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A day after Reliance Industries boss Mukesh Ambani attempted to redraft the rules for 4G play in the country by announcing the 'world's cheapest' data packs, one of the oldest and largest telecom players, Vodafone, on Friday announced its official 4G roll-out from Surat in Gujarat. Jumping into the price war for data packs and free talk time, Vodafone announced a special data pack at Rs 998 for 20 GB.
At the Reliance AGM on Thursday, Ambani had announced data packs for Jio starting at Rs 50 for 1 GB, working out to Rs 1,000 for 20 GB.
However, Sunil Sood, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Vodafone India, maintained that in the telecom battle, it is competitiveness and not the price war that will be the determining factor for the success of a service provider.
"Pricing is the easiest thing to change. It is not a barrier to entry. It is not a differentiator for any player. We will look to remain competitive. Our services are going to be superior with a wider presence," said Sood.
Surat is Vodafone's first 4G location in Gujarat. "We have launched this service symbolically from Surat. This year 206 towns will be covered in Gujarat, while nationally we plan to cover over 1,000 towns with our 4G network," he said after the launch.
Vodafone has set its eyes on data revenues from 4G services, which it has already launched in Kerala, Karnataka, Kolkata, Delhi - NCR, Mumbai, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (East) and now Gujarat.
About 70 per cent of Vodafone India's data revenues come from nine circles. For the first quarter of the current fiscal, the total service revenue stood at Rs 11,412 crore, 6.4 per cent growth over the same period last year.
The company invested about Rs 8,000 crore towards capex last year. In Gujarat, the company had invested about Rs 541 crore. "We will invest a similar amount this year towards network expansion," Sood said, adding that the company has so far invested Rs 1,15,500 crore.
Commenting on the roll-out in other towns in the state, Jayesh Gadia, Business Head–Gujarat, Vodafone India, said, "Beginning with the key business and residential corridors of Surat, we will soon expand our Vodafone SuperNetTM 4G services across the entire state in a phased manner."
Vodafone offers 4G services on its 1800 MHz band for faster connectivity. However, the company is also gearing up for the next round of bidding for the spectrum auctions later this month. "We will participate in the auction. That's all I can say at this moment," said Sood.
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