IDEA Cellular and IBM Extend Relationship to Include Interactive Voice Response

IDEA Cellular Ltd. (IDEA), a leading India-based GSM mobile services provider and an Aditya Birla Group company, and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a ten-year, $53 million contract to deploy, integrate, innovate and transform IDEA’s interactive voice response (IVR) self-service infrastructure and processes. The consulting services agreement is designed on an innovative risk-and-reward model based on price per minute.

The agreement was signed in June 2007 and is in addition to the ten-year IT outsourcing agreement between IDEA and IBM, valued around $600 million to $800 million signed earlier this year.

This is the first of its kind end-to-end IVR self-service transformation project in the Indian telecom industry. IBM will enable IDEA to deliver an enhanced customer contact experience to its subscribers by integrating IVR self-service with IDEA’s business support and IT systems and leveraging a common process and operations.

The partnership will enable IDEA to:


Enhance service delivery quality for IDEA subscribers via a new channel for customer contact that will provide accurate product and billing information and a strong brand experience
Deploy state-of-the-art IP-based customer contact system for voice response across Indian states
Accelerate the launch of new services and plans for end users
Encourage more self-serviced calls thereby reducing calls to customer specialists and reducing overall call center costs
Under the contract, IBM will transform IDEA’s customer contact channels through the addition of an IP-based IVR system for end user self-service. IBM will provide consultancy for IVR optimisation, operate and manage the systems and provide continuous improvements for IDEA subscribers’ self-service experience.

Announcing the agreement, Mr. Sanjeev Aga, Managing Director, IDEA Cellular Ltd., said, “IDEA is focused on delighting customers and providing a strong brand experience. Our latest agreement with IBM will set a new standard in service delivery quality and customer contact. We will harness IBM’s knowledge and experience in the areas of contact center and voice response to achieve our objective of having the most advanced infrastructure and processes to support IDEAs business.”

Mr. Vivek Gupta, IBM India director, Communication Sector, said, “This agreement further strengthens our relationship with IDEA. At IBM we strive to bring to our clients innovative and world-class solutions that will set examples for the industry. Interactive Voice Response is a first of its kind project and will make IDEA’s contact center management resilient, scalable and cost effective. We are delighted to extend our partnership with IDEA and the Aditya Birla Group, in this high focus area of customer contact.”

About IBM

For more information on IBM visit http://www.ibm.com

About IDEA Cellular

As a leading GSM Mobile Services operator in India, IDEA Cellular has licenses to operate in 11 circles. With a customer base of over 16 million, IDEA Cellular has operations in Delhi, Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajashthan, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala. IDEA Cellular’s footprint currently covers approximately 45% of India’s population and over 50% of the potential telecom-market.

IDEA is a part of the Aditya Birla Group, a US $24 billion corporation with a market cap. of over US $23 billion and in the League of Fortune 500, anchored by an extraordinary force of more than 100,000 employees, belonging to 25 different nationalities. Over 50 percent of its revenues flow from its operations across the world. In India, the Group has been adjudged “The Best Employer in India and among the top 20 in Asia” by the Hewitt-Economic Times and Wall Street Journal Study 2007.

More about IDEA Cellular Ltd. at http://www.ideacellular.com/