Vodafone Idea Denies Reports About Exiting 6 Telecom Circles

Vodafone Idea has denied the news reports claiming their exit from six circles. The declaration was made after a report from PTI noted that the operator has lost revenue share in most circles where the merger of the networks has completed.

The operator has issued a statement and termed this report as completely baseless and factually incorrect. The statement goes on to say that it will continue to serve its customers in these circles (Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, North East and Assam).

According to the report, the operator has been losing revenue market share and this might be a reason for its exit from six circles. Vodafone Idea had less than 20 percent revenue market share in those circles.

On the other hand, broadband speed measurement firm Ookla mentioned that the performance of Vodafone Idea has improved in mobile download speeds after the merger.

The report also pointed out that the operator reported a decline in average mobile speed from November 2018 through January 2019, after that the company managed to recover. Idea posted improvement in mobile download speeds throughout the year.

Our Take

Vodafone and Idea Cellular completed their merger in August 2018 to give a tough fight to Reliance Jio. But incumbents are going through a rough phase, thanks to Reliance Jio cheap data plans. Vodafone Idea has mentioned that it has lost 100 million subscribers in the last year.

But, we believe that the company is not going to shut its operations in those six circles because it is launching new plans daily to retain its user and now it has reduced the prices of minimum recharge plans. However, there is no doubt that the company has to upgrade its network in many areas.