IDEA Cellular Limited was incorporated in 1995 and is one of the leading GSM mobile services operators. Headquartered in Mumbai, it has licenses to operate in all 22 service areas across the country, though commercial operations are currently in 16 services areas. With a customer base of over 43.02 million subscribers, the operations cover the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Bihar. Orissa, and Tamil Nadu will become operational during 2008-09, and Idea will then cover approximately 90 per cent of the country’s telephony potential.

IDEA enjoys a market leadership position in many of its operational areas. It offers GPRS on all its operating networks for all categories of subscribers, and was the first company in India to commercially launch the next generation EDGE technology in Delhi in 2003. As a pioneer in technology deployment, it has been in the forefront through the adoption of bio fuels to power its base stations, and by employing satellite connectivity to reach inaccessible rural areas in Madhya Pradesh.

IDEA has been a leader in the introduction of value added services, and there are several firsts to its credit, including a voice portal ‘Say Idea’, Idea TV, voice chat, instant messenger, and many more. Tariff plans have been customer friendly, catering to the unique needs of different customer segments, where ‘Women’s Card’ caters to the special needs of the woman on the move, and ‘Youth Card’ covers the emerging youth segment.

IDEA has won numerous awards and is the only Indian GSM operator to win the prestigious GSM Association Award consecutively in the best mobile technology category for the ‘Best Billing and Customer Care Solution’ both in 2006 and in 2007 in the face of international competition.

In 2007 IDEA was listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).