The Jio effect? Vodafone India gets Rs 47,700-cr war chest

Days before the spectrum auction commences, British telecom major Vodafone Group has infused Rs 47,700 crore fresh equity capital in its Indian arm - the largest-ever foreign direct investment in rupee terms in the country. The money has been received already and Vodafone India, the country's second-largest telecom operator after Bharti Airtel, will use the funds to strengthen its spectrum portfolio, network roll-out and retire debt.

Commenting on the capital infusion, Sunil Sood, chief executive officer of Vodafone India, said: "This reaffirms our commitment to India. With this, we will focus on right-sizing our spectrum portfolio and deployment of 4G and 5G technology."

The government is putting 2,354.55 megahertz of spectrum at the auction table, giving an opportunity to operators such as Vodafone to strengthen their spectrum holdings. Vodafone is expected to be one of the strongest bidders during the spectrum auction and the company has deposited earnest money deposit (EMD) of Rs 2,740 crore towards spectrum auctions. Idea Cellular's EMD amount is Rs 2,000 crore and Bharti Airtel's is Rs 1,980 crore.

Vodafone closely competes with Bharti Airtel and is perceived as a premium brand; it has a revenue market share of 22.5 per cent. Sood said: "With our commitment to support the Digital India vision, we are building one of the most modern and scalable telecom networks to deliver connectivity."

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CAPITAL INFUSION ON SPEED DIAL

• Vodafone Group infuses Rs 47,700 crore into Indian arm
   
• Largest-ever FDI in India
   
• Funds to be used to strengthen spectrum footprint and network rollout
   
• Vodafone India's subscriber base hits 200 million
   
• Vodafone lowers debt, ahead of spectrum auctions
   
• Standalone debt at the end of FY16 was Rs 81,500 crore
   
• Vodafone India deposits earnest money deposit of Rs 2,740 crore towards spectrum auctions

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Vodafone India's revenues grew by a modest five per cent in FY16 to Rs 44,303 crore, thanks to the impact of lower interconnect and roaming charges. The standalone debt of the telco for 2015-16 stood at read full story

Reliance Jio impact: Should you sell Bharti Airtel, RCom, Idea Cellular?

After eroding around Rs 13,000 crore in market capitalisation (m-cap) on Thursday after Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries (RIL) announced the launch of Reliance Jio from September 05 with an aggressive pricing structure, telecom stocks - Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications - trade mixed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday.

While Bharti Airtel was trading marginally higher at Rs 312 levels, up 0.4% in early morning deals, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications (RCom) slipped around 2.1% and 1.5%, respectively. By comparison, the Nifty 50 index was trading 0.2% higher at 8,788 levels.

On Thursday, Bharti Airtel, the largest loser in terms of m-cap, lost Rs 8,455 crore m-cap at Rs 124,199 crore, the BSE data show. Idea Cellular lost Rs 3,528 crore at Rs 30,140 crore, and RCom eroded Rs 1,182 crore at Rs 12,333 crore.

So what should you do with telecom stocks? Here is a quick compilation of what the leading brokerages across the  read more..

Also Read: Jio launches mother of all telecom battles

Also Read: Why Jio may not bring down your mobile bill

Also Read: Jio may impact profitability of existing operators: Analysts

Also Read: Low price points push back Jio break-even

Airtel cuts data prices, launches innovative packs for pre-paid users

Country’s top mobile operator Bharti Airtel has launched a set of innovative data packs for its pre-paid customers allowing them to save on data costs substantially on subsequent recharges.

Airtel has launched a Rs 1,498 pack which offers 1GB 4G/3G data upfront with a validity of 28 days. Post exhaustion of this data limit, the customer can have 1GB 4G/3G recharges for Rs 51 over a period of 12 months. There is no limit on the number of recharges during the period.

Similarly, the Rs 748 pack offers 1GB 4G/3G data upfront and post exhaustion of this data limit, customers can get 1GB 4G/3G recharges for Rs 99 over a period of six months.

Ajai Puri, Director – Operations (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel said, “With these innovative packs, we are redefining the value proposition on our data packs and allowing our customers get a lot more within the read more..