Idea Cellular (commonly referred to as Idea, and stylised as ''!dea'') was an Indian

mobile network operator A mobile network operator (MNO), also known as a wireless service provider, wireless carrier, cellular company, or mobile network carrier, is a provider of wireless communications services that owns or controls all the elements necessary to sel ...

based at

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdi ...

. Idea was a pan-India integrated GSM operator and had 220.00 million subscribers as of June 2018. Idea Cellular merged with

Vodafone India Vodafone India (formerly Vodafone Essar Ltd, Huchison Essar Ltd) was the Indian subsidiary of UK-based Vodafone Group plc and was a provider of telecommunications services in India with its operational head office in Mumbai. As of March 2018, ...

and is now known as Vodafone Idea or Vi.

History

Idea Cellular was incorporated as Birla Communications Limited in 1995 after GSM licenses were won in Gujarat and Maharashtra circles. The company name was changed to Idea Cellular and the brand Idea was introduced in 2002 after a series of name changes following mergers and joint ventures with

Grasim Industries Grasim Industries Limited is an Indian manufacturing company based in Mumbai. Since its inception in 1947 as a textile manufacturer, Grasim has diversified into textile raw materials like viscose staple fiber (VSF) and viscose filament yarn, ch ...

AT&T Corporation AT&T Corporation, originally the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is the subsidiary of AT&T Inc. that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agen ...

and

Tata Group The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest conglomerate, with products and services in over 150 countries, and operations in 100 countries across six continent ...

. Following the exit of AT&T Corporation and Tata Group from the joint venture in 2004 and 2006 respectively, Idea Cellular became a subsidiary of

Aditya Birla Group Aditya Birla Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Mumbai. It operates in 100 countries with more than 1,40,000 employees directly and indirectly. The group was founded by Seth Shiv Narayan Birla in 1857. The group h ...

. Malaysia based Axiata had bought around 20% stake in the company in 2008 for US$2 billion. Idea previously bought a 40.8% stake in Spice Communications Ltd, operating as Spice Telecom, for over 2,700 crore.

Merger of Vodafone and Idea (Vi)

The entry of Jio in 2016 had led to various mergers and consolidations in the Indian telecom sector. It was announced in March 2017 that even Idea Cellular and

would be merged. The merger got approval from Department Of Telecommunications in July 2018. On August 30, 2018,

National Company Law Tribunal The National Company Law Tribunal is a quasi-judicial body in India that adjudicates issues relating to Indian companies. The tribunal was established under the Companies Act 2013 and was constituted on 1 June 2016 by the government of India ...

gave the final nod to the Vodafone-Idea merger The merger was completed on 31 August 2018, and the newly merged entity was named Vodafone Idea Limited. The merger created the largest telecom company in India by subscribers and by revenue. Under the terms of the deal, the Vodafone Group holds a 45.2% stake in the combined entity, the Aditya Birla Group holds 26% and the remaining shares will be held by the public. After merge, Vodafone and Idea became known as Vi. It was a biggest combination between two telecom companies in the world. On 7 September 2020, Vodafone Idea unveiled this new brand identity, Vi, which involved the integration of the company's erstwhile separate brands Vodafone and Idea into one unified brand.

Operations

In the 2010 3G spectrum auction, Idea paid for spectrum in 11 circles. After the launch of MNP in India, Idea further strengthened its customer base because it was the mobile network with most net port-ins.

Radio frequency summary

Idea Cellular owned spectrum in 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz bands across the

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...

. Note: The above table contains Vodafone-Idea (merged entity) radio frequency details because they used to share their networks with each other via ICR (intra-circle roaming agreement) in some circles. For example, Idea had started giving its customers in Delhi access to 4G services in May 2018 via the Vodafone network.

References

External links

* {{Major telecommunications companies Companies based in Mumbai Telecommunications companies of India Axiata Aditya Birla Group Mobile phone companies of India Private equity portfolio companies Providence Equity Partners companies Internet service providers of India Indian companies established in 1995 Indian brands Former AT&T subsidiaries Former Tata Group subsidiaries 1995 establishments in Maharashtra Telecommunications companies established in 1995 Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange