Vodafone India CEO Sunil Sood thinks Reliance Jio’s impending arrival in India will serve to shake-up the market as would any new player in the Indian telecom industry. He had expressed this opinion during the brand’s LTE launch in Bengaluru when questioned as to the effect its rival could have in the country.
According to Sood, any new contender provides other players the chance to re-examine itself and try to innovate more. This process eventually benefits consumers. Industry experts feel Reliance Jio’s entry in March or April will spark extreme competition and cheaper rates. The Vodafone CEO refused to answer questions regarding a potential tariff war.
However, he did assert that Vodafone has defense plans in place to shield itself. He chose not to elaborate on what exactly these were. Notably, Reliance had begun its operations in India back in 2002 by trying to entice people through free incoming calls, affordable phones and cheap call rates. Sood thinks the scenario is different today as there are established incumbents and deep mobile penetration.
According to PTI, he believes subscribers have been happy with Vodafone’s service so far and have no reason to switch. He further pointed out that the telecom operator hasn’t raised its rates for 4G services so it doesn’t make sense for a customer to go for other companies. This situation had been analyzed before by brokerage firm CLSA back in December.
Also See: Reliance Jio 4G may threaten Airtel, Vodafone premium market share
According to the report, high-spending customers were more likely to try out 4G first. Airtel and Vodafone have the maximum number of those. If Reliance starts offering competitive rates for its services then it could threaten the market share of the two. However, these premium consumers are found in fewer circles and are already loyal to their current brands.