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Tag: Idea

  • Mobile-based safety service Idea Sakhi launched exclusively for women

    Mobile-based safety service Idea Sakhi launched exclusively for women

    MUMBAI: To address the increasingly-felt, safety-related concerns of women who wish to step out and do more, brand Idea has designed a unique mobile based solution, Idea Sakhi. It is free of cost service available to all women customers using either prepaid or postpaid services of Idea, across the country. Accessible on both smartphones and basic feature phones, Idea Sakhi offers three extremely useful features – emergency alerts, emergency balance, and private number recharge.

    Launched during the International Women’s Week, this service has already been made available to women customers of Idea across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Assam and North East, Tamil Nadu including Chennai, Kerala, Gujarat, J&K, Maharashtra and Goa, Madya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and Delhi. It will be extended to all 22 circles within this month.

    Launching the Idea Sakhi service, Vodafone Idea Ltd operations director – marketing Avneesh Khosla said, “Technology can help overcome barriers and solve problems in the life of the consumer. With almost half of our population being women, and 59 per cent of them using a mobile phone, we are in a unique position to extend the benefits of technology for their safety and security. With Idea Sakhi, we are taking forward our long-term commitment of driving inclusion and deploying technology to serve a social purpose.”

    Speaking about the Idea Sakhi service Idea, Vodafone Idea Ltd national brand head Sunita Bangard said, “Brand Idea has always championed causes that help change lives. With Idea Sakhi, Brand Idea wishes to give women the freedom to live their lives and pursue their dreams and understand the need for women to feel safe when they step out of their homes. On this special occasion of International Women’s Week, we are happy to offer Idea Sakhi to the women of India, to feel more confident and safe – Ab idea Hai Udne Ka.”

  • Vodafone Idea board approves raising Rs 25K crore by rights issue

    Vodafone Idea board approves raising Rs 25K crore by rights issue

    BENGALURU: Vodafone Idea Limited has intimated the stock exchanges that its board of directors has considered and aprroved the offer and issue of fully paid-up and/or partly-paid up equity shares of the company and/or other securities convertible into equity shares of the company, including but not limited to, compulsorily convertible debentures, for an amount aggregating up to Rs. 25,000 crore (Rupees Twenty Five Thousand Crore), by way of a rights issue to existing eligible equity shareholders of the company as at the record date, in accordance with applicable laws, including the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations.

    Vodafone Idea further stated to the Stock Exchanges that the tromoter shareholders (Vodafone Group and Aditya Birla Group), have re-iterated to the board that they intend to contribute up to Rs.11,000 crore and up to Rs.7,250 crore respectively as part of such Rights Issue. Further, the promoter shareholders have indicated that in case the Rights Issue is undersubscribed, each of the Promoter shareholders reserves the right to subscribe to part or whole amount of the unsubscribed portion, subject to applicable law.

    For the purposes of giving effect to the Rights Issue, the board has authorized the Capital Raising Committee to, inter-alia, decide the terms and conditions of the Rights Issue, including the instrument, issue price, rights entitlement ratio, record date, timing of the Rights Issue and other related matters.

  • Reliance Jio adds 13.1 mn mobile subscribers

    Reliance Jio adds 13.1 mn mobile subscribers

    MUMBAI: Reliance Jio has added 13.1 million mobile subscribers in September where other telecom operators Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea lost 2.3 million, 2.6 million and 4 million respectively.

    Airtel, Vodafone Idea combined lost over 9 million subscribers in the month, according to telecom industry body, COAI’s data.

    COAI director general Rajan S Mathews said, “All the operators have expanded their services across the country, and have begun heavily diversifying their services beyond voice & data for the consumer.”

    As of September, Airtel, Vodafone and Idea held market shares of 33.75 per cent, 21.80 per cent and 20.94 per cent respectively, according to the reports. In August, Jio had over 239 million subscribers. Airtel continued to be at top position with 343.52 million subscribers followed by Reliance Jio which recently crossed the 250 million mark for its subscriber base, taking its total subscribers to over 252 million at the end of September. Moreover, Vodafone and Idea had subscriber base of over 221 million and 213 million respectively. The UP (East) circle remained at the top with a total of 87.53 million subscribers followed by Maharashtra at 84.70 million subscribers, the report said.

  • ‘Koffee with Karan 6’ takes off with exclusive brand partners

    ‘Koffee with Karan 6’ takes off with exclusive brand partners

    MUMBAI: Indian film director Karan Johar’s crowd-pleasing talk show Koffee with Karan came back with its sixth season earlier this week. The opening episode of the new season featured Alia Bhatt and Deepika Padukone.

    The show airs on Star World, which is a part of Star India. According to Livemint, the broadcaster is anticipated to make around Rs 35-40 crore from sponsorship deals.

    The list of the sponsors includes high profile brand names such as multimedia speaker Google Home which is the presenting sponsor of the show, ‘driven by’ German automobile manufacturer company Audi and ‘powered by’ telecom operator Idea. Jaquar, OPPO F9 Pro and L’Oreal Paris are the lifestyle, special and beauty partners for the show.

    Speaking to Livemint, a Star spokesperson said, “As the longest running chat show on Indian television, Koffee With Karan sets new benchmarks with every new season creating unprecedented buzz and aggregating premium consumers across the television and digital platforms.”

    “As such, brands are more than excited to leverage the show and create unique integrations that would excite their target audiences,” added the spokesperson.

    The spokesperson also explained how they’ll use brand integrations during the show, like; the host Johar could use the Google Home features in between the show or in the rapid fire round, the questions could be read from an OPPO phone or a celebrity who gives the answer of the season in the rapid fire round could be awarded with an Audi.

    Star is also looking to engage with the viewers through social network, as every week, viewers will have a chance to win autographed mugs of their favourite celebrities by participating in the Twitter contest held by Star World. The show will also offer an opportunity to be on the Koffee couch and field rapid fire questions from Johar through a Facebook camera innovation which will be captured on social media.

  • Import tariffs hike to hurt telcos’ network expansion: Report

    Import tariffs hike to hurt telcos’ network expansion: Report

    MUMBAI: The government, on Thursday, announced a plan to rein in imports and bolster a falling rupee. It will raise import tariffs on several electronic items and communication devices. The tariff hike was the second such move by the government in a two-week span according to Reuters.

    The government attempts to raise import barriers to curtail the import of goods it deems as "non-essential" items. The list including wearables like smartwatches, voice over internet protocol equipment and phones, and Ethernet switches, among other items.

    Last month, it raised import tariffs on 19 "non-essential items," including air conditioners, refrigerators, footwear, speakers, luggage and aviation turbine fuel, among other items.

    The gambit is part of a plan to contain a slide in the rupee, which has weakened more than 14 per cent against the US dollar this year, hit by a rout in emerging markets and other domestic factors such as a widening current account deficit.

    The plan, which becomes effective on Friday, will potentially also hurt Indian telecom carriers such as Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel and Idea, said Neil Shah of tech research firm Counterpoint.

    "This will slow down the rollout of high-speed broadband which uses optical fibre and LTE networks," Shah told Reuters, adding however that it could help local telecom equipment makers like Tata Teleservices that manufacture some of this equipment locally.

    India announced higher import tax on electronics products such as mobile phones and television sets in December, and then on 40 more items in the budget in February. These include goods as varied as sunglasses, juices and auto components.

  • DoT to inquire TRAI about 28 GHz band for 5G service

    DoT to inquire TRAI about 28 GHz band for 5G service

    MUMBAI: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is planning to initiate talks for new bands to support 5G services in the country. The DoT will soon start discussing with the telecom regulator TRAI for 28GHz band for 5G commercial deployments. As per Economic Times, the DoT will also analyse pricing estimates of such airwaves.

    The practicability of this spectrum band in the country for 5G is being checked out by the government of India. The government is exploring the chances of allocating the spectrum band in India as very soon after South Korea auctions these airwaves and the US Federal Communications Commission makes a decision to do so from 14 November.

    According to a senior DoT official, “It is mandatory to refer the matter of assessing suitability of a specific bandwidth and its pricing to TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), and the government shall do so before taking a call on allocating millimetre spectrum in 28 GHz band for early 5G deployments in India.”

    A panel will be soon formed to study the chances of installing 5G systems in the 28 GHz band and coinciding with the working satellite services in the same band.

    As per the DoT official, the government had been interested in this 5G airwave prospect after a recent meeting of Asia-Pacific Telecommunity wireless group in Bangkok. Globally, 28 GHz is perceived as “a frontier 5G band” and considered very crucial for early 5G deployments.

    TRAI’s proposed base price of Rs 492 crore per unit of 3500 MHz 5G spectrum is higher than the Rs 65 crore a unit of the recent 5G auction in South Korea. Hence, specialists say that Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel may skip the 5G spectrum auctions.

  • Idea urges people to use social media responsibly in new ad

    Idea urges people to use social media responsibly in new ad

    MUMBAI: Addressing the growing phenomenon of the need for validation on social media, Idea has launched a campaign titled #MeriRealLife, encouraging people to drop the pressure of chasing and sharing perfection on social media, and instead, share real, unfiltered stories using Idea 4G.

    The campaign went live yesterday with the first two TVCs breaking on the live matches of Asia Cup Cricket Tournament.

    There are over 400 million internet users in India and over 50 per cent are active social media users. Rapid proliferation of 4G has enabled better internet speeds, resulting into Indians now spending almost 28 hours a week on mobile phones. This mammoth increase in consumption of 4G data has been fuelled largely by people sharing and consuming videos and photos on social media.

    On an average, people spend anywhere between 2-4 hours/day on social media platforms. With such high engagement, social media is bound to have a huge impact on the lives of people. The new Brand Idea campaign is designed to propagate ‘Responsible Use of Social Media’ with the tagline ‘Perfect ka pressure hatao, Idea 4G ke saath apni real life dikhao’.

    Vodafone Idea chief marketing officer Sashi Shankar says, “People are constantly, looking for validation on social media for their behaviour – be it what they are eating or wearing or places they are visiting. The growing phenomenon of living to share on social media and not the other way around, is driving people towards a dual life –a social life and their real life.”

    The campaign is developed basis research inputs from mental health professionals from MPOWER, an organisation that aims to end stigma and encourage dialogue around mental health. Insights from research by MPOWER suggest that the constant need for validation leads to a loss of self-worth, a feeling of being ‘not good enough’ resulting in anxiety and related issues, especially amongst the youth actively engaged on social media.

    Staying with Brand Idea’s belief in purpose led advertising, this campaign elevates the role of Idea 4G beyond the category conversation to something that reflects its transformative role in people’s lives and society.

    The high decibel campaign will lead with a series of three TVCs of 40 and 35 secs duration, capturing the concept through the lens of three people from different walks of life, sharing how their social media lives are different from their real lives.

    The Idea ads show people talking about a fancy new car, the perfect look and relationship goals on their social media, while in their real lives they are questioning their own shallow behaviour. The videos end with the characters having their moment of reckoning, where they encourage the world to share their real photos and videos with #MeriRealLife.

    The TVCs have been directed by Shimit Amin, the director of critically acclaimed blockbusters such as Chak De, Rocket Singh – Salesman of the year, Ab Tak Chappan.

    The new campaign has been developed by BBDO India.

    The campaign will be promoted on TV, Radio and Digital through high decibel visibility across 100+ TV Channels and strategic integrations in shows/programs such as Film Companion by Anupama Chopra on Digital, and popular radio shows ‘Heart to Heart with Meera’ and ‘Calling Karan’ on Ishq/Love 104.8 among others.

  • Vodafone Idea officially starts operation as largest Indian telco

    Vodafone Idea officially starts operation as largest Indian telco

    MUMBAI: The mega Vodafone-Idea merger in the Indian telecom sector finally comes to closure creating India’s largest telecom operator with the most subscribers and revenue share. The new entity stands with a subscriber base of over 408 million and 32.2 per cent pan India revenue market share. However, both the brands will continue to operate independently. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved the merger yesterday.

    The merger has displaced Bharti Airtel from the top spot which has held the spot for the last 15 years. As of July 2018, the company has a user base of 344 million. Now the Indian telecom sector stands with three large players – Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio. Mukesh Ambani-led  Reliance Jio is the third largest telecom operator in the country with 215 million subscribers.

    “Today, we have created India’s leading telecom operator. It is truly a historic moment. And this is much more than just about creating a large business. It is about our vision of empowering and enabling a new India and meeting the aspirations of the youth of our country. The ‘Digital India’, as our Prime Minister describes it, is a monumental nation building opportunity. As Vodafone Idea, we are partnering in this initiative by building a formidable company of international repute, scale and standards,” Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Idea Ltd chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla commented.

    Kumar Mangalam Birla has been named as the chairman of Vodafone Idea Ltd and Balesh Sharma as the CEO of the combined entity. The new board of directors include six independent directors.

    The merger is expected to generate Rs 140 billion annual synergy, including opex synergies of Rs 84 billion, equivalent to a net present value of approximately Rs 700 billion. The Department of Telecom (DoT) had given a conditional nod for the merger of these companies on 9 July.

    “As India’s leading telecom operator with two popular and loved brands, the company has the scale and resources to ensure sustainable customer choice and introduce new technologies. We are committed to offer both our retail and enterprise customers an excellent experience while fulfilling their evolving digital and connectivity needs via new products, services and solutions. We will offer them more network coverage, more value and more excitement. My team and I look forward to your continuing support and invite you to enjoy the Vodafone Idea experience,” Sharma said.

  • Gas-O-Fast hands digital duties to Columbus India

    Gas-O-Fast hands digital duties to Columbus India

    MUMBAI: Columbus India, the data-driven digital marketing agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has been appointed as the digital agency for Gas-O-Fast, a product of Mankind Pharma. The account was won following a multi-agency pitch and will be handled out of the agency’s Delhi office.

    As part of the new mandate, the assignment will involve using Columbus India’s expertise in the digital ecosystem for managing digital media, SEO (search engine optimisation), SMO (social media optimisation), website development and maintenance for Gas-O-Fast.

    Gas-O-Fast assistant general manager of marketing Joy Chatterjee says, “It gives us immense pleasure to partner with Columbus India as our digital social agency. This relationship will help Gas-O-Fast reach out to our potential users across the internet, thereby maximising our reach and keeping our focus on the healthy lifestyle of our customers.”

    Columbus India chief business officer Nitin Sabharwal adds, “Getting our first brand from Mankind Pharma is very exciting and we look forward to deploying our complete creative suite of services allowing us to deliver high social engagement for the brand.” 

    Columbus India CEO Anurag Gupta mentions, “It’s a start to our relationship with Mankind Pharma who have placed their faith in us for their brand Gas-O-Fast. We look forward to making this relationship into a multi-brand and multi-services engagement.”

  • DoT gives conditional green signal to the Vodafone Idea merger

    DoT gives conditional green signal to the Vodafone Idea merger

    MUMBAI: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has conditionally approved the merger of Vodafone India with Idea Cellular, the largest M&A deal in the sector, which will displace Bharti Airtel from the top spot after over 15 years. 

    The merger is expected to give a breather to both the debt-ridden firms, from cut-throat competition in the market where margins have hit rock bottom with free voice calls.

    “DoT has cleared the Vodafone-Idea merger today. They will have to meet conditions for final approval,” a source told the Press Trust of India, as per a report. The department has asked Idea Cellular to pay Rs 3926 crore in cash for Vodafone spectrum and furnish a bank guarantee of Rs 3342 crore, the source added.

    DoT’s conditions have been fortified after two rounds of legal opinion. The merger will result in a new entity, Vodafone Idea Ltd, which is expected to be better placed to take on competition from Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel. On their own, Idea and Vodafone have struggled to take on Jio and Airtel, widening their losses and losing revenue and subscriber market share. 

    Together, Vodafone Idea Ltd will have 37.5 per cent revenue market share and 39 per cent customer market share, or about 440 million subscribers, making it a stronger entity.

    The Aditya Birla Group has the right to acquire up to a 9.5 per cent additional stake from Vodafone under an agreed mechanism with a view to equalising the shareholdings over time. Birla is proposed to be the non-executive chairman of the merged entity and Balesh Sharma as the new CEO. Idea’s chief financial officer Akshaya Moondra will head the financial operations of the new entity as its CFO. Ambrish Jain, currently the deputy MD at Idea Cellular, is set to become the new chief operating officer.

    Vodafone will own 45.1 stakes in the combined entity, while Kumar Mangalam Birla-led Aditya Birla Group would have 26 per cent and Idea shareholders 28.9 per cent.

    Vodafone Idea Ltd will be capable of building substantial mobile data capacity, utilising the largest broadband spectrum portfolio with 34 blocks of 3G spectrum and 129 blocks 4G carriers across the country.

    Idea and Vodafone are separately paying rental for 6,300 mobile sites which will be synced for the merged entity in two years.