- Vodafone Idea maintains it will roll out its 5G network in India soon.
- The telecom giant still hasn’t mentioned a specific timeline for the availability of the latest network.
- Jio and Airtel, on the other hand, are rapidly expanding the 5G network in the country.
Vodafone Idea will be launching 5G services in India soon, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairperson of Aditya Birla Group has reiterated. This comes after Birla mentioned this in an earlier interview in October 2022, but still, a specific timeline isn’t shared yet. Birla spoke on the AIMA Awards’ sidelines and said, “5G rollout will begin soon.” In comparison, Airtel and Jio have already covered most metros and are slowly expanding to towns nationwide with their 5G network.
Vi 5G rollout in India
The slow attitude towards the 5G rollout has cost Vi to lose subscribers steadily to its rivals, Airtel and Jio who already launched and are expanding 5G at a rapid phase. Since April 202, the company has lost over 4.24 crore subscribers. The 12-month period ending December 2022 alone saw a customer decline of 2.42 crore.
In stark contrast, Airtel and Jio are rolling out the network at a rapid phase. Both telecom networks promised to complete the 5G rollout by the end of March 2024, including towns and villages. On the other hand, Vi hasn’t made any such announcements and this could be one of the reasons for the telecom giant losing subscribers in the country.
Vodafone Idea reported a net loss of Rs 7,990 crore for the 3rd quarter that ended December 31st, 2022. The company reported a net loss of Rs 7,595.5 crore in the September quarter. The total revenue stood at Rs 10,620.6 crore in the December quarter and during the period under review, which is 0.1 percent up against Rs 10,614.6 crore in the September quarter.
Airtel added 0.1 million and 0.2 million active users in December 2022 in Haryana and Odisha circles, as per earlier reports. This could serve as a good indication to believe that Airtel’s subscriber base is increasing. Furthermore, the report added that Reliance Jio’s active user base increased by 3 million in December, while Airtel has managed to increase by 6 million during the same period.
