VODAFONE ENHANCES CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE WITH NETWORK RAMP UP AND EXPANSION OF RETAIL FOOTPRINT IN MADHYA PRADESH & CHHATTISGARH

Bhopal, May 21, 2015: Following a ‘Customer First’ approach, Vodafone India, has invested over INR 115 crores on ramping up network and distribution in Madhya Pradesh &Chhattisgarh circle over the past twelve months (April 2014-Mar 2015).

Vodafone as part of an endeavour to be ‘Future Ready’ through closer engagement and enhanced customer experience has been focusing on the key areas of Customisation, Enhanced Connectivity and Retail.

Pursuing an accelerated growth strategy since April 2014, Vodafone has added over 500 new sites, 109 retail outlets and taken M-Pesa, its Mobile money transfer service, deeper into the migrant pockets to engage more closely with a diverse customer base in Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh. With this expansion, Vodafone now reaches out to customers in over 23600 towns and villages bringing them under the fold of superior connectivity and seamless service experience.

Talking about the initiatives taken by Vodafone to enhance customer experience, Manish Kumar, Business Head – Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, Vodafone India, said “Gaining the trust of our customers and winning their hearts through innovative, customised, cost effective and relevant products and services, is a priority for us at Vodafone. We have been activating this at the ground level by pursuing a continued and consistent customer centric strategy to bring the best connectivity solutions to our valued customers. Our investments over the past year have been directed at putting in place a network that our customers can rely upon, especially in the rural belt. Also, we have been expanding retail and distribution network to get closer to customers across urban and rural geographies. Additionally, Vodafone customers have the advantage of accessing a wide range of unique plans and offers structured to suit their individual needs, under our 121 service”.
B P Singh, Operations Director, West, Vodafone India, said The growing popularity of smart phones has led to a rise in demand for high speed data services. We see tremendous potential in this area and have been taking the lead in democratising data by hand holding customers on the ease and benefits of mobile internet usage. M-Pesa. Over the past year, we have also made deep inroads into the heartland of MP & Chhattisgarh, reaching out to the migrant pockets and highlighting the safety, speed and simplicity of transferring money through Vodafone M-Pesa. Vodafone remains committed to continue investing in bringing the best in class, innovative, relevant, products and services to win customer delight in MP & Chhattisgarh.”

Vodafone now has over 7240 2G sites in MP & Chhattisgarh circle covering over 55 percent of the region’s population. Vodafone through an Intra Circle Roaming arrangement with other operators is also ensuring a seamless 3G roaming experience for its customers and reaches out to additional 185 towns and villages.

Vodafone has been taking a series of ground level activities to increase awareness and adoption of data services. This has resulted in Data revenues rising significantly at a growth rate of 77% YoY. Data now contributes to 10% of total service revenues in the Circle.

With already one of the country’s largest exclusive retail footprints, Vodafone has continued to expand its reach to cover the entire region in both urban and rural areas. Presently, Vodafone has more than 500+ retail outlets in MP & Chhattisgarh, including 14 Vodafone stores, 487 Vodafone Mini Stores. Over the past 12 months, Vodafone has added 5 VS and 104 VMS in the region. As part of its initiative to offer an unmatched retail experience to its new age customers in MP & Chhattisgarh, Vodafone has also been launching Global Design Retail Stores. Today, Vodafone has 5 Global Design Retail stores in the region and whether it is Birmingham in UK or Bhopal, these stores offer an engaging and uniform customer experience.

Over and above its retail presence, catering to the needs of the net-savvy and evolved customers, Vodafone is driving digital simplicity by offering easy-to-use mobility solutions on its new, responsive website www.vodafone.in. Vodafone’s pre-paid and postpaid customers can now access their accounts, manage mobile usage, pay bills, add or remove packs / services and recharge for themselves or others in just 30 seconds! Additionally, Vodafone also offers customers an opportunity to connect with the brand through a robust customer service call centre platform, the simple and convenient My Vodafone Mobile App and Vodafone Live Chat.

Taking mobile money to next level for digital savvy consumer Vodafone has launched 'M-Pesa App which enables consumers to pay bills and recharge mobile phones & DTH. Mobile phone users can load their M-Pesa wallet through net banking/debit card absolutely free on the App. App can be easily downloaded either by logging in to https://www.mpesa.in/portal/# or download the new Vodafone M-Pesa App on their mobile.

Besides multiple on-going schemes and customised tariff plans, some of the more notable initiatives from Vodafone have been increasing the footprint of M-Pesa, Vodafone’s mobile banking and payment solution that has seen significant affinity amongst migrant population in the circle and Vodafone Angel Stores entirely staffed and run by women employees. With a pan India distribution network of over 90,000 agents and with more than 3 mn customers, M-Pesa is the largest banking business correspondent in the country. Vodafone M-Pesa was launched in March 2014 in MP & Chhattisgarh and currently has 3500+ agents and a customer base of 51,000 in the Circle.