The telecom industry is rife with reports and updates of the intensifying competition between the stakeholders. While Reliance Jio remains at the top in almost all matters of 4G, the rest of the competitors cannot be dismissed ignorantly. A week or so ago, I discussed the contentious points which have made Bharti Airtel a strong telecom company in the current scenario. The same can be said for Vodafone Idea as well. Although there are a lot of caveats in this statement, there are a plethora of things that Vodafone Idea has been doing right to solidify its position. I try to build an argument here as to what those things are.
Top Upload Speed
When it comes to shelling out proper upload bandwidth, there is hardly anyone who has dared to defeat Vodafone Idea. Opensignal’s report on Group Video calling experience, which is something that has seen a drastic rise during recent times, is best done on a Vodafone Idea network. The reason, which you might very well guess, is the astounding upload speed of 6.7 Mbps, as per the TRAI report of May. Here Vodafone Idea sets some room for improvement for the other telecom operators.
Best Plans in Certain Slabs
Another area where Vodafone Idea has shown true ingenuity is in plan innovation. Call it creativity or blatant desperation of the telco under cash issues, but what Vodafone Idea has pulled off with its Rs 801 plan is nothing short of extraordinary. To give you a quick bird’s eye view, the plan’s validity is 84 days, and it offers 3GB of data per day. The telecom operator dared to provide a ‘Binge-All-Night’ offer along with Weekend Data Rollover, which allows users to consume unlimited data at night and save up data for weekend entertainment. This translates to Vodafone Idea gaining subscribers and even converting legacy 2G and 3G subscribers into 4G users, which has been touted as one of the most needed effects for the telco to survive and thrive. This ingenuity is something that users of all companies would surely appreciate.
Vodafone Idea’s REDX plan is another learning for the telecom industry which other telecom operators have not yet replicated. The telco very pragmatically has capitalised on its postpaid user base, which contributes a significant amount of revenue by providing them unmatchable benefits of airport lounges, international calling, and OTT subscriptions.
Vodafone Idea Finally Seeing Positive Subscriber Growth
Indus Towers has already clarified that Vodafone Idea’s precarious situation can soon turn poignant if the right steps are taken. The things mentioned above have surely helped the telco in surviving the tides of these waters. Some more steps to follow include a tariff hike, which has to be timed right and in the footsteps of the incumbents to make sure there is not a lot of churn in the subscriber count.
In 2021, Vodafone Idea broke its streak of constantly losing subscribers and finally added to its subscriber base showing the industry that it is on the rise again. On the enterprise side, Vodafone Idea’s managed SIP service is also expected to do some work to help the balance sheets. While Ookla’s certification of the fastest 4G network of Vodafone Idea in the January-March period is another proof of Vodafone Idea, not only surviving this battle but also thriving in it.
The other telecom operators, especially BSNL, could surely look deep into these takeaways to strengthen their portfolio of offerings. While Vodafone Idea’s plans of the tariff hike, if timed right, might prove to be a gamechanger.
