iWorld
Vodafone Idea dials down losses as data use and upgrades pick up
MUMBAI: When the signal gets stronger, the numbers start to sound better. Vodafone Idea reported a narrower loss in the fiscal third quarter, buoyed by rising data consumption and a steady shift of users to higher-paying 4G and 5G plans.
The debt-laden telecom operator posted a consolidated loss after tax of Rs. 52.86 billion for the quarter ended December 31, compared with a loss of Rs. 66.09 billion a year earlier. Overall revenue rose year on year to Rs. 113.23 billion, edging past analysts’ expectations of Rs. 112.77 billion.
A key bright spot was average revenue per user, which increased 7.3 per cent to Rs. 186. The improvement followed a 2 per cent rise in 4G and 5G subscribers and a sharp 26.7 per cent jump in average data usage among these customers, reflecting higher engagement on faster networks.
Despite the uptick, Vodafone Idea continues to lag its larger rivals on pricing power. Reliance Jio reported an ARPU of Rs. 211.4, while Bharti Airtel remains well ahead at Rs. 256, underlining the competitive pressure in India’s telecom market.
The company has been investing steadily in its 4G and 5G infrastructure to improve service quality and arrest subscriber losses. Earlier this month, it also received regulatory relief when the government capped its long-pending adjusted gross revenue payments at $13.79 million annually over the next six years, easing near-term cash flow stress.
Vodafone Idea said its AGR dues stood frozen at Rs. 876.95 billion as of December 31, although the figure remains subject to reassessment. The operator, 49 per cent owned by the Indian government, was formed in 2018 through the merger of Vodafone Group’s Indian arm and Aditya Birla Group’s Idea Cellular.
India’s third-largest telecom provider has reported losses every quarter since the merger and has steadily ceded market share to Jio and Airtel, weighed down by more than $22 billion in debt and a network rollout that trails its bigger competitors. Even so, the latest quarter suggests that higher data usage and premium plan upgrades are beginning to offer Vodafone Idea some much-needed breathing room.
eNews
LTM to upgrade India’s tax analytics platform with Nvidia AI
BlueVerse platform to drive real-time insights and digital governance
MUMBAI: LTM, formerly LTIMindtree and awaiting shareholder approval for its name change, has teamed up with Nvidia to modernise India’s national tax analytics platform, backing the government’s seven-year Insight 2.0 mandate.
The collaboration will support the Central Board of Direct Taxes in overhauling tax administration through scalable artificial intelligence and advanced analytics. Under the programme, LTM will deploy a secure cloud environment powered by Nvidia’s AI infrastructure to enable real-time insights and simplified data workloads.
At the heart of the initiative is LTM’s proprietary BlueVerse platform, which will act as the intelligence layer across the tax system. The platform is designed to integrate AI across operations, powering features such as a smart citizen portal, automated campaign management, enhanced case workflows and AI-driven helpdesk support.
The overhaul aims to strengthen governance, curb revenue leakages, improve compliance and deliver a smoother experience for taxpayers: a long-standing pain point in India’s tax administration.
“This collaboration brings together Nvidia’s AI capabilities and our BlueVerse platform to build a transparent, resilient and citizen-friendly tax system at scale,” said LTM chief delivery officer Gururaj Deshpande.
Nvidia vice-president of data centre GPU business Yogesh Agrawal, said accelerated computing and full-stack AI are unlocking new efficiencies for public-sector modernisation. “The integration enables secure, high-performance and scalable digital governance for a programme of national importance,” he said.
For LTM, the project reinforces its push to position itself as a partner in large-scale digital governance, as governments increasingly turn to AI-led platforms to modernise public services.
