Vodafone Idea Tested 5G in 26 GHz and 3.3 GHz in Pune: DoT

Reported by Tanuja K August 18th, 2023 at 10:18 am

It is worth noting that both Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio have met the minimum 5G rollout obligation and won't have to pay any penalties. But Vodafone Idea will have to do that. The penalty amount is, again, something that will take cash out of the company or just add to its debts.

Highlights

Vodafone Idea, the third-largest telecom operator in India, has tested 5G in 26 GHz and 3.3 GHz bands in Pune.
The telco did this on August 16, 2023.
Note that Vi acquired spectrum for 17 circles during the 5G spectrum auctions.

Vodafone Idea

Vodafone Idea, the third-largest telecom operator in India, has tested 5G in 26 GHz and 3.3 GHz bands in Pune. According to a tweet from the Maharashtra wing of DoT (Department of Telecommunications), Vi successfully tested 5G in Ghole Road, Pune. The telco did this on August 16, 2023, as per the tweet. Note that Vi acquired spectrum for 17 circles during the 5G spectrum auctions, but the testing of 5G has only been confirmed for one circle. This means that the telco has failed to meet the minimum rollout obligation set by the government as per the Notice Inviting Application (NIA) for the 5G spectrum auction of 2022.

It is worth noting that both Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio have met the minimum 5G rollout obligation and won't have to pay any penalties. But Vodafone Idea will have to do that. The penalty amount is, again, something that will take cash out of the company or just add to its debts. However, at this point, there are larger concerns over the future of the company.

Post 2026, once the moratorium period ends, Vodafone Idea will have to pay the government about Rs 40,000 crore every year as regulatory payouts, said IIFL Securities. This would make the company's chances to raise any meaningful amount of money against equity very hard. In case Vodafone Idea can't make regular payments, there's a possibility that more stake in the company is converted to be owned by the government. The Indian government is already the largest stakeholder in the telco. But the government doesn't want to be in the telecom business any more than it is with the state-run telecom operator, BSNL.

The center had already made its position clear earlier by saying that it won't interfere with the activities of the management of Vi. The only reason it agreed to take an equity stake in the company is to help Vi in the short term so that the company can make a comeback in the market.