Vodafone Idea (Vi) and Bharti Airtel, two leading Indian telecom operators will sell a 100% stake in their Wi-Fi joint venture, FireFly. FireFly will be sold to the London-based Digital Infrastructure Fund (DIA) and a Middle East-based fund, according to an ET report. Even after selling their stakes, the two telcos would continue to be the customers of FireFly. FireFly is a Wi-Fi company that helps telcos offload their mobile network traffic in high-congestion areas or areas where cell tower capacity is low to Wi-Fi networks.
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The report doesn't mention any deal value. However, after the execution of the deal, the new owners would invest up to $100 million in the next two years. This will help the company in expanding its Wi-Fi infrastructure in the country. Previously, Cisco was in talks with FireFly to acquire it, but the talks didn't materialise into a final deal. The company then got into a discussion with the Digital Infrastructure Accelerator.
Airtel and Vodafone Idea weren't too keen on infusing fresh funds into the company. Thus, FireFly has been actively in search of new investors for the last two years. The telcos rather want to focus on 5G rollout and expansion to address capacity issues. FireFly's whole purpose is to let telecom operators leverage their infrastructure to offer smooth mobile network connectivity services to customers at reduced costs. With the fresh funds, FireFly will be able to expand its reach in India and potentially scale its revenues as it would still take a few years for 5G to reach every corner of the nation.
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The report mentioned that FireFly works with Indus Towers and Cisco as a partner. Further, the company is the market leader in the Airport Wi-Fi market, serving over 28 airports with its services.
