Following what it describes as the successful launch of its 5G services in Mumbai, Indian operator Vodafone Idea says it has now expanded its 5G service to 11 cricket stadiums in India.
The cities involved include Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Visakhapatnam. The 5G upgrades at the stadiums coincide with the ongoing Indian Premier League, the country's flagship T20 competition.
The operator says that to ensure high-speed connectivity it has strengthened its network infrastructure, deploying additional 5G network sites and using technologies like massive MIMO. It has, it says, installed 53 5G sites, upgraded capacity across 44 sites, and deployed nine cells on wheels (CoWs) within the vicinity of the stadiums.
The Mumbai launch of 5G followed significant delays that many reporters have blamed on Vodafone Idea’s financial issues, although these have not prevented it announcing a number of partnerships with vendors in the last year, including Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung.
It’s still nearly two years behind Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel in 5G rollout, however, and, say local reports, after bailing out Vodafone Idea in 2023 by converting INR161.3 billion (about US$1.9 billion) of interest dues into equity, the government is now set to nearly double its stake to 49% by converting another INR369.5 billion (about US$4.3 billion) in spectrum dues.
While this may hurt existing shareholders due to value erosion, equally worrying are a number of substantial liabilities including more spectrum dues that the operator will have to pay in the coming months and years.
Some of these payments will be alleviated by the equity conversion. However, according to India’s Mint news service, starting in March 2026, the company faces annual payments of INR165 billion (nearly $2 billion) a figure that far exceeds current cash flows.
Factor in issues like market share and subscriber churn, not to mention the delayed rollout of 5G and there could be a tricky few years ahead for India’s third operator, despite this week’s positive 5G news.
