Vodafone Group Plc will contribute as much as Rs. 110 billion, while India’s Aditya Birla Group will pump in as much as 72.5 billion rupees.
Mumbai: Vodafone Idea Ltd. plans to raise as much as Rs. 250 billion ($3.5 billion) via a rights offering to help India’s largest mobile-phone carrier fend off Asia’s richest man, who continues to roil the industry by providing 4G Internet at prices that would drive most carriers bankrupt in other countries.
Vodafone Group Plc will contribute as much as Rs. 110 billion, while India’s Aditya Birla Group will pump in as much as Rs. 72.5 billion, according to a statement on Wednesday.
Also Read: Idea-Vodafone merger to create country’s largest telecom operator
The plan underscores how Indian carriers have yet to figure out how to compete against billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., which offers packages with enough data to watch 46 hours of YouTube videos for about $2 a month. Vodafone Idea itself was formed last year after a couple of the industry’s biggest players merged to create an operator big enough to withstand Jio’s low prices.
Separately, Vodafone Idea is also planning to sell its 11.5 per cent stake in Indus Towers Ltd., a cell-phone tower company it jointly owns with Bharti Infratel Ltd and Aditya Birla Telecom.
Jio stormed into the world’s second-largest phone market in 2016 by offering free wireless services for months. Today, the company has already signed up 280 million subscribers and turned profitable — even bringing connectivity to remote Indian villages. – Bloomberg
Also Read: Mukesh Ambani isn’t the king of telecom; content is