Vodafone Idea share price plunges 5% ahead of Q1 results; telecom firm acquires 17 priority circles in 5G spectrum auction

​Shares of Vodafone Idea plunged almost five per cent in Wednesday's intraday trade ahead of the announcement of Q1FY23 results. The result is scheduled on August 3. The telecom stock was trading lower by 4.68% to Rs 8.97 per share on the BSE around 12.25pm on Wednesday.  

Earlier, brokerage house ICICI Securities has estimated Vodafone Idea's June quarter losses at Rs 6,647 crore. The telecom company had reported a loss of Rs 6,563 crore in the March quarter.  

As per the brokerage, Vodafone Idea revenues may rise 0.6 per cent sequentially (12.6 per cent YoY) to Rs 10,303 crore, while it expected its Ebitda to drop 3.4 per cent QoQ, which is 21 % higher on YoY, largely due to higher power cost and one-off gains of Rs 150 crore in the base quarter. 

Vodafone Idea 5G spectrum auction participation detail 

The telecom company has also participated in 5G spectrum auction conducted by the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, which concluded recently.  

Talking about the participation, Vodafone Idea said this auction will catalyse digital economy growth and usher 5G in India. We remain committed to realise the Digital India dream of the nation, it said. 

"We have successfully acquired mid band 5G spectrum (3300 MHz band) in our 17 priority circles and mmWave 5G spectrum (26 GHz band) in 16 circles, which will enable us to offer a superior 5G experience to our customers," Vodafone Idea said in a regulatory filing.  

The additional 4G spectrum acquisition in 3 circles of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab will further improve the customer experience, it said.  

It further said that spectrum acquisition will enable it to strengthen position in key markets and it aligns well with our long-term strategic intent.  

"With this, we now have a solid portfolio of spectrum across all bands in all our priority circles. The circle-wise spectrum holding post this spectrum auction is annexed hereto. We also have the advantage of leveraging the global experience of Vodafone Group which has proven expertise in deploying 5G in many markets," it added