Vodafone Idea concludes $3.6b network equipment deal

MUMBAI, Sept 22 (Reuters): India's Vodafone Idea on Sunday concluded a $3.6 billion deal with mobile and network manufacturers Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung for supply of equipment over a period of three years, it said in a statement to exchanges.

"The deal marks the first step towards the roll-out of the company's transformative three-year capex plan of $6.6 billion (550 billion rupees)," the company said.

"The capex programme is directed towards expanding the 4G population coverage from 1.03 billion to 1.2 billion, launching 5G in key markets and capacity expansion in line with data growth," it said.

Vodafone Idea, formed by a merger between the Indian arm of UK's Vodafone Group and Aditya Birla Group's Idea Cellular in 2018, has posted a loss in every quarter as it lost market share to larger rivals Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio.

Earlier in 2024, the company sold shares to institutional investors, raised funds through the country's largest-ever follow-on public offer and is also in talks with lenders as part of its plans to raise around $5 billion to roll out 5G network service, expand 4G coverage and regain market share.