t operates in 25 countries across five continents and has 40 partner networks (including five in Asia - Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka) with over 200 million customers worldwide. So when Vodafone took over Hutchison's controlling stake in Hutchison Essar for $11.1 billion earlier this year, it had the perfect credentials to build on the Hutch legacy.

Look at what it was taking over. A $1.3 billion company (calendar year 2005). A brand that was operating in 16 out of the 23 telecom circles in India. A brand with 34.1 million customers- and high recall. With that great base to build on, it doesn't exactly seem an uphill task for the �31.1 million ($61.2 million) British communications (it supplies mobile voice, paging, mobile data and internet services) giant.... more