Vodafone Idea (Vi), the third-largest telecom operator in the country may get Rs 20,000 crore investment from Amazon. It is worth noting that a few days back, Ravinder Takkar had said that the company is very close to raising Rs 20,000 crore from an external investor. As per a report from The Ken, Vi might get this investment from the e-commerce giant Amazon.
This will be the first time Amazon would be entering the telecom sector in India. The company sells software solutions via Amazon Web Services to the telcos, but it hasn’t been directly involved as an investor/owner in India’s telecom sector.
Vodafone Idea the Only Telco Without Investment from a US Tech Giant
India’s ruthless telecom sector has seen top US tech giants such as Google, Facebook and more investing in companies such as Jio and Airtel. At the moment, amongst the private telecom operators, Vodafone Idea is the only operator without investment from a US tech giant. At the same time, Amazon is the only major US tech company which doesn’t have a telecom partner.
This could be an ideal scenario for both companies. Vi could do a lot of good with this investment (if it happens). The telco has a serious cash crunch despite the government’s relief measures. For participating in the upcoming 5G spectrum auction in full capacity as well as raising capex spends, Vi needs external investors onboard desperately. The investment would enable the company to compete head-on with Jio and Airtel.
Note that TelecomTalk couldn’t independently verify the report and neither of the companies mentioned above has made any such announcements. Regardless, the stock of Vodafone Idea (Vi) has jumped on the stock exchanges with the development.
Vi needs the investment as fast as possible. Thus, if something is actually cooking in the background, we will get to hear about it pretty soon. For now, take the development with a little grain of salt.
