Vodafone Idea began transferring fibre assets into a separate company and appointed banks to oversee a sale of the holdings as part of efforts to boost its coffers and return the company to profitability, Business Line reported.

India’s largest operator by subscribers tapped Bank of America and Morgan Stanley to seek out potential buyers for the fibre infrastructure, which the newspaper noted could net the company up to INR130 billion ($1.9 billion).

The funds would be used to reduce debt and bolster Vodafone Idea’s overall finances in the face of fierce competition from key rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, Business Line stated.

In its fiscal Q4 (calendar Q1) earnings statement, Vodafone Idea noted it was “exploring options to monetise over 158,000kms of intra-city and inter-city fibre” as one of several fundraising options designed to stem losses. It is also in the process of merging Indus Towers with Bharti Infratel as part of the strategy, and conducted an INR250 billion rights issue in April.