Idea cellular

Infobox_Company
company_name = Idea Cellular
company_type = Subsidiary
company_
company_slogan = 'An idea can change your life"Stay Connected' company_vision = ?
foundation = 1995 | industry = Telecom
location = Indore, Delhi, Pune, India
key_people = Chairman: Kumar Mangalam Birla
MD: Sanjeev Aga
VP Corporate Affairs: Rajat Mukharjee
products = Mobile
homepage = [http://www.ideacellular.com Idea cellular]
[http://www.ideafresh.com IdeaFresh]

Idea Cellular is a wireless telephony company operating in various states in India. It initially started in 1995 as a join venture between the Tatas, Aditya Birla Group and AT&T by merging "'Wings Cellular'" operating in Madhya Pradesh,UP West,Rajasthan and Tata Cellular as well as Birla AT&T Communications.

Initially having a very limited footprint in the GSM arena, the acquisition of Escotel in 2004 gave Idea a truly pan-India presence covering Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai), Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh (East and West), Haryana, Kerala, Rajasthan and Delhi (inclusive of NCR).

The company has its retail outlets under the "Idea n' U" banner. The company has also been the first to offer flexible tarrif plans for prepaid customers. It also offers GPRS services in urban areas.

Holding

Initially the Birlas, the Tatas and AT&T Wireless each held one-third equity in the company. But following AT&T Wireless' merger with Cingular Wireless in 2004, Cingular decided to sell its 32.9% stake in Idea. This stake was bought by both the Tatas and Birlas at 16.45% each.

Tata's foray into the cellular market with its own subsidiary, Tata Indicom, a CDMA-based mobile provider, cropped differences between the Tatas and the Birlas. This dual holding by the Tatas also became a major reason for the delay in Idea being granted a license to operate in Mumbai. This was because as per Department of Telecom (DOT) license norms, one promoter could not have more than 10% stake in two companies operating in the same circle and Tata Indicom was already operating in Mumbai when Idea filed for its license.

The Birlas thus approached the DOT and sought its intervention, and the Tatas replied by saying that they would exit Idea but only for a good price. On April 10, 2006, the Aditya Birla Group announced its acquisition of the 48.18% stake held by the Tatas at Rs. 40.51 a share amounting to Rs. 44.06 billion. While 15% of the 48.14% stake was acquired by Aditya Birla Nuvo, a company in-charge of the Birlas' new business initiatives, the remaining stake was acquired by Birla TMT holdings Private Ltd., an AV Birla family owned company.Currently, Birla Group holds 98.3% of the total shares of the company.

Idea has successfully launched 5 more new circles (states) in India viz. Bihar, Jharkhand,Orrisa,Mumbai and UP (East) to make itself a pan-India player.

ubscriber Base

Idea's subscriber base as of December 2007 according to the [http://www.coai.in/archives_statistics_2008_q1.htm Cellular Operators Association of India] is as follows
*Maharashtra and Goa - 4,881,444
*Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh - 3,226,230
*Andhra Pradesh - 3,252,035
*Kerala - 2,704,888
*Gujarat - 2,623,072
*Uttar Pradesh (West) - 2,568,279
*Delhi - 1,897,693
*Haryana - 980,760
*Uttar Pradesh (East) - 967,862
*Rajasthan - 824,805
*Himachal Pradesh - 74,505
*Mumbai - 2,000Totalling to 21,054,027 or 12.46%(Approx.) of the total 192,696,402 [ [http://www.coai.in/archives_statistics_2008_q1.htm Cellular Subscriber Statistics for March 2008] ] mobile connections in India.

References

External links

* [http://www.ideacellular.com/ Idea Cellular Official Site]
* [http://www.adityabirla.com/our_companies/joint_ventures/idea_cellular.htm Aditya Birla Group Website]