BSNL and Vodafone Idea Plan Inter-Circle Roaming Expansion Across Additional Circles

State-owned telecom operator BSNL is planning to sign an inter-circle roaming (ICR) agreement with Vodafone Idea (Vi) across 12 to 13 additional circles, according to a government source familiar with the development.

The proposed arrangement is intended to mutually benefit both telecom companies by providing mobile signal access to their respective customers in areas where individual network coverage is weak. Currently, BSNL and Vodafone Idea share ICR arrangements in two to three circles, with plans to significantly scale the partnership.

The collaboration comes as the government remains the single largest shareholder in debt-ridden Vodafone Idea, alongside BSNL operating as a public sector unit.

Concurrently, BSNL is working on expanding its mobile infrastructure. A government source stated that approvals have been granted for BSNL to install 26,000 new 4G mobile towers. This fresh deployment comes in addition to the one lakh 4G towers that the state-run operator has already installed.

Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea is actively working to secure debt financing to support its capital expenditure plan of Rs 45,000 crore. The private operator has already raised Rs 6,400 crore as the first tranche of funds, which includes Rs 1,183 crore secured through warrants and debt proceeds from external commercial borrowings (ECB) and Indian private banks.

"This strategic collaboration between BSNL and Vodafone Idea highlights a pragmatic approach to optimizing existing infrastructure in a capital-intensive sector. By leveraging inter-circle roaming, both operators can address network coverage gaps without immediately incurring massive duplicate capital expenditures. For BSNL, pairing this network sharing with ongoing 4G tower rollouts strengthens its service delivery, while Vodafone Idea can focus its financial resources on meeting broader debt and capex targets." — Dr. Shishir Gupta, Founder & CEO, StartupLanes