Hyderabad, December 12, 2007: Vodafone Essar, one of India’s leading cellular service providers, has announced extended validity at Rs 199 for its new and existing prepaid customers in Andhra Pradesh. With this offer, Vodafone customers in the state can avail of seven months validity as against the earlier two months validity on recharging with Rs 199.

Vodafone is the first service provider in the state to launch an offer of this kind. This is a step forward in our endeavour to constantly provide customers with higher convenience.

About Vodafone Essar Limited
Vodafone Essar in India is a subsidiary of Vodafone Group Plc and commenced operations in 1994 when its predecessor Hutchison Telecom acquired the cellular licence for Mumbai. Vodafone Essar now has operations in 16 circles covering 86% of India’s mobile customer base, with over 38.5 million customers*.

Over the years, Vodafone Essar, under the Hutch brand, has been named the 'Most Respected Telecom Company', the 'Best Mobile Service in the country' and the 'Most Creative and Most Effective Advertiser of the Year'.

Vodafone is the world’s leading international mobile communications company. It now has operations in 25 countries across 5 continents and 40 partner networks with over 200 million customers worldwide. Vodafone has partnered with the Essar Group as its principal joint venture partner for the Indian market.

The Essar Group is a diversified business corporation with interests spanning the manufacturing and service sectors like Steel, Energy, Power, Communications, Shipping & Logistics and Construction. The Group has an asset base of over Rs.400 billion (US$ 10 billion) and employs over 20,000 people.

*Figures from Cellular Operators Association of India, November 30, 2007

For more information, please contact:

Divya Balasubramaniam
Genesis Burson-Marsteller
Vodafone Mobile No.: +91 - 9948183676
email: divya.bala@bm.com