Vodafone Idea, a prominent Indian telecom operator, is planning to shut down 3G completely in the coming financial year. The cash-strapped telecom player has to spend resources and money on the legacy network despite having low returns. Jio, the leading telco in India, even suggested that the govt should come up with a policy to phase out 2G/3G completely out of India. In the Q3 FY24 earnings call, Akshaya Moondra, CEO of Vodafone Idea Limited said that they are looking to completely shut down 3G in FY25.
Along with this, it is worth noting that in the operational highlights of Q3 FY24, Vi said that it has completely shut down 3G in the following circles - Maharashtra, Gujarat, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Andhra Pradesh. The telco will refarm the 3G spectrum for 4G which will boost the network capacity and give Vi customers a better internet/data experience.
Read More - Vodafone Idea Added Wireline Customers for Two Consecutive Months
The number of 3G devices is falling on the networks of the telco. However, the telco continues to offer 2G services and hasn't said anything about shutting it down shortly. Airtel, another Indian telco, with a major market share, also offers 2G. India has about 300 million 2G/3G customers who are using feature phones.
Reliance Jio has rolled out the JioBharat platform to push feature phone users to upgrade to a 4G feature phone at a nominal cost of around Rs 1000. Vodafone Idea will benefit by closing down 3G networks as its 4G networks would have a richer capacity and may contribute healthily to the addition of new 4G subscribers.
Read More - Jio and Vi: What they Offer for Rs 700 to Postpaid Users
At the end of Q3 FY24, Vi had about 125.6 million 4G wireless subscribers under its portfolio. Vi still has about 90 million 2G/3G customers as its overall wireless subscriber base is around 215 million.
