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THE POSITIONING OF VODAFONE IDEA COULD POTENTIALLY WORSEN AS RIVAL TELECOM FIRMS WILL BE ABLE TO BOOST THEIR COVERAGE AND CAPACITY

The positioning of Vodafone Idea - which picked up modest 11.80 MHz spectrum - could potentially "worsen" as rival telcos will be able to boost their coverage and capacity after buying additional radiowaves in the just-concluded auctions, according to a report.

Vodafone Idea has acquired spectrum to cover minor gaps in five circles for Rs 1,993.4 crore, while Bharti Airtel shelled-out nearly Rs 18,700 crore for 355.45 MHz radiowaves and Reliance Jio a whopping Rs 57,123 crore for 488.35 MHz spectrum.

India's first auction of telecom spectrum in five years ended on Tuesday with Rs 77,814.8 crore of airwaves being acquired by telcos and billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio spending the most.

"VIL's positioning may possibly worsen as other operators will be able to enhance their coverage and capacity further post acquisition of additional spectrum in the recent round," a note by Kotak Institutional Equities said.

The deft moves by Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio in shoring up their spectrum holding will allow the two telcos to enhance their user experience further, "compounding woes for VIL".

Airwaves come in different bands which support different propagation characteristics for transmission of voice and data. For instance, lower bands like 800 MHz and 900 MHz support a good indoor coverage while higher bands like 2300 MHz have a good carrying capacity.

The airwaves are also sold in quantities measured as MHz. The auctions allows companies to use governmentowned airwaves for carrying signals for data and voice for a particular period of time.

Reliance Jio Infocomm has acquired the right to use spectrum in all 22 circles or zones across India, in the auctions. Jio has bagged spectrum in bands such as 800 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2300 MHz, and its spectrum footprint is up by 55 per cent to 1,717 MHz.