Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

The data services in the National Capital region are already becoming costlier. India's third-largest <keyword id="47689" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Telecom-operator">telecom operator</keyword>, <keyword id="6354924" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Idea-Cellular">Idea Cellular</keyword> was the first company to announce an increase in the data rates. Now the company has announced that it has witnessed growth in its <keyword id="748198" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="revenue-market-share">revenue market share</keyword> (RMS) by 1.6% in Q4FY15 and 1.3% in FY15, the company said, citing telecom regulator data. The company is part of <keyword id="44373" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Aditya-Birla-Group">Aditya Birla Group</keyword> and maintained its track record of being the fastest growing operator by RMS growth in the world's fastest growing market, reported the Economic Times. 

	The telco further consolidated its position as one of the top 3 operators in India by growing at double the rate of industry growth in terms of gross revenue. 
 

	In Q4FY15, Idea witnessed a growth of 21%, whereas the industry average revenue grew at 10.5% in one year. The company showed gross revenue growth of close to 20% in FY15, as against 10.8% the total industry revenue growth - the highest amongst all pan-India operators. 
 

	"Our commitment to grow both voice and data businesses, by investing in network infrastructure and spectrum acquisition, customer experience management, and brand building, has helped us further consolidate our position in a hyper-competitive market," Himanshu Kapania, Managing Director, Idea Cellular said in the statement. 
 

	Idea Cellular serves over 160 million subscribers. 
 Apart from this, the company has recently announced a roll over plan. Under this, new <keyword id="6378791" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="80" keywordseo="3G">3G</keyword> roll over data pack will allow Idea postpaid subscribers to carry forward their unused 3G data balance to next month without any extra charges. 
(Image: Indiatimes)

Idea Cellular gain incremental market revenue

If you’re an Idea Cellular subscriber in NCR, you’ll pay. The company has raised mobile data rates by up to 100 per cent for its pre-paid customers. It’s the first telecom to raise its tariff after recent spectrum auction in March. 
 
The company has doubled the tariff for some 2G plans, and tripled 3G rates. 
 
According to media reports Idea MD and CEO Himanshu Kapania had said hinted post spectrum action that a data tariff price hike could occur. 
 
The company has changed most of the 2G and 3G recharge vouchers. As per the new rates subscribers would get 1.5 GB of 2G as against 3 GB for Rs. 255 earlier and 3 GB as against 4 GB for Rs. 755. 
 
The 1 GB 3G pack will now come with a 28 days validity of 28 days, but will cost Rs. 295 as against Rs 249. 1 GB of 2G would now set you back for Rs. 195 as against Rs 175 earlier, but will come with 28 days validity. 
 
The company has also reduced validity of some other packs. 
 
Experts predict an overall increase in the Idea’s data tariffs in other circles too. 
 
The new rates came into effect from June 3. 
 
(Image credit: Indiatimes)

Idea ups mobile data rates
in NCR by up to 100%

<ul><li>In 2012, <keyword id="6354924" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="idea-cellular">Idea Cellular</keyword> wanted to talk about its pan-India presence, and wanted to come up with a campaign that would capture the fancy of people across geographies.</li><li>The '<keyword id="1477459" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="honey-bunny">Honey Bunny</keyword>' song was created in order to come up with a quirky, catchy song that had the potential of going viral.</li><li><keyword id="185767" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Arun-Iyer">Arun Iyer</keyword> takes us behind the scenes of the ad and tells us all that went into its making.</li></ul> It was in 2012 that erstwhile Idea Cellular wanted to come up with a campaign that would establish it as a national player with a pan-India presence. For that, it needed to do something different, to make sure that it appeals to audiences across the country. That is how, its extremely hummable and catchy jingle, ‘Honey Bunny’, came into being. In the latest episode of BTS with Insiders, Arun Iyer, the brains behind the campaign, told us the story of how the song was created. It was that time in the brand’s history when it wanted to talk about its network. However, that is exactly what every other player in the segment was doing too. So how could Idea stand out? <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> Telling us what it is that Idea wanted to achieve at that point in time, Iyer said, “Till that point, Idea was more a regional player and it wanted to now go national, and talk about the strength of its network. However, at that time, it was par for the course. Everybody had claimed network. All competition at that point had already said that they are present nationally and it was a parity claim. So the core of what we were saying wasn’t interesting enough, because that had become expected from the category itself. So we thought how do we say it that it really sticks with people?” At that point, the creative team had realized that a ringtone was a very effective way of knowing whether your network works. And then came the thought of creating a quirky ringtone that could go viral. That was the time when Iyer got together with music composer <keyword id="142520" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amit-Trivedi">Amit Trivedi</keyword> and lyricist <keyword id="27642" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amitabh-Bhattacharya">Amitabh Bhattacharya</keyword>. Interestingly, Bhattacharya had written a very different set of words that were in Bengali. “At that point we said, well you can’t get this tune out of your head but the words make no sense,” said Iyer with a laugh. It was during one session at Trivedi’s studio when Iyer along with members from his creative team including Ashwin Varkey and Subodh Menon were brainstorming and trying to come up with the lyrics for what he calls this ‘completely bizarre song’. “It was around 12:30 during our session that suddenly Ashwin said Honey and Subodh said Bunny and we said, ‘That’s It!’ From there, the rest of the song got written by itself. Everybody threw in a line here and there, said Iyer. It was decided that Bhattacharya would sing the song which was recorded at 2am. “We sat and chilled at the studio till 4:30 that morning and we just couldn’t stop singing the song, and that’s how we realized it has something in it,” added Iyer. While the song was complete, the shoot which was done across the country, proved to be a mammoth task. “We shot in almost every part of the country and it happened over 20-22 days. During the shoot, we took flights to and drove to places, the names of which I had never heard of. Parts of the ad have been shot in Sikkim. From there we were supposed to go to Kolkata in the next leg. However, at that point, Kolkata closed down due to a strike. The entire crew was holed up in Sikkim for three whole days. With nothing else to do, we were going to the movie halls, watching movies, just hanging out and it was great fun,” said Iyer. Right after the campaign went live, the ‘Honey Bunny’ page on the company’s website recorded over a one million visits during the first nine days of the campaign’s launch, according to media reports. The jingle also blew up everywhere with people using it as ringtones, or simply singing it. Till today, the song is considered to be one of the most catchy, quirky jingles and evokes a lot of nostalgia among people.

#BTSwithInsiders: The story of the creation of Idea Cellular’s Honey Bunny, with Arun Iyer

It seems<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=vodafone+idea+merger&amp;sortorder=effectivedate"> Vodafone and Idea merger</a> will not be able to take on <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=reliance+jio&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Reliance </a><a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=reliance+jio&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Jio</a>’s juggernaut. <keyword id="6354504" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reliance-Jio">Reliance Jio</keyword>'s push for a 50% revenue market share by FY 2021 may become a possibility but it won’t be easy. 
 Apart from <keyword id="15492" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vodafone">Vodafone</keyword> and Idea's smaller on-ground<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=4G&amp;sortorder=effectivedate"> 4G</a> presence, the merger will also lower their capex spends over the next 12-to-15 months. This may take down its revenue market share (RMS). 
 
As per reports, their combined RMS could decline to less than 20% from nearly 44% now. 
 
"Mergers are difficult to execute and if Vodafone and Idea were to cut capex-spending, pre-merger, they may be more vulnerable (on the RMS front) to competition,” HSBC's telecoms analyst Rajiv Sharma said in a note to clients. 
 Sharma told ET, Jio, by virtue of its "50% RMS estimate seems to be assuming that Vodafone India and <keyword id="6354924" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Idea-Cellular">Idea Cellular</keyword>, which are discussing a merger, may see combined RMS fall from nearly 44% currently to less than 20% over the next four years,. 
 
However, Goldman Sachs has a different view. It called Jio's 50% RMS target "aggressive”. 
 
It expects Jio to retain two-thirds of its estimated 120 million subscribers, once it starts charging from April, but feels the company's "revenue per user may remain low initially as it transitions to becoming the first network of choice.”

Reliance Jio will be unfazed by Vodafone-Idea merger. Here’s why

<keyword id="6354924" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Idea-Cellular">Idea Cellular</keyword> said it will launch a phone to counter <keyword id="6354504" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reliance-Jio">Reliance Jio</keyword>Phone, raising net neutrality concerns about Reliance Jio's 4G phones. Idea said JioPhone will allow the apps of the operator's choice only. "One of the concerns is about net neutrality. It will not allow most of the apps which a customer prefers and the choice of apps may not work because it is forcing consumers to use an individual operator's apps," Himanshu Kapania, the managing director of Idea Cellular Limited, the third largest telco operator, said in an analyst call. Kapania further said it remains to be seen as to how the proposed Jio phone, which does not have features like a smartphone, serves those wanting to browse the Internet. Meanwhile, he said Idea is working with mobilephone manufacturers to launch its own, slightly expensive phone This new handset will give all the choices to a customer, including to choose the operator of his/her choice, popular applications like <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword>, Facebook or Whatsapp, Kapania stressed.

Idea to launch own handset to counter Reliance JioPhone

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=reliance+jio&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Reliance Jio</a> has filed a complaint, accusing <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=airtel&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Airtel</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=vodafone&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Vodafone</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Idea&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Idea</a> of lobbying against it. A complaint has also been registered against the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Cellular+Operators+Association+of+India&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Cellular Operators Association of India</a> (COAI) As per reports, the Competition Commission of India (<keyword id="47183" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="CCI">CCI</keyword>) has ordered a detailed probe against <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword>, Vodafone, <keyword id="6354924" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Idea-Cellular">Idea Cellular</keyword> and COAI in this matter and will investigate whether unfair business practices were done. Sources told ET the CCI would also examine COAI’s conduct. The probe by the Director General (DG) has been ordered for allegedly trying to restrict the entry of <keyword id="6354504" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reliance-Jio">Reliance Jio</keyword>, the official added. Director General (DG), which is the investigation arm of the CCI, will look into the matter. An Airtel spokesperson told ET, "We have not received any such communication from the CCI and would, therefore, not be able to comment. We have already stated that we have always responded with alacrity and provided a staggering quantum of PoIs (Point of Interconnections) to Reliance Jio in record time." "Though we have not seen the order as it has not been published yet, we are disappointed at the apparent news (if confirmed), that the CCI has decided to go forward with an investigation into the complaint filed by Reliance Jio," COAI Director General Rajan Mathews told ET. Also, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio has alleged the incumbent telecom players that they do not provide sufficient network connectivity. Sources told ET the watchdog has concluded that dominant telecom players allegedly colluded and used the platform of COAI to deny point of interconnection to Reliance Jio.

Reliance Jio cries cartelisation by Airtel, Vodafone and Idea; regulator orders probe

Corporate giants Reliance Industries Limited and Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited, the promoter group of <keyword id="6354924" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Idea-Cellular">Idea Cellular</keyword>, have applied to the Reserve Bank of India (<keyword id="30067" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="RBI">RBI</keyword>) for licenses for setting up of payment banks. In the case of <keyword id="6484187" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="RIL">RIL</keyword>, the company would be the promoter company while India’s largest public sector unit, State Bank of India will have 30% of equity investment in the joint venture. 
	 “This partnership brings together the combined strengths of two of India’s Fortune 500 corporations committed to making a transformative impact on India’s financial inclusion landscape,” said the company in a letter to the National Stock Exchange (<keyword id="6354646" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="NSE">NSE</keyword>). 
	 
	It further added, “The Payments Bank will leverage SBI’s nationwide distribution network and risk management capabilities along with the substantial investments made by RIL in its retail and telecom businesses. It will deploy state-of-the-art technology, build scalable infrastructure and create extensive branch and business correspondent network in order to provide last-mile access and intuitive user experience to all sections of society.” 
	 
	On the other hand, Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited, has applied for a payment bank license to the RBI. “ABNL would hold 51% equity in the payments bank, which is proposed to be registered under Idea Payments Bank Limited,” the company said in its filings to the NSE. 
	 
	According to the filing, the Board of the company had approved participation in payment bank up to 49% and up to 60% through the automatic route. 
	 “A wholly-owned subsidiary of Idea, Idea Mobile Commerce Services Ltd, has a current authorization from the RBI to issue Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI Issuer). As per the guidelines, a PPI issuer cannot co-exist within the same promoter group. Hence, in case the Payment Bank license is granted to <keyword id="193651" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="ABNL">ABNL</keyword>, then the business carried out by PPI Issuer will be folded into such Payment bank,” added the company. 
	 
	As per the RBI guidelines, the minimum entry capital for Payment Banks should be Rs 100 crore.

RIL, Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd Eyeing Payment Bank
License

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=telecom+operators">Telecom operators</a> have said they spend quite a lot on <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=spectrum">spectrum</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=network">network</a>, and low expenditure on quality equipment is not the reason for call drops. They added that Rs. 1.34 lakh crores were invested during the 2014-2015 fiscal. 
 
Telcos have committed Rs 110,000 crores for spectrum and spent another Rs 24,000 crores on network equipment in the 2014-15 fiscal. They have been demanding the Centre to allow government premises and access to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=defence">defence</a> and cantonment areas to deploy mobile towers to overcome call drops. 
 "<keyword id="6354776" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Telecom">Telecom</keyword> operators invested 73% of their revenues as compared to nearly 13% global average on spectrum and networks last year and therefore it's wrong to presume that call drops happen due to low investment by telcos," <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Idea+Cellular">Idea Cellular</a> CEO and Managing Director Himanshu Kapania said. 
 
"Despite world's lowest voice and data tariff in India, the telecom industry was able to made huge investments in the last 20 years and the overall sector contributes 3.5% to the country's GDP and facilitates 7.3 lakh direct jobs," Kapania added. 
 Industry analysts say that network congestion is one of the biggest hurdles to seamless <keyword id="117358" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="connectivity">connectivity</keyword>. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

Call drops are here to stay probably

Bharti <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/You-can-now-pay-via-Paytm-Wallet-on-the-Airtel-website-and-MyAirtelapp/articleshow/52235760.cms">Airtel</a>, India’s leading telecom service provider has followed its rival <keyword id="6354924" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Idea-Cellular">Idea Cellular</keyword>, thus cutting down effective data rates for its prepaid customers and offering up to 67% more benefits to the customers for the same price. 
 
A similar strategy was adopted by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Idea-July-spectrum-auction/articleshow/52120271.cms">Idea Cellular</a>, India’s No. 3 carrier, last week, when it slashed effective data rates and started to offer up to 45% more benefits for its prepaid users in India who use less than 1GB of data. On the other hand,<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Vodafone-plans-to-file-for-IPO-in-India-inAugust-Sources/articleshow/52887129.cms"> Vodafone India</a>, which is the second largest mobile career in the country, is also expected to follow the same path in the coming days, sources told <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/airtel-cuts-effective-data-rates-for-prepaid-customers/articleshow/53257249.cms">ET</a>. 
 
All this could be cited to woo<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Who-says-internet-is-bad-Indias-GDP-could-jump-by-1-trillion-if-all-Indians-get-online/articleshow/52504643.cms"> mobile internet users</a> ahead of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Reliance-Jio-to-take-few-months-to-launch-4G-services/articleshow/53228467.cms">Reliance Jio Infocom's 4G launch</a>. 
 
Industry analysts are of the opinion that these telcos aren't directly reducing the rates, but offering more services in turn of less money. Using this strategy, they will be able to protect crucial average revenue per user (ARPU). 
 
<a href="https://medhaj-staging.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/photo/data_file/23771/Bharti-Airtel.jpg">Image source</a>

Airtel gets the ‘idea’ of offering more data benefits for prepaid customers

In a bid to raise fresh capital, telecom major <keyword id="6354924" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Idea-Cellular">Idea Cellular</keyword>, which is a part of the Aditya Birla Group, plans to sell its independent towers for Rs 7,580 crore. And the company is in talks with other telecos such as Malaysia based <keyword id="374980" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Axiata">Axiata</keyword>, American Tower Corporation and Bharti Infratel. 
	 
	According to a report by ET, top telecom service providers became debt laden following the spectrum auctions. Since then, they have been looking at ways to infuse fresh capital into the company. 
	 It should be noted that currently Idea has an overall debt of Rs 14,000 crore and had raised Rs 3,000 crore through qualified institutional placement process last year. Rival <keyword id="6354287" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bharti-Airtel">Bharti Airtel</keyword>, too raised funds by divesting its African towers assets. 
	 
	Interestingly, Malaysia’s Axiata, which also has minority stake in the Idea, has been interested in buying the company’s independent tower arm for some years. According to a media report, the foreign company had also submitted a proposal to acquire these towers. 
	 
	Currently, Idea, the third largest service provider has nearly 11,000 towers in the country. 
	 
	Image Credit: Indiatimes.com

You Searched For "Idea Cellular" and got 10 results

Idea Cellular gain incremental market revenue

Tech Radar India Bureau

Idea ups mobile data rates in NCR by up to 100%

BI India Bureau

#BTSwithInsiders: The story of the creation of Idea Cellular’s Honey Bunny, with Arun Iyer

Samarpita Banerjee

Reliance Jio will be unfazed by Vodafone-Idea merger. Here’s why

BI India Bureau

Idea to launch own handset to counter Reliance JioPhone

BI India Bureau

Reliance Jio cries cartelisation by Airtel, Vodafone and Idea; regulator orders probe

BI India Bureau

RIL, Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd Eyeing Payment Bank License

Purba Das

Call drops are here to stay probably

BI India Bureau

Airtel gets the ‘idea’ of offering more data benefits for prepaid customers

BI India Bureau

Cash strapped? Idea to sell its telecom towers for Rs 7,580 crore

BI India Bureau

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides