Vodafone India has announced a special Diwali offer for its subscribers through which it plans to give away 100MB of data for free. The deal will go live on November 11 and can be accessed by 2G and 3G customers. To activate the offer, users have to SMS ‘Diwali’ to 199.
Both prepaid and postpaid consumers will be able to avail of the free 100MB of data. Sunil Sood, the Managing Director and CEO of Vodafone India, said the initiative was motivated by the increased rate of data utilization during festivals and thinks this is a good way to reach out to the network provider’s 188 million subscriber base.
In a statement, Vodafone said the 100MB could be used to send Diwali e-cards and messages along with web browsing. It’s probably hoping handing over data for free will lead to customers using more internet services in the future. The telecom operator has been facing a backlash recently in Delhi over call drops, which the brand claims it will resolve within 3 – 4 months.
Vodafone intends to set up sites in places where the network is required to be made stronger for its 98 lakh customers. Over the past 6 months, it’s fortified 550 of its current towers and built 500 more. The company asserts it has invested nearly Rs 350 crores into the Delhi-NCR region. All these preparations are also in aid of its future 4G rollout in the area, which will occur in December 2015.
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Vodafone also plans to kickstart its 4G services in Mumbai, Kolkata and Kerala at around the same time. It’ll be competing with Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio, the former having already started providing the network in 300 towns and the latter getting ready to launch it in December.