Vodafone Idea has one data centre in Navi Mumbai and it has around 160,000 km of optic fibre.
July 08, 2021
Private equity (PE) companies TPG Global, Apollo Global, and Carlyle Group among other private equity giants are in early talks with Vodafone Idea to invest in the telco’s optic fibre and data centre assets worth about USD 1 billion, as per a report by Hindustan Times.
However, as Vodafone Idea will continue to use the optic fibre infrastructure, the deals will take place on a sale-and-leaseback basis.
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“The fibre assets, fixed broadband and data centre businesses have an immense growth potential since telecom and internet penetration is rapidly increasing. Pricing will be the key for the PE deals. Within 2-3 months, the deals should get closed,” one of the two people told the publication.
As per a report by ET, the third-largest Indian telco is expecting to monetize its assets–fixed-line broadband subsidiary You Broadband, optic fibre unit, and data centres business to raise USD 1 billion or about Rs 7,400 crore, to generate cash flow to meet the upcoming liabilities.
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Vi which has about 267.8 million customers, has one data centre in Navi Mumbai and around 160,000 km of optic fibre. It acquired You Broadband from TRG Capital in 2017 for Rs 400 crore. You Broadband is now available in 21 cities and has over 3,000 km of optic fibre and 6,000 km of last-mile cables.
