look news india
New Delhi: Debt-ridden telecom major Vodafone Idea has signed deals worth Rs 30,000 crore with Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung for the supply of 4G and 5G network equipment, the company said in a statement.
This agreement is for three years. This is the largest contract signed by any Indian telecom company this year. The company had earlier announced a capital expenditure of $6.6 billion or Rs 55,000 crore in three years. This agreement is the first step in this direction.
Vodafone Idea has signed a major contract worth about $3.6 billion (Rs 30,000 crore) with Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung for the supply of network equipment for a period of three years, the company said in a statement.
The capital expenditure programme is aimed at increasing the 4G population from 1.03 billion to 1.30 billion, launching 5G services in key markets, and expanding capacity to accommodate data growth, the statement said.
Supplies under this new long-term contract will begin in the next quarter. The statement said that expanding 4G services to 1.2 billion Indians is a top priority for the company.
Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) CEO Akshay Mundra has said that the company has started the investment cycle and this is the beginning of a new phase. He said that after this VIL will make a smart change to effectively participate in the growth opportunities of the industry.
Nokia and Ericsson have been our partners since the beginning and this agreement is another milestone in this partnership. We are delighted to begin a new partnership with Samsung. We look forward to working with all our partners as we move into the 5G era.
Let us tell you that after the merger of Vodafone and Idea in August 2018, Airtel had a total of 40.8 crore customers. However, according to the latest data, the company's customers have come down to 21.5 crore.