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Andrew Bonwick
Vice President of Product Development at Relm Insurance
Madhav Sheth
CEO of Ai+ Smartphone
Stephen Rose
CEO Render Networks
Vodafone Idea (Vi) promoters, including the Aditya Birla Group (ABG) and the Vodafone Group Plc of the United Kingdom (UK), were expected to infuse capital into the company. However, months have gone by, and not a single promoter has infused any capital in the telco. On top of that, Vi has not been able to secure investment from any outside investor yet, and it is not a good sign for the upcoming 5G spectrum auctions.
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During the spectrum auctions, the telecom operators will require thousands of crores for upfront payment to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). Thus, Vi not performing financially well for the last few years coupled with no outside capital means the telco either has to increase its debt further or not participate in 5G spectrum auctions in full capacity.
A few months are still left for the spectrum auctions, so Vi would be sitting fingers crossed about getting an investor or multiple investors onboard. It’s not just about the spectrum auctions, though. Vi won’t be able to increase its capex levels to where Airtel and Jio are at if it doesn’t secure any investment. This will result in poor 4G coverage in comparison to the competitors, which will ultimately add to the subscriber churn rate, especially after tariff hikes.
Not to forget that the Indian government will be the largest promoter in the company once the shares are allotted post the confirmation from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
