Debt-ridden telecom operator Vodafone Idea Ltd. has concluded a mega $3.6 billion or ₹30,000 crore deal with Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung, for the supply of network equipment over a period of three years.Vodafone Idea has continued with its existing long-term partners Nokia and Ericsson and also onboarded Samsung as a new partner, the company said in a regulatory filing on September 22.The deal marks the first step towards the rollout of the company’s transformative three-year capex plan of $6.6 billion (₹55,000 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 said the new equipment will 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, it…
