As part of a broader strategy to increase its average income per user, Vodafone Idea Ltd wants to build its postpaid user base and attract more high-paying consumers to its network through focused marketing campaigns
. The primary difficulty of payment mechanism for postpaid contracts through online mode has been handled, according to Ravinder Takkar, CEO of Vodafone Idea, and the moment is ripe to investigate the prepaid-postpaid division among its user base.
“We’re working on something that will help clarify that (difference),” said the team. “We feel there is an opportunity to eliminate the postpaid-prepaid distinction and deliver the correct bundle for you that better fits your lifestyle,” Takkar said in a recent interview.
“It was a payment system issue back in the day, maybe ten years ago.” As an industry, we can now better convey to clients the advantages of being a postpaid customer over a prepaid customer, and vice versa,” he added. The shift in approach comes as the debt-laden airline seeks to raise 20,000 crore in debt and equity from external investors.
It is also seeking final approval for the conversion of interest on a spectrum-related dues moratorium into equity, which will make the government the company’s largest shareholder. As of March, Vodafone Idea’s pre-paid subscribers accounted for 91.8 percent of the total 243.8 million consumers, or 223.8 million.
Its pre-paid client base was 92.2 percent (246.9 million) of its total customer base of 267.8 million a year ago. The telco’s postpaid subscriber count declined from 20.9 million in FY21 to 20 million in FY22, according to its March quarter report.
Despite the decline in postpaid users, it still outnumbers Bharti Airtel’s 18 million as of March. Prepaid users account for 94.5 percent of Airtel’s total customer base of over 326 million.
Experts believe Vodafone Idea’s move could be the start of an industry trend, as the issue of making physical payments for postpaid plans has been eliminated thanks to the rapid adoption of online payment systems provided by banks, carriers’ own apps, or third-party apps that offer incentives, rewards, or cashbacks for paying phone bills online.
Prepaid plans from Vodafone Idea start at $299 and include unlimited calls, 1.5 GB of data per day, and Vi movies. Its postpaid plans, which start at $399 per month, include 40 GB of data, unlimited calls, 200 GB of rollover data, and 150 GB of more data if you reload online.
“The difference between prepaid and postpaid isn’t huge these days,” the source said, requesting anonymity. “If Vodafone Idea can convert some prepaid subscribers to postpaid, it will help the loss-making telecom operator better its financial situation vis-à-vis competition.”
Follow and connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter.
