Vodafone Idea Limited, doing business as Vi (pronounced /wɛ/), is an Indian telecom operator with its headquarters based in Mumbai and Gandhinagar.[10][11] It is a pan-India integrated GSM operator offering 2G, 4G, 4G+, VoLTE, and VoWiFi services.[12]

As of 31 January 2021, Vi has a subscriber base of 286 million,[7] making it third largest mobile telecommunications network in India and sixth largest mobile telecommunications network in the world.[13]

On 31 August 2018, Vodafone India merged with Idea Cellular, to form a new entity named Vodafone Idea Limited. Vodafone currently holds a 45.1% stake in the combined entity and Aditya Birla Group holds a 26% stake.[13] Kumar Mangalam Birla heads the merged company as the Chairman.[14] Ravinder Takkar, Ex-CEO of Vodafone Romania is the current CEO of the company.[4]

On 7 September 2020, Vodafone Idea unveiled its new brand identity, 'Vi' which involves the integration of the company's erstwhile separate brands 'Vodafone' and 'Idea' into one unified brand.[15][16][17]


Contents
1 History
2 Network
2.1 Spectrum frequency holding summary
2.2 Network consolidation
2.3 Massive MIMO
2.4 Turbo-net
2.5 Wifi Hotpsot
3 Subsidiaries
3.1 YOU Broadband
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
History
It was announced in March 2017 that Idea Cellular and Vodafone India would merge. The merger got approval from Department Of Telecommunications in July 2018. On 30 August 2018, National Company Law Tribunal gave the final nod to the Vodafone-Idea merger[18] The merger was completed on 31 August 2018, and the newly merged entity was named Vodafone Idea Limited.[19][20][13] The merger created the largest telecom company in India by subscribers and by revenue. Under the terms of the deal, the Vodafone Group holds a 45.2% stake in the combined entity, the Aditya Birla Group holds 26% and the remaining shares will be held by the public.[13] Vi lost a significant number of gross and active subscribers in the month of August 2020 after the merger.[21]

Until 7 September 2020, Vodafone Idea Limited operated two separate brands:[22]

Vodafone – a postpaid & Prepaid GSM service.[23][24]
Idea – a prepaid GSM service, similar to Vodafone Prepaid.[23][24]
Vi also provides services including Mobile payments, IoT, enterprise offerings and entertainment, accessible via both digital channels as well as on-ground touch points, centres across the country.[25] Vi has a broadband network of 340,000 sites, distribution reach of 1.7 million retail outlets.[25]

Network
Spectrum frequency holding summary
Vi owns spectrum in 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz bands across the country.[26]

Telecom circle coverage E-GSM/ FD-LTE
900MHz
Band 8 GSM / FD-LTE
1800MHz
Band 3 UMTS / FD-LTE
2100MHz
Band 1 TD-LTE
2300MHz
Band 40 TD-LTE
2500MHz
Band 41
Delhi Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Mumbai Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Kolkata Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Chennai Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Andhra Pradesh & Telangana Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Gujarat Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Karnataka Yes Yes Yes No No
Maharashtra & Goa Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Tamil Nadu Yes Yes Yes No No
Haryana Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Kerala Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Punjab Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Rajasthan Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Uttar Pradesh (East) Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Uttar Pradesh (West) Yes Yes Yes No Yes
West Bengal Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Assam No Yes Yes No Yes
Bihar & Jharkhand No Yes Yes No Yes
Himachal Pradesh No Yes Yes No Yes
Jammu and Kashmir & Ladakh No Yes Yes No Yes
North East No Yes Yes No Yes
Odisha Yes Yes Yes No Yes
This table contains Vodafone Idea(vi) (merged entity) radio frequency details because they had integrated their networks with each other and using one anchor network for both brands in all respective telecom circles. For example, Idea has started 4G services in Delhi and Kolkata telecom circle from May 2018 where the Vodafone is anchor network vice versa Vodafone has Started 4G services in Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, Bihar & Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh & Telangana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir telecom Circle's where Idea is Anchor network. .[27][28]

Network consolidation