Vodafone Idea


Vodafone Idea Limited is an Indian telecom operator with its headquarters based in Mumbai, Maharashtra and Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Vodafone Idea is a pan-India integrated GSM operator offering 2G, 3G and 4G, 4G+ and VoLTE.Vodafone Idea various service brands are:
On 31 August 2018, Vodafone India merged with Idea Cellular, and was renamed as Vodafone Idea Limited. However, the merged entity continues using both the Idea and Vodafone brand. Currently, the Vodafone Group holds a 45.1% stake in the combined entity, the Aditya Birla Group holds 26% and the remaining shares will be held by the public. Kumar Mangalam Birla heads the merged company as the Chairman and Balesh Sharma used to be the CEO. After a plunge in share price of Vodafone Idea by 80% on NSE, Balesh Sharma resigned citing personal reasons. Ravinder Takkar, Ex-CEO of Vodafone Romania and the key deal negotiator from Vodafone has taken over the reigns as CEO.

History

The entry of Jio in 2016 had led to various mergers and consolidations in the Indian telecom sector. It was announced in March 2017 that even Idea Cellular and Vodafone India would be merged. The merger got approval from Department Of Telecommunications in July 2018. On August 30, 2018, National Company Law Tribunal gave the final nod to the Vodafone-Idea merger The merger was completed on 31 August 2018, and the newly merged entity was named Vodafone Idea Limited. The merger created the largest telecom company in India by subscribers and by revenue. Under the terms of the deal, the Vodafone Group holds a 45.2% stake in the combined entity, the Aditya Birla Group holds 26% and the remaining shares will be held by the public.

Network

Radio frequency summary

Vodafone Idea Limited owns spectrum in 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz bands across the country.
Telecom circle coverageE-GSM/ FD-LTE
900MHz
Band 8		GSM / FD-LTE
1800MHz
Band 3		UMTS / FD-LTE
2100MHz
Band 1		TD-LTE
2300MHz
Band 40		TD-LTE
2500MHz
Band 41
Delhi
Mumbai
Kolkata
Chennai
Andhra Pradesh & Telangana
Gujarat
Karnataka
Maharashtra & Goa
Tamil Nadu
Haryana
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Punjab
Rajasthan
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
West Bengal
Assam
Bihar & Jharkhand
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu and Kashmir
North East
Odisha

This table contains Vodafone Idea radio frequency details because they had integrated their networks with each other and using one anchor network for both brands in all respective telecom circles. For example, Idea has started 4G services in Delhi and Kolkata telecom circle from May 2018 where the Vodafone is anchor network vice versa Vodafone has Started 4G services in Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, Bihar & Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh & Telangana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir telecom Circle's where Idea is Anchor network..

Network consolidation

By March 2019, Vodafone Idea Limited announced its network consolidation across major circles, easing network issues faced by consumers and also enhancing its 4G coverage. Announcements of Network Consolidation were made as below


StateNo of Towns CoveredNo of Villages CoveredCoverage area %/kms
Haryana145652099.5%
ROWB8783758597%
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh6645313060%
Jammu and Kashmir1103301
AP & Telangana3911970092.5%
Bihar & Jharkhand4314350379%
HP5911929

Enhanced 4G coverage details
StateNo of Towns CoveredNo of districts CoveredPopulation %
Haryana2276.08%
ROWB8382778%
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh6337752%
Jammu and Kashmir48923.6%
AP & Telangana3812367%
Bihar & Jharkhand3435645.3%
HP45843%

Punjab network consolidation
Vodafone Idea Ltd., India’s leading telecom service provider announced the successful consolidation of its radio network integration in Punjab service area. With this, Punjab is amongst the first ten circles to complete integration in the world’s largest network integration exercise which is currently underway in India.
Rajasthan network consolidation
Vodafone Idea Ltd., India’s leading telecom service provider announced the successful consolidation of its radio network integration in Rajasthan service area. With this, Rajasthan is amongst the first eleven circles to complete integration in the world’s largest network integration exercise which is currently underway in India.
According to the telecom regulator's data, the pan India wireless subscriber base of Vodafone Idea at the end of March 2019 stood at 394.8 million. The statement on network consolidation in Punjab, said 4G services have been enhanced for both Vodafone and Idea customers in cities including Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Bathinda, Moga, and Hoshiarpur. And in Rajasthan Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Kota, Ajmer, Udaipur among others.

Massive MIMO

Vodafone Idea deployed technologies such as massive MIMO, small cells, TDD sites to enhance coverage and network capacity in Mumbai and Delhi during March. As part of the modernization exercise, the company deployed more than 5000 massive MIMO, small cells and TDD sites across Church gate, Prabhadevi, Pali hill, Lokhandwala, Versova, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Bandra and Dadar among other regions The company also deployed more than 4,000 Massive Mimo, small cells and TDD sites across the New Delhi and NCR region.

Turbo-net

Vodafone Idea has launched "TurboNet" 4G services in select cities of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Rest of Bengal circles. The launch of TurboNet 4G follows the consolidation of its radio network integration and the deployment of technologies such as Dynamic Spectrum Re-farming, Spectrum Re-farming, M-MIMO, L900, TDD, and Small Cells to further boost network capacity and coverage across large parts of the country.

Broadband

You Broadband which offers fixed line broadband and voice services in indian major cities which includes Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Kakinada, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nashik, Navi Mumbai, Navsari, Powai, Pune, Rajkot, Surat, Thane, Vadodara, Valsad, Vapi, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.