Vodafone Idea announced the creation of the largest telecom operator in India with an advt. campaign.

It is true that the combined entity of Vodafone and Idea Cellular will dominate India’s mobile service provider space in terms of mobile customers.

But Vodafone Idea is behind rivals Bharti Airtel or BSNL or Reliance Jio in at least 10 areas that matter to the sustainability of the telecom business.

First, Vodafone Idea is not the market leader in the growing 4G service provider market in the country. Reliance Jio, a company promoted by Mukesh Ambani, is the dominant operator in 4G LTE market in India.

Second, Vodafone Idea is not the market leader in the enterprise space though Vodafone has a growing presence in the Indian enterprise market.

Third, Vodafone Idea is not the leader in the fixed broadband market though Vodafone has a small presence in fixed broadband market. BSNL dominates India’s fixed broadband market according to TRAI.

Fourth, Vodafone or Idea Cellular never topped TRAI’s assessment of 3G and 4G download speeds. Vodafone or Idea Cellular came on top position in both 3G and 4G upload speed in most of the telecom circles.
Fifth, Vodafone Idea does not lead the Indian telecom operator market in terms of Capex allocation for networks. Currently, Airtel is spending more towards Capex as compared with Vodafone Idea, BSNL and Reliance Jio.

Sixth, Vodafone or Idea did not top in majority cities – till now — during independent drive tests conducted by Indian telecom regulator TRAI.

Seventh, Vodafone or Idea did not lead in 4G speed during the recent speed tests conducted by Ookla. Airtel is the leader in mobile Internet speed, says Ookla.

Vodafone Idea is also not the market leader in terms of profitability. Vodafone Idea is not the market leader in ARPU. Vodafone Idea is not market leader in revenue.

Vodafone Idea is the market leader in India in terms of mobile subscribers. Vodafone Idea is the market leader in 2G space. Telecom industry is fast moving to mobile Internet space to improve ARPU by focussing less on 2G. Vodafone Idea is the market leader in rural India.

The strategy of the management of Vodafone and Idea Cellular is to improve revenue, profit and subscriber base through the merger. The new announced by Vodafone Idea will bring in fresh ideas to achieve their goals.

Baburajan K