VINIT VODA

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A

Project Study Report

On

Training Undertaken at

VODAFONE

Titled

ANALYSIS ON MARKETING STRATEGIES & CUSTOMER

RELATIONSHIP IN VODAFONE

In Partial fulfillment of

For the Award of degree of

Master of business administration

2011-13

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

Mr. Rajat Mendirata Vinit Choudhary

MBA IV SEM

APEX INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT & SCIENCE, JAIPUR


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PREFACE

Project in any organization is an attempt to provide student a practical input &Exposure to the real world situation in which he has to work in future.

My training in, VODAFONE. Jaipur was an attempt in this regard. The project

work provided to me was ANALYSIS ON MARKETING STRATEGIES &

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP IN VODAFONE.

VODAFONE is today one of the most competitive & profitable franchise in

India as can be clearly depicted by the analysis of its portfolio of mobile services..

The report has been prepaid and is presented under various heading as

introduction, organization profile, research objective & scope of research project

etc.

Vinit Choudhary

MBA IV SEM

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ACK NOWLEDG EM ENT

I express my sincere thanks to my project guide, Mr. Rohit kumar,

Designation Head Human Resource Dept. H.R. for guiding me right from the

inception till the successful completion of the project. I sincerely

acknowledge him for extending their valuable guidance, support for literature,

critical review of the project and the report and above all the moral support

he had provide to me with all stages of the project.

I would also like to thank the supporting staff Mr. Rajat Mendirata Department,

for their help and cooperation throughout our project.

Vinit Choudhary

MBA IV SEM

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Project study Program is conducted by every business school as a part of their

curriculum so that the students get an exposure to the real corporate world. The

internship enables the student to get a feel of the working environment of big

corporate houses. This report provides the outline of my work till now as a part of

the Summer Internship Program, which corroborate the application of my

theoretical knowledge to the practical business world. For my industrial spotlight

and a first exposure to the corporate world, I had selected VODAFONE.

I joined VODAFONE. on 22 JUNE 2010. I have been given chance to work in the

Sales department. On my first day I met my company guide Mr. Rohit kumar,

who is the head of human resource eastern region. I had initial discussion about

my project with him. He explained me in brief the workings of the department.

The project is all about comparative analysis of different mobile services ofdifferent companies. The objective of the project was to check the awareness

level of mobile connection and attitude of the people towards which company

good in the current market.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

5

S. NO. Descriptions Page no.

1. Introduction to the industry 6-22

2. Introduction to the Organization 23-58

3. Research Methodology

1. Title of the Study

2. Duration of the Project

3. Objective of the Study4. Types of Research

5. Collection Method and Sample Size

6. Scope of Study

7. Limitation of Study

59-69

4. Facts and Findings 70

5. Data Analysis and Interpretation 71-84

6. Swot Analysis 85-86

7. Conclusion 87

8. Recommendation and Suggestion 88

9. Appendix 89-91

10. BIBLIOGRAPHY 92


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1. INTRODUCTION TO THE INDUSTRY

The telecom network in India is the fifth largest network in the world meeting up

with global standards. Presently, the Indian telecom industry is currently slated to

an estimated contribution of nearly 1% to Indias GDP.

The Indian Telecommunications network with 110.01 million connections is the

fifth largest in the world and the second largest among the emerging economies

of Asia. Today, it is the fastest growing market in the world and represents

unique opportunities for U.S. companies in the stagnant global scenario. The

total subscriber base, which has grown by 40% in 2005, is expected to reach 250

million in 2007.

According to Broadband Policy 2004, Government of India aims at 9 million

broadband connections and 18 million internet connections by 2007. The

wireless subscriber base has jumped from 33.69 million in 2004 to 62.57 million

in FY2004- 2005. In the last 3 years, two out of every three new telephone

subscribers were wireless subscribers. Consequently, wireless now accounts for

54.6% of the total telephone subscriber base, as compared to only 40% in 2003.

Wireless subscriber growth is expected to bypass 2.5 million new subscribers per

month by 2007. The wireless technologies currently in use are Global System for

Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA).

There are primarily 9 GSM and 5 CDMA operators providing mobile services in

19 telecom circles and 4 metro cities, covering 2000 towns across the country.

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1.1) Evolution of the Industry - Important Milestones:

Year Description

1851 First operational land lines were laid by the govt. near

Calcutta(seat of British Power)

1881 Telephone Service introduced in India

1883 Merger with the postal system

1923 Formation of Indian Radio Telegraph Company (IRT)

1932 Merger of ETC and IRT into the Indian Radio and Communication

Company(IRCC)

1947 Nationalization of all foreign telecommunication companies to formthe Posts, Telephone and Telegraph(PTT), a monopoly run by the

governments Ministry of Communication

1985 Department of Telecommunications (DOT) established, an

exclusive provider of domestic and long-distance service that

would be its own regulator (separate from the postal system)

1986 Conversion of DOT into two wholly government-owned companies:

the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) for internationaltelecommunications and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited

(MTNL) for service in metropolitan areas.

1997 Telecom Regulatory Authority of India created

1999 Cellular Services are launched in India. New National Telecom

Policy is adopted.

2000 DoT becomes a corporation, BSNL

"Telecommunications is the backbone of our future economy. International

competitiveness increasingly depends on the development of a

telecommunications infrastructure that is compatible with international standards"

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The cellular industry all over the world has been witnessing very high growth

rates in subscriber base in recent years. For developing countries in particular,

cellular services are becoming a very significant proportion of the overall telecom

infrastructure. The mechanics of competition within this market involve complex

feedback effects between individual service providers and with their operating

environment, and these forces play an important role in governing the growth of

this industry.

The Indian telecommunications sector has undergone a major process of

transformation because of significant Government policy reforms during the

recent years. The New Telecom Policy, 1999 focused on creating an ideal

environment for investment, establishing communication infrastructure by

leveraging on technological development and providing affordable telecom

services to all. These objectives of the policies have resulted in rapid growth of

subscribers and lower tariffs. We believe that with these major initiatives of the

Government, the mobile market in India will have a promising future.

In a country like India which is not yet telephone-saturated and the ongoing

changes in related areas are resulting in a rapidly changing profile of users,

providers and their respective needs, continuous revision of the telecom policy is

imperative. Given the emerging new technologies and the integrating economies

there must be fairness among competitors.

The tele-density in India is about four per hundred people in respect of the fixed

telephones and a little less than one in respect of the mobile telephony. The low

densities are not because there is no need for a telephone but because of its

high cost that many cannot afford that one. The situation here is nothing but

holding true of the law of demand. Isnt it?

The cost for the companies can come down if the revenue share imposed on

them as a condition of license is abolished or drastically reduced. Today every

telephone company is bound to pay a share out of its revenue to the exchequer.

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These costs are, however, not to be scheduled to take a step further in the

development of the telecom. In addition when we go through the telephone bill

there is a 5 to 8% service charge. This amount also does not go for the telecom

development. If these external cost are removed there can be seen a spurt in

demand of not less then 40% as expected.

While taking the side of suppliers a lot of new companies are coming into the

battlefield resulting in reduction of prices and hence a little less burdensome on

to the customer. The cost of interconnection with the incumbent is proving to be

contributory to the high cost of services provided by the competitors.

The delay in the interconnection disregards the quality of service and high cost

will detract from affordability. This is an area in which no consumer body can

knowledgeably contribute unless it has the assistant of experts or economists

who alone can discover all the relevant fact of all the contesting companies. It

indicates the pre-eminent domain of TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of

India).

As the driven down of the prices for long distance including international services

reduces the amount available for subsidizing the local service, the rental for local

services are being increased. Considering that about 90% of the long distance

calls are made by less than 20% of customers, 80% of customers are having to

pay higher rental this depresses the demand for telephones and affordability. The

urban businesssubscribers will be bearing the bond of the subsidies to be given

to the rural private consumers.

History of Cellular Telephony in India

The technology that gives a person the power to communicate anytime,

anywhere - has spawned an entire industry in mobile telecommunication. Mobile

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telephones have become an integral part of the growth, success and efficiency of

any business / economy. The most prevalent wireless standard in the world

today, is GSM. The GSM Association (Global System for Mobile

Communications) was instituted in 1987 to promote and expedite the adoption,

development and deployment and evolution of the GSM standard for digital

wireless communications.

The GSM Association was formed as a result of a European Community

agreement on the need to adopt common standards suitable for cross border

European mobile communications. Starting off primarily as a European standard,

the Group Special Mobile as it was then called, soon came to represent the

Global System for Mobile Communications as it achieved the status of a world-

wide standard. GSM is today, the world's leading digital standard accounting for

68.5% of the global digital wireless market. The Indian Government when

considering the introduction of cellular services into the country, made a

landmark decision to introduce the GSM standard, leapfrogging obsolescent

technologies / standards. Although cellular licenses were made technology

neutral in September 1999, all the private operators are presently offering only

GSM based mobile services. The new licensees for the 4th cellular licenses that

were awarded in July 2001 too, have opted for GSM technology to offer theirmobile services.

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Cellular Industry in India

The Government of India recognizes that the provision of a world-class

telecommunications infrastructure and information is the key to rapid economic

and social development of the country. It is critical not only for the development

of the Information Technology industry, but also has widespread ramifications on

the entire economy of the country. It is also anticipated that going forward, a

major part of the GDP of the country would be contributed by this sector.

Accordingly, it is of vital importance to the country that there be a comprehensive

and forward looking telecommunications policy which creates an enabling

framework for development of this industry.

Cellular Market Structure in India

As in other countries, in India, the Cellular Mobile Service Providers (CMSPs) are

licensed to operate in designated geographical operating areas. The service

areas include four metro areas and 18 circles categorized as A, B and C. (The

categorization is based on the revenue Proceedings of the 36th Hawaii

International Conference on System Sciences).

The potential with category C circles in the lower end of the scale. For example

the metros account for 40% of the subscriber population, with Category-A, B and

C accounting for 33%, 23% and 4% respectively. The CMSPs had to pay an

entry fee and subsequently annual license fee as a percentage of their revenue

to the Department of Telecommunications.

The entry and license fees varied according to the service area, highest for

metros and lowest for Category-C circles. Some of the CMSPs could not fulfill

their licensing obligations and their licenses were revoked leading to a monopoly

situation in certain areas. Apart from these charges, each CMSP has to share the

revenue with the long distance operators for carrying inter-service area calls.

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In profitable metros and circles, the competition is severe and the market is split

between the two operators. In a price-cap regulated market, the operators use

appropriate pricing strategy to win customers and win market share.

In highly price-elastic markets, such as in India, as the service provider reducesthe price, the subscriber base increases considerably, and so is the network

traffic. The increased network traffic decreases the performance and the quality

of service, inviting customers to switch. Being a new entrant in a metro area, the

government operator reduced the airtime charges to such an extent that the

subscriber base increased suddenly leading to poor network performance. The

operator did not have enough network capacity to handle calls leading to

blocking of calls, with frustrated customers switching over immediately to

competitors.

The operators also have to resort to non-pricing competition strategies to win

customers. In India, CMSPs offer a variety of service plans as a means to attract

new customers. Different service plans include: pre-paid calling card schemes,

discounted airtime rates for evening and night time calls, discounted roaming

charges, no or minimum activation fees, and reduced mobile to mobile long

distance call rates.

The service providers incur additional advertising and infrastructure cost for

implementing these plans. Short Message Service (SMS) and Wireless

Application Protocol (WAP) service are fast catching up. For example, in India,

about 500,000 SMS messages are being carried by a service provider in one

metro area alone. When the sector moves over to an oligopoly market, the

operators have to provide improved quality of service and value added services

in order to survive and gain market share.

Larger operators who have experience and infrastructure may be able to provide

a higher quality of service and other value-added service at a lower price. They

also have access to larger project financing for enlarging their networks and

services. For example, a single large operator now has license to operate in 14

service areas in the country with the largest footprint to cover most of the areas

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of the country. Mergers and acquisitions are commonplace as the operators are

consolidating their revenues to survive in the market places.

Cellular subscribers and those with a propensity to go mobile in Delhi have never

had it so good. They now have four service providers to choose from, eachoffering an array of both pre- and post-paid schemes. More importantly, average

tariffs across plans have, by some reckoning, dropped by at least 50 per cent in

the last six months. The entry of Vodafone saw a further drop in tariffs and the

operators have come out with new schemes to retain their subscribers and

attract fresh ones.

What does this mean for subscribers and for the cellular industry in Delhi? All the

four operators Essar Mobile Services Ltd., Bharti Celluar Ltd, MTNL and IdeaCellular services are convinced that the market will only expand and the

subscribers will benefit even more. Their reasoning is that cellular penetration in

Delhi, which traditionally occupies the third position in other areas, is less than

fifty per cent. Therefore, entry of new players will only increase awareness about

the facility, the companies say.

Moreover, the state-owned MTNL has also been playing with its cellular service

for quite some time. that, with the imminent launch of limited mobility usingCDMA (code division multiple access) technology by companies like Tata Tele

Services will only add to the subscriber base, probably result in further reduction

of tariffs, and an even greater widening of the cellular market, according to

officials in four cellular companies now servicing Delhi.

However, the companies also sound a note of caution any further drop in

tariffs will be harmful to the companies, points out one of the officials taking care

of the Sales & Marketing division of the, Essar Mobile Services Ltd, averagetariffs in Delhi across different plans have fallen by 30 per cent since December

with launching of the CDMA services.

Besides the fall in tariffs, what has really happened with the entry of CDMA is a

heightened awareness in the market. Mobile penetration in Delhi and its suburbs

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is estimated to be less than twenty-five percent of the population and the cellular

operators believe that this number should definitely go up.

It is here that Vodafone decided to target the customers with what it believes are

unique products and features. Its emphasis has been on value proposition andbrand building. Mobility is not only about carrying voice, as per the reports from

the marketing department and adds that the unified messaging system for the

post-paid customers of (now Vodafone) is one such unique product.

Accordingly, Vodafone signed in its subscribers in lakhs from the year onwards it

has been launched in Delhi. Industry analysts say that a majority of them will be

pre-paid customers, whose loyalty to a particular brand is always in doubt.

However, pre-paid for the cellular is nothing but the engine for growth and there

is always a possibility that most of them will shift to post-paid once they are

convinced of the quality of service provided.

On the other hand the entry of a new operator lends more visibility to the service

and there is also increased trade activity that is the number of dealers will

increase and more people will be on the road trying to sell the service and

product. There is also greater consumer awareness of what cellular service can

deliver and expectations go up in terms of pricing or service standards or network

availability.

The Churn in the Cellular Industry:

As like the other products Cellular industry has not been left untouched from the

Churn (switching over). During the survey this fact comes to the fore. According

to the cellular operators, there is a normal seven to eight percent churn in the

customers, especially in the pre-paid category. Among the post-paid customers,

the Churn is much lower about two-three percent.

They say that one significant change that has happened in the last few months,

more so since lowering of the tariffs, is that the bias in favour of incoming calls as

far as call charges are concerned incoming calls has been set free while they

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are charging reasonably only for the outgoing ones has changed. A tariff re-

balancing has definitely taken place.

This means that the cellular operators are encouraging their subscribers to not

just receive calls, but also make calls increasing the usage of the service. Withfalling tariffs, cellular operators are convinced that increasing usage is one way to

ensure that average revenue per user (ARPU) does not fall very low. The

industry figure for ARPU is believed to be about Rs.1,100 while it may vary from

operator to operator. The operators are also concentrating on introducing more

value added services to the customers. Value-added services have not really

taken off. Only the SMS (short messaging service) has really caught on, but

operators like Bharti are bringing in services like music messaging and concierge

facility for its subscribers.

MOBILE SUBSCRIBER STATISTICS

Recently, mobile phone connections in India have crossed the 400-million mark,

which means over forty in 100 Indians have a phone. Adding on to this

benevolent and happy information, telecom companies are anticipating the

number will nearly treble in the next two years. According to a survey, by 2010,

the cellular networks are expected to cover 4,50,000 (out of 6,07,000) villages,

covering 550 million people.

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Figure 1 Market Share of both mobile and wire line Service Providers in India

GSM Subscribers

The cumulative All India GSM subscriber base rose to 72.12 million in

April 2006 from 69.19 million in March 2006 which is a growth of 4.23% for a

month under review [4]. Table I shows the subscribers growth rate for one month

along with market share of each provider with coverage

CDMA Mobile Subscribers

The total cumulative all India CDMA subscriber base rose by 0.97 million

from 23.25 million in March 2009 to 24.22 million in April 2009,representing a growth of 4.2% in the month under review. A summary

picture of the company wise performance is given in Table II.

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TELECOM IN RURAL INDIA

Table I. GSM Subscribers growth rate

Company No of Subscribers (in million) % Market

Share

Service Areas

March 2009 April 2009

Bharti 19.57 20.68 28.7% 23BSNL 17.16 17.59 24.4% 21Vodafone 15.36 16.06 22.3% 16IDEA 7.37 7.64 10.6% 11

Aircel 20.61 2.83 3.9% 7Reliance 1.90 2.01 2.8% 8

Spice 1.93 1.98 2.7% 2.MTNL 1.94 2.02 2.8% 2BPL 1.34 1.31 1.8% 1Total 69.19 72.12 100%

India has an urban population of about 26.8% and rural population is

about73.2%. And there are over 600,000 villages in India. But a vast section of

the rural sector is still cut off from the benefits of telecom services. The ruralpopulation of around 700 million is waiting for its share of economic growth.

Initially the big telephone companies focused only on urban centres, which they

felt were more profitable. However, this mindset is gradually changing with the

realisation that there is equal, if not bigger money in rural areas.

Table II. CDMA Subscribers growth rate

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Company (No.of Subscribers,per

million)

(% in Market

Share)

Service Areas

March 2009 April 2009Reliance 18.307 18.809 77.65% 20

TATA 4.851 5.323 21.98% 20

HFCl 0.062 0.062 0.26% 1

Shyam 0.027 0.028 0.11% 1

Total 69.19 72.12 100%

It is estimated that a one per cent increase in rural connectivity can generate 0.5

per cent economic growth. Thus a well-planned 10 per cent increase in rural

connectivity can propel India into double-digit growth and unprecedented

prosperity.

Rural India possesses enormous potential in terms of economy and human

resources. Recent experiments have confirmed that ICT (information and

communication technology) helps improve the timeliness and efficiency of ruralfarm operations and enhance income through producer-oriented markets. Hence

the communication ministry has requested the finance ministry for higher

allocations from the USO Fund for executing rural telephony network. The

finance ministry has made a budgetary allocation of 15 billion from the USO

Fund. The rural telephony targets include, providing 50 million telephones by

2009(i.e. one phone per three rural households) and 80 million by 2012 (i.e. one

phone per two rural households) and provisioning mobile access to all villages

with population more that 5,000 by 2009 and more than 1,000 by 2010.The

Government is confident that the Bharat Nirman Programme target of providing

coverage to remaining 41,000 villages would be met by March 2010 which will be

much earlier than a schedule of November 2010.

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India plans to establish 0.25 million, village knowledge centres. The ICT industry

can establish rural call centres modelled on the Kisan Call Centre established by

the Ministry of Agriculture to provide domain knowledge in the services,

agriculture and manufacturing sectors. This spread will increase the volume of

users and automatically bring down bandwidth cost, with a spiralling effect on

efficiency and economy. Advanced telecom services are no longer considered a

luxury but a necessity for all. Thus, providing telecom services to every individual

in a country like India is a huge challenge, and at the same time holds immense

opportunities for those in the telecom industry.

Major Players:

There are three types of players in telecom services:

State owned companies (BSNL and MTNL)

Private Indian owned companies (Reliance Infocomm, Tata Teleservices)

Foreign invested companies (Vodafone-Essar, Bharti Tele-Ventures,

Escotel, Idea Cellular, BPL Mobile, Spice Communications)

India's mobile telecom sector is one of the fastest growing sectors. Unlike in the

1990s when the mobile phone was an elitist product, mobile operators now tap a

mass market with mass marketing techniques. "Unified licensing" rules allow

basic and mobile operators into each others territory, and have ushered in

perhaps the final phase of industry consolidation.

It seems that only companies with deep pockets can effectively compete as

primary operators mobile markets. Economies of scale, scope, and end-to-end

presence in long-distance as well as local telecom, are desirable.

There are, besides, new challenges. Operators have to find new growth drivers

for the wire line business. There are problems of getting broadband to take off, of

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technology choice, of when to introduce new technologies, and of developing a

viable business model in an era of convergence.

Growth of mobile technology:

India has the fastest growing mobile markets in the world. The mobile services

were commercially launched in August 1995 in India. In the initial 5-6 years the

average monthly subscribers additions were around 0.05 to 0.1 million only and

the total mobile subscribers base in December 2002 stood at 10.5 millions.

However, after the number of proactive initiatives taken by regulator and licensor,

the monthly subscriber additions increased to around 2 million per month in theyear 2003-04 and 2004-05.

Although mobile telephones followed the New Telecom Policy 1994, growth was

tardy in the early years because of the high price of hand sets as well as the high

tariff structure of mobile telephones. The New Telecom Policy in 1999, the

industry heralded several pro consumer initiatives. Mobile subscriber additions

started picking up. The number of mobile phones added throughout the country

in 2003 was 16 million, followed by 22 millions in 2004, 32 million in 2005 and 65

million in 2006. The only countries with more mobile phones than India with

156.31 million mobile phones are China 408 million and USA 170 million.

India has opted for the use of both the GSM (global system for mobile

communications) and CDMA (code-division multiple access) technologies in the

mobile sector. The mobile tariffs in India have also become lowest in the world. A

new mobile connection can be activated with a monthly commitment of US$ 5only. In 2005 alone 32 million handsets were sold in India. The data reveals the

real potential for growth of the Indian mobile market.

Cellular Service Providers:

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As on Apr 2007 India has 167 million mobile phone subscribers. Out of this 125

million are GSM users and 41 million CDMA users. BSNL, Bharti Airtel, Hutch,

Idea, Aircel, Spice and MTNL are the main GSM providers in India. Reliance

Communications and Tata Indicom are the main CDMA providers in India.

Bharti Airtel

Airtel is providing cellular services in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Andhra

Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka,

Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil

Nadu, UP and West Bengal. Airtel is the No.1 cellular service provider in India

using GSM technology. Airtel has 23% market share in India with a total

subscriber base of 38 million.

Reliance Communications

Reliance has both CDMA and GSM networks and total subscriber base of 29

million or 17% market share. It has GSM network in Assam, Bihar, Himachal

Pradesh, Kolkata, North East, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal.

Reliance has CDMA networks in other states and cities.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)

BSNL is a state owned telecom company which has GSM presence in almost

every cities and towns. BSNL has 27 million subscribers with a market share of

16%.

Vodafone

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Vodafone is another emerging GSM provider in India with coverage in Kerala,

Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and

Punjab with a total subscriber base of 27 million.

Tata Indicom

Tata Indicom is a main CDMA provider in India with 16 million subscribers all

over India. Tata Indicom has presence in almost every state and cities in India.

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2. INTRODUCTION TO THE ORGANIZATION

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Vodafone is a mobile network operator headquartered in Berkshire, England,

UK. It is the largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world by

turnover and has a market value of about 75 billion (August 2008). Vodafone

currently has operations in 25 countries and partner networks in a further 42

countries.

The name Vodafone comes from Vo ice da ta fone, chosen by the company to

"reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones."

As of 2006 Vodafone had an estimated 260 million customers in 25 markets

across 5 continents. On this measure, it is the second largest mobile telecom

group in the world behind China Mobile.

In the United States, Vodafone owns 45% of Verizon Wireless.

2.2) Mission:

Vodafone is primarily a user of technology rather than a developer of it, and this

fact is reflected in the emphasis of our work program on enabling new

applications of mobile communications, using new technology for new services,

research for improving operational efficiency and quality of our networks, and

providing technology vision and leadership that can contribute directly to

business decisions.

2.3) Vision:

Our Vision is to be the worlds mobile communication leader enriching

customers lives, helping individuals, businesses and Communities be more

connected in a mobile world.

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2.4) History:

In 1982 Racal Electronics plc's subsidiary Racal Strategic Radio Ltd. won one of

two UK cellular telephone network licenses. The network, known as Racal

Vodafone was 80% owned by Racal, with Millicom and the Hambros Technology

Trust owning 15% and 5% respectively. Vodafone was launched on 1 January

1985. Racal Strategic Radio was renamed Racal Telecommunications Group

Limited in 1985. On 29 December 1986 Racal Electronics bought out the minority

shareholders of Vodafone for GB110 million.

In September 1988 the company was again renamed Racal Telecom and on 26

October 1988 Racal Electronics floated 20% of the company. The flotation

valued Racal Telecom at GB1.7 billion On 16 September 1991 Racal Telecom

was demerged from Racal Electronics as Vodafone Group.

In July 1996 Vodafone acquired the two thirds of Talkland it did not already own

for 30.6 million. On 19 November 1996, in a defensive move, Vodafone

purchased Peoples Phone for 77 million, a 181 store chain whose customers

were overwhelmingly using Vodafone's network. In a similar move the company

acquired the 80% of Astec Communications that it did not own, a service providerwith 21 stores.

In 1997 Vodafone introduced its Speech marklogo, as it is a quotation mark in a

circle; the O's in the Vodafone logotype are opening and closing quotation marks,

suggesting conversation.

On 29 June 1999 Vodafone completed its purchase of AirTouch

Communications, Inc. and changed its name to Vodafone Airtouch plc. Trading ofthe new company commenced on 30 June 1999. To approve the merger,

Vodafone sold its 17.2% stake in E-Plus Mobilfunk. The acquisition gave

Vodafone a 35% share of Mannesmann, owner of the largest German mobile

network.

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Vodafones original logo used until the introduction of the speech mark

logo in 1998.

On 21 September 1999 Vodafone agreed to merge its U.S. wireless assets with

those of Bell Atlantic Corp to form Verizon Wireless. The merger was completed

on 4 April 2000.

In November 1999 Vodafone made an unsolicited bid for Mannesmann, which

was rejected. Vodafone's interest in Mannesmann had been increased by the

latter's purchase of Orange, the UK mobile operator. Chris Gent would later say

Mannesmann's move into the UK broke a "gentleman's agreement" not to

compete in each other's home territory. The hostile takeover provoked strong

protest in Germany and a "titanic struggle" which saw Mannesmann resists

Vodafone's efforts. However, on 3 February 2000 the Mannesmann board

agreed to an increased offer of 112bn, then the largest corporate merger ever.

The EU approved the merger in April 2000. The conglomerate was subsequently

broken up and all manufacturing related operations sold off.

On 28 July 2000 the Company reverted to its former name, Vodafone Group Plc.

In April 2001 the first 3G voice call was made on Vodafone United Kingdom's 3G

network. In 2001 the Company took over Eircell, then part of eircom in Ireland,and rebranded it as Vodafone Ireland. It then went on to acquire Japan's third-

largest mobile operator J-Phone, which had introduced camera phones first in

Japan.

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On 17 December 2001 Vodafone introduced the concept of "Partner Networks"

by signing TDC Mobil of Denmark. The new concept involved the introduction of

Vodafone international services to the local market, without the need of

investment by Vodafone. The concept would be used to extend the Vodafone

brand and services into markets where it does not have stakes in local operators.

Vodafone services would be marketed under the dual-brand scheme, where the

Vodafone brand is added at the end of the local brand. (i.e., TDC Mobil-Vodafone

etc.)

In February 2002 Finland was added into the mobile community, as Radiolinja is

signed as a Partner Network. Radiolinja later changed its named to Elisa. Later

that year the Company rebranded Japan's J-sky mobile internet service asVodafone live! and on 3 December 2002 the Vodafone brand was introduced in

the Estonian market with signing of a Partner Network Agreement with Radiolinja

(Eesti). Radiolinja (Eesti) later changed its name to Elisa.

On 7 January 2003 the Company signed a group-wide Partner agreement with

mobilkom Austria. As a result, Austria, Croatia, and Slovenia were added to the

community. In April 2003 Og Vodafone was introduced in the Icelandic market

and in May 2003 Vodafone Italy (Omnitel Pronto-Italia) was rebranded Vodafone

Italy. On 21 July 2003 Lithuania was added to the community, with the signing of

a Partner Network agreement with Bit.

In February 2004 Vodafone signed a Partner Network Agreement with

Luxembourg's Lux GSM and a Partner Network Agreement with Cyta of Cyprus.

Cyta agreed to rename its mobile phone operations to Cytamobile-Vodafone. In

April 2004 the Company purchased Single point airtime provider from John

Caudwell (Caudwell Group) and approx 1.5million customers onto its base for

405million, adding sites in Stoke on Trent (England) to existing sites in Newbury

(HQ), Birmingham, Warrington and Banbury. In November 2004 Vodafone

introduced 3G services into Europe.

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In June 2005 the Company increased its participation in Romania's Connex to

99% and also bought the Czech mobile operator Oskar. On 1 July 2005 Oskar of

the Czech Republic was rebranded as Oskar-Vodafone. Later that year on 17

October 2005 Vodafone Portugal launched a revised logo, using new text

designed by Dalton Maag, and a 3D version of the Speech mark logo, but still

retaining a red background and white writing (or vice versa). Also, various

operating companies started to drop the use of the SIM card pattern in the

company logo. (The rebranding of Oskar-Vodafone and Connex-Vodafone also

does not use the SIM card pattern.) A custom typeface by Dalton Maag (based

on their font family InterFace) formed part of the new identity.

On 28 October 2005 Connex in Romania was rebranded as Connex-Vodafoneand on 31 October 2005 the Company reached an agreement to sell Vodafone

Sweden to Telenor for approximately 1 billion. After the sale, Vodafone Sweden

became a Partner Network. In December 2005 Vodafone won an auction to buy

Turkey's second-largest mobile phone company, Telsim, for $4.5 billion. In

December 2005 Vodafone Spain became the second member of the group to

adopt the revised logo: it was phased in over the following six months in other

countries.

In 2006 the Company rebranded its Stoke-on-Trent site as Stoke Premier Centre,

a centre of expertise for the company dealing with Customer Care for its higher

value customers, technical support, sales and credit control. All cancellations and

upgrades started to be dealt with by this call centre. On 5 January 2006

Vodafone announced the completion of the sale of Vodafone Sweden to Telenor.

On February 2006 the Company closed its Birmingham Call Centre. In 1

February 2006 Oskar Vodafone became

Vodafone Czech Republic, adopting the revised logo and on 22 February 2006

the Company announced that it was extending its footprint to Bulgaria with the

signing of Partner Network Agreement with Mobiltel, which is part of mobilkom

Austria group.

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On 12 March 2006 former chief, Sir Christopher Gent, who was appointed the

honorary post Chairman for Life in 2003, quits following rumours of boardroom

rifts. In April 2006 the Company announced that it has signed an extension to its

Partner Network Agreement with BITE Group, enabling its Latvian subsidiary

"BITE Latvija" to become the latest member of Vodafone's global partner

community. Also in April 2006 Vodafone Sweden changed its name to Telenor

Sverige AB and Connex-Vodafone became Vodafone Romania, also adopting

the new logo. On 30 May 2006 Vodafone announced the biggest loss in British

corporate history (14.9 billion) and plans to cut 400 jobs; it reported one-off

costs of 23.5 billion due to the revaluation of its Mannesmann subsidiary. On 24

July 2006 the respected head of Vodafone Europe, Bill Morrow, quit

unexpectedly and on 25 August 2006 the Company announced the sale of its

25% stake in Belgium's Proximus for 2 billion. After the deal, Proximus was still

part of the community as a Partner Network. On 5 October 2006 Vodafone

announced the first single brand partnership with Og Vodafone which would

operate under the name Vodafone Iceland and on 19 December 2006 the

Company announced the sale of its 25% stake in Switzerland's Swisscom for

CHF4.25 billion (1.8 billion). After the deal, Swisscom would still be part of the

community as a Partner Network. Finally in December 2006 the Company

completed the acquisition of Aspective, an enterprise applications systems

integrator in the UK, signaling Vodafone's intent to grow a significant presence

and revenues in the ICT marketplace.

Early in January 2007 Telsim in Turkey adopted Vodafone dual branding as

Telsim Vodafone and on 1 April 2007 Telsim Vodafone Turkey dropped its

original brand and became Vodafone Turkey. On 1 May 2007 Vodafone added

Jersey and Guernsey to the community, as Airtel was signed as Partner Network

in both crown dependencies. In June 2007 the Vodafone live! Mobile Internet

portal in the UK was relaunched. Front page was now charged for and previously

"bundled" data allowance was removed from existing contract terms. All users

were given access to the "full" web rather than a Walled Garden and Vodafone

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became the first mobile network to focus an entire media campaign on its newly

launched mobile Internet portal in the UK. On 1 August 2007 Vodafone Portugal

launched Vodafone Messenger, a service with Windows Live Messenger and

Yahoo! Messenger.

On 17 April 2008 Vodafone extended its footprint to Serbia as VIP mobile was

added to the community as a Partner Network and on 20 May 2008 the Company

added VIP Operator as a Partner Network thereby extending the global footprint

to Macedonia. In May 2008 Kall of the Faroe Islands rebranded as Vodafone

Faroe Islands.

On 30 October 2008, the company announced a strategic, non-equity partnership

with MTS group of Russia. The agreement adds Russia, Armenia, Turkmenistan,

Ukraine, and Uzbekistan to the group footprint.

VODAFONE:

Board committees: Nominations and Governance Committee and Audit

Committee John Buchanan is a member of the Nominations and Governance

Committee and of the Audit Committee and, solely for the purposes of relevant

legislation, is the Board's appointed financial expert on that Committee. He

retired from the Board of BP Plc in 2002 after six years as Group Chief Financial

Officer and executive director following a wide-ranging career with the company.

He was a member of the United Kingdom Accounting Standards Board from

1997 to 2001. He is the Deputy Chairman of Smith & Nephew plc and a non-

executive director of AstraZeneca PLC and BHP Billiton.Andy Halford became

the Chief Financial Officer of the Company in July 2005. He joined Vodafone in

1999 as Financial Director for Vodafone Limited, the UK operating company, and

in 2001, he became Financial Director for Vodafone's Northern Europe, Middle

East and Africa Region. In 2002, he was appointed Chief Financial Officer of

Verizon Wireless in the US. Prior to joining Vodafone he was

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Using the new Vodafone live! mobile and PC music player you can search for

music, artist pages and previews from a catalogue of more than 750,000 songs.

Music from some of the worlds greatest artists is available, with music secured

from agreements with major record labels such as Sony BMG Music

Entertainment, EMI, Universal Music, Warner Music, as well as independent

musiclabels.

Mobile TV offers an average of 20 channels from both local and international

broadcasters. Vodafone has local agreements with broadcasters, such as the

BBC, ZDF, RAI, Pro-Sieben, Channel 4 and RTL, as well as international

broadcasts from HBO, Fox, NBC Universal, Warner Brothers, UEFA Champions

League, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and MTV, ensuring diverse and relevant

mobile content.

Vodafone Mobile Connect

Quick stats:*

2.7 million customers

Built-in 3G broadband on 44 laptop models

7.2 Mbps down and 2.1Mbps up using Vodafone Mobile Connect card with HSPA

technology

Vodafone Mobile Connect enables you to access the internet on your laptop or

PC via Vodafone Mobile Connect data cards or Vodafone Mobile Connect USB

modems.

Business customers can access services such as email, corporate applications

and company intranets using the service.

Vodafone Mobile Connect card:

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You can enjoy built-in 3G broadband from Vodafone across 44 laptop models,

including Vodafones partners Acer, Dell, HP and Lenovo. Everything you need

to make an internet connection from your computer using a mobile network is

installed and configured, allowing you to work on the move.

The Vodafone Mobile Connect card with 3G broadband offers enhanced speeds

which can be up to 7.2 Mbps downlink and up to 2.0 Mbps uplink by utilising

HSPA technology.

Vodafone Mobile Connect USB modems:

There are a range of Vodafone Mobile Connect USB modems with exclusive

designs. The USB modems are plug and play compatible, allowing for a fast set

up and making the device easy to use.

Privacy Policy

Vodafone Group Plc (hereinafter referred to as "Vodafone" "us" "we" or "our") is

committed to respecting your privacy and to complying with applicable data

protection and privacy laws. You can visit www.vodafone.com ("Site") without

disclosing any personally identifiable information about yourself.

We have provided this Privacy Policy Statement to help you understand how we

collect, use and protect your information when you visit the Site. We wish to help

you make informed decisions, so please take a few moments to read the

sections below and learn how we may use your personal information.

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy Statement "Vodafone Group" means

Vodafone Group Plc and any company or other entity in which Vodafone Group

Plc owns (directly or indirectly) more than 15% of the issued share capital.

You should read this notice in conjunction with the Terms and Conditions of use

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for the Site.

Personal Information Collection We Endeavour to collect and use your personal

information only with your knowledge and consent and typically when you use

services, make customer enquiries, register for information or other services, or

when you respond to communications from us (such as questionnaires or

surveys).

The type of personal information we may collect could include, for example, your

name and postal address, date of birth, gender, telephone and fax numbers,

email address, and lifestyle and other information collected on registration or

through surveys. If you choose to provide us with personal information it will be

used in support of the intended purposes stated at the time at which it was

collected, and subject to any preferences indicated to you.

You acknowledge that by providing data to us, you consent to the processing of

your data in accordance with this Privacy Policy Statement.

Access to your Information

You can write to us at any time to obtain details of the personal information we

may hold about you.*

Data Protection Manager (SAR)

Vodafone Limited

Vodafone House

The Connection

Newbury

RG14 2FN

England

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Please quote your name and address. We would be grateful if you could also

provide brief details of what information you want a copy (this helps us to more

readily locate your data).

We will take all reasonable steps to confirm your identity before providing you

with details of any personal information we may hold about you.

*we may charge GBP10.00 to cover the administration costs involved.

Information Security

Please be aware that communications over the Internet, such as

emails/webmails, are not secure unless they have been encrypted. Your

communications may route through a number of countries before being delivered

- this is the nature of the World Wide Web/Intranet. Vodafone cannot accept

responsibility for any unauthorised access or loss of personal information that is

beyond our control.

Transferring your information outside of the European Economic Area**

It may be necessary to transfer your personal information to other companies

within the Vodafone Group located in countries outside of the EEA. This mayhappen where our servers or such companies are based outside of the EEA or

where you use our services and products while visiting countries outside of the

EEA. The data protection and other laws of these countries may not be as

comprehensive as those in the UK or the EU - in these instances we will take

steps to ensure that your privacy rights are respected.

**The European Economic Area (EEA) currently comprises the Member states of

the European Union plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

Privacy Support

Vodafone reserves the right to amend or modify this Privacy Policy Statement at

any time and in response to changes in applicable data protection and privacy

legislation.

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the new logo. On 30 May 2006 Vodafone announced the biggest loss in British

corporate history (14.9 billion) and plans to cut 400 jobs; it reported one-off

costs of 23.5 billion due to the revaluation of its Mannesmann subsidiary. On 24

July 2006 the respected head of Vodafone Europe, Bill Morrow, quit

unexpectedly and on 25 August 2006 the Company announced the sale of its

25% stake in Belgium's Proximus for 2 billion. After the deal, Proximus was still

part of the community as a Partner Network. On 5 October 2006 Vodafone

announced the first single brand partnership with Og Vodafone which would

operate under the name Vodafone Iceland and on 19 December 2006 the

Company announced the sale of its 25% stake in Switzerland's Swisscom for

CHF4.25 billion (1.8 billion). After the deal, Swisscom would still be part of the

community as a Partner Network. Finally in December 2006 the Company

completed the acquisition of Aspective, an enterprise applications systems

integrator in the UK, signaling Vodafone's intent to grow a significant presence

and revenues in the ICT marketplace.

Early in January 2007 Telsim in Turkey adopted Vodafone dual branding as

Telsim Vodafone and on 1 April 2007 Telsim Vodafone Turkey dropped its

original brand and became Vodafone Turkey. On 1 May 2007 Vodafone added

Jersey and Guernsey to the community, as Airtel was signed as Partner Network

in both crown dependencies. In June 2007 the Vodafone live! Mobile Internet

portal in the UK was relaunched. Front page was now charged for and previously

"bundled" data allowance was removed from existing contract terms. All users

were given access to the "full" web rather than a Walled Garden and Vodafone

became the first mobile network to focus an entire media campaign on its newly

launched mobile Internet portal in the UK. On 1 August 2007 Vodafone Portugal

launched Vodafone Messenger, a service with Windows Live Messenger and

Yahoo! Messenger.

On 17 April 2008 Vodafone extended its footprint to Serbia as VIP mobile was

added to the community as a Partner Network and on 20 May 2008 the Company

added VIP Operator as a Partner Network thereby extending the global footprint

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to Macedonia. In May 2008 Kall of the Faroe Islands rebranded as Vodafone

Faroe Islands.

On 30 October 2008, the company announced a strategic, non-equity partnership

with MTS group of Russia. The agreement adds Russia, Armenia, Turkmenistan,

Ukraine, and Uzbekistan to the group footprint.

VODAFONE:

Today, in India, becomes Vodafone. Now, the pink color logo of Hutch is

replaced by Vodafone Essars corporate red colored one.

In 2005-06, the Orange brand in Mumbai was phased out to introduce (now

Vodafone). The company also changed the colors of its logo from orange to pink

and then red.

After acquiring 67 per cent of stake (around Rs. 250 crores) in ison Essar from

Hong Kong-based ison Whampoa, Vodafone Essar is expecting to touch over 35

million customers across 400,000 shops and thousands of s own employeesalong with employees of its business associates.

Vice chairman, Ravi Ruia, Vodafone Essar, said Weve had a good innings as

in India and today marks a new beginning for us, not as a departure from the

fundamentals that created , but an acceleration into the future with Vodafones

global expertise.

Vodafone CEO, Marten Pieters of the Vodafone Essar will be landing in India

for the meeting that would discuss branding exercise, expansion plans, spectrum

requirements for its expanding subscriber base and future plans.

Vodafone offers a host of premier value added services (VAS) including national

and international roaming in over 70 countries in over 160 networks, Wireless

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Application Protocol (WAP), short message service, voice mail service, auto

roam, fax and data, cricket updates, M-banking, general information, tarot line,

etc. The company launched WAP in Delhi in October 2000, much before its rival

Bharti. It has 5000 WAP customers, as in December 2000. The company has

been a prime mover in introducing these value-added services in the Delhi circle.

Terms & Conditions

Please read these Terms and Conditions carefully. These are the general Terms

and Conditions governing your access and use of this website ("Site"). If you do

not agree with them, you should not proceed any further on the Site. By

continuing to use the Site and/or any of the services shown on the Site, you

agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.

1. Use of content

1.1 The services that we are providing to you via the Site consist of the Content

and the Functionalities available on the Site or otherwise provided to you as a

result of your use of the Site ("Services").

1.2 You acknowledge and agree that you are only permitted to use the Site and

the Services as expressly set out in these Terms and Conditions or on the Site.

1.3 You agree that the Site and the Services are for your own personal use only

on a single computer or device.

1.4 You may not

copy, disclose, modify, reformat, display, distribute, licence, transmit, sell,

perform, publish, transfer or otherwise make available any of the Services

or any information learned by you whilst using the Services or accessing

the Site

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remove, change or obscure in any way anything on the Site and/or the

Services or otherwise use any material obtained whilst using the Site

and/or Services except as set out in these Terms and Conditions

reverse engineer or decompile (whether in whole or in part) any softwareused in the Site and/or the Services (except to the extent expressly

permitted by the applicable law)

copy or use any material from the Site and/or the Services for any

commercial purpose

remove, obscure or change any copyright, trade mark or other intellectual

property right notices contained in the original material or from any

material copied or printed from the Site or obtained a result of the

Services.

1.5 Any use of caching, http accelerators such as Harvest, Squid, Netscape

proxy or Microsoft Catapult, or similar technology is permitted, however, you

have the responsibility of ensuring you are viewing the most recent version of the

web-page on content.

1.6 You may establish a link or "deep link" to the Site from your site, provided

that you have obtained Vodafone's prior written consent and that in Vodafone's

sole discretion, the context is relevant and the link or its description is not

detrimental to Vodafone.

2. Your Obligations

2.1 You warrant that you will only use the Site and the Services in accordance

with these Terms and Conditions and in an appropriate and lawful manner and

by way of example and not as a limitation, that you shall not (and shall not

authorise or permit any other party to):

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2.1.1 receive, access or transmit any Content which is obscene, pornographic,

threatening, racist, menacing, offensive, defamatory, in breach of confidence, in

breach of any intellectual property right (including copyright) or otherwise

objectionable or unlawful;

2.1.2 circumvent user authentication or security of any host, network or account

(referred to as "cracking " or "hacking") nor interfere with service to any user,

host or network (referred to as "denial of service attacks") nor copy any pages or

register identical keywords with search engines to mislead other users into

thinking that they are reading Vodafone's legitimate web pages (referred to as

"page-jacking") or use the Site or the Services for any other unlawful or

objectionable conduct. Users who violate systems or network security may incurcriminal or civil liability and Vodafone will at its absolute discretion fully co-

operate with investigations of suspected criminal violations, violation of systems

or network security under the leadership of law enforcement or relevant

authorities;

2.1.3 use the Site and/or the Services to advertise or offer to sell any goods or

services for any commercial purpose without Vodafone's written consent;

2.1.4 knowingly or recklessly transmit any electronic Content (including viruses)

through the Site and/or the Services which shall cause or is likely to cause

detriment or harm, in any degree, to computer systems owned by Vodafone or

other Internet users;

2.1.5 hack into, make excessive traffic demands, deliver or forward chain letters,

"junk mail" or "spam" of any kind, surveys, contests, pyramid schemes or

otherwise engage in any other behaviour intended to inhibit other users from

using and enjoying the Site and/or the Services or any other web site, or which is

otherwise likely to damage or destroy Vodafone's reputation or the reputation of

any third party.

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2.2 You acknowledge that chat, discussion group or bulletin board services and

similar services that may be offered by Vodafone ("Public Communication

Services") are public communications and your communications may be

available to others and consequently you should be cautious when disclosing

personal or sensitive information or any information which may identify you.

Vodafone is not responsible for, and does not control or endorse any Content of

any Public Communication Services.

3. Your Information

Vodafone's usage of your personal information is governed by the Vodafone

Group's Privacy Policy Statement (link to privacy policy at the foot of this page),

which forms part of these Terms and Conditions.

4. Proprietary rights

4.1 All Trade Marks used on the site and/or the Services are the trade marks of

Vodafone or one of the Vodafone Group companies. You shall only make fair use

of the Trade Marks and will not use the Trade Marks, whether design or word

marks: (1) as or as part of your own trade marks; (2) in a manner which is likely

to cause confusion; (3) to identify products to which they do not relate; (4) to

imply endorsement or otherwise of products or services to which they do not

relate; or (5) in any manner which does or may cause damage to the reputation

of Vodafone or the Trade Marks.

4.2 You acknowledge and agree that the Services and the Site or any part

thereof, whether presented to you by Vodafone, advertisers or any third party are

protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, patents, or other proprietory

rights and laws. All rights are expressly reserved.

4.3 You are only allowed to use the Site and the Services as set out in these

Terms and Conditions and nothing on the Site and/or the Services shall be

construed as conferring any licence or other transfer or rights to you of any

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intellectual property or other proprietary rights of Vodafone, any member of the

Vodafone Group or any third party, whether by estoppel, implication or otherwise.

4.4 You hereby grant to Vodafone a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, world-

wide licence to reproduce, transfer, modify, adapt and/or publish any Content

provided by you to us by email, post or otherwise on the Site and/or the Services

as Vodafone sees fit and without notice to you, unless you have indicated

otherwise in such communication.

5. Costs

5.1 Use of the Site is currently free. However, Vodafone reserves the right to

charge for access to part or all of the Site in the future, subject to giving you clear

notice when entering any part to which charges apply. Some services may be

chargeable as indicated on the Site and in any accompanying terms and

conditions.

5.2 You will need to provide all equipment necessary to access the Site and the

Services on the Internet and be liable for the payment for the local telephone call

charges at the rates published by the telephone operator with whom you make

your local calls or any other Internet access charges to which you may be

subject. If your equipment does not support relevant technology including but not

limited to encryption you may not be able to use certain Services or access

certain information on the Site.

6. Liability for content

6.1 It is your sole responsibility to satisfy yourself prior to using the Site and the

Services in any way that they are suitable for your purposes and up to date. The

Services are periodically updated and you should check the Site and the

Services regularly to ensure that you have the latest information. You should also

refresh your browser each time you visit the Site and the Services to ensure that

you download the most up to date version of the Site and the Services.

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6.2 The Site and the Services are provided on an "as is" basis. Although every

effort has been made to provide accurate information on these pages, neither

Vodafone, nor any of its employees, nor any member of the Vodafone Group,

their suppliers, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, expressed or

implied, or assume any legal liability (to the extent permitted by law) or

responsibility for the suitability, reliability, timeliness, accuracy or completeness

of the Content or any part thereof contained on the Site or the Services.

6.3 You acknowledge that Vodafone is unable to exercise control over the

security or subject matter of Content passing over the Site or via the Services

and Vodafone hereby excludes all liability of any kind for the transmission or

reception of infringing Content of whatever nature.

6.4 Please read the sections headed "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-

Looking Statements" and "Principal Risk Factors and Uncertainties" in Vodafone

Group Plc's Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2008 for a detailed

explanation of forward-looking statements and a review of the reasons why

actual results and developments may differ materially from those expressed or

implied by these forward looking statements.

6.5 Any information contained in this Site on the price at which ordinary shares or

American depository shares in Vodafone Group Plc have been bought or sold in

the past, or the yield on such shares, should not be relied upon as a guide to

future performance.

Today, in India, becomes Vodafone. Now, the pink color logo of Hutch is

replaced by Vodafone Essars corporate red colored one.

In 2005-06, the Orange brand in Mumbai was phased out to introduce (now

Vodafone). The company also changed the colors of its logo from orange to pink

and then red.

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After acquiring 67 per cent of stake (around Rs. 250 crores) in ison Essar from

Hong Kong-based ison Whampoa, Vodafone Essar is expecting to touch over 35

million customers across 400,000 shops and thousands of s own employees

along with employees of its business associates.

Vice chairman, Ravi Ruia, Vodafone Essar, said Weve had a good innings as

in India and today marks a new beginning for us, not as a departure from the

fundamentals that created , but an acceleration into the future with Vodafones

global expertise.

Vodafone CEO, Marten Pieters of the Vodafone Essar will be landing in India

for the meeting that would discuss branding exercise, expansion plans, spectrum

requirements for its expanding subscriber base and future plans.

Vodafone offers a host of premier value added services (VAS) including national

and international roaming in over 70 countries in over 160 networks, Wireless

Application Protocol (WAP), short message service, voice mail service, auto

roam, fax and data, cricket updates, M-banking, general information, tarot line,

etc. The company launched WAP in Delhi in October 2000, much before its rival

Bharti. It has 5000 WAP customers, as in December 2000. The company hasbeen a prime mover in introducing these value-added services in the Delhi circle.

The values are stated simply. To be fair and transparent in what they do and how

they do it. To provide the quality services with more customer friendly practices.

To make ones communications experience simple, pleasurable and fun. Where

he doesn't simply get technology - but technology that is relevant. Where

solutions are not just promised in the future - but delivered in the present.

CORE VALUES :

We shall uphold the dignity of the individual.

We shall honor all commitments.

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We shall be committed to Quality, Innovation and Growth in every

endeavor .

We shall be responsible corporate citizens.

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Vodafone Logo

Accomplishments:

- Over the years, Vodafone Essar, under the Hutch brand, has beennamed the Most Respected Telecom Company, the Best Mobile Service

in the country and the Most Creative and Most Effective Advertiser of the

Year.

- Vodafone is the worlds leading international mobile communications

group with approximately 315 million proportionate customers as at 30

June 2009.

- Vodafone currently has equity interests in 31 countries across fivecontinents and around 40 partner networks worldwide

- The Essar Group is a diversified business corporation with a balanced

portfolio of assets in the manufacturing and services sectors of Steel,

Energy, Power, Communications, Shipping Ports & Logistics, and

Projects.

- Essar employs more than 50,000 people across offices in Asia, Africa,

Europe and the Americas.

- The company now has operations across the country with over 78.68

million customers.

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Services:

Staying connected becomes a lot easier with Vodafone. We have a wide range of

services you can access right from your Vodafone phone. From cell banking to

flight updates to call management services, get all that you want, instantly.

Prepaid services (latest):

- Vodafone Essar, one of Indias leading cellular service providers

announced a new Bonus Card 25 for its prepaid customers in Punjab.

With this new bonus card, Vodafone customers can enjoy the benefit of

unlimited national SMS at just 20paisa/SMS. The new bonus card

comes with 30 days validity.

- Has introduced two new Bonus Cards. Bonus Card 17 and Bonus Card 27

come with one month validity and are priced at Rs 17 and Rs 27

respectively. All Vodafone prepaid customers including the lifelong

customers in Kolkata and rest of Bengal can enjoy the new Bonus Cards

offer available across Stores and Ministores.

- Lifelong Prepaid @Rs.46 plan for its prepaid customers in Kerala. This

new prepaid offer comes with lifetime validity and a talk time of Rs.5.

Vodafone customers can make local calls to all Vodafone numbers, other

mobiles and landlines at Re 1 per minute and all STD calls are at Rs1.50

per minute. Customers need to recharge with Rs 200 cumulative in 180

days to stay connected.

Postpaid services (latest):

- Vodafone Essar, one of Indias leading cellular services providers has

launched three new monthly rental plans - Budget 500, Budget 750 and

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Budget 1000 - for its postpaid customers in Kolkata and West Bengal.

These Budget plans offer combinations of free minutes over local and

STD calls along with free local SMS. This offer is valid for new and

existing customers.

- Announced a special offer for its customers in Madhya Pradesh and

Chhattisgarh. Customers can now avail free VIP numbers with every new

post paid connection. The VIP numbers provide customers an option to

choose a number of their preference from a range of special Golden

numbers that usually comes with a huge price tag.

Value added services:

Vodafone Essar, one of Indias leading cellular services providers, has

announced a special offer for Zoozoo fans across India. Vodafone customers can

now get special Zoozoo DVDs from a Vodafone Store and watch these adorable

characters from Vodafone Essars recent television commercials as they live

lifes little moments in their inimitable style. Vodafone Prepaid customers can get

the DVD through a recharge of above Rs 300 at the Vodafone Store. Vodafone

Postpaid customers can enroll for Direct Debit or activate Callertune or VodafoneAlerts at the Vodafone store to get the Zoozoo DVD.

Dial 600 to activate:

To activate these values added services on your Vodafone phone simply dial 600

and access our Interactive Voice Response system.

SMS:

Message your family and friends through Vodafone SMS Services. It's

convenient and affordable. Communicate with cell phone users in over 100

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countries and anywhere in India - by sending and receiving text msg.

Pay just Rs. 1.50 per message for sending SMS anywhere across the country.

SMS Chat:

Now, you can chat on your Vodafone phone with as many people as you want.

Its fun and as simple as sending an SMS. Your identity will remain anonymous

as your phone number is never displayed during the chat. You can have your

own profile and chat name.

You can also create your own chat rooms or chat in the different rooms that

already exist including: Teens, 20s, 30s, Office, Bollywood, Delhi.

All you have to do is type in your messages and send them to 2428. You will be

charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.

Vodafone Online:

Get all the useful information you need directly on your Vodafone phone - withVodafone Online. Including cricket, finance, entertainment, weather, astrology

and more.

Simply go to the Vodafone Online menu on your Vodafone phone. If you do

not see the Vodafone Online menu on your phone, send HELP to 123. We will

send you the list of keywords.

Scroll to the topic on which you need information.

Select the information and key input as requested on the screen.

You will be charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.

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MTNL Directory:

With this facility you can get to know the address and telephone no. of MTNL

users.you will be charged Rs.2 per outgoing message.

STD / ISD Codes:

You don't need to look up your diary or a phone directory to find out STD and ISD

codes. You can find it directly through your Vodafone phone.

Ringtones & Logos:

Now you can change the ringtone on your Vodafone phone according to your

moods. You can download logos as well. With the Vodafone and Yahoo! tieup

you have hundreds of tunes and logos to choose from.

For every ringtone downloaded, you will charged Rs. 7.00 (including the cost ofSMS sent). For every logo/picture message downloaded, you will charged Rs.

3.00 (including the cost of SMS sent).

Flash & Blink

Vodafone now offers you two exciting ways to send messages. You can make

your message flash directly on your recipients screen instead of the inbox. You

can also highlight the important parts of your message through blinks. So your

text messages become not only more visible, but more effective too.


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Dial-in Services

Vodafone brings you more conveniences at your fingertips. Use our Dial-in-

Services to check cricket scores, horoscope, up-to-the minute news and other

relevant information on services that touch your everyday life.

All Dial-in-Services carry a flat charge of Rs 6 per minute (1 min pulse).

Here's a shortlist of services you can access

Service Number

NDTV Online 123

Info Line 301

Dial-n-Deliver 306

Cricket Online 123

Tarot Line 314

Cell Rashi 315

Dial-a-Pizza 303

Dial-a-Cab 335

Voice Response Service 123

There are occasions when you may not want to take a call, or your Vodafone

phone maybe busy or simply unreachable. By paying a nominal monthly access

fee, you can now retrieve your messages at your convenience. Even if you are

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roaming, you can retrieve your messages from your voice mailbox through a

fixed line, anywhere on earth.

Your Vodafone voicemail can

Hold up over 17 messages at a time.

Receive a message that lasts up to 90 seconds.

Store a message for as long as you want.

You can also record your voice signature and welcome message.

Calling Line Identification

You can check your caller's telephone name and number on your phone screen

whenever you receive a call. This gives you the flexibility to either accept or

reject an incoming call. This service is also helpful in identifying your missed calls

You can access this service by just paying Rs. 49 per month, if you are a

postpaid customer. This service is absolutely free if you are a Vodafone Prepaid

customer.

Itemized Billing

As a Vodafone Postpaid customer, you can choose to receive an itemized bill at

the end of each month. This is a detailed billing statement which helps you keep

track of all your calls. Your itemized bill includes:

Origin of the call

Destination of the call

Duration of the call

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Toll charges

Airtime and total charge

Get your itemized bill.

Via post: Pay a monthly rental of 49 only.

Via e-mail: Pay just Rs. 19 per itemized bill.

Fax & Data Services

This service enables you to constantly keep in touch with your office, colleaguesand information sources. You can send or receive faxes and transmit data usi ng

your Vodafone phone anytime, anywhere. Whether you are operating from home, hotels

and airport lobbies.

At speeds of up to 9600 bps within the network or while roaming. You

can even access the Internet.

All you need is a handset compatible data card (PC Card) or a GSM

Software, and a data chord cable with a PC to set up a mobile office.

You can also opt for either Vodafone Fax or Vodafone Data services

independently.

Your Vodafone fax number can help you differentiate between incoming voice

calls and fax transmissions. You can also send and receive faxes anywhere on

earth with your Vodafone phone

By opting for the Vodafone Data Services you can access e-mail,databases and the Internet. All on your single incoming data number.

Charges to activate the Vodafone Fax and Data service, you just need to

pay a one-time activation fee of Rs 500. To access the Fax service, the fee is

Rs. 250. The usage charges are nominal at Re 1 per minute.

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authorization requests. All this and more just by using SMS. You will be charged

Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.

Cell Banking

Vodafone now puts the bank in your pocket with Cell Banking. Access your bank

account and transact directly on your Vodafone phone by sending text

messages.

The first of its kind in India, this service enables you to conduct your banking

without having to visit the bank or making a call.

You can do Cell Banking from over 90 countries worldwide.


Roaming

Now you can always stay connected, no matter where you are. With the

Vodafone Roaming facility, you can use your Vodafone phone in over 100

countries worldwide and over 1000 cities, towns and highways across India.

Vodafone Roaming makes life easy and convenient for you.

- Vodafone Essar, one of Indias leading cellular services providers, today

announced significant reduction in international roaming rates for its

Postpaid customers traveling to South Africa during the upcoming DLF

Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament. Vodafone Essar is the

official partner to DLF IPL 2009

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One number across the globe

Your Vodafone phone number and PIN number remains the same whether you

are in Delhi, Chandigarh, London, Paris or anywhere else in the world.

National and International Roaming on Vodafone Prepaid

Roaming on Vodafone Prepaid gives you the most extensive coverage in over

1000 cities, towns and highways across India, and in over 100 countries around

the world. Enjoy Roaming on your Vodafone Prepaid card and stay in touch

wherever you go.

Vodafone 4 help

Vodafone4help now lets you take advantage of a lot more services than before.

You can connect to the nearest fire brigade or mechanic or florist or even order a

pizza. If you are stranded in the middle of the road, or if you you need immediate

medical attention or if you are looking for a police station close by,

Vodafone4help gives you instant access to your nearest source of help,

anywhere in Delhi or the NCR.

All the help services are [email protected]/min. while for police and fire help only

local airtime charge is applicable.

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http://www.hutch.co.in/delhihome/roaming/hutchprepayroaming.aspmailto:[email protected]/minhttp://www.hutch.co.in/delhihome/roaming/hutchprepayroaming.aspmailto:[email protected]/min


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2.5) VODAFONE ESSAR

Vodafone Essar, previously Hutchison Essar is a cellular operator in India that

covers 21 telecom circles in India. Despite the official name being VodafoneEssar, its products are simply branded Vodafone. It offers both prepaid and

postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout India and is especially strong

in the major metros.

Vodafone Essar provides 2G services based on 900 MHz and 1800 MHz digital

GSM technology, offering voice and data services in 22 of the country's 23

licence areas.

2.5.2) Ownership:

Vodafone Essar is owned by Vodafone 52%, Essar Group 33%, and other Indian

nationals, 15%.

On February 11, 2007, Vodafone agreed to acquire the controlling interest of

67% held by Li Ka Shing Holdings in Hutch-Essar for US$11.1 billion, pipping

Reliance Communications, Hinduja Group, and Essar Group, which is the owner

of the remaining 33%. The whole company was valued at USD 18.8 billion. The

transaction closed on May 8, 2007.

2.6) Previous brands:

In December 2006, Hutch Essar re-launched the "Hutch" brand nationwide,

consolidating its services under a single identity. The Company entered into

agreement with NTT DoCoMo to launch i-mode mobile Internet service in India

during 2007.

The company used to be named Hutchison Essar, reflecting the name of its

previous owner, Hutchison. However, the brand was marketed as Hutch. After

getting the necessary government approvals with regards to the acquisition of a

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majority by the Vodafone Group, the company was rebranded as Vodafone

Essar. The marketing brand was officially changed to Vodafone on 20 September

2007.

On September 20, 2007 Hutch becomes Vodafone in one of the biggest brand

transition exercises in recent times.

Vodafone Essar is spending somewhere in the region of Rs 250 crores on this

high-profile transition being unveiled today. Along with the transition, cheap cell

phones have been launched in the Indian market under the Vodafone brand.

There are plans to launch co-branded handsets sourced from global vendors as

well.

A popular daily quoted a Vodafone Essar director as saying that "the objective is

to leverage Vodafone Group's global scale in bringing millions of low-cost

handsets from across-the-world into India."

While there is no revealing the prices of the low-cost Vodafone handsets, the

industry is abuzz that prices might start at Rs 666, undercutting Reliance

Communications' much-hyped 'Rang Barse' with cheap handsets beginning at Rs

777.

Meanwhile, Vodafone Essar sources said there would be no discounts or

subsidized handset offers -- rather handset-bundled schemes for customers.

Incidentally, China's ZTE, which is looking to set-up a manufacturing unit in the

country, is expected to provide several Vodafone handsets in India. Earlier this

year, Vodafone penned a global low-cost handset procurement deal with ZTE

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3. RESEARCH AND METHODOLOGY

Marketing research means the systematic gathering, recording,

analyzing of data about problems relating to the marketing of goods and

services

3.1 Title of the Study

ANALYSIS ON MARKETING STRATEGIES & CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP IN

VODAFONE

3.2 Duration of the Project

Duration is from 01st Jan 2013 30th Jan 2013

3.3 Objective of Study:

Following are the main objective to study about the customer satisfaction

on Vodafone.

To study telecommunication industry.

To study the company profile of Vodafone.

To study customer satisfaction of Vodafone.

To study various Marketing activities provided by Vodafone.

To study the various services provided by Vodafone.

To know the expectation of Vodafone Customers.

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3.4 Types of Research

All of research can be categorized into basic and applied.

1. BASIC RESEARCH: - Basic Research is that intended to expand the

body of knowledge for the use of others.

2. APPLIED RESEARCH: - Applied Research is one, which is carried out to

Documents

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