London — Mobile telecoms group Vodafone reported a first-half net loss of €5bn on Tuesday after writing down the value of its Indian business by the same amount due to the start of a price war sparked by a new rival. CE Vittorio Colao said an improvement in its European markets was "modestly ahead" of expectations, led by Germany and Italy, but competition in India had intensified and was expected to hit its cash flow. The three biggest players in the Indian market — leader Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular — have seen the market thrown into turmoil by the arrival of Reliance Jio Infocomm, which is backed by India’s richest businessman, Mukesh Ambani. Jio has made an immediate impact with the launch of free calls and cut-price data services in September. Colao said Jio’s free trials were "unprecedented" and Vodafone was watching carefully to see that the promotions were limited to 90 days, as required by the regulator. "Any company needs to start billing. That will be the mo...
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