Idea CellularIdea Cellular Limited
Idea Cellular, commonly referred to as Idea, is an Indian mobile
network operator based in Mumbai, India.Idea is a pan-India
integrated GSM operator offering 2G and 3G services, and has its
own NLD and ILD operations, and ISP license. With revenue in excess
of $4 billion; revenue market share of nearly 15%; and subscriber
base of over 121 million in FY 2013, Idea is Indias third largest
mobile operator. Idea ranks among the top 10 country operators in
the world with a traffic of over 1.5 billion minutes a day.
HoldingInitially the Birlas, the Tatas and AT&T Wireless
each held one-third equity in the company. But following AT&T
Wireless' merger with Cingular Wireless in 2004, Cingular decided
to sell its 32.9% stake in Idea. This stake was bought by both the
Tatas and Birlas at 16.45% each.Tata's foray into the cellular
market with its own subsidiary, Tata Indicom, a CDMA-based mobile
provider, cropped differences between the Tatas and the Birlas.
This dual holding by the Tatas also became a major reason for the
delay in Idea being granted a license to operate in Mumbai. This
was because as per Department of Telecommunications (DOT) license
norms, one promoter could not have more than 10% stake in two
companies operating in the same circle and Tata Indicom was already
operating in Mumbai when Idea filed for its licence.The Birlas thus
approached the DOT and sought its intervention, and the Tatas
replied by saying that they would exit Idea but only for a good
price. On 10 April 2006, the Aditya Birla Group announced its
acquisition of the 48.18% stake held by the Tatas at Rs. 40.51 a
share amounting to Rs. 44.06 billion. While 15% of the 48.14% stake
was acquired by Aditya Birla Nuvo, a company in-charge of the
Birlas' new business initiatives, the remaining stake was acquired
by Birla TMT holdings Private Ltd., an AV Birla family-owned
company. Currently, Aditya Birla Group holds 49.05% of the total
shares of the company. Malaysia based Axiata controls a 19.96%
stake in the company.[4]
3GOn 19 May 2010, the 3G spectrum auction in India ended. Idea
paid 5,768.59crore for spectrum in 11 circles. The circles it will
provide 3G in are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra & Goa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh (East) and Uttar
Pradesh (West).[5]On 28 March 2011, Idea launched 3G services in
Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.[6] The launch cities
were Ahmedabad, Shimla and Indore. This makes Idea the sixth
private operator (eighth overall) to launch its 3G services in the
country following Tata Docomo, Reliance Communications, Airtel,
Aircel and Vodafone.Idea currently supports up to 21.1 Mbit/s over
2G speeds of 256 kbit/s. However, different handsets support
different speeds, from 384 kbit/s, 3.6 Mbit/s, 7.2 Mbit/s or 21.1
Mbit/s. Speeds also depend on the 3G plan/recharge that users opt
for.[7]Idea cellular has announced a cut of 70% in the tariff of
its 3G services.[8]On 23 November 2011 Idea Cellular launched two
affordable 3G handsets in India: Idea 3G Smartphone Blade priced at
7,992 and Idea 3G Smartphone priced at 5,850. Both handsets are
based on Android 2.2 Froyo.[9]Idea has also launched a Dual-SIM
Android smartphone in India on 15 June 2012 named as Idea ID-918 at
a price point of Rs. 5,994 ($108 approx.) It features Android v2.3
OS, 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen, 3G, Wi-Fi and 3.2 MP rear
facing camera.On 5 March 2013, Idea launched another 3G smartphone
called Idea Zeal 3G which is a Dual SIM phone with 3 Megapixel
camera.
Pan-India 3G coverageAirtel, Vodafone and Idea have begun
collaborating to provide 3G coverage to their customers pan India.
The agreement aims to provides for these companies to offer 3G
services to their customers in circles where they have not won any
spectrum. It is expected that the 3 companies will be able to
provide 3G services in all circles in India except Orissa where the
three have not won any spectrum.[10]
Subscriber baseTotal number of subscribers for Idea stood at
141.84 million at the end of August 2014.[11]Idea leads all other
telecom operators in India in the MNP (Mobile Number Portability)
race, with a net gain of 1,031,380 subscribers as on 31 August
2011.[12]Idea also leads all other competitors in having the most
active subscriber base, scoring highly on the VLR statistics.
Visitor Location Register (VLR) is basically a temporary database
of the subscribers who have roamed into the particular area, which
it serves. Each base station in the network is served by exactly
one VLR; hence a subscriber cannot be present in more than one VLR
at a time.[13]Customer serviceThe company has its retail outlets
under the "My Idea" banner. The company has also been the first to
offer flexible tariff plans for prepaid customers[citation needed].
It also offers GPRS services in urban areas.Idea Cellular won the
GSM Association Award for "Best Billing and Customer Care Solution"
for 2 consecutive years[citation needed].IDEA Cellular has been
recognized as the 'Most Customer Responsive Company' in the Telecom
sector, at the prestigious Avaya GlobalConnect Customer
Responsiveness Awards 2010[citation needed].CompetitorsIdea
competes with 13 other mobile operators throughout India. They are
Aircel, Airtel, BSNL, Loop Mobile, MTNL, MTS, Ping Mobile, Reliance
Communications, Tata DoCoMo, Tata Indicom, Uninor, Videocon, Virgin
Mobile, T24, and Vodafone.Awards and recognitionsIn 2013, Idea has
been listed as the second most trusted brand in the category of
Mobile Telephony in the The Brand Trust Report 2013 an annual
report published by Trust Research Advisory.Enterprize BusinessIdea
Cellular has partnered with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd Launches
Smart Gas SolutionIdea Cellular have entered into a long-term
agreement for servicing over 82 million LPG consumers of Indane. As
part of the agreement, Idea will extend its Smart Gas Solution
service to enable end-to-end automation on refill delivery process
of IOCL. The process starts from initiating booking request,
billing, etc. and ends with delivery of LPG cylinder with regular
updates to consumers, across the country.Idea smart gasCovering
over 82 million consumers and over 7,000 distributors delivering
more than 1.5 million LPG cylinders everyday, Ideas Smart Gas
Solution service agreement with IOCL, for a period of two years, is
one of the largest IVR Deployment by a telecom operator, in recent
times. The service allows Indane consumers to book LPG 247 and
offers IVR and SMS based delivery status updates, without having to
visit the distributors outlet.Presently, the service is launched in
45 cities and would be progressively rolled out across India in the
next three months.Presently, the service is launched in 45 cities
and would be progressively rolled out across India in the next
three months. Idea Cellular Smart Gas Solution How it
works:Traditionally, LPG bookings were done through appointed
Distributors, and customers were required to call up distributor or
personally visit, to book gas. This system was plagued with
inefficiencies and arbitrariness because of complete control
resting with the distributor. Also, due to subsidies on LPG, there
was risk of distribution malpractices. Whereas the customer faced
inconveniences such as continuously busy Telephone Lines,
restricted calling time and calls not being answered, the LPG
companies were faced with several other challenges such as Refill
cylinders meant for household supply being diverted to commercial
market, leading to artificial shortage, and lack of insightful and
authentic MIS.Ideas LPG Booking System, Smart Gas Solution, has
addressed these inherent inefficiencies and reduced the scope of
malpractices. Ideas end-to-end technology based Booking and Billing
system have reduced distributors role to only refill delivery while
shifting entire refill booking under the LPG companys direct
control.This solutiom was headed by Mr George Bernard - General
Manager - Enterprize Business - South
