MC EXCLUSIVE Vodafone Idea accelerates 5G rollout, sharpens focus on ARPU growth and customer retention: CMO

Vodafone Idea

As Vodafone Idea (Vi) accelerates its 5G rollout across 17 priority circles and 29 cities, the company is sharpening its focus on boosting customer experience, lifting ARPU, and rebuilding brand trust, Chief Marketing Officer Avneesh Khosla told Moneycontrol.

Khosla said Vi’s refreshed marketing and network strategy now centres on value-driven offerings and deeper customer engagement to strengthen retention and drive upgrades in a fiercely competitive market.

Khosla said Vodafone Idea’s immediate strategy revolves around strengthening its core base, improving customer stickiness, and driving ARPU growth through the introduction of differentiated offerings.

He pointed to the company’s “Hero Unlimited” and “SuperHero” plans as examples of how consumer insight-driven propositions can move users up the value chain.

“We built our plans around real problems such as nighttime usage, weekend data needs, and data emergencies. Consumers are willing to pay when you solve their pain points,” he said. “Today, customers pay more not because of price hikes, but because they see value.”

He added that Vi’s postpaid segment, which had traditionally been a stronghold for the brand, is showing renewed momentum, supported by premium plans such as RedX and Red Family. These include unlimited data, airport lounge access, and international roaming — all designed to boost retention among high-value users.

“Our postpaid business is growing in both revenue and net additions. It’s a strong story — built on better experience, wider retail access, and renewed trust,” Khosla said.

5G Rollout and Network Rebuild

While acknowledging that Vi’s 5G rollout was “overdue,” Khosla said the company is now accelerating its deployment across its 17 priority circles, covering 29 cities so far.

“The initial response has been very encouraging. Adoption and consumption have far surpassed our internal estimates,” he said.

He noted, however, that 5G’s real impact lies in enterprise use cases, while for most consumers, 4G continues to deliver an efficient experience.

“For 99% of use cases, 4G is already proficient. 3G to 4G was a big leap; 4G to 5G is more about efficiency and new possibilities, especially in the B2B domain,” he said.

Beyond expanding coverage, Khosla said Vi’s marketing is now centred on rebuilding network perception and trust -- long seen as a weak spot for the brand amid funding challenges.

“We’ve done large campaigns to reinforce our network strength. We’re also communicating hyper-locally wherever 5G rollouts happen, to demonstrate our improved network experience on the ground," he said.

Partnerships, Khosla added, remain “a core part of Vi’s marketing and customer experience agenda.” The company plans to announce significant new collaborations soon, across both content and digital ecosystems.

“We are now present across all our 17 priority circles — effectively pan-India like the others,” he said. “As the dark clouds move away, you’ll see a lot more from us — in networks, in brand storytelling, and in customer experience.”

Alongside its push for 4G and 5G, the telco said 2G will continue to remain relevant in India, driven by the significant price gap between 2G and 4G smartphones and a large subscriber base that still relies on 2G networks.

“A sizable section of India’s mobile users will continue on 2G devices for the foreseeable future — mainly due to affordability barriers. There’s still a huge price gap between 2G and 4G smartphones. A 2G phone can be bought for Rs 700–800, while a 4G device costs over Rs 6,000. As long as that gap exists, 2G will remain relevant,” Khosla said. “Roughly four million 2G handsets are still sold every month, so there’s a clear market and need.”