REVENUE EXPANSION BY RANGE SELLING AND SERVICE DELIVERY W.R.

T VODAFONE SOUTH LIMITED

A Summer Training Project Report Submitted in Partial fulfilment of the Award of Degree of MBA 2011-2013 Submitted By:Rahul Ramchandani MBA 121 B Submitted To:Mrs. Anjali Sharma

BHARATI VIDYAPEETH UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT & RESEARCH, NEW DELHI An ISO 9001:2008 Certified Institute NAAC Accredited Grade A University Ranked in Top 50 B-schools in India by Business India CRISIL Grading MBA Programme A * - National Level, A** - State Level Recipient of B-school leadership award from Star News

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VODAFONE SOUTH LIMITED

This is to certify that Rahul Ramchandani son of Mr. Kanhaiya Lal pursuing MBA from Bharti Vidyapeeth Uviversity Institute of Management & Research, New Delhi has successfully completed Project Report in our organisation on the topic REVENUE EXPANSION BY RANGE SELLING AND SERVICE DELIVERY W.R.T VODAFONE SOUTH LIMITED from 21st May 2012 to 20th July 2012. During his project tenure in the organization, we found him hard working, sincere and diligent person and his behaviour and conduct was good during the project. We wish him all the best for his future endeavours.

Signature

Rajesh Kumar Singh Branch Manager

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Certificate of Originality

This is to certify that project report entitled REVENUE EXPANSION BY RANGE SELLING AND SERVICE DELIVERY W.R.T VODAFONE SOUTH LIMITED Submitted to Bharti Vidyapeeth University, Pune in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the degree of MBA is an original work carriedout by Mr. Rahul Ramchandani. The matter embodied in the project is a genuine work done by Mr. Rahul Ramchandani to the best of my knowledge and belief and ha been submitted neither to this University nor to any other University fro the fulfilment of the requirement of the course of study.

Signature of the Guide Designation

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Certificate

This is to certify that the Project titled REVENUE EXPANSION BY RANGE SELLING AND SERVICE DELIVERY W.R.T VODAFONE SOUTH LIMITED is an academic work done by Rahul Ramchandani submitted in the partial fulfilment of of the requirement for the award of the Degree of MBA from Bharti Vidyapeeth University, Pune. It has been completed under the guidance of Mrs. Anjali Sharma and Mr. Rajesh Kumar Singh. We are thankful to Vodafone South Limited for having allowed our student to undergo project work training. The authenticity of the project work will be examined by the viva examiner which includes data verification , checking duplicity of information etc. and it may be rejected due to non fulfilment of quality standards set by the Institute.

Dr. Nitin Nayak Director

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Acknowledgement

Name and Signature of the student

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Preface

Name and Signature of the student

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INDEX Chapter 1: Introduction Overview of the industry as a whole. Profile of the company o History o Mission o Vision o Objectives o Functions

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INDUSRTY OVERVEIW:1.1) Introduction:

The telecom network in India is the third largest network in the world meeting up with global standards. Presently, the Indian telecom industry is currently slated to an estimated contribution of nearly 1.5% to Indias GDP. The Indian Telecommunications network with 919.17 million connections is the third largest in the world and the largest among the emerging economies of Asia. Today, it is the fastest growing market in the world and represents unique opportunities for U.S. companies in the stagnant global scenario. The total subscriber base, which has grown by 40% in 2005, is expected to reach 1100 million in 20013 with addition of 8.00 million, monthly growth rate of 0.88%. Overall mobile teledensity stands at 76.00% (Urban 162.82%, Rural 38.33%) Urban to rural subscriber ratio is 64.83% to 35.17%. Rural market added 6.21 million mobile subscribers at a monthly growth rate of 1.96% while urban subscriber base increased by 1.79 million, growth of just 0.30%. According to VLR data, India had 683.02 million active mobile subscribers. Hence, actual wireless teledensity in India is 56.47% by March 2012. In March 2012, about 4.76 million subscribers submitted Mobile Number Portability (MNP) requests which is about 0.52% of total mobile subscriber base in India.

The wireless technologies currently in use are Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). There are primarily 9 GSM and 5 CDMA operators providing mobile services in 19 telecom circles and 4 metro cities, covering 2000 towns across the country.

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Evolution of the Industry - Important Milestones: Year 1851 Description First operational land lines were laid by the govt. near Calcutta(seat of British Power) 1881 1883 1923 1932 Telephone Service introduced in India Merger with the postal system Formation of Indian Radio Telegraph Company (IRT) Merger of ETC and IRT into the Indian Radio and Communication Company(IRCC) 1947 Nationalization of all foreign telecommunication companies to form the Posts, Telephone and Telegraph(PTT), a monopoly run by the governments Ministry of Communication 1985 Department of Telecommunications (DOT) established, an exclusive provider of domestic and long-distance service that would be its own regulator (separate from the postal system) 1986 Conversion of DOT into two wholly government-owned companies: the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) for international

telecommunications and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) for service in metropolitan areas. 1997 1999 Telecom Regulatory Authority of India created Cellular Services are launched in India. New National Telecom Policy is adopted. 2000 DoT becomes a corporation, BSNL

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(Source: The Indian Telecom Industry by consulting club, IIM Calcutta) Introduction:"Telecommunications is the backbone of our future economy. International competitiveness increasingly depends on the development of a telecommunications infrastructure that is compatible with international standards" The cellular industry all over the world has been witnessing very high growth rates in subscriber base in recent years. For developing countries in particular, cellular services are becoming a very significant proportion of the overall telecom infrastructure. The mechanics of competition within this market involve complex feedback effects between individual service providers and with their operating environment, and these forces play an important role in governing the growth of this industry. The Indian telecommunications sector has undergone a major process of transformation because of significant Government policy reforms during the recent years. The New Telecom Policy, 1999 focused on creating an ideal environment for investment, establishing communication infrastructure by leveraging on technological development and providing affordable telecom services to all. These objectives of the policies have resulted in rapid growth of subscribers and lower tariffs. We believe that with these major initiatives of the Government, the mobile market in India will have a promising future. In a country like India which is not yet telephone-saturated and the ongoing changes in related areas are resulting in a rapidly changing profile of users, providers and their respective needs, continuous revision of the telecom policy is imperative. Given the emerging new technologies and the integrating economies there must be fairness among competitors. The tele-density in India is about four per hundred people in respect of the fixed telephones and a little less than one in respect of the mobile telephony. The low densities are not because there is no need for a telephone but because of its high cost that many cannot afford that one. The situation here is nothing but holding true of the law of demand. Isnt it?

The cost for the companies can come down if the revenue share imposed on them as a condition of license is abolished or drastically reduced. Today every telephone company is bound to pay a share out of its revenue to the exchequer. These costs are, however,
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not to be scheduled to take a step further in the development of the telecom. In addition when we go through the telephone bill there is a 5 to 8% service charge. This amount also does not go for the telecom development. If these external cost are removed there can be seen a spurt in demand of not less then 40% as expected. While taking the side of suppliers a lot of new companies are coming into the battlefield resulting in reduction of prices and hence a little less burdensome on to the customer. The cost of interconnection with the incumbent is proving to be contributory to the high cost of services provided by the competitors. The delay in the interconnection disregards the quality of service and high cost will detract from affordability. This is an area in which no consumer body can knowledgeably contribute unless it has the assistant of experts or economists who alone can discover all the relevant fact of all the contesting companies. It indicates the pre-eminent domain of TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India). As the driven down of the prices for long distance including international services reduces the amount available for subsidizing the local service, the rental for local services are being increased. Considering that about 90% of the long distance calls are made by less than 20% of customers, 80% of customers are having to pay higher rental this depresses the demand for telephones and affordability. The urban business subscribers will be bearing the bond of the subsidies to be given to the rural private consumers.

1.1

History of Cellular Telephony in India:

The technology that gives a person the power to communicate anytime, anywhere - has spawned an entire industry in mobile telecommunication. Mobile telephones have become an integral part of the growth, success and efficiency of any business / economy. The most prevalent wireless standard in the world today, is GSM. The GSM Association (Global System for Mobile Communications) was instituted in 1987 to promote and expedite the adoption, development and deployment and evolution of the GSM standard for digital wireless communications. The GSM Association was formed as a result of a European Community agreement on the need to adopt common standards suitable for cross border European mobile communications. Starting off primarily as a European standard, the Groupe Speciale Mobile as it was then called, soon came to represent the Global System for Mobile Communications as it achieved
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the status of a world-wide standard. GSM is today, the world's leading digital standard accounting for 68.5% of the global digital wireless market. The Indian Government when considering the introduction of cellular services into the country, made a landmark decision to introduce the GSM standard, leapfrogging obsolescent technologies / standards. Although cellular licenses were made technology neutral in September 1999, all the private operators are presently offering only GSM based mobile services. The new licensees for the 4th cellular licenses that were awarded in July 2001 too, have opted for GSM technology to offer their mobile services. 1.4 The Churn in the Cellular Industry:

As like the other products Cellular industry has not been left untouched from the Churn (switching over). During the survey this fact comes to the fore. According to the cellular operators, there is a normal seven to eight percent churn in the customers, especially in the pre-paid category. Among the post-paid customers, the Churn is much lower about two-three percent. They say that one significant change that has happened in the last few months, more so since lowering of the tariffs, is that the bias in favour of incoming calls as far as call charges are concerned incoming calls has been set free while they are charging reasonably only for the outgoing ones has changed. A tariff re-balancing has definitely taken place. This means that the cellular operators are encouraging their subscribers to not just receive calls, but also make calls increasing the usage of the service. With falling tariffs, cellular operators are convinced that increasing usage is one way to ensure that average revenue per user (ARPU) does not fall very low. The industry figure for ARPU is believed to be about Rs.1,100 while it may vary from operator to operator. The operators are also concentrating on introducing more value added services to the customers. Value-added services have not really taken off. Only the SMS (short messaging service) has really caught on, but operators like Bharti are bringing in services like music messaging and concierge facility for its subscribers.

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Indian Telecom Industry Redefining Business Models

About 875 million subscribers are now part of Indian Telecom story. Estimated Population of India as per Census is at 1.22 billion population surviving on less than 1 Dollar a day from this comes to around 450 billion. If we take into account the poverty statistics from the official data, the 400 million balance population survives on less than $ 1 a day, and probably has other things on their priority list rather than having a cellphone. Or can we say that anyone who can afford it has one???Indian Telecom space, due to its dynamic nature needs to invent newer Business Models to match the pace of Industry and demands of customers. Directly or indirectly its clear focus is on 3 Parameters: 1. Rural Reach for Expansion. 2. Revenue Per Minute concept for Sustenance. 3. Retention of Subscriber base for competition. Let me briefly touch upon current trends through which we can easily visualize existence of 3Rs model focused by operators. According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the number of new subscribers for May 2011 fell to 13.35 million compared to April 2011 which was 15.9

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million. In March 2011, telecom operators added over 20m subscribers. This clearly indicates Saturation in urban subscriber base. Future Growth in subscriber base will definitely boost only incase Rural market is tapped. Increase in Rural penetration will primarily depend upon how government makes a lucrative policy or a law which gives Right to mobile to every citizen. Apart from this, government needs to rejuvenate existing USOF (Universal Service Obligation Fund) to ensure maximum and active participation from private Telecom Service providers. Heat on the Bottomlines is ON for Telecom companies. Bharti Airtel saw net profits 31 percent while Reliance Communications saw a vertical drop of 86 percent. The reasons for the two declines were different: Bharti lost due to the costs of its African acquisition, while Reliance had too much debt on its books. But the underlying story is the same: Indian growth is reaching saturation point, even while the cost of doing business is rising. The 3G (third generation) telecom spectrum auctions has forced most companies to borrow, and this is showing in higher costs. With Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in place its becoming more fierce competition another sign that the market is not big enough for all to gain and prosper. Here a subscriber can take his number and shift to a different operator, this has been a gaining ground for big boys of the industry (Vodafone, Airtel and Idea) compare to the smaller players. The industry is also seeing a major shift away from CDMA (code division multiple access) services to GSM (global system of mobile).The losers are Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices.Market leaders like Bharti Airtel are foraying into new markets like Africa for growing numbers. While players like Uninor and MTS are offering low tariffs to gain numbers, along with concentrating on retaining subscribers and engaging high value customers line other operators. Concept of Revenue Per Minute (RPM) is gaining momentum in industry as Operators now want the subscriber who spends more time on the network using data, roaming or other value
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added services. Big Boys are no longer chasing the subscriber looking for cheap voice call rates. Experts feel that over a period of time voice calls will be free and they will charge subscriber only on Value added Services (VAS). 3G services will drive future of Wireless industry. Hence Operators today want is a subscribers who can give more revenues per minute (RPM) by sticking to their network. By April 2011, India had 9m subscribers to 3G services launched by various operators. E&Y expects this number to reach 142 m by 2015, accounting for 12% of the total subscriber base. Likewise in all other industries In telecom industry too we have two camps. Big Boys (Bharti, Vodafone and Idea), who have large subscriber bases, and the challengers, who are new entrants or looking to break into the top 3 (RCom, Aircel, Uninor). The battle between Big Boys and Challengers continues on various grounds Starting from Termination charges to subscriber acquisition through MNP. As per TRAI estimates MNP has hurt CDMA service providers like Reliance Communications (Rcom), Tata Teleservices & BSNL more than GSM providers. Mobile users have moved to Vodafone, Idea and Bharti from RCom, Tata Teleservices and BSNL. As many as 10 million, or just less than 1% of the total subscribers, have utilized MNP service. Like will every victory has its cost here too the gain from MNP for Big Boys is costly enough. For example, Bharti Airtel reported a decline of 2.4% in revenues per minute (RPM) and 1.6% in the operating profit margin for the quarter to March 2011 compared to the quarter ended December 2011. For Vodafone too, RPM fell 2.6% during the March 2011 quarter. Consolidation in telecom space will reduce competition significantly and will offer a better level playing field to the operators. Still poor M&A rules in this sector stall any potential deal in same circle for operators. Industry still hopes for better and clear rules to be laid down by regulator for consolidation.

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Bharti Airtel leads with 24.3% share as top 5 players owns 82.2% market. Bharti Airtel has maintained its leadership position with 24.3% market share in India Idea has largest proportion of active mobile users at 91.73% Top 5 players in Indian wireless telecom industry accounts for 82.2% market share in terms of active subscriber base Bharti Airtel (31.26%) added highest amount of subscribers in March 2012 followed by Idea (25.15%), Uninor (16.13%), Reliance (13.04%) and Vodafone (12.81%)

U.P. (East) strengthens leadership position with stronger subscriber addition U.P. (East) with 57.14 million active mobile subscribers is leading followed by Maharashtra & Goa with 55.87 million active mobile users U.P. (East) with 1.41 million subscriber addition extends its lead over Maharashtra compared to 0.64 million Andhra Pradesh (51.83 million) is third followed by Tamil Nadu (50.60 million) at fourth. Bihar with 46.28 million active mobile subscribers is the 5th largest market wireless telecom market in India U.P. (East) added highest number of new mobile connections during March 2012 - 1.41 million followed by Bihar (0.91 million) and Rajasthan with 0.88 million

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Salient Features of the New Telecom Policy: Last year, after the court cases on the former telecom minister (A. Raja), the new minister announced intention to announce new telecom policy to bring transparency and policy clarity in the industry. Currently, the new telecom policy is under discussion and is expected to come into force by the end of the year. The key features of the new telecom policy are as follows:

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1. Uniform license fee at 8% vs. currently 8-12% depending on the category of circle 2. M&A rules diluted with cap on mkt share (AGR/Sub) set at 35% (awaiting TRAIs recommendations when merged entity has between 35-60% shr) and total spectrum which can be held has been capped at 25% of the overall assigned 3. Cutting down on the Myriad of Licenses and moving towards a single national license and tariff : One Nation-One License, One Nation-Free Roaming 4. Big focus on Broadband - Broadband on Demand by 2015 with targets set at 175 million broadband connections by 2017 and 600 million by 2020 at a minimum speed of 2 Mbps and on demand upto 100 Mbps The policy is still silent on key issues like spectrum refarming, excess spectrum charges and bringing the tower companies under licensing. However, the industry would be happy with the clarity it is likely to bring.

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About The Company:-

Vodafone India Vodafone India, formerly Vodafone Essar and Hutchison Essar, is the third largest mobile network operator in India after Airtel and Reliance Communications. It is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra and which operates nationally.[1] It has approximately 146.84 million customers as of November 2011. On July 2011, Vodafone Group agreed terms for the buy-out of its partner Essar from its Indian mobile phone business. The UK firm paid $5.46 billion to its Indian counterpart to take Essar out of its 33% stake in the Indian subsidiary. It will leave Vodafone owning 74% of the Indian business, while the other 26% will be owned by Indian investors, in compliance with Indian law.[2] On 11 February, 2007, Vodafone agreed to acquire the controlling interest of 67% held by Li Ka Shing Holdings in Hutch-Essar for US$11.1 billion, pipping Reliance Communications, Hinduja Group, and Essar Group, which is the owner of the remaining 33%. The whole company was valued at USD 18.8 billion.[3] The transaction closed on 8 May, 2007. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout India with good presence in the metros. Vodafone India provides 2.75G services based on 900 MHz and 1800 MHz digital GSM technology. Vodafone India launched 3G services in the country in the January-March quarter of 2011 and plans to spend up to $500 million within two years on its 3G networks.[4] History Hutchison Essar (1992-2007) In 1992, Hutchison Whampoa and its Indian business partner Max Group, established a company that in 1994 was awarded a licence to provide mobile telecommunications services in Bombay (now Mumbai) and launched commercial services as Hutchison Max in November 1995. In Delhi, Uttar Pradesh (East), Rajasthan and Haryana, Essar Group was the major partner. But later Hutch took the majority stake.

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By the time of Hutchison Telecom's Initial Public Offering in 2004, Hutchison Whampoa had acquired interests in six mobile telecommunications operators providing service in 13 of India's 23 licence areas and following the completion of the acquisition of BPL Mobile that number increased to 16. In 2006, it announced the acquisition of a company (Essar Spacetel A subsidiary of Essar Group) that held licence applications for the seven remaining licence areas. Initially, the company grew its business in the largest wireless markets in India in cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. In these densely populated urban areas it was able to establish a robust network, well-known brand and large distribution network all vital to long-term success in India. Then it also targeted business users and high-end post-paid customers which helped Hutchison Essar to consistently generate a higher Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) than its competitors. By adopting this focused growth plan, it was able to establish leading positions in India's largest markets providing the resources to expand its footprint nationwide. In February 2007, Hutchison Telecom announced that it had entered into a binding agreement with a subsidiary of Vodafone Group Plc to sell its 67% direct and indirect equity and loan interests in Hutchison Essar Limited for a total cash consideration (before costs, expenses and interests) of approximately $11.1 billion. Hutch was often praised for its award winning advertisements which all follow a clean, minimalist look. A recurrent theme is that its message "Hi" stands out visibly though it uses only white letters on red background. Another successful ad campaign in 2003 featured a pug named Cheeka following a boy around in unlikely places, with the tagline, "Wherever you go, our network follows." The simple yet powerful advertisement campaigns won it many admirers. Ads featuring the pug were continued by Vodafone even after rebranding. The brand subsequently introduced ZooZoos which gained even higher popularity than was created by the Pug. Vodafone's creative agency is O&M while Harit Nagpal was the Marketing Director during the various phases of its brand evolution. Timeline 1992: Hutchison Whampoa and MAX group establish Hutchison Max

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2000: Acquisition of Delhi operations and entry into Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Gujarat markets through Essar acquisition 2001: Won auction for licences to operate GSM services in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Chennai

A 'You and I' print advertisement of Hutch featuring Cheeka (dog) 2003: Acquired AirCel Digilink (ADIL ESSAR Subsidiary) which operated in Rajastan, Uttar Pradesh East and Haryana telecom circles and rebranded it 'Hutch'. 2004: Launched in three additional telecom circles of India namely Punjab, Uttar Pradesh (West) and West Bengal. 2005: Acquired BPL Mobile operations in 3 circles. This left BPL with operations only in Mumbai, where it still operates under the brand 'Loop Mobile'. 2007: Vodafone acquires a 67% stake in Hutchison Essar for $10.7 billion. The company is renamed Vodafone Essar. 'Hutch' is rebranded to 'Vodafone'. 2008: Vodafone acquires the licences in remaining 7 circles and has starts its pending operations in Madhya Pradesh circle, as well as in Orissa, Assam, North East and Bihar. 2011: Vodafone Group buys out its partner Essar from its Indian mobile phone business. It paid $5.46 billion to take Essar out of its 33% stake in the Indian subsidiary. It left Vodafone owning 74% of the Indian business.

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Vodafone acquires Essar's Stake On March 31, 2011, Vodafone Group Plc announced that it would buy an additional 33% stake in its Indian joint venture for $5 billion after partner Essar Group exercised an option to sell the holding in the mobile-phone operator. The deal will raise Vodafones stake to 75%. Essar will exit the company after it implemented a put option over 22% of the venture. Vodafone exercised its call option to buy an 11% stake.[5] In 2007, Vodafone granted options to Essar that would enable the conglomerate to sell its entire stake for $5bn, or to dispose of part of the 33 per cent shareholding at an independently appraised fair market value. In January 2011, Vodafone objected to Essars plans to place part of its 33% stake in India Securities, a small public company. Vodafone feared the move would give an inflated market value to Vodafone Essar.[6] It had approached the market regulator SEBI and also filed a petition in the Madras High Court. The final shareholding pattern post this deal was not provided by the company as it was not clear whether Vodafone's stake would exceed the 74 per cent FDI limit. Indian laws don't allow foreign companies to own more than 74% in a local mobile-phone operator. Vodafone has assured it will comply with local rules. Vodafone will have to sell that 1% to some Indian entity, or theyll have to consider an initial public offering. Vodafone also said that final settlement is anticipated to be completed by November 2011. The completion of the deal would be subject to meeting certain conditions which include Reserve Bank of India's permission as well as valuation of the deal.[7] Vodafone-Hutchison Tax Case

A billboard of Vodafone showing collaboration with Shaadi.com

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Vodafone was embroiled in a $2.5 billion tax dispute with the Indian Income Tax Department over its purchase of Hutshison Essar Telecom services in April 2007. It was being alleged by the Indian Tax authorities that the transaction involved purchase of assets of an Indian Company, and therefore the transaction, or part thereof was liable to be taxed in India.[8] Vodafone Group Plc. entered India in 2007 through a subsidiary based in the Netherlands, which acquired Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltds (HTIL) Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited stake in Hutchison Essar Ltd (HEL)the joint venture that held and operated telecom licences in India. This Cayman Islands transaction, along with several related agreements, gave Vodafone control over 67% of HEL and extinguished Hong Kong-based Hutchisons rights of control in India, a deal that cost the worlds largest telco $11.2 billion at the time.[9] The crux of the dispute had been whether or not the Indian Income Tax Department has jurisdiction over the transaction. Vodafone had maintained from the outset that it is not liable to pay tax in India, and even if tax were somehow payable, then it should be Hutchison to bear the tax liability. In January 2012, the Indian Supreme Court passed the judgement in favor of Vodafone, saying that the Indian Income tax department had "no jurisdiction" to levy tax on overseas transaction between companies incorporated outside India.However, Indian government thinks otherwise. It believes that if an Indian company, Hutchison India Ltd., conducts a financial transaction, government should get its tax out of it. Therefore, in 2012, India changed its Income Tax Act retrospectively and made sure that any company, in similar circumstances, is not able to avoid tax by operating out of tax-havens like Cayman Islands or Lichtenstein. In may 2012, Indian authorities confirmed that they were going to charge Vodafone about Rs. 20000 crore (US $4.5 billion)in tax and fines. The second phase of the dispute is about to start. [10]

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3G On 19 May 2010, the 3G spectrum auction in India ended. Vodafone paid 11617.86 million (the second highest amount in the auctions) for spectrum in 10 circles. The circles it will provide 3G in are Delhi, Kanpur, Gujarat, Haryana, Kolkata, Maharashtra & Goa, Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (East) and West Bengal.[11] Vodafone also operates 3G services in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh (West) through an agreement with Idea and in Karnataka through an agreement with Airtel.. This gives Vodafone a 3G presence in 13 out of 22 circles in India. On 16 March, 2011, Vodafone launched 3G services in Uttar Pradesh (East) in the city of Lucknow.[12] Vodafone had already launched limited 3G services in Chennai and Delhi earlier, but the Uttar Pradesh (East) launch counts as its first fully commercial launch. This makes Vodafone the fifth private operator (seventh overall) to launch its 3G services in the country following Tata Docomo, Reliance Communications, Airtel and Aircel. On 23rd June, 2011 Vodafone launched 3G service in Kerala by joining with Idea in an Intra Circle Roaming agreement. Initially Vodafone 3G services will be available in the following cities in Kerala Ernakulam, Aluva, Calicut, Koyilandy, Alappuzha, Cherthala, Malappuram and Manjeri. On 28 June 2012, Vodafone launched a new international roaming package under which the users shall have not to pay multiple rentals in the countries they are visiting.[13] Subscriber Base Following is the Vodafone India subscriber base statistics as on June 2011.[14] Subscriber Base Statistics as on January, 2011 Telecom Cicle Gujarat No. of Subscribers 14,910,573

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Subscriber Base Statistics as on January, 2011 Telecom Cicle Uttar Pradesh(East) Maharashtra West Bengal Tamil Nadu Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh(West) Andhra Pradesh Delhi Goa Karnataka Kerala Bihar Kolkata Punjab Haryana Madhya Pradesh Chennai No. of Subscribers 14,237,217 11,962,824 11,040,815 9,330,557 8,711,277 9,234,369 7,347,024 7,788,376 7,134,576 6,591,039 5,535,177 5,244,148 4,373,647 4,132,392 4,170,943 3,135,580 2,113,992

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Subscriber Base Statistics as on January, 2011 Telecom Cicle Odisha Assam North East Jammu & Kashmir Himachal Pradesh Mumbai No. of Subscribers 2,338,159 1,650,109 861,826 565,253 357,430 5,887,113

Total number of Vodafone India Subscribers : 141,519,840, i.e. 23.63% of the total 598,779,674 Indian mobile phone subscribers. Source : http://coai.in/statistics.php Competitors Vodafone competes with 14 other mobile operators throughout India. They are Aircel, Airtel, BSNL, Idea, Loop Mobile, MTNL, MTS, Reliance Communications, S Tel, Tata DoCoMo, Tata Indicom, Uninor, Videocon and Virgin Mobile. Awards and recognition The Brand Trust Report,[15] 2011 published by Trust Research Advisory has ranked Vodafone[16] as the 16th most trusted brand in India.

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Type Private Industry Telecommunications Predecessor(s) Hutchison Essar Founded 1994 Headquarters Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Products Mobile telephony Wireless broadband services Owner(s) Vodafone Group Parent Vodafone International Holdings www.vodafone.com BV (VIH) Website www.vodafone.in

Vodafone Group:-

Vodafone From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Vodafone Group Plc

Type Traded as

Public limited company LSE: VOD NASDAQ: VOD

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Industry

Telecommunications

Predecessor(s) Racal Telecom (1983 to 1991) Founded Headquarters Area served 1991 London, United Kingdom Worldwide Gerard Kleisterlee (Chairman) Vittorio Colao (CEO) Fixed line and mobile telephony, Internet services, digital television 45.884 billion (2011)[1]

Key people

Products

Revenue Operating income Profit Total assets Total equity Employees Divisions Subsidiaries Website

5.596 billion (2011)[1]

7.870 billion (2011)[1] 151.22 billion (2011)[1] 87.55 billion (2011)[1] 83,862 (2011)[1] Vodafone Global Enterprise List[show] www.vodafone.com

Vodafone Group Plc (LSE: VOD, NASDAQ: VOD) is a British multinational telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom.[2] It is the world's
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second-largest mobile telecommunications company measured by both subscribers and 2011 revenues (in each case behind China Mobile), and had 439 million subscribers as of December 2011.[3][4][5] Vodafone owns and operates networks in over 30 countries and has partner networks in over 40 additional countries.[6] Its Vodafone Global Enterprise division provides telecommunications and IT services to corporate clients in over 65 countries. Vodafone also owns 45% of Verizon Wireless, the largest mobile telecommunications company in the United States measured by subscribers.[7][8] Vodafone has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It had a market capitalisation of approximately 88.1 billion (US$136.2 billion) as of 1 June 2012, the fourth-largest of any company listed on the London Stock Exchange.[9] It has a secondary listing on NASDAQ.

Name The name Vodafone comes from voice data fone, chosen by the company to "reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones".[10] History 1980 to 2000

Vodafone's original logo, used until the introduction of the speechmark logo in 1997

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Part of the Vodafone campus in Newbury, Berkshire. In 1980, Sir Ernest Harrison OBE, chairman of Racal Electronics plc's, the UK's largest maker of military radio technology, agreed a deal with Lord Weinstock of General Electric Company plc to allow Racal to access some of GEC's tactical battlefield radio technology. Briefing the head of Racal's military radio division Gerry Whent to drive the company into commercial mobile radio, Whent visited GE's factory in Virginia, USA in 1980.[11] In 1982, Racal's newly formed Racal Strategic Radio Ltd subsidiary won one of two UK cellular telephone network licences, with the other going to British Telecom[12][13] The network, known as Racal Vodafone, was 80% owned by Racal, with Millicom holding 15% and Hambros Technology Trust 5%. Vodafone was launched on 1 January 1985.[14] Racal Strategic Radio was renamed Racal Telecommunications Group Limited in 1985.[13] On 29 December 1986, Racal Electronics bought out the minority shareholders of Vodafone for GB110 million.[15] Under stock market pressure to realise full value for shareholders (the mobile unit was being valued at the same amount as the whole Racal group), in September 1988, the company was again renamed Racal Telecom, and on 26 October 1988, Racal Electronics floated 20% of the company. The flotation valued Racal Telecom at 1.7 billion.[16] On 16 September 1991, Racal Telecom was demerged from Racal Electronics as Vodafone Group.[17] In July 1996, Vodafone acquired the two thirds of Talkland it did not already own for 30.6 million.[18] On 19 November 1996, in a defensive move, Vodafone purchased Peoples Phone for 77 million, a 181 store chain whose customers were overwhelmingly using Vodafone's network.[19] In a similar move the company acquired the 80% of Astec Communications that it did not own, a service provider with 21 stores.[20] In 1997, Vodafone introduced its Speechmark logo, composed of a quotation mark in a circle, with the O's in the Vodafone logotype representing opening and closing quotation marks and suggesting conversation. On 29 June 1999, Vodafone completed its purchase of AirTouch Communications, Inc. and changed its name to Vodafone Airtouch plc. The merged company commenced trading on
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30 June 1999.[21] In order to gain anti-trust approval for the merger, Vodafone sold its 17.2% stake in E-Plus Mobilfunk.[22] The acquisition gave Vodafone a 35% share of Mannesmann, owner of the largest German mobile network. On 21 September 1999, Vodafone agreed to merge its U.S. wireless assets with those of Bell Atlantic Corp to form Verizon Wireless.[23] The merger was completed on 4 April 2000, just a few months prior to Bell Atlantic's merger with GTE to form Verizon Communications, Inc. In November 1999, Vodafone made an unsolicited bid for Mannesmann, which was rejected. Vodafone's interest in Mannesmann had been increased by the latter purchase of Orange, the UK mobile operator.[24] Chris Gent would later say Mannesmann's move into the UK broke a "gentleman's agreement" not to compete in each other's home territory.[25] The hostile takeover provoked strong protest in Germany, and a "titanic struggle" which saw Mannesmann resist Vodafone's efforts. However, on 3 February 2000, the Mannesmann board agreed to an increased offer of 112 billion, then the largest corporate merger ever.[25] The EU approved the merger in April 2000. The conglomerate was subsequently broken up and all manufacturing related operations sold off. 2000 to present

The headquarters of Vodafone Romania in Bucharest.

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On 28 July 2000, the Company reverted to its former name, Vodafone Group plc. In April 2001, the first 3G voice call was made on Vodafone United Kingdom's 3G network. In 2001, the Company acquired Eircell, the largest wireless communications company in the Republic of Ireland, from eircom.[26] Eircell was subsequently rebranded as Vodafone Ireland. Vodafone then went on to acquire Japan's third-largest mobile operator J-Phone, which had introduced camera phones first in Japan.[27] On 17 December 2001, Vodafone introduced the concept of "Partner Networks", by signing TDC Mobil of Denmark. The new concept involved the introduction of Vodafone international services to the local market, without the need of investment by Vodafone. The concept would be used to extend the Vodafone brand and services into markets where it does not have stakes in local operators. Vodafone services would be marketed under the dualbrand scheme, where the Vodafone brand is added at the end of the local brand. (i.e., TDC Mobil-Vodafone etc.)[28] In 2005, Vodafone entered into a title sponsorship deal with the McLaren Formula One team, which has since traded as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.[29] In May 2011, Vodafone Group Plc bought the rest of the shares of Vodafone Essar from Essar Group Ltd with value of $5 billion and became a solely owned of Vodafone Essar.[30] On 1 December 2011, it acquired the Reading based Bluefish Communications Ltd - a ICT consultancy company.[31] The acquired operations formed the nucleus of a new Unified Communications and Collaboration practice within its subsidiary - Vodafone Global Enterprise[31], which will focus on implementing strategies and solutions in cloud computing, and strengthen its professional services offering. On 23 April 2012, Vodafone announced an agreement to acquire Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW) for 1.04 billion.[32] Vodafone was advised by UBS AG, while Barclays and Rothschild advised Cable & Wireless[32]. The acquisition, if it is approved by CWW's shareholders, will give Vodafone access to CWW's fibre network for businesses, enabling it to take unified communications solutions to large enterprises in UK and globally; and expand its enterprise service offerings in emerging markets. On 18 June 2012, Cable & Wireless

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shareholders voted in favour of the Vodafone offer, exceeding the 75% of shares necessary for the deal to go ahead.[33][34] Corporate affairs Senior management In a period just short of twenty years from its initial public offering, the Company had had just three Chief Executives. The fourth CEO, Vittorio Colao, stepped up from Deputy Chief Executive in July 2008. Each of his predecessors made a personal contribution to the development of the Company. Sir Gerald Whent, at that time an Executive with Racal Electronics plc, was responsible for the bid for a UK Cellular Network licence. The Mobile Telecoms division was de-merged, and was floated on the London Stock Exchange in October 1988 and Sir Gerald became Chief Executive of Racal Telecom plc. Over the next few years the company grew to become the UK's Market Leader, changing its name to Vodafone Group plc in the process. Sir Christopher Gent took over as Chief Executive in January 1997, after Sir Gerald's retirement. Sir Christopher was responsible for transforming Vodafone from a small UK operator into the global behemoth that it is today, through the merger with the American AirTouch and the takeover of Germany's Mannesmann, the Goldman Sachs chief advisor on the deal was Scott Mead. Arun Sarin was the driving force behind the Company's move into emerging markets such as Asia and Africa, through the purchases such as that of Turkish operator Telsim, and a majority stake in Hutchison Essar in India. Faced with increased competition, and penetration rates above 100% in the more mature European markets, he saw it necessary to diversify from being a mobile-only business into a company which provided all telecommunications services. This has seen Vodafone launch DSL and other fixed-line services in markets such as Germany and the UK. Chief Executive Sir Gerald Whent Tenure October 1988 December 1996

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Sir Christopher Gent January 1997 July 2003 Arun Sarin Vittorio Colao July 2003 July 2008 July 2008 present

Financial results Vodafone reports its results in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Vodafone has some large minority stakes, which are not included in its consolidated turnover. In order to provide additional information on the overall scale and growth trends of its business, it publishes "proportionate turnover" figures, and these are included in the tables below. For example, if a business in which it owns a 45% stake has turnover of 10 billion, that equals 4.5 billion of proportionate turnover for Vodafone. Proportionate turnover is not an official accounting measure, and Vodafone's proportionate turnover should be compared with other companies' statutory turnover. Vodafone also produces proportionate customer number figures on a similar basis, e.g. if an operator in which it has a 30% stake has 10 million customers that equals 3 million proportionate Vodafone customers. Year ended 31 March 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 Turnover Profit before Profit for the m 45,884 44,472 41,017 35,478 31,104 tax m 9,498 8,674 4,189 9,001 (2,383) year m 7,870 8,618 3,080 6,756 (5,297) Basic eps (pence) 15.20 16.44 5.81 12.56 (8.94) Proportionate customers (m) 347.7 341.1 302.6 260 206.4

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2006* 2005 2004

29,350 34,073 36,492

(14,835) 7,951 9,013

(21,821) 6,518 6,112

(35.01) 9.68 8.70

170.6 154.8 133.4

*Losses for year to 31 March 2006 reflect write downs of assets, principally in relation to the Mannesmann acquisition. Proportionate turnover includes 7,100 million from discontinued operations.

SWOT ANALYSIS VODAFONE INDIA:-

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Services: Staying connected becomes a lot easier with Vodafone. We have a wide range of services you can access right from your Vodafone phone. From cell banking to flight updates to call management services, get all that you want, instantly.

Prepaid services(latest): Vodafone Essar, one of Indias leading cellular service providers announced a new Bonus Card 25 for its prepaid customers in Punjab. With this new bonus card, Vodafone customers can enjoy the benefit of unlimited national SMS at just 20paisa/SMS. The new bonus card comes with 30 days validity. Rajiv Kohli, Chief Executive Officer, Vodafone Essar - Punjab said, We have always aimed to provide value offering to our customers. The new Bonus Card 25 facilitates

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Vodafone customers to stay connected with their loved ones across India at an economical rate. Has introduced two new Bonus Cards. Bonus Card 17 and Bonus Card 27 come with one month validity and are priced at Rs 17 and Rs 27 respectively. All Vodafone prepaid customers including the lifelong customers in Kolkata and rest of Bengal can enjoy the new Bonus Cards offer available across Stores and Ministores.

Lifelong Prepaid @Rs.46 plan for its prepaid customers in Kerala. This new prepaid offer comes with lifetime validity and a talk time of Rs.5. Vodafone customers can make local calls to all Vodafone numbers, other mobiles and landlines at Re 1 per minute and all STD calls are at Rs1.50 per minute. Customers need to recharge with Rs 200 cumulative in 180 days to stay connected.

Postpaid services(latest):

- Vodafone Essar, one of Indias leading cellular services providers has launched three
new monthly rental plans - Budget 500, Budget 750 and Budget 1000 - for its postpaid customers in Kolkata and West Bengal. These Budget plans offer combinations of free minutes over local and STD calls along with free local SMS. This offer is valid for new and existing customers. Sridhar Rao, Chief Executive Officer, Vodafone Essar East Limited, said These budget plans will specially appeal to customers with high usage who can now manage their mobile bills without compromising on talktime or SMS volume.

- Announced a special offer for its customers in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Customers can now avail free VIP numbers with every new post paid connection. The VIP numbers provide customers an option to choose a number of their preference from a range of special Golden numbers that usually comes with a huge price tag.

Value added services:

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Vodafone Essar, one of Indias leading cellular services providers, has announced a special offer for Zoozoo fans across India. Vodafone customers can now get special Zoozoo DVDs from a Vodafone Store and watch these adorable characters from Vodafone Essars recent television commercials as they live lifes little moments in their inimitable style. Vodafone Prepaid customers can get the DVD through a recharge of above Rs 300 at the Vodafone Store. Vodafone Postpaid customers can enroll for Direct Debit or activate Callertune or Vodafone Alerts at the Vodafone store to get the Zoozoo DVD.

Dial 600 to activate: To activate these values added services on your Vodafone phone simply dial 600 and access our Interactive Voice Response system.

SMS: Message your family and friends through Vodafone SMS Services. It's convenient and affordable. Communicate with cell phone users in over 100 countries and anywhere in India by sending and receiving text msg. Pay just Rs. 1.50 per message for sending SMS anywhere across the country.

SMS Chat:

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Now, you can chat on your Vodafone phone with as many people as you want. Its fun and as simple as sending an SMS. Your identity will remain anonymous as your phone number is never displayed during the chat. You can have your own profile and chat name. You can also create your own chat rooms or chat in the different rooms that already exist including: Teens, 20s, 30s, Office, Bollywood, Delhi. All you have to do is type in your messages and send them to 2428. You will be charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.

Vodafone Online: Get all the useful information you need directly on your Vodafone phone - with Vodafone Online. Including cricket, finance, entertainment, weather, astrology and more. If you do not see the Vodafone Online menu on your phone, send HELP to 123. We will send you the list of keywords.

You will be charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.

MTNL Directory:

With this facility you can get to know the address and telephone no. of MTNL users.you will be charged Rs.2 per outgoing message.

STD / ISD Codes:

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You don't need to look up your diary or a phone directory to find out STD and ISD codes. You can find it directly through your Vodafone phone.

Ringtones & Logos:

Now you can change the ringtone on your Vodafone phone according to your moods. You can download logos as well. With the Vodafone and Yahoo! tieup you have hundreds of tunes and logos to choose from. For every ringtone downloaded, you will charged Rs. 7.00 (including the cost of SMS sent). For every logo/picture message downloaded, you will charged Rs. 3.00 (including the cost of SMS sent).

Flash & Blink

Vodafone now offers you two exciting ways to send messages. You can make your message flash directly on your recipients screen instead of the inbox. You can also highlight the important parts of your message through blinks. So your text messages become not only more visible, but more effective too. You will be charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.

Dial-in Services Vodafone brings you more conveniences at your fingertips. Use our Dial-in-Services to check cricket scores, horoscope, up-to-the minute news and other relevant information on services that touch your everyday life.

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All Dial-in-Services carry a flat charge of Rs 6 per minute (1 min pulse). Here's a shortlist of services you can access

Service

Number

NDTV Online Info Line Dial-n-Deliver Cricket Online Tarot Line Cell Rashi Dial-a-Pizza Dial-a-Cab Voice Response Service

123 301 306 123 314 315 303 335 123

There are occasions when you may not want to take a call, or your Vodafone phone maybe busy or simply unreachable. By paying a nominal monthly access fee, you can now retrieve your messages at your convenience. Even if you are roaming, you can retrieve your messages from your voice mailbox through a fixed line, anywhere on earth.

Your Vodafone voicemail can

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Calling Line Identification You can check your caller's telephone name and number on your phone screen whenever you receive a call. This gives you the flexibility to either accept or reject an incoming call. This service is also helpful in identifying your missed calls You can access this service by just paying Rs. 49 per month, if you are a postpaid customer. This service is absolutely free if you are a Vodafone Prepaid customer.

Itemized Billing As a Vodafone Postpaid customer, you can choose to receive an itemized bill at the end of each month. This is a detailed billing statement which helps you keep track of all your calls. Your itemized bill includes:

l charge

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Get your itemized bill.

-mail: Pay just Rs. 19 per itemized bill.

Fax & Data Services This service enables you to constantly keep in touch with your office, colleagues and information sources. You can send or receive faxes and transmit data using your Vodafone phone anytime, anywhere. Whether you are operating from home, Hotels and airport lobbies. At speeds of up to 9600 bps within the network or while roaming. You can even access the Internet. All you need is a handset compatible data card (PC Card) or a GSM Software, and a data chord cable with a PC to set up a mobile office.

You can also opt for either Vodafone Fax or Vodafone Data services independently. Your Vodafone fax number can help you differentiate between incoming voice calls and fax transmissions. You can also send and receive faxes anywhere on earth with your Vodafone phone By opting for the Vodafone Data Services you can access e-mail, databases and the Internet. All on your single incoming data number. Charges to activate the Vodafone Fax and Data service, you just need to pay a one-time activation fee of Rs 500. To access the Fax service, the fee is Rs. 250. The usage charges are nominal at Re 1 per minute.

Call Management Services There may be occasions when you need to conference with up to six people at a time or talk to just two. Or you are speaking to someone and want to forward an incoming call to another phone. With your Vodafone phone, you can do this and more. Vodafonehelps you manage your calls effortlessly so that you stay in control of your conversations, always.
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Voice Response Get your Vodafone phone to respond directly to your commands. Custom designed to recognize Indian voices and accents, the Voice Response service makes your life more convenient. You can get the latest updates on news, stocks, cricket and your horoscope. Airtime charges will be Rs.6 per minute (1 minute pulse).

Voice Messaging Voice Messaging has become even more affordable. You can now send voice messages to cellular phones as well as fixed telephone lines in USA or Canada for just Rs.3.95 per min* (as against Rs.4.95 per min earlier). Voice messages within India across select networks will cost you Rs. .95 per min only. Also, recipients of the cellular Voice Messaging service have the option of replying back to the messages, which get returned back as return Voice Mail messages, facilitating two-way (though not simultaneous) voice communication.

Yahoo! Messenger For SMS You do not have to wait to get a PC to use the Yahoo! Messenger. With the exclusive Vodafone-Yahoo! tie-up, you can easily get connected through your Vodafone phone.This unique messenger comes with a lot of exciting features. You can connect with all Yahoo! Messenger users, send, receive and reply to instant messages, view and manage your friend list and also manage authorization requests. All this and more just by using SMS. You will be charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.

Cell Banking Vodafone now puts the bank in your pocket with Cell Banking. Access your bank account and transact directly on your Vodafone phone by sending text messages.

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The first of its kind in India, this service enables you to conduct your banking without having to You visit can do the Cell bank Banking from or over making 90 countries a call. worldwide.

You will be charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free. Roaming Now you can always stay connected, no matter where you are. With the Vodafone Roaming facility, you can use your Vodafone phone in over 100 countries worldwide and over 1000 cities, towns and highways across India. Vodafone Roaming makes life easy and convenient for you.

- Vodafone Essar, one of Indias leading cellular services providers, today announced
significant reduction in international roaming rates for its Postpaid customers traveling to South Africa during the upcoming DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament. Vodafone Essar is the official partner to DLF IPL 2009 One number across the globe Your Vodafone phone number and PIN number remains the same whether you are in Delhi, Chandigarh, London, Paris or anywhere else in the world.

National and International Roaming on Vodafone Prepaid Roaming on Vodafone Prepaid gives you the most extensive coverage in over 1000 cities, towns and highways across India, and in over 100 countries around the world. Enjoy Roaming on your Vodafone Prepaid card and stay in touch wherever you go. Yahoo! Mail For SMS

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You can now directly access your email account on Yahoo! Mail on your Vodafone phone. Whats more, you do not need a WAP enabled handset for this service as it is based on SMS. So gain freedom from your PC and access your Yahoo! mails anytime, anywhere on your Vodafone phone. You will be charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free. WAP With WAP, you can have the Internet directly in your pocket. So if you are looking for quick and easy delivery of information and services, your Vodafone phone can show it all. Use it to check out news, finance, shopping, entertainment, travel, entertainment and city service information etc. To access this service all you need is a WAP enabled handset and WAP services activated on your Vodafone phone. This service comes to you at a nominal charge of Re. 1 per minute (1 min pulse). Group Messaging Party invitations, movie outings, festive greetings... whatever be the occasion, you can send your message to all your friends at one go! With Group Messaging from Vodafone, you can thus save yourself the bother of painstakingly sending your message to one person at a time whether you are on Vodafone Prepaid or Postpaid.

Vodafone4help Vodafone4help now lets you take advantage of a lot more services than before. You can connect to the nearest fire brigade or mechanic or florist or even order a pizza. If you are stranded in the middle of the road, or if you you need immediate medical attention or if you are looking for a police station close by, Vodafone4help gives you instant access to your nearest source of help, anywhere in Delhi or the NCR. All the help services are charged@Rs.6/min. while for police and fire help only local airtime charge is applicable.

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Vodafone Revenue:-

India's second largest mobile operator Vodafone today reported a 26.3 per cent rise in pretax profit at Rs 8,549 crore on the back of an improvement in average revenue per user and massive increase in revenue from data services. "We are happy to announce an overall healthy growth in our business, which makes India operations the sixth largest in terms of revenue for the Vodafone Group," Vodafone India Managing Director and Chief Executive Marten Pieters told reporters here. The total revenue of the operator, which is in the midst of a controversy over tax on its acquisition of Hutchison's stake in Hutchison-Essar for USD 11.2 billion in 2007, rose by 19.3 per cent to Rs 32,564 crore in 2011-12 fiscal. Announcing Vodafone's first-ever earnings since it entered the country in 2007, Pieters said, "We have had a really good year with very strong operational performance, continued revenue market share (RMS) growth and an improvement in margins. "Our new circles have performed very well and we now have over 10 per cent RMS in four of the seven circles. We crossed the milestone of 150 million customers." After a long gap, the industry saw the key profitability parameter average revenue per user (ARPU) rising, Pieters said, adding Vodafone's ARPU rose a tad over 5 per cent during the year from Rs 170 in Q1 to Rs 180 in Q4. He also said the numbers include revenue from Indus Towers in which Vodafone has 42 per cent interest. The impressive show was helped by Rs 2,647 crore revenue from data services in FY2012, up 50.8 per cent from Rs 1,756 crore in FY11, chief financial officer Colman Deegan said. Deegan further said, the company, whose subscriber base crossed 15.5 million in the year, had a net debt at Rs 30,000 crore. It plans to spend Rs 6,216 on capex this financial year.

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When asked about debt reduction plan, Deegan said, there is no such plan as of now. Operational performance improved further with customer base crossing the 150 million mark, taking its revenue market share (RMS) to 20.6 per cent. "Pricing showed clear signs of stabilisation after a prolonged price war," Pieters said. The company also said data users soared 81.5 per cent to 35.4 million, while the company could attract 1.7 million customers from other operators through the mobile number portability. This makes Vodafone the second best net gainer of the MNP platform, Pieters said. The company attributed the robust earnings to service revenue as well as higher customer base. The growth also came from mobile operators starting to charge for SMS termination during the second quarter of the 2012 financial year. During reporting period, the company entered the Orissa, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, North East, Jammu &Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh circles.

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