Vi Offering 5G Ready SIM, Without any 5G Announcement

Vodafone Idea (Vi) is in a rough spot with 5G. While the telco has shown a lot of promise with the demonstration of several innovative use cases on its 5G networks, there’s no clarity on when it is going to launch 5G. The telco, just like Jio and Airtel, is offering 4G SIMs, which are also 5G enabled. This means that when Vi launches 5G, its customers won’t have to upgrade their SIM cards to experience 5G. Vi is allowing customers to order 5G ready SIM. But is this 5G-enabled SIM really going to make any difference for the customers if the telco is unable to launch 5G in the short term?

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Vi’s 5G SIM is Not Going to Make Any Difference

Vi is likely going to suffer because of the promoters not pushing more capital into the company. The telco is in a tricky situation right now where it can only secure outside investors once the equity conversion from the government takes place so that more clarity can emerge for everyone. However, the government won’t proceed with the equity conversion until the time Vi presents a new roadmap for the 5G rollout and business plans. The govt also wants Vi’s promoters to pump fresh capital into the telco.

Promoters, including the Aditya Birla Group (ABG) and Vodafone UK, are unlikely to invest more into a business that hasn’t generated a return for several years now. Vi’s performance metrics aren’t good either, and the telco will likely lose more customers to Airtel and Jio as they roll out 5G further into the nation.