Vodafone is an Indian subsidiary of the Vodafone Group plc, which is based in UK. It is essentially an Indian mobile service company with its operating headquarters in Mumbai. Since its merger with Idea, the Vodafone Idea collective network provides 2G, 4G LTE and 4G+ data networks.

It’s not easy to dislodge an industry leader from the first position, especially if that leader has occupied the space for over a decade. However, with the merger of two of India’s biggest telecommunication providers; Vodafone and Idea, Bharti Airtel, the biggest network operator in India had to take a step back. Referred to as VI, Vodafone Idea Limited is an Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Group partnership, which provides pan India Voice and Data services across 2G, 3G and 4G platforms.

With a broad spectrum portfolio to support the rising demand for data and audio, the company is dedicated to delivering fantastic consumer service and contributing to the creation of a truly ‘Digital India’ by empowering millions of people to communicate and create a better tomorrow.

Before we delve deeper into Vodafone Idea, let’s first get an overview of each of the separate entities and what caused the merger.

Vodafone – Power To You

Vodafone India is a member of the Vodafone Group and began operations in 1994 when its parent, Hutchison Telecom, secured a cellular license for Mumbai. The business operates throughout the world, serving more than 153 million customers. Vodafone India has already built a strong position within the Vodafone Group, making it the world’s largest customer base. The company’s trajectory in India is a direct testament to Vodafone’s competitiveness in a fiercely competitive and price-sensitive industry.

Vodafone India, in its long-term dedication to the country, has been delivering creative, consumer-friendly and secure products and services by continually distinguishing itself by being a powerful brand, a high-quality network, and by delivering a high level of customer support.

At the India Retail Forum 2012, the company was awarded the ‘Best Modern Retailer Award’ in the mobile and telecommunications category.

The company was recognised as one of the ‘Best Choice Employers’ in the telecommunications sector by ‘Great Places to Work’ and in another survey conducted by Nielsen; Vodafone India was the only telecommunications player in the Top 10 ‘Most Exciting Youth Brands’ in India.

Vodafone Group is one of the leading telecom providers in the world with more than 406 million subscribers as of 30 June 2012. Vodafone now has equity stakes in more than 30 nations spanning five continents and more than 40 affiliate networks worldwide.

Idea – What An Idea

Idea Cellular Limited, also known as Idea and stylised as !dea, was an Indian mobile network operator based at Mumbai, Maharashtra. The company was a GSM operator pan-India and had over 2 million subscribers in June 2018.

Idea Cellular was founded as Birla Communications Limited in 1995 after obtaining GSM licenses in the Gujarat and Maharashtra circles. The corporate name was transferred to Idea Cellular and the Idea logo was launched in 2002 after a number of name changes after mergers and joint ventures with Grasim Industries, AT&T Corporation and Tata Group. Following the withdrawal by AT&T Corporation and Tata Group from the joint venture in 2004 and 2006, Idea Cellular became a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Group.

At the 2010 3G spectrum auction, Idea paid a total of 57.68 billion (USD 810 million) for spectrum in 11 circles. After the introduction of MNP in India, Idea further increased its user base as it was the mobile network with the largest number of net ports.

The Birth Of Vodafone Idea

The Idea-Vodafone acquisition is certainly one of the largest acquisitions in the telecommunications sector to date. The acquisition, which took place in 2018, represents the first restructuring in the domestic telecommunications sector since the arrival of Reliance Jio, which was a formidable rivalry against existing players.

Vodafone holds 45.1 percent of the merged business after selling 4.9 percent of the share to the Aditya Birla Group for $579 million in assets, at the same time as the transaction is completed. The Aditya Birla Group holds 26% of the merged business and Idea’s shareholders, the remaining 28.9%.

Before the merger, it was noted that there were about 73,000 overlapping sites and equipment like towers. The companies started removing the overlapping 3G and 4G equipment, along with freeing the 2G spectrum. This allowed Vodafone Idea to enhance its 4G network, which resulted in better quality data services from the merged entity.

The Coverage of Vodafone Idea In India

Vodafone Idea said its 4G population coverage now reaches nearly 1 billion Indians and the company continues to invest in 4G to increase coverage and capacity. Moreover, according to Statista, Vodafone Idea has about 296 million subscribers as per 2021. Vi Provides wifi hotspot services in major cities Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore with 200 and more locations, it is available for all VI brand customer’s.

Vodafone Idea has deployed new technologies and these network investments have delivered a significant capacity uplift and enabled it to offer fastest 4G speeds in many markets including metros, as per Ookla.

After Vodafone Idea announced its network consolidation across major cities in March 2019, they were able to enhance the 4G coverage in some prominent regional areas, including Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Bathinda, Moga, and Hoshiarpur, Rajasthan Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Kota, Ajmer, Udaipur among others.

Vodafone Idea Offerings

For Consumers

The services of Vodafone Idea are largely designers to meet the requirements of their customers. The company’s main focus is to use technology to improve their presence and connectivity PAN India, including urban and rural coverage. The company offers continuously expanding 4G LTE network services, along with plans that include some of the best entertainment platforms on mobile.

Vodafone India’s customers are known to particularly enjoy an unmatched customer experience, along with innovative and truly differentiated offerings. These offerings include Prepaid Unlimited propositions, RED Postpaid plans and Truly Unlimited Roaming products.

For Enterprises

Vodafone Idea Business Services is committed to becoming the most trusted and respected partner to help companies thrive in the digital world. Their Total Communications solutions empower multinational and Indian companies, public sector and government agencies, small and medium-sized businesses and start-ups.

From market-leading enterprise mobility, robust connectivity and world-class IoT Solutions to superior business communication and insightful business analytics, the company introduces the smartest and newest innovations to business in the modern digital age. Their global experience and strong local understanding make them a favorite digital enabling business partner across India.

In addition to this, here are some of the popular initiatives Vodafone Idea undertook to ensure they’re able to provide maximum coverage to their subscribers all over the country:

Massive MIMO Vodafone Idea introduced technology such as massive MIMOs, small cells, TDD sites to increase coverage and network availability in Mumbai and Delhi throughout March. As part of the modernization exercise, the company deployed more than 5,000 large MIMO, small cells and TDD sites around ChurchGate, Prabhadevi, Pali Hill, Lokhandwala, Versova, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Bandra and Dadar, among other regions. The firm has also deployed more than 4,000 Massive Mimo, small cells and TDD sites throughout New Delhi and the NCR.

Turbo-net Vodafone Idea has launched “TurboNet” 4G services in selected cities of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and the rest of Bengal (including Kolkata) circles. The launch of TurboNet 4G follows the consolidation of its radio network integration and the rollout of technologies such as Dynamic Spectrum Re-farming (DSR), Spectrum Re-farming, M-MIMO, L900, TDD and Small Cells to further enhance network capability and coverage across large parts of the region.

Vodafone Idea Plans

Prepaid Plans

Vodafone Idea prepaid mobile phone plans are a great choice if you don’t want to be locked into a particular mobile plan. Here are some of the most popular prepaid plans you can choose from:

It’s important to note that these Vodafone Idea prepaid plans and their validity change depending on the regions. For example, Vodafone Idea has specific regional prepaid plans for Andhra Pradesh/Telangana, Assam, Bihar/Jharkhand, Chennai, Delhi/NCR, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata, Mumbai, Maharashtra/Goa, North East, Madhya Pradesh/Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, UP East, UP West/Uttarakhand and West Bengal/Sikkim.

Postpaid Plans

By opting for Vodafone Idea’s postpaid plans, you get access to multiple benefits, including lowest bill guarantee, data rollover, free subscription to entertainment platforms, and unlimited calls and national roaming.

YOU Broadband

YOU Broadband is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vodafone Idea, which provides fixed line broadband (FTTH) and voice services (VoIP) in major cities of India, including Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Kakinada, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nashik, Navi Mumbai, Navsari, Powai, Pune, Rajkot, Surat, Thane, Vadodara, Valsad, Vapi, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.

Vodafone Idea Customer Care

As one of the top service providers in India, Vodafone Idea boasts of responsive and extremely helpful customer care. You can either request a call back by filling out a form, or you can use the information below:

Vodafone Idea Awards & Achievements In 2020

As of 2020, the company has won a whole deal of awards for its service and contributions in the telecommunications sector:

• Red Hat Innovator of the Year by Red Hat Innovator Award
• Internet & Broadband Services – “Phone Line with Google Assistant” by Voice&Data Telecom Leadership Forum
• Remarkable achievements with one of the world’s largest post-paid migrations awarded by Innovation at the core awards.