RINGTONE

New Delhi, Aug. 26: British telecom firm Vodafone will launch its brand and services in India by October.

In the offing are low-cost handsets for the mass and international services such as Vodafone Passport, Vodafone Simply and Vodafone live!, sources said.

The telecom player is slated to offer handsets at Rs 666 at the lower end. This will fit in with the company’s plans to capture the mass market, the sources added.

“Vodafone Simply — which is a basic no-frills mobile phone used to make voice calls — ill attract the rural mass looking for a wireless version of the plain vanilla landline phone,” said analysts.

Vodafone Passport enables customers going abroad to talk at domestic rates. They pay a one-off connection fee and then shell out standard Indian rates.

The company may also introduce a very competitive price plan for Indian customers.

“Globally, Vodafone offers aggressive strategies such as Vodafone-Stop-the-Clock price plan, where customers can talk for up to one hour on evenings and weekends and only pay for the first 3 minutes,” said the sources.

Such plans could be introduced in the price-sensitive Indian market with some modifications.

Vodafone is also toying with the idea of launching customised handsets. “The exclusive handsets will be designed to meet the needs of Vodafone’s customers in terms of price, specification and user experience. It can be fully integrated with the company’s live services. This will help drive the use of services and increase the average revenue per user,” said the sources.

Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin had earlier said, “We will bring in our expertise in a wide range of services while respecting the local fabric.”

The company is also building brand awareness in six new circles — Orissa, Bihar, Assam, the Northeast, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu &Kashmir — where it holds unified access service licence through its wholly owned subsidiary, Vodafone Essar Spacetel.

Vodafone Essar offers mobile services in 16 of the 23 telecom circles.

However, Vodafone Essar Spacetel is yet to receive its share of GSM spectrum from the department of telecom for the six circles to roll out 2G services.

Vodafone’s acquisition of a controlling stake in Hutch Essar in February this year brought in $801 million (Rs 3,285 crore) as foreign direct investment, making the world’s largest mobile company the top investor up to May this year.

The UK-based company bought controlling stake in the country’s fourth largest cellular operator — Hutch Essar — for $10.9 billion in February this year.