VIL eyes 5G rollout in 6-7 months post funding; faces Rs 30,000 cr debt payment in FY'26

Debt-ridden telecom firm Vodafone Idea on Tuesday said it will need 6-7 months to roll out 5G services after securing funding, for which discussions with investors are underway. Vodafone Idea CEO Akshaya Moondra during the company's earnings call said that the telco is in discussion with various vendors for the 5G roll-out as well as developing use cases.

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"Having made large investments and no monetisation happening, I think the industry does need to see some movement towards monetisation. Let's say if we are launching 5G probably in the next 6-7 months time then we will have a better idea what is happening on the monetisation front. After funding is there, we will need some time to roll out. Let's say 6-7 months," Moondra said. He said the company will be able to roll out 5G only after funding is in place. However, he refused to reply to any question on the status of funding as it is in the discussion stage.

"As for funding, it is in progress with investors. Given the nature of these discussions, we will not be able to respond to any queries on this subject," Moondra said. During the earnings calls for September 2023 quarter, Moondra had expressed optimism to close discussions on funding in December 2023 quarter.