Vodafone makes a soft launch in Himachal

Shimla: Without much fanfare, Vodafone made its presence felt across the hill state by going in for a soft launch, offer mobile services in ten of the twelve districts that the state has.

Company sources not authorized to speak to the media disclosed that mobile service was rolled out on Monday. A road show was organized on The Mall Road, declaring the entry of the new telephony player into the state.

Other than the districts of Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur, we have marked our presence in all the districts of Himachal Pradesh, said a senior executive of the company.

For early birds, the operator is offering a bundle lifetime service at Rs 249/- and a wrist watch is up for grab as a gift. For internet services the player is also providing data cards.

We don’t have specific target for this financial year, except to roll out the service and establish our creditability in the market.

The senior executive was tightlipped about the investments made to roll out the service in a field crowded with other mobile players.

Vodafone in the GSM space competes with BSNL, Airtel, Idea, Reliance and Aircel for subscribers. Besides that Reliance and Tata Indicom are offering CDMA services in the state.

Himachal happens to be one of fiercest competitive ground for mobile players as new subscribers are saturating out.

Ravinder Makhaik

As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads the team of media professionals at Hill Post.

In a career spanning over two decades through all formats of journalism in Electronic, Print and Online Media, he brings with him enough experience to steer this platform. He lives in Shimla.