Vodafone brand makes India debut

Leading global mobile provider Vodafone began using its own name across India on Friday following its purchase of an Indian cellular firm, rolling out what the British company said was one of the world's biggest rebranding campaigns.
The firm's media saturation blitz follows its purchase in March of a majority stake in Hutchison Essar from Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecommunications International for 11.1 billion dollars.
The purchase is seen as crucial to the British company's earnings growth as it struggles with saturated cellular markets in the developed world. India is the world's fastest growing cellular market, adding more than six million subscribers a month.
"We think the brand change is the largest seen in this country and we think it could be said to be as big as has ever been done globally," Harit Nagpal, a senior official of the Indian unit, told AFP.