Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao said on Wednesday that the telecom network operator will maintain its investment level in India.

He described telecom service providers as the digital planners for Digital India program.

“There are lot of things happening in the telecom world. The new generation is glued to data. We are the digital planners. We will enable entrepreneurs to fulfill their dreams,” Colao said in a meeting.

“We have partnered with the government to enable its Digital India and Financial Inclusion programmes,” Sunil Sood, managing director and CEO, Vodafone India said.

Vodafone has so far invested Rs 80,000 crore in India. It invests around Rs 8,500 crore every year in the country.

“We will continue with our level of investments. We will continue to expand,” he said.

Talking about recent move by the Indian government which allowed spectrum trading and sharing, he said: “It is a positive move.”

Asked whether the company is planning initial public offer (IPO) any time soon, Colao said, “Can’t give you a date. We are positively inclined towards it. We have started the preparatory work.”

Regarding the company’s core strength, he said it has strong cloud infrastructure and it leads in machine-to-machine and Internet of Things (IoT) spaces.

Vodafone IPO

Vodafone Group is preparing for an initial public offer (IPO) for its India unit, said Vittorio Colao.

“Can’t give you a date. We are positively inclined towards it. We have started the preparatory work,” the CEO said in a meeting.

The company has been planning for its IPO for quite some time.

Later in the day, Colao met union Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

“Vodafone CEO appreciated spectrum trading and sharing norms,” the minister said, adding that Colao has expressed his concerns over call drop issues in India. “The call drops issue have to be addressed on a priority basis,” Prasad added.

IANS