Indian telcos Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have reportedly sold their stakes in Wi-Fi joint venture Firefly Networks to infrastructure provider iBus for INR90 million (US$1.04 million), after almost two years of looking for a buyer.
According to ETTelecom, Airtel said in a regulatory filing Monday that it had sold its 50% stake in Firefly to iBUS for INR45 million. In a separate filing, Vodafone Idea said it had sold its 50% stake for the same amount. Both telcos said the deal would be concluded within 30 days.
Firefly provides carrier-neutral Wi-Fi infrastructure for clients such as educational institutes, hospitals, malls, cafes, markets, transit points and corporate parks.
Airtel and Vodafone Idea formed Firefly in 2015, but have been looking to sell the firm since 2023. According to the report, Firefly contributed just 0.0065% to Airtel’s turnover in FY 2024, whilst also contributing INR55 million to Vodafone Idea’s losses in the same fiscal year.
Airtel and Vodafone Idea almost managed to sell Firefly last year in a deal with Singaporean firm Manipura Digital Infrastructure OPCO for INR121 million, but the sale was called off after failing to receive regulatory approval, the report said.
iBus – which includes the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) among its backers – offers in-building and last-mile connectivity solutions. The firm intends to boost its position in that space and expand into emerging sectors like IoT, the report said.
