Vodafone CEO Sarin to visit India on Sp 22

New Delhi, Sept 20: Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin is expected to be here in the capital on Saturday to have a closer look at marketing initiatives after its brand change, one of the biggest transitions ever undertaken in the country to be formally launched tomorrow.

The UK telecom giant which had recently acquired Hutchison's stake in Hutch Essar will be known as Vodafone Essar in India, the 26th country where the brand is present.

The brand change that will touch 3.5 crore customers and four lakh shops and employees will be executed through a media blitz and the pug which had become famous with its network advertisement will remain, company sources said.

''This marks a significant chapter in the evolution of Vodafone as a dynamic and ever-growing brand. The brand change over the next few weeks will be unveiled nationally through a high profile campaign covering all important media,'' a company statement said.

Vodafone Essar Managing Director, Asim Ghosh said ''We have had a great innings as Hutch in India and today marks a new beginning for us. Not as a departure from the fundamentals that created Hutch, but an acceleration into the future with Vodafone's global expertise.'' The high-profile brand transistion will also coincide with the company launching cheap cellphones under the Vodafone brand and co-branded handsets.

The move also comes close on the heels of Reliance Communications (RCOM) launching mobile handsets at prices starting Rs 777 and industry experts say that Vodafone would lower the prices by Rs 100 of its phones.

UNI