Idea Cellular focuses on digital business with mobile Internet

idea-cellular-retail-shopRajat Mukarji, chief corporate affairs officer of Idea Cellular, has revealed its focus areas in digital business that will support the growth of mobile Internet revenue for the telecom operator.

The Indian telecom sector achieved 1 billion mobile subscribers in 2016. This milestone in early 2016 proved instrumental in getting Indians to move to a digital economy as demonetization marked the closure of the year.

Idea Cellular, an Aditya Birla group company, has accelerated its efforts of building a digital economy by catalyzing wireless broadband penetration in India. Idea Cellular has acquired additional spectrum for an investment of nearly Rs 13,000 crore through the auction.

Idea Cellular has now achieved pan-India wireless broadband capability. The company is readying its network infrastructure across the length and breadth of the country to make high speed mobile broadband services reach out to over a billion population of the country.

Currently, Idea’s wireless broadband network is spread across 17 circles with a population of over 880 million, with 50 percent of this population already covered. The company executed the fastest 4G roll-out in the country last year – with one broadband site being installed every ten minutes – taking the overall tally of Idea sites to over 216,000 and a fibre network of over 1.28 lakh kms.

The pace is increasing with each passing day as over 57,000 sites are planned for roll out in FY17, with a Capex of Rs 8,000 crore. By March 2017, Idea 4G services will be expanded to 20 circles from the current 11, covering 94 percent of its revenue market.

With a telecom spectrum holding of nearly 900 MHz across TDD and FDD bands, Idea is geared with substantial capacity spectrum required for meeting data capacity needs for its ever growing 186 million customer base.

Idea Cellular’s mobile broadband customers will be able to enjoy a range of Idea branded Digital Content across Movies, Music, TV, Games, News, Digital Wallet, etc. The first half of 2017 will also see the launch of Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank.

Idea’s penetration in rural telecom markets has given it the edge to now offer mobile broadband services to the digitally unconnected population. Idea has taken the lead in propagating the benefits of mobile internet to the rural audience and is also running ATL and BTL activities to initiate people into the digital world through awareness building, data sharing and skilling programs.

Idea’s Internet4All campaign has resulted in 22 million hits with free data credit given to nearly 5 million non-data users by Idea, upon recommendations from their friends and family members to get them to start using internet.

Market research firm Forrester, in its Customer Service Index 2016, has ranked Idea at No. 1 position in customer service and rated it as “good”.

Despite the disruption by the entry of Reliance Jio in the market, Idea Cellular has retained its leadership position in Mobile Number Portability (MNP), continuing to grow its net gain from MNP to 20 million.

Idea Cellular believes that healthy competition in the 4G market will grow the category and bring more choices for the consumer.

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