India is one of the fastest-growing mobile markets in the world and Google is eyeing a piece of that pie by investing in Vodafone’s struggling India business.
As per a Financial Times report, Google is considering buying a 5 percent stake in Vodafone Idea which is currently struggling in the Indian telecom market. A person familiar with the matter said the process is at a very early stage.
The Google-Vodafone Idea stake will pit Google against Facebook in the Indian telecom market as both the American tech giants will try to make the most of the opportunity.
Just recently, Facebook bought a minority stake in Reliance Jio. Facebook will look to leverage Jio’s massive subscriber base to market its products in India while Jio could reap the benefits of the technical expertise that Facebook can lend.
The report also says that Google's parent company Alphabet is also in talks with Jio for a minority stake in the company although the discussions are still ongoing.
This move will come as a great relief for Vodafone Idea as it is currently under pressure due to a large scale fall in its subscriber base not to mention the increasing pressure from the central government to pay dues.
Google has been ambitious about the Indian market from the beginning.
Not only is India a hotbed for the largest number of Android mobile users in the world but it is also where Google has earned success by launching its mobile payments service.
With subscribers in the millions, it is no surprise that Google is wanting to be a part of the Indian telecom sector.
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