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Vodafone India Defeats The Odds And Posts A Profitable Quarter
2012-05-24 13:21:00 The Indian Telecom Sector is not an easy industry to be in. Intense competition exists as there are so many players. Further, the Indian Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is one of the lowest in the world, with rates being rock bottom. The TRAI doesn’t help, by making their life difficult with retro-active tax laws, re-auctions of a year old spectrum. However, in this environment, Vodafone actually made a profit. It hasn’t been an easy road, with Vodafone losing money initially on their huge capital investment in India. Their income tax troubles with the Government compounded this. However, Vodafone Group has posted a 14% Growth in Operating Earnings, which now stands at Rs 9,740 Crores for 2011-12. Factors that have been attributed to this are good growth in voice minutes and a rising consumer base. Compared to 2010-11′s 3.85 Billion Pounds, Vodafone saw a surge in Revenue to 4.26 Billion Pounds. EBITDA too rose from 985 million to 1120 million pounds. “Se...
By: WATblog
3G Tariff War Officially On As Vodafone, IDEA and Reliance follow Airtel, A
2012-05-23 15:07:00 3G Networks coming to India was a huge step forward in the Telecom business. The auctions had shattered all records and thousand of crores were paid for licenses to provide 3G in various parts of India. Since no operator had pan-India connectivity, operators got into Roaming Agreements with each other to help out their customers. Unfortunately, the Government did not like this and banned them from doing so. Since their launch over a year ago, most providers have been charging prohibitively high 3G tariffs, in an attempt to recover their huge capital investment of buying the spectrum. In fact, we had even pegged that as the reason 3G failed to achieve any critical momentum in India. Now, this is all set to change. State run MTNL and BSNL always had the most affordable 3G Data rates, but other factors kept people away from switching over. Telecom operator Aircel started the war last month being the first private operator to reduce 3G rates. After that, market leader Airtel redu...
By: WATblog
Vodafone Government Saga Rekindles With $3.7 Bn Fine
2012-05-10 15:00:00 Post liberalization, multi-national companies have entered the Indian market by the hundreds. They have been allowed to conduct business largely undisturbed, but there are times when India’s License Raj Mentality causes conflicts between companies and the Government, especially the Income Tax Authorities. One such case is that of Vodafone. The Vodafone – Indian Income Tax Authorities Saga has been a long and slightly ridiculous one. It all started in 2007, when Vodafone made a $10.9 billion acquisition of Hutchison Essar (Hutch). Since both the companies were registered out of India, according to the Indian IT Law no tax could be imposed on it. However, the Indian IT Authorities decided that they needed their share of the buy and demanded Rs. 12,297 Crore in Income Tax from Vodafone. This amount was later feared to double to Rs, 24,000 Crore or $5 Billion. The case was moved to the Supreme Court of India, which ruled, in January 2012, that the Government had no rig...
By: WATblog
The Stage Of IPL 5: A Playground For Telcos Like Vodafone & Idea?
2012-04-09 14:01:00 While Cricket teams sweat it out on field, Telecom Companies are fighting a different battle on-screen. While the fifth edition of IPL is being played, Mobile Service companies are busy spending on advertising. Vodafone certainly tops the list with innovative advertisement. Last season saw the ZooZoo characters highlighting the various features while this year’s campaign is focused on the Internet capability. Though Idea has still not let go of its tag-line “An Idea Can Change Your Life”, it has come up with new ads. Interestingly, Airtel has confirmed that it won’t be doing anything special. Being India’s largest telecom company, we assume it can take such risks. Advertising surrounding IPL can be quite profitable. For Vodafone the Zoozoos proved so popular that it offloaded some branded merchandise too! Talk about opening up of another avenue! While IPL Teams are already engaged in promoting the game & their teams online, companies like these spend almost quarte...
By: WATblog
IT Dept. Relents; Returns $500 Million To Vodafone
2012-03-22 08:45:00 Indian Govt. has bowed down & returned US$ 500 Million (Rs. 2500 Crores) to Vodafone. Obeying Supreme Court’s orders, Indian Govt. had to release the amount it had withheld as deposit. The court stated that the tax department does not have jurisdiction to levy Rs. 11,000 Crores as tax on the USD 12 Billion overseas deal between Vodafone International Holdings and Hutchison Group. Why did the Govt. hold the money as ransom? Vodafone and Hutchison conducted their US$ 10.7 billion Transaction offshore, with Vodafone’s Dutch subsidiary, Vodafone International Holdings BV, acquiring CGP Ltd., a Cayman Islands company controlled by Hong Kong-based Hutchison. In simpler words, though Vodafone entered India by acquiring Hutchison in 2007, it did so through a foreign route. Our government wanted to tax this transaction & later even threatened to double the fine. However, the appeal eventually reached the Supreme Court & the court ruled in the favor of the Telecom giant. For ...
By: WATblog
Reportagem Vodafone Mexefest Porto2012(2dia)
2012-03-21 21:09:00 [A reportagem do 1 dia aqui] O segundo dia ? 3 de Maro (sbado) Ao segundo dia do Vodafone Mexefest no Porto a “movida” comeou mais cedo – talvez por ser sbado – isto apesar da apario da chuva, condio que, no entanto, no desmoralizou nem muito menos desmobilizou o pblico que voltou a comparecer em bom nmero, superior at ao do primeiro dia. A msica e as pessoas animavam a Rua Passos Manuel e suas redondezas e ns, imbudos desse esprito, recomeamos a nossa epopeia pouco depois das 21h com uma passagem obrigatria pela Garagem Vodafone FM onde os ...
By: Musicmetro
Vodafone Brings Worldspace Radio To 18 Indian Telecom Circles
2012-03-20 12:15:00 Vodafone has brought satellite radio to its customers with the launch of their new value added service for its customers in 18 Indian Circles. Now you can enjoy great satellite radio on your mobile phone for a very nominal price. Vodafone has made available 10 exclusive radio stations which will have more than 1,00,000 lakh songs. The content is very Indian specific and the channels includes many regional flavors. The satellite radio service also has a music trivia feature which will satisfy your curiosity of the Indian Music greats. The service costs Rs. 30/month and includes 300 minutes of free usage. Vodafone’s product page also points out that the service is not live in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Here is the lowdown on the 10 exclusive channels on the service: Farishta – Best of Bollywood! Falak – The greatest ghazals! Sonar – The best Bengali music ever! Umang – All the flavours of Gujarat! Surabhi – The best of Marathi music! Tunak – The grea...
By: WATblog
Reportagem Vodafone Mexefest Porto2012(1dia)
2012-03-18 20:47:00 Depois de assistir a um outro tipo de recital via TV enquanto degustava uma tpica francesinha (pois claro!), eis que este vosso escriba se pe a caminho da Rua Passos Manuel onde se encontraria com o fotgrafo de servio para darmos incio nossa epopeia musical.
By: Musicmetro
Bruselas sospecha que empresas como Telefnica y Vodafone han ejercido prc
2012-03-14 13:37:00 La Comisin Europea ha solicitado a Telefnica, Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom y Telecom Italia informacin acerca de la serie de reuniones que han mantenido sus mximos ejecutivos desde el 2010 para debatir, supuestamente, acerca del futuro de la industria y de cmo hacer frente a gigantes tecnolgicos como Apple, Google o Microsoft en el mbito de la telefona mvil. Aunque an no...
Vodafone IPO To Be Further Delayed; Want Piece Of 2G Spectrum Pie
2012-02-15 12:57:00 We had reported earlier that Vodafone, fresh out of the Vodafone-Essar partnership, has plans to file an IPO. Being the second largest private Telecom company in the country, this caused an expected stir in the market. However, Vodafone had made it clear that they were in no particular rush to file. They had agreed internally that once three events take place, they would go ahead with the IPO. They were: Finding a stable Indian Chairperson who understood the ins and outs of the Indian Market. Settling the dispute of Capital Gains with the Indian Government. The Spectrum Allocation Case being sorted out satisfactorily. As for their first target, they found Analjit Singh of Max India as the Chairman who understood their market well enough. With regard to the Capital Gains IT Case, the Bombay High Court had ruled against Vodafone. However, the Supreme Court ruled in their favor in the Capital Gains case, saving them over $2 Billion. They are yet to receive their refund for the amo...
By: WATblog
Vodafone Mexefest Porto: cartaz, destaques e salas designadas
2012-02-13 23:29:00 O Vodafone Mexefest Porto que se realiza em Maro, e que actualmente tem o seu cartaz fechado, anunciou recentemente a distribuio dos diversos concertos por dias e salas. Os grandes destaques vo, naturalmente, para os aguardados concertos de St. Vincent, Niki & The Dove (dia 2), Twin Shadow e The D (dia 3) no Coliseu, mas no s. As actuaes do jovem King Krule (2), do retro-rocker Hanni El Khatib e dos “nossos” The Glockenwise (3) na Garagem Vodafone FM tambm so dignos de meno, isto para alm do ansiado espectculo dos Supernada de Manel Cruz (2), e tambm de ...
By: Musicmetro
Vodafone To File For IPO. Essar Not Part Of It. New Changes?
2012-02-08 08:45:00 With Essar abandoning the Vodafone- Essar Partnership, Vodafone India Limited [VIL] is one step closer to a partial stock market listing of its Indian operations. As Essar sold its stake in Vodafone India, Piramal Healthcare has bought it for a UK £ 385 Million cash! With just 5.5 per cent stake changing hands, the valuation of VIL now stands at UK 7 Billion. Though the Indian IPO can only be filed in early 2013, Vodafone has started the ground work & hired financial advisory firm & investment bank NM Rothschild to assist in its listing plans. The Valuation at GBP 7 Billion is still pretty low but, Vodafone said Piramal could take part “in a potential initial public offering of VIL” or a sale of its stake to Vodafone. We assume the real reason why Vodafone has to have a partner is that under India’s strict foreign ownership rules, a foreign company simply cannot own 100 per cent of an Indian company or subsidiary. Hence, Vodafone must have a local partner...
By: WATblog
Niki & The Dove no Vodafone Mexefest Porto
2012-01-31 22:09:00 Niki & The Dove so um inspirado projecto de pop alternativo oriundo de Estocolmo e uma das mais recentes confirmaes para o Vodafone Mexefest Porto. Formados por Malin Dahlstrm e Gustaf Karlf, o duo comeou por despertar atenes em 2010, ano da sua formao, com o seu promissor single de estreia “DJ Ease My Mind/Under The Bridges” que foi alvo de destaque em publicaes to reputadas como o NME ou o Sunday Times. Como consequncia desse impacto, no ano passado assinaram contrato discogrfico com a Sub Pop Records e apresentaram o EP “The Fox” e posteriormente o excelente novo single ...
By: Musicmetro
SC Saves Vodafone From $2.2 Billion IT Fine
2012-01-24 06:41:00 Vodafone finally has a reason to cheer. We had earlier reported on how they didn’t seem to be making much money on their venture into India. This was primarily due to high 3G costs and a messy legal tangle with the Indian Government. According to the Indian Income Tax Department, they owed them Rs. 11,000 Crores in Taxes. They claimed it was due to them for Vodafone’s takeover of Hutchison Essar. The case dragged on, with Vodafone denying they owed the amount to the IT department. The case moved up to the Supreme Court, who just passed their verdict in favour of Vodafone. According to the SC, Offshore deals are out of the Government’s Tax Jurisdiction. The Government was ordered to pay back the already collected Rs. 2500 Crore fine, along with 4% Interest. The decision was being closely followed by a lot of parties, as it will have a lot of implications. It will boost the confidence of Foreign Investors with respect to investing in India, as they know they can...
By: WATblog
Vodafone Wants to Triple Data Services Revenue
2012-01-10 11:11:00 Vodafone Group Plc hopes to triple the revenue share of its data services in its India operations over the next two years. Vodafone hopes to achieve this growth riding on increase in the use of smart-phones for accessing Internet as well as downloading music. Currently data services contribute 3% to Vodafone’s topline. This will go up to 10% in two years’ time, hopes Samaresh Parida, Mumbai-based director of strategy at Vodafone India Ltd. Banking and applications to increase farmers’ productivity are two other things which will contribute to this growth. “Right now the growth of data is pretty phenomenal, but it’s from a very small base so we’ll be pushing the throttle on growing the business in data as fast as possible,” Parida said. Telecom operators are facing a stiff challenge as Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is on the decline. Though there is a record growth in subcriber numbers, it has not resulted in revenue growth. Voice account...
By: WATblog
Vodafone Wishes Merry Christmas By Launching Zoozoo App: Milking The Zoozoo
2011-12-26 11:30:00 Companies are really getting into the Christmas spirit. The festive season is a great time to engage with customers, who always appreciate the human touch. That’s why most brands With Google’s Christmas Doodle playing Jingle Bells for searchers, Vodafone too has something up their sleeve. We all remember Vodafone Zoozoo’s. First introduced in the 2009 season of IPL, they captured the imagination of Indians just as much, if not more, than Vodafone’s iconic pug dog. For those who may not recall, Zoozoo’s were a series of ad campaigns featuring cartoon-like, white colored people. They had painted faces and looked like cartoons, when in fact they were real people in costume. The Zoozoo’s were also used extensively in the Vodafone 3G campaign. They had a Super-Zoozoo who showed the various features of 3G. Now, Vodafone has decided to once again bring back the Zoozoo’s, this time using the power of Social Media. They have launched a Facebook ap...
By: WATblog
TRAI Probes Into Alleged MNP Violations By Airtel & Vodafone
2011-12-15 12:52:00 Mobile Number Portability (MNP) has been available in India following TRAI’s directive since a year now. We earlier blogged about how the service has not become very popular among consumers. Besides, the fact that roughly 95% of Indian mobile consumers are on a prepaid plan and generally are not very interested in shifting network operators, there is also the issue of network operators rejecting many applications and sometimes seemingly for no solid reason. This has now reached a head and the TRAI is currently looking into this. The TRAI has served show-cause notices to Vodafone and Airtel as many consumers have reported complaints against them for the rejected MNP applications. TRAI data indicates that during this year some 893 MNP requests were rejected by operators. Furthermore, TRAI has also prohibited operators from charging extra for SMSing 1900 which is the number to avail the MNP service. A TRAI official said, “We have received their (Bharti and Vodafone) responses. Th...
By: WATblog
Blackberry Users Affected By Faulty Vodafone Balance Deduction System
2011-12-12 06:46:00 Vodafone India, the 2nd largest cell phone GSM provider in India, offers a variety of services. For RIM users, they offer special Blackberry Plans. These enable users to access Blackberry Internet Services and browse the web. Sanjay Bafna, Senior Editor of reputed Indian blog Telecom Talk, brought to light a potential error in Vodafone’s system of deducting balance. Vodafone offers a plan known as BIS 299 and BIS 399. According to the Vodafone website, this includes Unlimited web browsing, Email, Messengers (IMs) usage is free along with native usage of apps which are downloaded from BlackBerry App World. However, after a Software Upgrade of Vodafone’s System on 21st November, 2011, Sanjay and several other Blackberry users have reported frequent random deductions in balance. Throughout the day, 10 paise keeps getting deducted each time. If you add up all the small deductions, it comes to a sizable amount. This bug has affecting several people on Vodafone Prepaid. Wh...
By: WATblog
Vodafone To Launch ‘m-paisa’ Mobile Money Service In India In Associati
2011-11-28 10:12:00 Using your mobile to carry out monetary transactions is not exactly a new idea. A lot of companies have surfaced recently which handle payments from your mobile namely Obopay, C-SAM, NGPay, Paymate etc. Since the Internet has not really penetrated small towns and villages, chances of people using these services might not be exactly optimistic. But everyone has a bank account! If you could tie up mobile payments with your carrier and your bank, then the prospect of mass adoption makes sense. Well, that is exactly what Vodafone has done in association with HDFC Bank. They have just launched their new mobile payment service called ‘m-paisa’. As you guessed, this service helps people to withdraw, send or deposit money using their mobile phones. The service will first start in the state of Rajasthan and will then be rolled countrywide in some months. This tie-up involves select Vodafone representatives acting as sub-agents on behalf of HDFC. These sub-agents can open an m-paisa acc...
By: WATblog
Private Players Airtel & Vodafone Accused By The CBI In 2G Scam
2011-11-22 09:59:00 The spectacular 2G scam worth 1.76 Lakh Crores (US$ 39Bn) which was hereto limited to government officials, has spilled on to the private sector. India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case against Bharti Airtel & Vodafone along-with former government officials in connection with alleged irregularities in the allocation of additional 2G spectrum in January 2002. While Airtel said it has “always maintained the highest standard of corporate governance and regulatory compliance”, Vodafone confirmed in a statement that CBI officials had visited the company’s offices in Mumbai “seeking information related to the spectrum allocation to operators during 2001-02.” The CBI has registered a Preliminary Enquiry to look into the allocation of spectrum under Pramod Mahajan’s tenure to certain companies beyond the prescribed limit on a first-cum-first-serve basis as against the bidding process for 3G which fetched a cool Rs. 67,719 Crore!. The FIR ...
By: WATblog
India Is Turning Out To Be An Expensive Affair For Vodafone; £2Bn Investme
2011-11-22 07:43:00 Vodafone’s wish to enter big in India seems to be giving it nightmares with the company’s bill for 4 years coming close to UK Pounds 12 Billion. In an irony of sorts, Vodafone has been pretty unlucky this year despite growing. What with its abandoning customers going to Uninor, followed by CBI’s raid on Sunday & now this revelation of the cost to company for being in India coming to £12bn over four and a half years. The calculation is simple: £10.4bn were spent buying out the Indian operation’s previous owners between 2007 and 2011. Another £1.7bn was spent buying 3G spectrum in 2010. The total, Vodafone has spent £11.9bn in India, where it is currently the third biggest operator here. Vodafone needn’t have worried, but, with the subscriber base only 5Mn less than Europe, Indian revenue is nowhere near what Vodafone earns there. With only 8% of its entire revenue of approx. 1900 Bn , Vodafone managed to earn a measly £155 Mn in cash from the country, a...
By: WATblog
Vodafone Destroys Estimates Ups Forecast
2011-11-10 12:47:00 Supported by a strong growth in India and stellar performances in Germany and Britain, Vodafone has doubled its target for cost savings to help combat sluggish demand in the economic downturn. The profit for its first half of 2011 more than doubled for the world’s largest mobile phone operator as compared to last year. The Profit totaled US$ 8.07 billion in the first half of 2011, up from US$ 3.5 Billion a year earlier, driven mainly by higher revenue and lower income taxes and financing costs. Revenue, on-the-other-hand rose 9.3% to @ US$ 35 billion. Vodafone feels, as do Google & others, that Sales in India are bound to soar owing to the innovative & tight tiered pricing & new tariff plans that charged people based on their Internet / Data usage. Newbury, England based Vodafone, plans to boost revenue data usage from smartphones like Apple Inc.’s iPhone and handsets running Google Inc.’s Android software to counter declining European service revenue....
By: WATblog
Appia Empowers Vodafone’s New Mobile App Store For India
2011-11-01 13:16:00 Appia has been a great player powering the mobile application marketplace with an investment of $10 million from Venrock. It empowers almost 350 million mobile subscribers in 175 countries along with 280 downloads ever since its inception in 2008. Vodafone ties up with Appia league in order to unveil its fresh new mobile app store and will be extending services to its 145 million subscribers in India. Back in March this year, Opera also joined hands with Appia to launch its web based mobile app store to offer free as well as applications for various OS. Other partners to Appia are Telcel, Vodacom-South Africa and many more. On Vodafone’s partnership Jud Bowman, CEO of Appia says, “Appia is honored to partner with Vodafone India to launch an Application Store with a great collection of mobile applications to Vodafone’s subscribers“. Vodafone has always through leaps and bounds as an operator thus setting niche standards. Vodafone has been enriching the mobile ap...
By: WATblog
TRAI Issues Notice To Vodafone, Airtel For 3G Sharing; Is The Government Ri
2011-09-28 11:26:00 Stuck in a city where your Telecom Provider has no 3G License? Using MNP and porting to a network which does own a license may now be your only option. For instance, Tata Docomo users in Mumbai are unlikely to every get 3G through bilateral sharing of 3G Spectrum between providers. Yesterday, the TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) issued notices to Vodafone and Bharti Airtel. The reason for issuing a notice was that they were providing 3G Services to their customers in states where they did not own their own spectrum for offering 3G services. According to the TRAI, when a telecom operator won a license for 3G services in a state, they are allowed to offer 3G services there. It is an independent license. This means that they cannot offer 3G services in a state where they have no spectrum, no matter what. Bilateral Sharing of 3G Spectrum will not be allowed. The Vigilance or TERM Cell of the Department of Telecommunications informed them that 3 operators are already d...
By: WATblog
Vodafone And Myriad To Bring Social Networking To You Via SMS, USSD
2011-09-27 15:13:00 Social Networking via Mobiles is already on the rise. More people are using their mobiles as replacements for computers. However, a large number of phones in India are still in the entry level range and a new development spells good news for them. Vodafone and Myriad Group AG (SIX Swiss Exchange: MYRN) have entered a partnership to bring Mobile Social Networking and other web services to Vodafone subscribers. What makes the deal different is that this will skip the traditional EDGE and 3G channel and be via SMS and USSD. Vodafone is India’s 2nd largest Telecom Provider with 143 Million subscribers country wide. Myriad is a Swiss company and a global leader in Mobile Tech, having shipped nearly 4 Billion Apps worldwide. They develop and deliver mobile services for global operators in emerging markets. Mr Kumar Ramanathan, CMO, Vodafone Essar, said, “Adoption of social networking on mobile devices across India is growing exponentially. In order to keep pace with market...
By: WATblog
Vodafone Extends IT Deal With IBM Till 2017
2011-09-12 09:22:00 Vodafone Essar announced that it has cemented a 5 year deal IT outsourcing deal with IBM. This deal could be valued at up to $ 1 billion. The constant acquisition and scaling were very disruptive to the company’s IT policies and processes as every company they acquired had processes and policies of their own. This was a problem because the company was catering to as many as 23 separate circles. These operations had to be streamlined. The company then outsourced all it IT processes and operation over to IBM in its entirety. That deal was valued at 400 million INR as the Economic Times reports. A case study software vendors BMC suggests that during Vodafone Essar’s partnership with IBM, good incentives were taken in the right direction but there were lot of redundancies and roadblocks yet. This deal will see IBM strengthening the IT operations over the next 4 years. D.D. Mishra, Vodafone India’s deputy general manager said of the deal, “Every circle had its own way of ma...
By: WATblog
Vodafone Launches ‘Vodafone Blue’ In India: Facebook Phone For
2011-09-07 07:32:00 We all know of the Digital Divide, and the gap between adoption rates in Urban and Rural India. We also know that the next frontier for the Internet in India is Mobile. Putting these into practise, Vodafone launched the ‘Vodafone Blue‘ yesterday, in Mumbai. Kumar Ramanathan, CMO, Vodafone Essar Ltd. said, “Vodafone Blue is the answer to our youth’s mobile social networking needs. The phone has been designed to let everyone experience the fun of connecting with friends on the go, at a pocket friendly price. With our unique, fully integrated Facebook customization, the Vodafone Blue offers a compelling, out-of-the-box experience.” Here are the specs of the Vodafone Blue: Proprietary Java OS 2MP Camera with Flash 2.4″ QVGA Screen Full QWERTY Keyboard Optical TouchPad microUSB Connectivity Dedicated Camera Key, Facebook Key microSD Slot 3.5mm Headphone Jack with MP3 Player and FM Radio Software wise the phone is tightly integrated with Facebook’s servic...
By: WATblog
Vodafone Goes Bubbling
2011-08-23 13:45:00 Vodafone mobile has taken an important step towards introducing the next major innovation in the social scene. Voice based blogging has been in use for some time now but its usage has been almost exclusive to celebrities. Bubblly social messaging, a service of Bubble Motion, has given fans to interact with stars more intimately. It being called voice-based Twitter gives a good idea of its functionality. Indian stars have been swarming to the voice blogging service this year, led by top Bollywood stars (Amitabh Bachchan, Lara Dutta, Priyanka Chopra), TV personalities (Madhavan), cricketers (Yuvrav Singh), musicians (Sonu Nigam) and many more. These celebrities share voice-recorded updates on their daily lives, keeping their fans informed in an authentic and intimate way. This move will prove a mutually beneficial deal where Vodafone will introduce a new mode of communication to its 130 million subscribers Bubble Motion further expands throughout India. Since launching Bubbly just on...
By: WATblog
Vodafone Essar Hooks Up With Opera Software
2011-08-19 10:00:00 The partnership between one of the largest GSM service provider in India and a web browser which is apparently popular among 3000 different mobile phone models sounds huge. It is true that Vodafone Essar and Opera Software have come together to enhance functionality with one-click access to key content and applications. The co-branded version of the mobile browser is now available for download across Vodafone’s network in India. Opera recently boasted of 100 million users per month with over 2 million views daily while Vodafone gained net profit of nearly 21,000 thanks to MNP churn. According to one of the sources of Opera Software”By expanding the partnership with Vodafone Essar, one of the largest Indian telecom operators, we are also expanding the connected world even more.“ What are your comments on this acquisition let us know?
By: WATblog
Vodafone Launches Facebook ‘Smartphone’ Two Years Too Late
2011-07-29 07:08:00 Vodafone UK has launched the Vodafone 555 Blue, touted as the Facebook Smartphone for the masses. Manufactured by Alcatel Lucent and aimed at the masses, Vodafone UK is hoping to tap into budget prepaid users in UK and get them to use data. However, we cannot help but laugh at their offering. It has been termed a ‘smartphone’, but does not run any smartphone OS. The supposed Facebook phone has some terribly poor specs for a mid 2011 phone, which are: A measly 2 inch screen in a world where even the cheapest Android devices have 2.8 – 3.2 inch screens. Poor Display Resolution of 320×240. 2MP Camera Dedicated Facebook button QWERTY Keyboard As Techcrunch has pointed out, and we can’t help but agree, this phone may have been effective 2 years ago, but in the current market it is a farce. With Android smartphones being offered at such throwaway prices consumers would easily be better with an entry level smartphone. In fact, it is not even the first Fa...
By: WATblog
‘Vodafone Newswrap’ – Get News From Vodafone Via MMS
2011-07-19 09:32:00 Now people of Tamil Nadu can read news on move with the help of Vodafone’s news service called ‘Newswrap‘. This mobile newspaper is presented in the form of MMS which will be updated from time to time. This is a very interesting idea to keep customers intact with news alerts and Breaking News. Some days back, it was discussed whether newspapers on web make profit in terms of revenue as well as traffic since in India the internet user base is still low. But with 13.8% growth in the revenue and gaining market share into the India telecom sector, we assume that Vodafone is providing this new service after good amount of thought after facing some unsatisfied subscribers. The Newswrap includes all kind of news from national to international, art, music, current affairs, entertainment, etc. You can subscribe Vodafone newswrap service priced at Rs.1 (daily alerts), Rs. 5 (weekly alerts), Rs. 20 (monthly alerts). Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - ...
By: WATblog
Airtel, Vodafone Gain Market Share In The Indian Telecom Sector
2011-07-19 07:37:00 2011 has been an extremely eventful year in the Indian Telecom Sector. Two factors have come into play that have forced most operators to pull up their socks and innovate. Firstly, Mobile Number Portability or MNP has ensured that no provider can get away with exploitative plans because customers are free to switch without giving up their number. Secondly, the launch of 3G in India had operators scrambling for key licenses to offer 3G services. They then had to successfully deploy the services over the areas. Then they had to sign agreements between themselves to share their 3G spectrum. The efforts of the operators can be seen in this month’s Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) Report on the state of the Indian Telecom Sector which can be downloaded from here. [Compilation Courtsey: www.pluggd.in] As you can see, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone top the list with 28.26% and 23.63% Market Shares. Vodafone, however, grew at a faster rate, with an increase of 1.50...
By: WATblog
Vodafone’s $2.5 Billion Indian Tax Bill Could Double To $5 Billion
2011-07-04 11:22:00 Vodafone, which has to pay an Income Tax Bill of Rs. 12,297 Crore or around $2.5 billion, could now double in its amount. Vodafone’s CFO Andy Halford was quoted saying that Indian IT authorities could impose penalties for non payment to to tune of $2-2.5 billion. Vodafone owes taxes related to its 2007, $10.9 billion acquisition of Hutchison Essar or Hutch, according to the IT authorities. In April, the Supreme Court asked the country’s tax office to restrain from enforcing penalties on Vodafone until an order is passed after a case hearing in July, but allowed it to continue with its proceedings. Vodafone can take consolation that it is not the only service provider to face problems in the Indian Telecom Industry. Fierce competition and a large number of players have made it a difficult market to crack. Doubling of the tax payable to $5bn can have a huge impact on the balance sheet, but being one of the largest service providers in India and the world, the company sh...
By: WATblog
Vodafone Anger The Masses: Social Media Backfiring On Them?
2011-06-22 09:05:00 While Vodafone may be one of the biggest gainers from Mobile Number Portability(MNP), it certainly does not mean there are no unsatisfied customers. With the advent of new media and the rise of Social Media, customers have an outlet to vent if a company isn’t dealing with them satisfactorily. Dhaval Valia, a consumer of Loop Mobile for last six years, switched to VodafoneIndia on April 15 because he wanted 3G services. Unfortunately the service was not available in Kandivali where he lived, which Vodafone initially communicated that the area has 3G network. Valia fought against Vodafones’s false service level agreement (SLA) that Mumbai had complete coverage of 3G (Kandivali is part of Mumbai). After a month of debate, Valia finally got the Chief Marketing Officer of Vodafone India to admit that it was misleading to the customers. As compensation, Valia was then offered a free two-month 3G plan worth Rs. 2500 ($55). Being a media-savvy person, Valia shared the incident w...
By: WATblog
Vodafone Backs Up Wireless Network Service And Not Optic Fiber Network
2011-05-23 10:33:00 Vodafone, mobile operator said, “In emerging market like India, mobile phones will become the primary devices to access internet in the future”. This statement was made after funding a report co-composed with by World Wide Web Foundation. According to Vodafone, the investment in the fiber optic network is highly-priced and unnecessary in comparison to wireless network. To back up their belief a survey was carried on in three Indian state that which is more manageable a wireless network or fiber optic network. The investigation relieved that optic fiber network was commercially viable to only 3% district on the other hand wireless network was commercially viable to 98% of the district. To get into the 4G game, Vodafone is all set to put pressure on the regulators. It is also very determined to renew the expenditure invested by the mobile operators in the race to obtain 3G license. As Vodafone itself is a wireless service provider it is not surprising to see it&rsqu...
By: WATblog
Vodafone To Live Stream Cricket World Cup Matches
2011-02-11 07:15:00 The countdown to the World Cup is well into the single digits now and Vodafone has announced a tie up with ESPN Star Sports that will enable it to live stream matches on mobile phones. The service will be available to Vodafone subscribers on GPRS enabled handsets (3G as well 2G) via ESPN Mobile TV. Kumar Ramanathan, Chief Marketing Officer, Vodafone Essar, said, “The 2011 cricket season in India coincides with an exciting time in the telecom industry when MNP and 3G are buzz words and the entire consumer base is being wooed afresh by incumbent and new competitors alike. Through this association with ESPN Star Sports to provide live streaming of its ICC CWC 2011 coverage, we continue to engage our customers in a more meaningful and relevant manner, that enriches the service experience.” Mr. Sanjay Kailash, Executive Vice President – Ad Sales & New Media, ESPN Software India Private Ltd said, “We are happy to be associated with Vodafone Essar as our Co-presenting Broadcas...
By: WATblog
BSNL, Reliance Emerge As Early Losers In MNP Race As Vodafone Gains The Mos
2011-01-25 11:05:00 We’ve been following the ‘churn’ from Mobile Number Portability pretty closely.(here and here). BusinessLine has another article with some very interesting information about which way people have moved in Haryana. As I said in my last post on MNP, it isn’t necessary that the same trend may carry over to the rest of the country as some local factors could influence it, but the numbers are worth looking at. We had a little table(courtesy of Informate) which reflected the percentage of dropped calls that subscribers faced across various operators. It stated that Reliance and Loop faced the highest percentage of dropped calls. The latest article has actual operator specific numbers(As of January 16th) - (Image Credit) BSNL had 25,ooo people opt for other providers and a net loss of over 20,000 users. Reliance GSM and CDMA combined lost over 13,500 subscribers. Tata Telservices CDMA connections took a battering too, but its GSM operations – Tata DoCoMo gain...
By: WATblog
Airtel 3G Is Here, DoCoMo Expands Footprint..Where Is Vodafone?(Updated)
2011-01-24 08:00:00 Hoards of people are waiting for 3G – and a significant majority are waiting for affordable 3G(Telcos, please take note). But that’s not the point here. Only 2 private operators have rolled out 3G services as of now – and even that has had regulatory hiccups – for now though there is a status quo until the end of July. But there has been positive movement too in the last few weeks. Telecom service providers are busy chalking out deals with each other to ensure Pan India 3G availability on their respective networks. Recently Aircel too announced that it will be rolling out 3G services in the next 45-60 days. Airtel, which was supposed to have launched 3G services by the end of the year, but had to postpone it has now hinted that 3G could be on its way soon. Reported by ET, Bharti Airtel CEO Sanjay Kapoor told the Press Trust of India that the company would be making an announcement about the commercial launch of 3G in the ‘next six to seven days’....
By: WATblog
WATShow With Kumar Ramanathan Of Vodafone Essar On 3G In India
2010-12-08 05:40:00 We caught up with CMO of Vodafone Essar Mr. Kumar Ramanathan and questioned him on the opportunity posed by 3G in the Indian market. Watch the exclusiv e WATShow below with him.. Watch More such videos on WATShow.com Looking For A Social Media Agency?? TRY US! Related PostsDiscovery And Apalya Partner To Launch 5 Mobile TV ChannelsTo 3G Or Not 3G? Mobile Number Portability? ‘Not This Year’ Say TelcosTata DoCoMo Unveils 3G Services -- Free For A Week!Aircel Will Invest $500m For 3G Rollout, Sets Up 3G Experience Zones in Chennai
By: WATblog
HTC Desire HD Heading for Australia
2010-10-27 21:39:00 For all you Aussie folk down under who may have been holding out purchasing a new smartphone in order to snap up the latest smartphone out of the HTC camp, the HTC Desire HD, it appears you won?t have too much longer to wait. According to an article over on Android Central by Sean Brunett, ...
By: Phones Review
HTC Desire HD Officially Announced For 3 Mobile & Vodafone In Australia [HT
2010-10-27 20:04:00 HTC has officially announced the next destination for the Desire HD smartphone — Australia. The handset will be coming to both Vodafone and 3 Mobile and will appear first in early-November with Vodafone. Continue reading: HTC Desire HD Officially Announced For 3 Mobile & Vodafone In Australia [HTC Desire HD Android Smartphone Coming To Vodafone ... Comment | View latest news in Mobile/Cell Phones | TFTS Home. Related Reading on TFTS - In Order of Freshness: Vodafone HTC Desire HD Release Date Set for October 14 [Vodafone to Sell the HTC Desire HD Android Smartphone for Free Starting with October 14] by Chris Smith Motorola Announces Flipout Android Smartphone Is Coming To Australia In Early-October [Motorola Flipout Making Its Way to Australia, Will Arrive By Way Of Vodafone] by Robert Nelson HTC Desire Officially Avaialble With Telus Starting Today [Canadian Mobile Carrier Telus Now Offering HTC Desire, Priced At $79.99 On A Three-Year Agreement] by Robert...
Vodafone Portugal Lança Amanhã em Exclusivo o HTC 7 Trophy
2010-10-20 20:10:00 A Vodafone Portugal começa amanhã a vender o HTC 7 Trophy, um dos primeiros smartphones disponíveis a nível mundial com o novo sistema operativo Windows Phone 7. Este exclusivo da Vodafone pode ser adquirido por 399,90 euros ou a um preço inferior mediante a aceitação de uma vinculação de 24 meses num plano best.O novo HTC 7 Trophy foi concebido tendo em vista uma utilização baseada no entretenimento móvel e faz uso da integração do Zune e do Xbox LIVE no Windows Phone 7, não esquecendo as funcionalidades profissionais.Este equipamento beneficia de uma navegação táctil facilitada e personalizável ao gosto do utilizador, através de uma interface que permite a rápida actualização de todas as informações a que se pretende aceder num telemóvel inteligente: mensagens, actualizações de informação em redes sociais e acesso directo ao portal “My Web”, onde os Clientes poderão fazer o download de aplicações exclusivas no Windows Marketplace,...
BlackBerry Torch out now on Vodafone, N8 coming October 22nd
2010-10-06 15:42:00 Vodafone has started selling the new BlackBerry Torch, while taking orders for the Nokia N8 for shipping on October 22nd. Although Nokia is gradually starting to supply people who pre-ordered a SIM-free Nokia N8, Vodafone won?t be giving you the chance to buy an N8 for a few more weeks, but the BlackBerry Torch is ... Related posts:Vodafone UK to Sell the Samsung Jet Free on Contract HTC Desire Pre-ordering opens on Vodafone ahead of Oct 14th launch BlackBerry 8120 Global Wi-Fi Device Unveiled for AT&T
HTC Desire Pre-ordering opens on Vodafone ahead of Oct 14th launch
2010-10-06 15:40:00 Vodafone has opened pre-ordering for the HTC Desire HD, ahead of its launch on the 14th October. The HTC Desire HD will be free on a 35 per month, two-year contract. Customers who order on this price plan will get 900 minutes (if ordered online, compared to 600 offline), unlimited texts and 750MB of data ... Related posts:HTC reveals the Desire HD and Desire Z Android smartphones BlackBerry Torch out now on Vodafone, N8 coming October 22nd Vodafone UK to Sell the Samsung Jet Free on Contract
3G To Arrive Soon – Airtel, Vodafone, Idea To Join Hands
2010-09-17 06:09:00 3G auctions have been done and dusted since some time now but the country is still waiting for the roll out of 3G services. Earlier this month, we had reported that 3G services were just around the corner as the Government had allocated 3G spectrum to service providers who had won circles in the auctions. Now, Minister of IT & Communications, Mr. A. Raja, has announced that 3G, along with Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) will be rolled out very soon. According to Mr. Raja, the Indian telecom industry has over 670 million subscribers. When you look at the sheer reach of mobile phones, 3G services will only help the country to move ahead as one entity. We have, time and again, spoken about the importance of mobiles in the digitization of the country, and 3G would just highlight that point. 3G services are set to reach rural India by 2012, and the number of subscribers for these third generation may cross 107 million users by 2015 according to a report by PwC. With such numbers, we...
By: WATblog
Vodafone To Pay Rs.12,297 crore To Income Tax
2010-09-10 07:09:00 Vodafone had filed a petition challenging the jurisdiction of the Income Tax Department to levy tax on its 2007 acquisition of the majority stake in the mobile operator Hutchison Essar. Bombay High Court has dismissed this petition pointing out that Vodafone was liable to pay taxes for capital gains as the assets of the acquired company were based in India. Background Netherlands-based Vodafone International Holdings acquired 67% stake in Hutchison Essar from Hong Kong based Hutchison Telecommunications International for $11.1 Billion in 2007. Income Tax Department contended that ownership of the Indian company, Hutch Essar, has changed hands by the deal and thus is liable for capital gains tax. The I-T Department held Vodafone liable for not deducting tax from payments made to HTIL and sent a notice for Rs 12,297 crore to the company. Way Forward Vodafone can appeal to the Supreme Court within the next eight weeks. During this period, the I-T Department cannot pass a ...
By: WATblog
Vodafone Goes Eco-friendly: Launches Solar Powered Phone
2010-07-29 06:35:00 In keeping with the latest vogue of mobile phone Companies going ecofriendly, Vodafone announced the launch of its first solar powered handset in India. The device, known as VF 247 was launched on Tuesday at the Vodafone store in Fort, Mumbai. The device comes as a mean to tap the large untapped potential in rural areas. It has a solar powered battery which automatically gets charged on exposure to ambient sunlight. This has been done keeping in mind the inconsistent availability of electricity in rural areas. The phone charges to its fullest on direct exposure to sunlight in eight hours and has a battery backup of more than eight days. The novelty of this product lies in its special inbuilt hardware, Sun Boost. Making this device all the more user friendly, Sun Boost ensures that the phone does not necessarily require direct sunlight but can also be charged in a room, under normal daylight. Other features include FM radio and also a colour display screen. Sticking to the need o...
By: WATblog
Vodafone Disinterested in Minority Stakes – To Sell Stake In Bharti
2010-07-26 14:43:00 The world’s largest telecom group in terms of revenue, Vodafone Group Plc., is all set to sell its smaller stakes all around the world, and in the process will sell its indirect minority equity stake of 4.39% in Bharti Airtel. The Chief Executive for Vodafone, Vittorio Colaco, claimed that the company was not interested in managing the minority investments. Their “minor” stakes at Bharti Airtel is valued at 5,200 crore. Vodafone had aquired 10% stake at Bharti Airtel for around $1.5 billion in 2005 in a tie-up with the Mittals who own Bharti. However, The UK telco giant sold 5.6% stake in Bharti back to its promoters Mittals for $1.6 billion. Now it looks like Vodafone are ready to sell the remaining stakes back to Mittal, or to Singtel, the other stakeholder at Bharti. One might think that maybe Vodafone incurred loses which might have pushed the company into selling the minority stakes. Au contraire, the Indian operations arm of the company posted a revenue gr...
By: WATblog
Samsung Wave llega a Europa
2010-05-24 13:48:00 El mvil Samsung Wave llega a Europa este lunes, el primer mvil con el sistema operativo Bada; lo dispondrn en Alemania, Francia y el Reino Unido. Samsung seala adems que se podr bajar el SDK 1.0.0 para el sistema dentro de poco. |
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