Telecom operator Vodafone Idea (Vi) is confident about its 5G rollout that starts today (Wednesday), though it is making a late entry into the segment. The Aditya Birla group and Vodafone Plc promoted telco has based the timing of its 5G launch on consumer demand, said Jagbir Singh, Vi’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
Singh also talked about Vi’s plans in private 5G network, satellite communication services (satcom) and views on Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN). Edited excerpts:
Airtel and Jio are already in the 5G market. There is also no use-case as such for 5G. Even the COAI lamented the lack of revenue. So, why go ahead with 5G?
We have acted as per customer needs. 5G devices are increasing in the market day by day. So, the customer needs 5G. We also don’t want to be at a disadvantage where the competition has something we don’t. In terms of capex and traffic, 4G and 5G can complement each other, wherever 5G devices are there. So, it is not that the game is gone. 5G will continue for 10 years, as will 4G. We are launching 5G in Mumbai on Wednesday and at the end of April, we launch in Delhi, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Patna and Mysuru. Then we go in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chennai and Kerala. However, I agree that there is no compelling use-case and use-cases for enterprise, consumer, gaming, IoT, AR, VR, etc. are very niche. But it is anticipated that a large part of Vi users who possess 5G-compatible devices will transition to the 5G network. There is about 30-35 per cent 5G handset penetration among Vi users in big cities.
How much has Vi invested in 5G and when do you expect to break-even?
It is hard to say but we have around ₹50,000-55,000 crore capex in three years and roughly 50 per cent of that is planned for 5G. The remaining is for 4G. Wherever 5G handsets and users are enough but 4G is congested, we will provide only 5G. The traffic is transferred from 4G to 5G. So, we don’t do double investment. This helps to optimise our capex on 4G also. So, we can redeploy or deploy that capex for the whole population coverage rather than the capacity in the urban areas on 4G.
Has Vi achieved its goals in terms of 4G?
We are investing in 4G still by putting more infill sites, wherever there are coverage gaps in existing areas. We are expanding our network in rural areas to provide 4G coverage. So, we are investing in 4G to provide coverage to niche areas. We are also switching off 3G.
Does Vi have any plans regarding private 5G networks?
I think there is a lot of discussion around this, but it is going to take time. We are also working with some of the enterprise customers for private 5G, but it is going very slow. This is true across the globe because the enterprise does not want to pay for the base-station cost. We can’t deploy for a single enterprise without getting any return on investment.
Where do you feel that 5G is going to be most successful?
It will be successful wherever you need low latency and high speed; so for logistics, IOT, mining, automobile, shipping.
Do you feel that there is a future for O-RAN networks in India? Is Vodafone deploying anything like a developed stack?
We are deploying Samsung’s virtual RAN in Bengaluru, Chandigarh and Patna. The architecture is quite stable and techno-commercially, it has matured enough. There are good KPIs and performance. With O-RAN, we have done a lot of trials in the past, but it still has not matured and it is expensive.
Airtel and Jio have already entered the satcom sector. Do you feel that’s going to be a disadvantage for Vi, going forward?
As of now, no. We are also in discussion with some of the satellite providers. You will hear something in the future.
What are Vi’s tariff plans for 5G?
Anyone who has a 5G handset and a Vi plan of ₹299 and above can access the unlimited 5G experience.
Published on March 19, 2025
