Vi Kickstarts Competition with 5G Data and New Tariffs

After 808 days of Jio & Airtel's 5G launch (1st October 2022), Vi, the joint telecom venture of Vodafone UK and Aditya Birla Group, has launched 5G services in India in selected pockets of selected cities across 17 key circles on 17th December of 2024. This launch of 5G services by Vi marked the third operator of the country enters 5G space. Though this launch is just to maintain MRO guidelines, a full-scale launch to all users is part of the roadmap of Vi. 

Like Airtel, Vi too has 2G and 4G networks and therefore they has deployed 5G as NSA over 3.3GHz and 26GHz bands. Globally the operators with previous generations of telecom networks are deploying 5G-NSA (non-standalone) as it's a cost-effective way. Here 4G core does the essential functions like mobility management, authentication, and session management but also uses a 5G radio access network (RAN) for the data plane. NSA remains the initial deployment option for 5G networks across the globe because it allows faster rollout without the need to immediately build out a complete 5G core network. 

In October 2024, Vi awarded Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung with the deals for 4G expansion and 5G rollout in certain circles for next 3 years for $3.6 billion (Rs 30,000 cr).

Vi planned to launch 5G in 75 cities of these key 17 circles by March, 2025. 

Vi 5G was launched in selected pockets of selective cities in 17 circles:

Nokia 9 circles (Deal worth Rs 13,500 cr)		Ericsson 10 circles (Deal worth Rs 14,000 cr)		Samsung 3 circles (Deal worth Rs 2,500 cr)
Chennai/ Tamil Nadu	Chennai (Perungudi, Nesapakkam)	Delhi	Okhla Industrial Area (Phase 2, India Gate, Pragati Maidan)	Karnataka	Bengaluru (Dairy Circle)
Andra Pradesh	Hyderabad (Aida Upal, Ranga Reddy)	Rajasthan	Jaipur (Near Galaxy Cinema, Mansarovar Industrial Area, RIICO)	Punjab	Jalandhar (Kot Kalan)
Mumbai	Worli, Marol Andheri East	Himachal Pradesh	5G AWAITING	Bihar	Patna (Anishabad Golamber)
Gujrat	Ahmedabad (Near Divya Bhaskar, Corporate Road, Makarba, Prahladnagar)	Jammu & Kashmir	5G AWAITING	x	x
Haryana	Karnal (HSIIDC, Industrial Area, Sector-3)	Odisha	5G AWAITING	x	x
UP East	Lucknow (Vibhuti Khand, Gomtinagar)	Maharastra	Pune (Shivaji Nagar)	x	x
UP West	Agra (Near J.P. Hotel, Fatehbad Road)	North East	5G AWAITING	x	x
West Bengal	Siliguri (City Plaza, Sevok Road)	Assam	5G AWAITING	x	x
Kolkata	Sector V, Salt Lake	Kerala	Thrikkakara (Kakkanad)	x	x
x	x	Madhya Pradesh	Indore (Electronic Complex, Pardeshipura)	x	x

Vi has immense pressure on its finance, and it's losing the subscribers in a very alarming rate. In September this year Vi recorded loss of 15.5 lakh subscribers. Loss is widened in November 2024 - that' 19.77 subscribers left Vi. At the same time frame Airtel and Jio also lost users, and state-owned telco, BSNL aka Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd gained subscribers, thanks to the strategy to keep tariff cheap against the trio's price hike and recent launch of 4G services.

Vi wants to follow that trend - adding more data on the plans. Analyst believe once Vi launches 5G across the country, it may charge atleast 15% lower than Airtel. Jio is already cheaper than Airtel. And BSNL is cheapest as they are yet to launch 5G - subscribers of BSNL are enjoying 4G data at 3G prices. 

Vi already launched Annual SuperHero prepaid plans:

Pack 3599

Valid for 365 days inclusive of 2GB/day 4G/5G data during 12 PM to 12 AM, Half-day unlimited data (12 AM to 12 PM), Weekend Data Rollover (Users can carry forward unused weekday data and utilise it during the weekend), unlimited calls within India, 100 SMS/day. It also includes Data Delight feature which provides an unconditional additional 1GB data as emergency twice a month. 

Get one-year subscription to Disney Plus Hotstar mobile (worth Rs 499) with Pack 3599 at Rs 3699

Get 1-year Amazon Prime Lite subscription (worth Rs 799) with this Pack 3599 at Rs 3799. 

In the press release Vi notes that "Costing as low as Rs10 per day, Vi's Annual SuperHero packs deliver upto 25% savings which is almost over Rs1100, when compared to monthly recharges. They are a great choice for customers who want the best value for their money along with the convenience of a single recharge."