At the inaugural session of India Mobile Congress, Birla said: “In the coming quarters, Vodafone Idea will initiate significant investments in order to roll out 5G networks and expand 4G coverage across the country.
“Moreover, the company is determined to realise the government’s vision of establishing a robust supply chain in critical and emerging areas including Open RAN.”
This comes after the troubled Indian telco reported a wider-than-expected loss on Thursday due to subscriber loss and increased expenses.
The company has now reported a loss in every quarter since it was formed by a merger between the Indian arm of Vodafone and Idea Cellular in 2018.
Last year, the Indian government took a majority stake in Vodafone Idea, meaning shareholders and founders had shares diluted.
In spite of that, Birla says that the operator has made strides over the past year, pointing out advanced 5G use cases that will impact industries such as infrastructure, agriculture and logistics.
“This encompasses the entire value chain of major enterprises, and also of MSMEs, which we believe are engines for growth and employment that contribute significantly to India's progress."
