Vodafone Idea is ramping up its enterprise play with a broader multi-cloud strategy that goes beyond existing partners CtrlS and Yotta, even as it places early bets on private 5G networks. The twin push—coming weeks after Airtel unveiled its “Airtel Cloud” platform—underscores Vi’s effort to strengthen enterprise relevance, deepen account engagement, and tap new growth areas through private 5G proof-of-concept deployments in manufacturing and mining sectors.
Vi is building a cloud-neutral, multi-partner platform that will allow enterprises to manage workloads across providers such as AWS, Google, and Microsoft, while also expanding engagements with its existing partners.
“Vi Business has adopted a partner-led, cloud-neutral strategy. Rather than tying ourselves to any single hyperscaler or data centre provider, we are working with partners like Yotta and CtrlS while building a multi-cloud platform layer and managed services capabilities,” Arvind Nevathia, Chief Enterprise Business Officer, Vodafone Idea Limited, told Moneycontrol in an interaction.
“While we continue to grow with existing partners, we are also exploring new ones. Our evaluation process considers product features, value proposition, geographic fit, and customer needs,” he said.
Notably, Vi’s bigger rival Bharti Airtel recently launched its sovereign cloud offering amid growing focus among Indian enterprises on securing sensitive data, tapping into a market dominated by US tech giants such as Microsoft Corp. and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Companies such as Google, the Hiranandani group's Yotta Infrastructure, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and E2E Networks are vying for a share of the market.
Vodafone Idea has again shifted focus to its Vi Business unit as a key growth engine, with offerings spanning enterprise mobility, IoT, cloud, connectivity, business communication, and security solutions.
The new CEO, Abhijit Kishore, commented on the company's direction regarding revenue, particularly in the enterprise segment, though he deferred specific targets for a later discussion.
Government projects, BFSI, hyperscalers, and SMBs have emerged as major growth verticals, while long-term deals in areas like smart metering and connected cars have helped the telco retain enterprise relevance despite financial pressures, Nivathi added.
The telco’s strategy is to be partner-led in adjacencies. “We will choose our battles selectively. We’ll focus on capex, investments, time, and effort where it makes sense,” he said.
“Over the last two to three years, we’ve deepened relationships with our accounts and grown account engagement. The proof point is whether we’re winning long-term contracts. We recently announced long-term smart metering deals. Similarly, with hyperscalers like Google, AWS, and Microsoft, we’ve had consistent order books and engagements for their data centre connectivity. So yes, the challenges were there, but we’ve been able to address them effectively and grow the business in a healthy manner,” he said.
At the same time, the telco is also betting on private 5G networks, running proof-of-concept deployments with large manufacturing and mining clients, which it expects could trigger a “hockey-stick” adoption curve over the next two years.
“On the mobility side, some customers who were waiting for us to launch 5G solutions are coming back, so that’s positive. The bigger opportunity is private 5G networks. We’re running proof-of-concept engagements with large customers in manufacturing and mining. Commercial adoption is still limited, but we believe the market could see hockey-stick growth in the next one to two years,” he added.
Notably, all three private telcos, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, have renewed their opposition to the Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT) latest move to reassess demand for direct spectrum allocation.
Telcos, through their body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said that allowing enterprises to directly obtain spectrum for private 5G networks is neither viable nor secure within the Indian context. It said such a move could undermine national revenue, disrupt the security framework, and create an uneven playing field for licensed operators.
“Globally, we haven’t seen non-telcos play a major role in private 5G. So, logically, telcos should remain the preferred route in India as well. But we’ll have to see how the market evolves,” Nevathia added.
The senior executive said the telco managed to retain key customers in the last two to three years at a time when the focus was to stop churn amid requirements for funding for the proposed capex plan.
“Yes. Our internal churn metrics show consistent improvement. We measure not just account retention but also share of wallet – how much spend we capture from each account. Across multiple quarters, we’ve seen positive trends,” he added.
The executive said that the enterprise arm of Vodafone Idea has seen action on building capabilities and platform play internally, driving product innovation in our core business and solutions.
Vi Business, he said, is building on partnerships. “We have a model for choosing the right kind of partners—especially those bringing new-age AI capabilities—and fitting that into our product roadmap. Then we look at the layer of value we can add on top of that partnership. So it’s really a combination of building our own muscle while taking a partner-first approach to create relevance for customers.
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