Vodafone Idea, India’s leading and the merged telco of Vodafone and Idea, as we all know, projected several synergy benefits before and after the merger. The single largest telco also chalked out 17 Priority circles, and as the name suggests, these circles are prioritised at the forefront to achieve the telco’s goals and objectives. Let’s now look into the performance of the wireless subscriber base aspect of the telco in these circles.
Vi Spectrum:
Vodafone Idea acquired mid-band 5G spectrum (3300 MHz band) in 17 priority circles, mmWave 5G spectrum (26 GHz band) in 16 circles and incremental 4G spectrum in 3 circles of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab. You can refer the India Spectrum Holding Timeline to check the complete Spectrum holdings of the telco.
Vi Subscriber Numbers:
While TRAI is yet to publish the September 2022 subscriber data, Vodafone Idea, in its Q2FY23 results, updated that the telco has 234.4 million subscribers as of September 30, 2022.
Some Q2FY23 Key Performance Indicators:
Average Revenue per User (ARPU): Rs 131 Average Minutes of Use per User: 599 min Average Data Usage by 4G Subscriber: 15,365 MB (Approximately 15GB)
In this analysis, let’s look into the wireless subscriber base as per TRAI for the last 12 months against the spectrum holdings of these 17 priority circles and understand how these priority circles fared.
Vi Wireless Subscriber Numbers: Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec 2021
Vi Wireless Subscriber Numbers: Jan, Feb, Mar 2022
Vi Wireless Subscriber Numbers: Apr, May, Jun 2022
Vi Wireless Subscriber Numbers: Jul, Aug 2022
Wireless Subscriber Base Overview for last 12 Months (Start - End):
Bargraph Representation:
If we look at the numbers reported for the last 12 months, except for Delhi, none of the priority circles made any subscriber additions. 16 of the 17 priority circles lost wireless subscribers, while Delhi (Metro) had a slight growth of subscribers, which stood at 16,530,586 in Aug 2022 from 15,812,011 in Sep 2021.
Recent Updates from the Telco:
The telco announced Diwali Offer on three long-term prepaid plans. The telco recently lowered its postpaid tariffs and added Extra Data, Unlimited Night and other Tariff components to its plans to retain postpaid subscribers. Vodafone Idea Launches Vi Music Events Vodafone Idea (VIL) has introduced 300 new-format Vi Shops in the states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, and UP West.
Vodafone Idea Prepaid Plans:
You can check the Complete List of Vodafone idea’s Prepaid Plans as of October 30, 2022, by clicking the link.
Conclusion:
Only time will tell if Vodafone Idea’s move to strategise and focus on 17 Priority circles will reap any benefits and increase the telco’s market share and revenues. Note: Manual work is involved, and care is taken to avoid any errors. Please report in case of any corrections. Liberalised Spectrum is considered for use with any technology.
