Indian mobile provider Vodafone Idea (Vi) booked gross revenue of INR107.16 billion (USD1.29 billion) for the three months to end-September 2023, up slightly from INR106.15 billion in the same period of last year. EBITDA for the period grew by 4.5% year-on-year to INR42.83 billion, though depreciation and amortisation and rising interest and financing costs saw the company’s pre-tax losses widen to INR79.20 billion from INR75.91 billion. Vi reported a net loss of INR87.47 billion for the quarter, up from a loss of INR75.93 billion twelve months earlier. In terms of operating results, the company claimed a total of 219.8 million mobile subscriptions, down from 234.4 million at end-September 2022. Pre-paid subscriptions represented 89.5% of that total, however, down from 91.1% a year earlier, whilst 4G subscriptions grew to 124.7 million from 120.6 million. The continuing improvements to Vi’s customer base helped push ARPU to INR142 from INR131 twelve months earlier.
Despite the debt-laden cellco’s ongoing difficulties, Vi director Kumar Mangalam Birla announced that the company will ‘initiate significant investments in order to roll out 5G network and further expand 4G coverage across the country’. As previously reported by CommsUpdate, Vi narrowly avoided sanctions last month for late payment of its 5G spectrum dues, and has yet to begin its 5G network rollout in earnest due to ongoing credit issues with its vendor partners. Earlier this month Indus Towers threatened to restrict services to Vi over unpaid fees.
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