As one of the strategies to gain 4G subscribers post the Rs 20,000 crore equity fundraise, Vodafone Idea is offering extra data offers for new prepaid users on its network.
The telecom operator on Monday launched ‘Vi Guarantee Program’ under which it will provide 130 GB extra data over one year to its subscribers with 5G smartphones or those who have recently upgraded to a new 4G smartphone.
The offer, which is valid for users with prepaid plan of Rs 239 and above, will involve 10 GB of data credited to their account on 28th of every month for 13 consecutive cycles, the company said. Users will be able to use the extra data only once their existing data quotas get exhausted.
“The ‘Vi Guarantee’ program is designed to address this growing demand by providing users with an uninterrupted, high-speed data experience,” said Avneesh Khosla, chief marketing officer at Vodafone Idea. The company’s offer is available to all 5G and new 4G smartphone users across India except Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and North East and Orissa.
The announcement comes at a time when it is planning to incur a capital expenditure of Rs 50,000-55,000 crore over the next three years, on the back of recent equity fundraise and proposed bank funding.
The company will utilise the capex towards expanding 4G coverage in 17 priority circles, 5G launch in key geographies, capacity expansion to meet increasing data demand, and for growing its enterprise business.
Analysts do not see these offers creating a meaningful impact on the company’s new user additions at the moment, as competitors Jio and Airtel are pushing significantly to upgrade 2G users to 4G on their networks.
Many smartphone users in India do not maximise the potential of their 4G/5G mobile devices due to a lack of sufficient data, the company said. With this offer, users can continue to binge on their favourite content even after their daily quota gets exhausted without any extra cost by using the data from their Vi Guarantee quota, it added.
Vodafone Idea has been continuously losing subscribers for over three years now. The company lost 2.6 million mobile subscribers in the January-March quarter, taking its user base to 212.6 million at the end of March.
The telecom operator, however, has been adding 4G subscribers continuously. In the March quarter, the company’s 4G subscriber base increased to 126.3 million from 125.6 million million in the preceding quarter.
The company’s average revenue per user (Arpu) is currently at Rs 146, and in absence of tariff hikes, it is looking at ways to increase its Arpu, analysts said, adding that it will have to quickly move towards upgrading its network for meaningful subscriber growth.
“The stars are finally aligning for Vi following completion of its long-delayed equity raise. The government’s backing, which we view as tantamount to doing what it takes to ensure that the 3-player industry structure stays intact,” said brokerage Citi Research in a recent note.
Vodafone Idea has started engaging with a consortium of banks for debt funding of about Rs Rs 25,000 crore and additional non-fund-based facilities of up to Rs 10,000 crore.
