Idea Cellular To Focus On Monetising Its Assets
Idea Cellular gets set to pump up its 4G presence
Idea Cellular Ltd. wants to ramp up its presence in the fiercely competitive telecom market by eventually using almost all of the 349.2 MHz spectrum its acquired in the just concluded auctions to provide 4G services.
Idea will deploy the additional spectrum acquired in the 2,300 MHz and 2,500 MHz band as and when required, Managing Director Himanshu Kapania told BloombergQuint in an interview.
Idea Cellular will have to shell out Rs 12,798 crore for the new spectrum across 1,800, 2,100, 2,300 and 2,500 MHz spectrum that it bid for, giving it the capability to provide 4G services across 20 circles in the country.
The Aditya Birla group company now wants to focus on monetising its entire spectrum bandwidth, in a bid to reduce the burden on capital and improve the bottom line which has been under pressure for the past few quarters.
Idea’s focus is “no more on consolidation”, Kapania said in response to a question on whether the company is looking to join hands with any existing telecom operator.
There are lot of telecom operators who have chosen not to participate on data growth and their renewals will be coming in next three to four years time period. We wait to see what view they take over the long run.Himanshu Kapania, Managing Director, Idea Cellular
Tough Competition
Bharti Airtel Ltd. acquired 173.8 MHz spectrum across 1,800, 2,100, and 2,300 MHz bands with an investment of Rs 14,244 crore.
It acquired 18.8 MHz spectrum in the 1,800 MHz band across 8 circles, 25 MHz spectrum in 2,100 MHz band across 5 circles and 130 MHz spectrum in 2,300 MHz band across 13 circles. Overall the company spent over Rs 10,000 crore to enhance its data capacity in 15 circles.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. acquired 269.2 MHz spectrum across 800, 1,800, and 2,300 MHz bands with an investment of Rs 13,672 crore. It acquired 30 MHz of spectrum in 800 MHz band across four circles, 79.2 MHz of spectrum in 1,800 MHz band across eight circles and 160 MHz spectrum in 2,300 MHz band across 16 circles.
The company also renewed its expiring spectrum in 800 MHz band in the Gujarat circle.
Vodafone India Ltd. made an investment of Rs 20,280 crore to acquire 365.2 MHz across 1,800, 2,100, and 2,500 MHz bands. It acquired 85.2 MHz spectrum across 11 circles, 80 MHz spectrum across seven circles and 200 MHz spectrum in 15 circles.
Vodafone will now have the capability to provide 4G services in 17 circles, which cover 94 percent of mobile data revenue.
