Idea Cellular Limited was incorporated in 1995. Idea is among the top five cellular operators in India with an 11 per cent all-India subscribers market share. More importantly, it ranks third in terms of wireless revenue market share at 12.7 per cent. Idea ranks second with 20.8 per cent revenue market share in nine service areas where it holds 900MHz spectrum and which derive 48 per cent of industry's gross revenues (based on gross revenues for UAS and mobile licenses only, for December 2009 quarter, as released by TRAI).

The market positioning of Idea reflects the strength of its brand considering the fact that Idea added 14 out of its total 22 service areas in the past four years. Today it is a pan-India player with commercial operations in all 22 service areas. Its subscriber base has grown multifold from 7.37 million in March 2006 to 63.82 million in March 2010.

Idea holds 16 per cent stake in Indus Towers, a joint venture with other telecom majors Bharti Airtel and Vodafone. Indus Towers is the world's largest tower company with over one lakh towers. In 2007, Idea was listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

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 at 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 many firsts to its credit, including a voice portal 'Say Idea', Idea TV, voice chat and instant messenger. Tariff plans have been customer-friendly, catering to the unique needs of different customer segments, for instance the 'Women's Card' caters to the special needs of women on the move, and 'Youth Card' covers the emerging youth segment.