Vodafone Idea adopted Cloudera Object Store

India, home to 1.4 billion people, is one of the largest telecommunications markets globally with approximately 900 million mobile users. This growth is driven by increasing demand for mobile and data services, particularly in rural areas.

Vodafone Idea (Vi) holds a market share of over 20%, serving 220 million customers with mobile connectivity, data services, and enterprise solutions. In addition to core telecom services, Vi provides value-added services such as OTT video streaming, bill payments, and flight bookings.  

Evolving Data Services in India

Over the past decade, India’s telecom sector has seen a shift toward data-driven services, particularly in rural regions transitioning from 2G to 4G and 5G networks. Reliable mobile connectivity remains essential for communities across the country. 

Vodafone and Idea Merger: Integrating Data Platforms

In 2019, Vodafone and Idea merged to expand their market reach. However, integrating multiple data lakes and warehouses from both companies posed significant challenges.  

Data Accuracy and Trust: Ensuring data consistency and reliability was critical, as millions of customers depend on stable connectivity.  

Regulatory Compliance: The telecom industry in India is highly regulated, requiring secure data management and accurate record-keeping. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act (2023) introduced new compliance measures.  

Operational Efficiency: Maintaining multiple data storage systems was costly, requiring consolidation for cost savings and improved performance.  

Building a Unified Data Infrastructure

To address these challenges, Vodafone Idea implemented a unified data lakehouse by consolidating 100 nodes of data from the Hortonworks Data Platform into a single system.

Deploying Cloudera for Scalability and Security 

After evaluating available options, Vodafone Idea deployed Cloudera on-premises due to the high cost of transferring large data volumes to public cloud providers. This hybrid approach also allows for future cloud integration while ensuring data security and compliance.  

Key implementation steps:  

- Migrating disparate data sources into Cloudera for a single source of truth.  
- Scaling the platform to support hundreds of processing nodes and over 12 petabytes of data.  

Optimizing Data Management and Efficiency

Vodafone Idea adopted Cloudera Object Store powered by Apache Ozone to optimise storage utilisation and reduce costs. This solution allows for separating storage and computing layers, enhancing efficiency.  

Additionally, Cloudera Observability provides real-time monitoring, enabling teams to:  
Analyse telemetry and logs from a central interface.  
- Take preventive measures and optimise system performance.  
- Reduce support ticket volumes by 80%, lowering operational costs.  

Business Impact and Cost Savings
 
With strategic support from Cloudera’s Professional Services team, Vodafone Idea successfully upgraded its data and analytics platform with only 36 hours of downtime, transferring 12 petabytes of data in the process.  

Key features include:

- $20 million to $30 million USD in savings on hardware, licensing, and infrastructure costs.  
- Fivefold reduction in support tickets significantly improving issue resolution.  
- Enhanced compliance with regulatory requirements by efficiently storing and managing historical data. 

Vodafone Idea plans to expand its analytics and machine learning capabilities, offering data science as a service to business customers. Future initiatives include:  
- Further segregating regulatory and business processes.  
- Collaborating with Cloudera’s Professional Services team to develop a dedicated regulatory data system.  

By leveraging a scalable and secure data infrastructure, Vodafone Idea continues to enhance its services and support digital transformation in India’s telecom sector.

Read More:

FUJIFILM India Expands Product Portfolio at Printpack India 2025

Union Budget 2025: Key Announcements and Industry Reactions