VODAFONE TO ABSORB IDEA POSTPAID USERS UNDER RED PLAN
NEW DELHI: Vodafone Idea Ltd, which operates two mobile service brands Vodafone and Idea in the country, will now offer postpaid services only under the Vodafone brand, with the aim of streamlining this segment to one platform.
“All postpaid products and services will be exclusively offered to customers under the premium and aspirational brand Vodafone RED. Beginning with Mumbai, this initiative will be rolled out in a phased manner to cover all circles over the next few months,” the company said on Thursday.
The strategy will also help bring down marketing and general expenses for the debt-laden telecom company, which posted a loss of ₹50,922 crore in the September quarter.
Vodafone Idea will announce its December quarter earnings next week.
All new postpaid customers will be on-boarded to Vodafone RED plans, while all existing customers of Idea Nirvana, the postpaid offering under the Idea brand, will be migrated to similar Vodafone RED plans.
There would be no change in pricing as both brands offer a similar tariff structure.
Postpaid customers comprise only 5% of the market in India.
Vodafone Idea has a total of 311.1 million users as of September end.
Prepaid products will continue to be offered under both Vodafone and Idea brands nationally across all circles via respective retail and digital channels, the company said.
“The company’s decision to stick to brand Vodafone for the postpaid segment is not very significant from the consumer perspective. The sector is in trouble and the company is facing huge challenges. The single brand strategy seems like a minor footnote in a much bigger story of woes in the company,” said Santosh Desai, chief executive officer of brand management consultancy Future Brands.
The announcement comes a day after Uk-based Vodafone Group Plc said the outlook for Vodafone Idea Ltd, its telecom joint venture with the Aditya Birla group in India, remains critical and the company is seeking relief from the Indian government.