InterneTelecom
During Vodafone Idea (VIL) earning call for the second quarter ended September 30, 2024, the company's CEO Akshaya Moondra said that the loss of subscribers to BSNL due to the recent tariff hike is quickly reversing because of the state-run telecom firm's "network experience".
Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea suffered significant subscriber losses in August due to a sharp tariff hike in July, according to TRAI data.
Insiders said that over the past few weeks Ericsson and South Korea's Samsung were locked in a fierce duel that resulted in the Swedish vendor bagging the plum 4G/5G gear supply contract from Vi for Delhi.
Airtel's ARPU is estimated to jump 9.2% sequentially to ₹230 in the second quarter while both Jio and Vi are likely to report 6% on-quarter uptick on this key performance metric to 193 and ₹155, respectively, ICICI Securities said.
The deal is part of Vi's recently announced plans to buy $3.6 billion (read: ₹30,000 crore) of 4G and 5G gear from Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung over a three-year span to bolster its 4G operation and roll out 5G networks in key cities across its 17 priority circles.
Further, the learnings and insights obtained by the vendors in the Indian market over the last two years, will enable the company to embark on a more flexible and modular rollout plan by customising the services for all advanced technologies (4G & 5G), it added.
However, Vodafone Idea's discussions with lenders and vendors remain on track, despite the setback in its curative petition on the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) issue in the Supreme Court, ET reported citing people familiar with the matter.