Vodafone Idea, the country’s third largest telecom operator, will commercially launch its 5G services starting from Mumbai on Wednesday, the company’s chief technology officer Jagbir Singh told FE.
It is also in talks with more than one partner to offer satellite Internet services, Singh added, without sharing details specifically on plans to tie-up with Starlink.
Vodafone Idea’s introductory unlimited 5G offer will start on plans of Rs 299 and above, which is a discount of 14% to Jio and 21% to Bharti Airtel.
In like-to-like comparison, Jio has priced its entry-level unlimited 5G plan at Rs 349 for 28 days with 2GB 4G data per day while for Airtel it is Rs 379 a month with 2GB 4G per day data. Vodafone Idea’s current Rs 299 plan offers 1GB 4G data per day with a validity of 28 days.
After Mumbai, Vodafone Idea is planning to launch 5G in Delhi, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Patna, and Mysore by April. In the next phase of rollout, the company will look at launching 5G in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, and Chennai circles.
“We have a bit of benefit of coming late (on 5G). The benefit is the device penetration has improved. For example, we know what kind of use cases normally consumers are using on 5G and from the vendors we get the data of the markets where 5G usage is happening,” Singh said, adding that there is a 30-35% 5G handset penetration among the company’s user base in big cities.
As of December end, Vodafone Idea had 199.8 million users. Going by a rough estimate of 30-35% 5G penetration on Vodafone Idea’s network, analysts said around 60-70 million 5G devices could be there on the company’s network currently.
“The 5G handset penetration in our subscriber base is consistently increasing over a period of last few quarters and hence, we anticipate a robust uptake, particularly in urban markets and among data-intensive users,” Singh said. Further, a reduction in pricing of entry-level 5G phones and device replacement cycle of 2-3 years, would also help Vodafone Idea to see a growth in 5G devices on its network.
Over the next three years, Vodafone Idea plans to deploy 75,000 5G sites in 75 cities across 17 priority circles. The company is riding on its Rs 18,000 crore fundraise via follow-on public offer (FPO) last year and promoters equity infusion, after which it also inked a Rs 30,000-crore deal with Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung for supply of 4G and 5G network equipment.
The extent of 5G deployment by Vodafone Idea is going to be significantly lower than peers Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, which have deployed over 460,000 5G base transceiver stations (BTSs) in the country since the 5G launch in October 2022.
“5G monetisation in India/globally is a complex challenge due to significant infrastructure costs, price-sensitive consumers, and a current lack of compelling use cases. However, sectors such as telemedicine, IoT-enabled smart city initiatives, and AR/VR applications in gaming and education present substantial growth opportunities,” Singh said.
Vodafone Idea is currently testing its fixed wireless access (FWA) services, which is a high-speed 5G broadband internet without using cables or fibers. FWA is currently the only use case of 5G for monetisation. Vodafone Idea, however, did not share any details on commercial launch of FWA.
“We continuously assess emerging technologies and carefully evaluate their potential benefits and business use case,” Singh said.
Like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea is also rolling out 5G on non-standalone (NSA) technology, which means deploying 5G on top of 4G, leveraging existing 4G network infrastructure.
On plans to move to standalone (SA) 5G, Singh said, “At least for the next few years, NSA is enough to support the customer needs. By the time the use case for the SA comes, we will be ready. It is not a big deal to move. We will also start doing the trial after some time for the SA”.
When asked about whether Vodafone Idea is talking to Starlink after the satcom operator announced a tie-up with Airtel and Jio, Singh said, “we are in discussions with more than one partner. We will share an update at an appropriate time”.
Singh, however, refused to comment on the kind of partnership Vodafone Idea is exploring with the satellite internet services companies.
During the last 10 months, Vodafone Idea raised equity of Rs 26,000 crore, including Rs 18,000 crore from the FPO, promoters infusion of Rs 4,000 crore billion and equity issuance of Rs 4,000 crore to key vendors.
