Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) has reportedly decided not to proceed with a commercial launch of its 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) home broadband in India for now, even as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel push ahead with aggressive FWA roll-outs to lift home broadband revenue.
Vi’s immediate strategy is to scale 5G for mobile users to attract new subscribers and limit churn, rather than invest in FWA which would depend on standalone (SA) 5G and stronger fixed-line broadband infrastructure areas where Vi currently trails rivals. The company has said that ongoing 5G pilots and customer feedback will guide the FWA business case; in the near term, Vi’s 5G deployment will prioritise metro and urban markets and encourage more 4G and 2G users to upgrade to 5G-ready handsets.
Further, Vi’s 4G/5G subscriber base has improved recently, and the operator intends to expand its 5G footprint in a measured manner as adoption of 5G devices increases.
