Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi) had started a Wi-Fi joint venture called FireFly Networks. The aim of the joint venture was to unburden mobile networks and promote the use of Wi-Fi in multiple parts of the company. But the company didn’t do much because the expansion of 4G networks happened in the country quite quickly when Jio arrived. Now an ET Telecom report suggests that Bharti Airtel and Vodafone idea is considering selling the Wi-Fi JV to Cisco. The enterprise value of the company is estimated at Rs 200 crore, and the companies are in advanced talks.
Cisco retains control
The report suggests that Cisco will retain current management of the company with Raj Sethia as the company’s CEO (Chief Executive Officer). Sethia is a former Vodafone manager.
The Wi-Fi JV has been looking for investors for the past two to three years. Neither Airtel nor Vodafone Idea wanted to invest fresh money in their Wi-Fi joint. This is simply due to how quickly 4G has arrived in every part of the country. There were no major incentives for either telcos to boost the business with new investments.
FireFly focuses on providing services to the B2B market. Bodies such as Airports Authority of India (AAI), GMR, Supreme Court of India, Fortis and DLF Cyber are some of the company’s partners.
glowworm Wi-Fi points are installed in more than 40 cities in 25 states in 650 locations with 10,000 access points. The need for Wi-Fi hotspots is still there, but not with great intensity. The company claims that it serves more than 2.5 million users daily, including 6,000,000 users in 29 different airports in India.
Ideally, Cisco could acquire the company from Airtel and Vodafone Idea and expand FireFly’s operations to more parts of India. Furthermore, this will help Cisco with its private network operations in the country.
