Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Vodafone to drop Hutch name by end ’07

The Hutch logo will make way for the Vodafone symbol by the end of this year in India, according to Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin. Besides brand transition, the group also wants to introduce low-cost handsets in its newly-acquired Indian subsidiary, Sarin said after announcing Vodafone’s annual financial results on Tuesday. The handsets are being procured from Chinese equipment firm ZTE.

Vodafone plans to spend over £1 billion (over Rs 8,000 crore) towards capital expenditure in the financial year 2007-08 in the Indian market, and hopes to cover more than 50% of India’s population by then.

However, when it comes to offering the more evolved ‘total communication’ package, top Vodafone officials believe that the Indian market would be served differently as its needs are different. The main objective is to put a handset in every Indian hand.

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