Vodafone India's IPO has been in the pipeline for many years, and even recent reports pegged it for mid-2017. However, Vodafone may be accelerating it as CY17 could see maximum competition due to a phased launch of RJio over H2CY16.
India's telco sector is in a state of flux as the shift from 2G/3G to 4G gains momentum. The upcoming launch of Reliance Jio (US$20bn+ pure-4G telecom venture of oil & gas conglomerate RIL) is likely to raise competitive intensity manifold, as India is arguably the last available growth market of this scale for data consumption. M&A activity has sped up as a result, with incumbents Bharti and RCom in the process of buying spectrum/smaller players.
Vodafone India?s ARPU has been declining, driven by weaker pricing power and the thrust to grow volumes to capture India?s smartphone adoption boom.
