Vodafone Looking To Share Networks In India

Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) is planning on teaming up with other operators in India to reduce the expense of expanding its mobile network in the country — it already has a deal to share its network with Bharti Airtel. According to the Wall Street Journal Vodafone has doubled its capital expenditure since taking over the business from Hutchison, and only about half of India’s population has mobile phone coverage. “As we’ve gotten into it, we’re finding that we’ve been able to expand the scope and scale of the venture that we were thinking about,” said Chief Executive Arun Sarin in an interview. He declined to say which other companies could join and said it could be a couple of months before deals are finalized.” Vodafone Essar has 17.7 percent of the Indian market, and Bharti Airtel has 23.4 percent. The WSJ suggests Vodafone could try similar deals in other markets, such as South Africa.