Vodafone Idea Capex plummets to Rs 7.5 bn vs Rs 12.1 bn

Vodafone Idea, the third largest telecom operator in India, said Capex spend for the October-December quarter reached Rs 7.5 billion vs Rs 12.1 billion in Q2FY23.
Vodafone Idea shut down ~2,800 3G sites during the quarter while adding ~2,000 4G sites. The number of broadband sites reached 443,450 as of December 31, 2022. Vodafone Idea deployed ~74,500 TDD sites in addition to the deployment of ~13,700 Massive MIMO sites and ~13,300 small cells.

Further, Vodafone Idea has expanded LTE 900 presence in 14 circles at multiple locations, including through dynamic spectrum refarming, to improve customer experience of mobile customers. Vi 4G network covers over 1 billion Indians across the country.

Vodafone Idea has 228.6 million subscribers as of December 31, 2022. Vodafone Idea’s ARPU improved to Rs 135, up 3.3 percent QoQ vs Rs 131 in Q2FY23. On a YoY basis, ARPU witnessed strong growth of 17.4 percent aided by tariff hikes and migration of subscribers to unlimited plans.

Vodafone Idea added 1 million 4G subscribers in Q3. 4G subscriber base of Vodafone Idea now stands at 121.6 million, though the overall subscriber base declined to 228.6 million vs 234.4 million in Q2FY23.

Vodafone Idea said it in discussion with network vendors for finalization of 5G rollout strategy.

Akshaya Moondra, CEO, Vodafone Idea, said: “We are in talks with our lenders for debt fund raising as well as with other parties for equity or equity linked fund raising, to make investments for network expansion and 5G rollout.”

Vodafone Idea said revenue for the October-December quarter stands at Rs 106.2 billion (+9.3 percent) aided by improvement in subscriber mix, tariff intervention and 4G subscriber additions.