Vodafone Idea shares: 2 reasons why the telecom stock is in focus today

Vodafone Idea shares are in focus for two reasons today. The first is the scheduled analyst or investor update call later today, which will take place from 2.30 PM to 3 PM IST and is expected to provide updates on what the telecom operator is up to following the Supreme Court (SC) AGR setback. Second, Vodafone Idea has informed stock exchanges that it as concluded $3.6 billion or Rs 30,000 crore deal with Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung, for supply of network equipment over a period of three years.

"The deal marks the first step towards the rollout of the company’s transformative three-year capex plan of $6.6 billion or Rs 55000 crore. The capex programme is directed towards expanding the 4G population coverage from 1.03 billion to 1.2 billion, launching 5G in key markets and capacity expansion in line with data growth. The company has continued with its existing long-term partners Nokia and Ericsson and also onboarded Samsung as a new partner," Vodafone Idea said in a stock exchange filing.

Analyst meet
The SC had last week dismissed the requests by telecom operators for re-computation of AGR dues. The curative petition — filed by Vodafone Idea had sought a reconsideration of the 2019 judgment on AGR dues. Vodafone Idea had earlier reported an AGR liability of Rs 70,300 crore, which included accumulated interest. Its self-assessed AGR liability was 50 per cent lower at Rs 35,400 crore.

On Friday Vodafone Idea informed stock exchanges BSE and NSE that Chief Executive Officer Akshaya Moondra, Chief Financial Officer Murthy GVAS and the senior management team will participate in the conference call.

$3.6 billion deal

Vodafone Idea said the contracts will allow the it quickly capitalise on the latest state-of-the-art equipment to offer enhanced customer experience. Further, the learnings and insights obtained by the vendors in the Indian market over the last two years, will enable the company to embark on a more flexible and modular rollout plan by customising the services for all advanced technologies (4G & 5G).

"In addition, the new equipment will also lead to efficiency gains in energy and thus lower operating costs. The supplies against these new longterm awards will start in the coming quarter. The top priority for the Company is to expand the 4G coverage
to 1.2 billion Indians. Post the recent equity raise of Rs 24,000 crore and additional spectrum acquisition of Rs 3,500 crore in June 2024 auction, the company has also executed some quick win Capex, while simultaneously working on concluding these long-term contracts," Vodafone Idea said.

"These quick wins were mainly by way of deployment of more spectrum on existing sites and also the roll out of some new sites. This is resulting in 15% boost in capacity and an increase in population coverage by 16 million by end September, 2024. We are already witnessing an improvement in customer experience in select geographies where these rollouts have been completed," it said.