deal, Huawei upgraded and expanded Airtel’s National Long Distance (NLD) network. Airtel awarded a similar contract to Huawei worth Rs 300 crore in 2021. Both these contracts were given to Huawei despite the latter not having the trusted sources approval.

Since the trusted sources regime came into effect, both Huawei and ZTE have largely engaged with Indian telecom operators Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel for servicing existing network maintenance contracts. They are only allowed to replace existing parts, with even network upgrades needing government clearances.

India approved the National Security Directive on Telecommunication Sector in December 2020, which mandates service providers to purchase equipment from trusted sources. The government declares a list of trusted sources and products for installation in the country’s telecom network. However, annual maintenance contracts or updates to existing equipment already inducted in the network before the directive came into effect are not affected.

Both Huawei and ZTE have been on the radar of the Income-tax department on suspicion of tax evasion. The Income-Tax Department searched Huawei India offices in February last year. The department had, in August 2021, conducted similar searches on Chinese telecom gear maker ZTE Corp and unearthed tax liability worth hundreds of crores, unaccounted cash, and a failure by the company to file TDS for several financial years.

Airtel had last year selected Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung for its 5G network, effectively pushing out Huawei and ZTE from the 5G race. Vodafone Idea, on the other hand, hasn’t given any contract for its 5G network and is yet to share its 5G rollout plan.

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