Vodafone Idea Users Who Want 5G Will Have to Go to Jio and Airtel

Vodafone Idea’s (Vi) problems don’t seem to be reducing. The third-largest telco is the only private operator in India that hasn’t announced 5G services. This means serious trouble for Vi because Jio and Airtel will now scoop up its customers who want to experience 5G. While Vi was able to give users a taste of how fast its 5G networks would be at the India Mobile Congress 2022, there’s just no saying when it will launch its 5G networks commercially.

Related Coverage

Cheapest 5G Plans Compared: Jio vs Airtel vs Vodafone Idea in June 2026 Jio Joins Huawei, Samsung, Qualcomm and Nokia in WIPO Patent Rankings Jio Rs 949 vs Rs 1029 Plan: Both Offer 84 Days Validity

• Make Telecom Talk My Trusted Source
• 
• 

A report from Ericsson released a few weeks back said that a significant percentage of Indians are ready to leave their current operators to explore better 5G services from the other operators. Since Vi doesn’t even have a 5G network, it means that its users will have no other option but to switch to Airtel or Jio for 5G services.

Jio has announced the 5G beta trial for four cities, while Airtel has announced the 5G launch for eight cities. Vodafone Idea hasn’t commented on a timeline for its 5G launch, while Jio and Airtel have already shared their ambitious plan to cover the entire nation with their 5G networks in just a matter of 1.5 years. While the launch of 5G is fairly limited for now, it would scale up pretty fast. Jio is reportedly looking for $2.5 billion in overseas loans to fuel its 5G network gear purchases.

Vodafone Idea Can’t Launch 5G Until Funding Issues are Sorted

Vodafone Idea’s CEO, Akshaya Moondra, said that the company’s 5G launch is not going to happen until the time it can sort out its funding issues. The telco is in talks with several banks for funding arrangements. Once funding is arranged, then the telco can talk to the vendors for 5G equipment. After all of this, Vi can comment on when it can launch 5G. For now, it looks difficult for the telco to launch 5G services as it has a lot of pending dues, especially the dues to Indus Towers. For the unaware, Indus had threatened Vi to take back the tower access in case the telco doesn’t pay back the dues by November 2022.

More on This Topic

• Vodafone Idea 3GB Per Day Prepaid Plans in September 2026: Detailed

• Birla Says Vodafone Idea to Clear Spectrum Dues in 3 Years

• Vodafone Idea Adds New Users in July 2026

• Vodafone Idea at 8: A Timeline of Integration, Innovation and Network Growth

Once customers start moving out of Vi to experience 5G with Jio and Airtel, it would mean further deterioration of the telco’s subscriber base. It is hard to predict the exact scale or degree of impact that this will have on the Vi user base, but it would be a negative one for sure.

If this article saved you time or helped you decide better, consider supporting our work.

Continue Reading

Vodafone Launches 4K TV Box With Netflix, HBO Max and 300+ Cloud Games Bharti Airtel Prepaid Plans Offering 4GB Daily Data in September 2026 Luna Band Arrives in India: Check Price

Trending on TelecomTalk

Poco X8 Power 5G VS Realme P4s 5G: Which Phone is Better? Putting Customer Protection First: Why Consent Verification Should Rest With the TAP Jio Rs 799 Plan Still Stands as a Great Value Offer RANVOO AirJet and Dyson CameraJet Show How Technology Is Changing the Electric Toothbrush BSNL 4G Networks are Handling 6PB Data Everyday