Bharti Airtel appoints chief marketing officer for AfricaAirtel In Africa: Investment Targets; Tanzania Problem; Wants Infra Sharing, MNP

Following its landmark acquisition of Zain Africa, which made it the fifth largest telecom operator in the world, Bharti Airtel is making all the right noises in Africa. On the regulatory front, Airtel is pushing for infrastructure sharing among telecom operators, which will reduce its cost of roll out, making the case for the implementation of Mobile Number Portability, which will assist it in customer acquisition, and highlighting the Indian example of high minutes of use (around 5 times of the African average of 40 minutes per month) to push for reduction in rates. Manoj Kohli, CEO (International) & Joint MD, Bharti Airtel, who is heading the African operations, has been doing the rounds of the countries where Zain has operations, announcing investment plans, and stating that growth of teledensity in rural areas will be important for the company.

As we had reported last month, the Airtel brand will be rolled out in Africa in October, and Kohli has set the following targets for the company by 2012-2013:- 100 million customers (Zain Africa currently has 42 million)- $5 Billion in revenue (Zain Africa currently does around $3.6 Bn)- $ 2 Billion EBITDA (Zain Africa currently does $1.2 Billion EBITDA)

(our detailed coverage of Airtel-Zain here)

Issues With Tanzania Government Over Ownership

According to reports, Airtel put in a bid for the Tanzania governments 40% stake in Zain Tanzania, but the government doesn’t want to sell it. Instead, the government wants to buy back the majority stake in the company, which is with Airtel. Zain also held 35% stake in national fixed line operator TTCL, which it agreed to sell back to the government. According to reports, the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) has not formally granted permission for the sale of Zain Tanzania.More at Telegeography and Cellular News. According to The Citizen, Airtel had offered $11.2 million to the government, and also allow it to retain its stake. Apparently, mobile companies are required by law, to list on the Dar es Salaam stock exchange.

To Invest At Least $1.5 Billion

At press conferences around the continent, Kolhi’s announced investment plans over the next 2-3 years that aggregate to at least $1.5 billion. Plans and investments for Chad, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Congo Brazzaville and Madagascar are yet to be announced.

- In Kenya, $150 Million: In Nairobi, Kohli said that Bharti Airtel will invest $150 million in Kenya to help boost network and capacity distribution, and start services with a rural focus. The company is open to infrastructure sharing. Airtel is also pushing for Mobile Number Portability in Kenya. Kohli said that the estimated minutes of use is 50 min per month in Kenya, which the company will look to push up. Kenyan subscribers pay 28% tax on call value. Read more at Reuters and Business Daily Africa.– In Nigera, $600 Million: Nigeria was a tricky situation for Airtel earlier. Airtel has announced plans to invest N90 billion (around $600 million) in network expansion over the next three years in Nigeria, around N45billion of which will be invested in the first year itself. Consumers expect the company to improve call quality and customer service, and reduce tariff. Rajan Swaroop is the CEO of Zain Nigeria. Read more at Daily Independent– In Ghana, $200 Million: Airtel will invest $200 million in Ghana, and look to reduce the cost of connectivity for consumers, provide deep network coverage and distribution. Airtel will look to share infrastructure with other telecom operators, but is also pushing for mobile number portability in Ghana. Additionally, they’ll also roll out Corporate Social Responsibility programmes in Ghana. More at Ghana News Agency– In Gabon, $100 Million: the investment will be made over three years, for network expansion, and the launch of new services. More at The Hindu- In Niger, $100 Million: Around 50 billion CFA francs (around $100 million), over around three years, will be invested in Niger for improving network quality. Telecom penetration in Niger is around 10-11% . [Economic Times]- In Malawi, $100 million: Airtel is targeting farmers in Malawi, and will invest $100 million over three years, and is looking to push average minutes of use from 40 per month to 250, by bringing down rates. Airtel is targeting 7 million subscribers in the country. Kohli also said that availability of electricity is a key issue, though Zain Malawi has solar powered booths. [AfricaNews.com & Digital Journal]– In Uganda, $100 Million: the investment will be made over the next two to three years, and Airtel is looking to push mobile penetration to over 60% from the current 30% level. More at Business Daily Africa.– In Zambia, $150 million: Again, the investment will be over the next two to three years according to Kohli. Zambia is a market where Airtel/Zain is dominant. [CIOL]

Related:- Airtel Completes Zain Acquisition; Plans, Targets & Nigeria- Airtel Closes In On Zain Acquisition: $8.3Bn Financing Oversubscribed- Airtel-Zain: Payout Of $9 Billion Expected; $255.38 Per Customer– Zain Sellout Timline; Zains Acquisitions

Airtel In Africa: Pre-rebranding Focus, CAPEX, Partners, Interconnect, Competition

yesterday held a conference call on its Zain plans, following a a leadership conclave in Kampala and a 15 country tour by CEO (International) Manoj Kohli. Kohli said he returned with a stronger conviction about the Africa opportunity than before the trip. You

can listen to our the call by calling one of the numbers here (ask for a replay). Or you can read our picks from the call below:

- Focus Areas: Manoj Kohli, specified that three things need to be in place before rebranding: improved network coverage, excellent customer care, and products to go to market with. The strategy will be different for each country. The brand change is going to take place in October, but no date in October has been specified yet. Airtel will be investing heavily in improving its network. It appears that the network in Nigeria requires substantial investment, which explains the $600 million investment.

- CAPEX: Airtel tentatively plans are to spent around $800 Million upto March 2011, for the initial rollout. A tower company will be formed in each country in Africa, and the company has initiated discussions on collaborating in fibre optics sharing at a country level, so that expansion will be at a lower CAPEX . They’ve also discussed with some governments for utilizing a USO Fund for network rollout. Network utiliziation in some parts is not high, but in areas where it is high, Kohli said that Airtel is addressing the issue. He emphasised that network optimization needs to be done in Africa.

- Partners: “We’re finalizing our partners and business model -whether network, IT, BPO and shared services. Before we moved, our partners had already aligned their organization structure to focus on setting up base in Nairobi, to support Bharti. Our RFP’s are out.” The partnerships will be consistent across countries, and they’ll look at the whole biz, not just a country.

- Government Relationships: Airtel is pushing the same agenda with the governments – rural coverage, affordability, creating more employment, and important CSR relationships. Governments are happy to contribute towards higher teledensity. (ED: no comments on Tanzania). License fee is zero or close to zero. In some countries, there’s a USO Fund. This is not inclusive of corporate tax. However, tenure of licenses: tenure ranges from 15-20 years, and there’s no renewal for next 3-4 years. After that it is country by country.

- Telecom population coverage is 60%. Minutes of usage are 50-60 minutes, and in India it’s 450 minutes, so there’s scope for improvement. Airtel wants to bring minutes of use to at least 250. The net teledensity in the countries that Airtel is in is around 20%, if you remove multi-sims.

- Multiple SIMs, Interconnect: Consumers tend to keep multiple SIMs because on-network and off-network tariffs are different in Africa. Tariffs are comparatively higher because Interconnect charges are extremely high which prevents off-net calls. Airtel intends to implement its minute factory, to cover network, IT and BPO, and lead to significant savings. They feel that interconnect has to be cost based and based on the most efficient operator. Airtel is talking to regulators to make interconnect cost based. There’s an opportunity to grow usage on-net and off net – both of which are low – and regulators are open to it.

- Competition: is reasonable, between 3-4 players, and in some case 5 players. Airtel wants to collaborate for network sharing. We’re leaders in 10 countries, number 2 in 4, and number 5 in Ghana. Big market leaders are also more prone to competitive action. Governments don’t appear to have plans to increase licensees: there’s no bar, but the avg is 20 Mhz of 2G and 10Mhz of 3G. There isn’t much spectrum left for new players, which limits future competition. Governments believe that unlimited competition is not a good idea. We don’t see competitive intensity going up.- Data and 3G usage is high, and the need for Internet is very high.

- People: Airtel has 3500 people, from more than 40 nationalities. The Airtel HQ will be in Nairobi, with 100 people, and will be fully operational in the month of July itself. We’re released an empowerment schedule, to senior leaders in each country. Transition and integration should be completed in under 180 days.

- Africa Market Scenario, Opportunity: Africa population is 1 billion today, and is expected to go up to 2 billion. Africa as a market will be bigger than India and China in terms of production and consumption, and the combined consumer spending will be $1.4 Trillion in 2020. Africa is urbanizing fast, which is important for telecom: at present, it’s urbanization is 40%, which is ahead of China and India. The size of the middle class (important target population for Telecom) is 400 million, and the youth population is around 25% of the world, with a median age is 17-18 years. The working population is large, bigger than China. In terms of economies, out of 30 economies, 27 are growing at more than 5% GDP. Democracy has been taking root, social transformation is taking place. Infrastructure is improving and more than 10% of GDP is spent on transportation and telecom. FII has grown substantially.

Zain was acquired with $1.9Bn of gross debt and $1.6 bn of net debt. Airtel expects a payout of $200 million per year, in terms of interest.

Related:- Airtel In Africa: Investment Targets; Tanzania Problem; Wants Infra Sharing,

- Airtel Completes Zain Acquisition; Plans, Targets & Nigeria- Airtel Closes In On Zain Acquisition: $8.3Bn Financing Oversubscribed- Airtel-Zain: Payout Of $9 Billion Expected; $255.38 Per Customer– Zain Sellout Timline; Zains Acquisitions

Manchester United To Partner Bharti Airtel In Search Of Talents In AfricaMobile phone communications company, Bharti Airtel has announced an exclusive partnership with Manchester United Football Club that is aimed to scout and train talents from Africa among other benefits.

Through the four year partnership, Manchester United will support the Airtel Allstars search for young African football talent, while Airtel customers in the country will have the opportunity to win tickets to watch the Red Devils play in Manchester, take part in coaching sessions and access exclusive Manchester United news, download highlights, ringtones and wallpapers through the Airtel Live mobile portal.

Airtel Tanzania Marketing Manager Kelvin Twissa told the Daily News: "Football is the universal passion of Africa and there's no bigger club in the world than Manchester United.

“I'm tremendously excited about the opportunities for Airtel customers to interact with the brand, win exclusive match tickets and signed shirts and have the chance to train with coaches from one of the leading academies in world football.

"Manchester United's Old Trafford home is known as the Theatre of Dreams and that is exactly what we hope to fulfill. The dreams of thousands of airtel customers over the next four years. We're also launching our ambitious Airtel Allstars initiative, in association with Manchester United, to find and nurture African talent to make it right to the top of the professional game."

Airtel Tanzania Head of Corporate Communications, Beatrice Singano added, "As we are announcing today, we have two Tanzanians who have won fully paid tickets and will be travelling to Manchester to watch one of the biggest games between Manchester United and Liverpool FC on 9th January 2011. These are Omari Mohammed Mhina from Mtwara and Shabani Mohammed Mhina from Dar es Salaam."

This deal gives Airtel exclusive rights as the official mobile communications partner of Manchester United in Tanzania with access to unique mobile phone content, including player interviews, goal replays and match reports.

Airtel customers will also have regular opportunities to take part in competitions and prize draws to win all expenses paid trips to attend Manchester United matches.

Each year Airtel and Manchester United will run training sessions at the Manchester United Academy, one of the world's most prestigious football training centres.

There will be opportunity for customers to attend coaching sessions with Manchester United coaches in the region.

Andre Beyers, Bharti Airtel's chief marketing officer, said, "Sport can be a powerful vehicle for social change, bringing people together and instilling values of teamwork and personal standards. Mobile communication is also a facilitator of social change and economic development and we hope that our association with Manchester United will help drive us towards achieving those goals."

Bharti AirtelBharti Airtel Limited, usually referred to simply as "airtel", is a Indian telecommunications company that operates in 19 countries across South Asia, Africa and the Channel Islands. It operates a GSM network in all countries, providing 2G or 3G services depending upon the country of operation. Airtel is the fifth largest telecom operator in the world with over 200 million subscribers as of October 2010. It is the largest cellular service provider in India, with over 143 million subscribers as of September 30, 2010.[3] Airtel is the 3rd largest in-country mobile operator by subscriber base, behind China Mobile and China Unicom. It has a 29.00% market share of the GSM mobile service in India.

Airtel also offers fixed line services and broadband services. It offers its telecom services under the Airtel brand and is headed by Sunil Bharti Mittal. Bharti Airtel is the first Indian telecom service provider to achieve this Cisco Gold Certification. To earn Gold Certification, Bharti Airtel had to meet rigorous standards for networking competency, service, support and customer satisfaction set forth by Cisco.[4] The company also provides land-line telephone services and broadband Internet access (DSL) in over 96 cities in India. It also acts as a carrier for national and international long distance communication services. The company has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore.

It is known for being the first mobile phone company in the world to outsource everything except marketing and sales and finance. Its network (base stations, microwave links, etc.) is maintained by Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Network and Huawei.,[5] business support by IBM and transmission towers by another company (Bharti Infratel Ltd. in India).[6] Ericsson agreed for the first time, to be paid by the minute for installation and maintenance of their equipment rather than being paid up front. This enabled the company to provide pan-India phone call rates of Rs. 1/minute (U$0.02/minute). Call rates have come down much further.[7] During the last financial year [2009-10], Bharti has roped in a strategic partner Alcatel-Lucent to manage the network infrastructure for the Telemedia Business.

The company is structured into four strategic business units - Mobile, Telemedia, Enterprise and Digital TV. The Telemedia business provides broadband, IPTV and telephone services in 89 Indian cities. The Digital TV business provides Direct-to-Home TV services across India. The Enterprise business provides end-to-end telecom solutions to corporate customers and national and international long distance services to telcos.[8]

In January 2010, company announced that Manoj Kohli, Joint Managing Director and current Chief Executive Officer of Indian and South Asian operations, will become the Chief Executive Officer of the International Business Group from 1 April 2010. He will be overseeing Bharti's overseas business. Current Dy. CEO, Sanjay Kapoor, will replace Manoj Kohli and will be the CEO, effective from 1 April 2010.

History

Sunil Bharti Mittal founded the Bharti Group. In 1983, Sunil Mittal was into an agreement with Germany's Siemens to manufacture the company's push-button telephone models for the Indian market. In 1986, Sunil Bharti Mittal incorporated Bharti Telecom Limited (BTL) and his company became the first in India to offer push-button telephones, establishing the basis of Bharti Enterprises. This first-mover advantage allowed Sunil Mittal to expand his manufacturing capacity elsewhere in the telecommunications market. By the early 1990s, Sunil Mittal had also launched the country's first fax machines and its first cordless telephones. In 1992, Sunil Mittal won a bid to build a cellular phone network in Delhi. In 1995, Sunil Mittal incorporated the cellular operations as Bharti Tele-Ventures and launched service in Delhi. In 1996, cellular service was extended to Himachal Pradesh. In 1999, Bharti Enterprises acquired control of JT Holdings, and extended cellular operations to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In 2000, Bharti acquired control of Skycell Communications, in Chennai. In 2001, the company acquired control of Spice Cell in Calcutta. Bharti Enterprises went public in 2002, and the company was listed on Mumbai Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange of India. In 2003, the cellular phone operations were rebranded under the single Airtel brand. In 2004, Bharti acquired control of Hexacom and entered Rajasthan. In 2005, Bharti extended its network to Andaman and Nicobar.

In 2009, Airtel launched its first international mobile network in Sri Lanka. In 2010, Airtel began operating in Bangladesh and 16 African countries.

Today, Airtel is the largest cellular service provider in India and fifth largest in the world.

Worldwide Presence

Airtel is the 5th largest mobile operator in the world in terms of subscriber base and has a commercial presence in 19 countries and the Channel Islands.

Its area of operations include:

3 countries in the Indian Subcontinent:

Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka

16 countries in Africa:

Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Channel Islands :

Jersey and Guernsey

Airtel operates on the British Crown Dependency islands of Jersey and Guernsey, under the brand name Airtel-Vodafone, through an agreement with Vodafone.

Africa

fficial site:Airtel Africa

On 14, February 2010 a statement issued by Zain Ghana, said "the Board of Directors of Kuwait's Zain Group, after its meeting on February 14, 2010, issued a resolution to accept a proposal received from Bharti Airtel Limited (Bharti) to enter into exclusive discussions until 25 March 2010, regarding the sale of its African unit, Zain Africa BV." The offer was for $10.7 billion. The deal would provide Bharti access to 15 more countries in the region, adding around 40.1 million subscribers to its already 125 million-plus user base. The combined revenue of the two entities would be around $12 billion.

The deal ran into hurdles after the government of the of Gabon had come out against the deal, but later approved the sale. The government of Congo Republic had also said Bharti-Zain deal broke law. There was also a dispute about minority ownership of Zain's operations in Nigeria, the biggest market in the deal. Minority shareholder Econet was seeking to overturn a 2006 deal by Zain - then called Celtel - in which it bought a majority stake in Nigerian mobile operator Vee Networks Ltd, now Zain Nigeria. On 8, June 2010, Bharti said the Nigeria ownership dispute had been settled.[15]

On 8, June 2010, Bharti Airtel, in the largest ever telecom takeover by an Indian firm, completed a deal to buy Kuwait-based Zain Telecom's businesses in 15 African countries for $10.7 billion. The transaction is the largest ever cross-border deal in an emerging market and will result in combined revenues of about $13 billion."[16] The overall integration should be complete by the end of this financial year.

On September 1, 2010, Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Bharti Mittal said that Bharti Airtel Ltd would change its Africa operations brand from Zain to Airtel by 23 November 2010.[17]

On August 11, 2010, Bharti Airtel announced that it would acquire 100% stake in Telecom Seychelles for US$62 million taking its global presence to 19 countries. Telecom Seychelles began operations in 1998 and operates 3G, Fixed Line, ship to shore services satellite telephony, among value added services like VSAT and Gateways for International Traffic across the Seychelles under the Airtel brand. The company has over 57 percent share of the mobile market of Seychelles.[18] Airtel announced plans to invest US$10 million in its fixed and mobile telecoms network in the Seychelles over three years , whilst also participating in the Seychelles East Africa submarine cable (SEAS) project. The US$34 million SEAS project is aimed at improving the Seychelles’ global

connectivity by building a 2,000 km undersea high speed link to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.[19]

Airtel offers 3G services in eight countries of Africa. Airtel said that the other eight would also get Airtel 3G. The company wants to tap the African 3G market with a special focus on video services, as it sees a huge demand for video based services there.

[edit] One Network

Airtel still operates under the ‘One Network’ system in which travelers’ only need to buy recharge card to top their phones instead of buying another sim when visiting another country.

[edit] Airtel Money

The Airtel Money serivce, formally called ZAP has now evolved to e-commerce network. Innovation like buying on-line by making use of single use Master Card application, open platform email, social networking will be available for all Airtel(former Zain) subscribers.[20]

[edit] Ghana

Bharti Airtel on November 22, 2010 officially launched their brand in Ghana at the Banquet Hall in Accra, after taking over the operations of Zain. Bharti Airtel is pumping 200 million dollars to expand its operations in Ghana and has also planned to bring its ecosystem of global partners to the country which could result in additional employment opportunities.

The operator has also partnered with telecommunications infrastructure suppliers such as Nokia, Siemens, Ericsson, Huawei among others to extend its network to rural areas which are at present disconnected from the world and ensure that Airtel has the best quality network in Ghana and becomes the leader in Africa by 2015.

Unveiling the new brand in Ghana, Philip Sowah, Managing Director of Airtel Ghana made the promise of making mobile communications affordable for all by launching a bundle of products made up of a new Nokia phone plus Airtel Sim card, talk time and SMS credits that is effectively free.[21]

[edit] Kenya

Airtel Kenya is the second largest mobile phone operator in Kenya. It has 4 million subscribers as on January 15, 2011.

Bharti Airtel Ltd.’s Kenyan unit will focus on reducing call rates and expanding its customer base after changing its name to Airtel Networks Kenya Ltd. from Zain Kenya, a company official said. Airtel plans to keep costs down in Kenya by sharing infrastructure

with existing players and through its partnerships with service providers including IBM Corp., Huawei Technologies Co. and Nokia Oyj, said Rene Meza, managing director of the Kenyan unit. “The tariffs will remain low due to lower overall cost of operations as we enjoy economies of scale through these partnerships,” Meza said at the press briefing. Airtel suffered losses as a result of the reduction in call charges, though the company is keen for those tariffs to remain low as it seeks to grow market share, Meza said.[22]

Airtel Kenya will begin rolling out 3G services in the first quarter of 2011 as part of a push for more customers and a return to profit at its unprofitable African operations. New products will include e-mail and e-commerce services, Rene Meza, managing director of Airtel Networks Kenya Ltd., said in an interview on November 22, 2010 in Nairobi. Airtel is considering subsidizing laptops and Internet-enabled handsets to drive data use in East Africa’s biggest economy, he said. “We have finalized planning for 3G and we expect to have the services rolled at the end of the first quarter, which will change mobile telephony in the country,” Meza said.

Airtel Kenya competes with Safaricom Ltd., Kenya’s biggest mobile-phone company, and Telkom Kenya, a unit of France Telecom.

[edit] Nigeria

Airtel Nigeria started operations as Econet Nigeria. Econet was rebranded to Vodacom, South Africa’s second largest telecommunication brand. However, Vodacom did not last a week in the Nigeria. The development prompted Nigeria’s first GSM brand to operate in the country without identifiable corporate name and strategy for over two months. The circumstances created Vmobile, which was made up of a group of Nigerian entrepreneurs who vowed never to let the brand exit without a fight. They (Vmobile) led the unbranded Vmobile to the threshold of MTC, owners of Celtel brand that later acquired the Vmobile and rebranded it, Celtel in Nigeria. Two years after the success story of Celtel, Zain announced takeover of the Celtel brand from MTC across Africa and Middle East. It would be recalled Celtel in 2006. But two years later, precisely on August 1, 2008, Celtel made the way for Zain following the global acquisition of Celtel International by MTC Group, which transformed to Zain.

In just another two years interval, Zain was acquired by Bharti Airtel and rebranded for the sixth time to 'Airtel'.[23]

[edit] Tanzania

Airtel Tanzania plans to expand its network and boost market penetration, writes the Citizen Reporter citing comments from Bharti Airtel MD Sam Elangalloor. He said that that Airtel had signed contracts with Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) to extend its network to underserved areas. He added that Airtel was looking to expand its group subscriber base by 150 percent by 2013 to 100 million customers across Africa. To help boost take-up in rural areas, Airtel has unveiled a new package in

Tanzania offering an Airtel SIM card, Nokia 1280 phone and the equivalent value in Airtel talktime and SMS text messages for TZS 39,000.[24]

[edit] India

[edit] Mobile

Airtel has nationwide presence and is the market leader with a market share of almost completely(as of May 2010). It is 6th most valued brand according to an annual survey conducted by Brand Finance and The Economic Times in 2010. [25]

On 19 October 2004, Airtel announced the launch of a BlackBerry Wireless Solution in India. The launch is a result of a tie-up between Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited and Research In Motion (RIM).

The Apple iPhone 3G was rolled out in India on 22 August 2008 by Airtel & Vodafone. Both the cellular service providers rolled out their Apple iPhone 3GS in the first quarter of 2010. However, high prices and contract bonds discouraged consumers and it was not as successful for both the service providers as much as the iPhone is successful in other markets of the world.

[edit] 3G

On May 18, 2010, 3G spectrum auction was completed and Airtel will have to pay the Indian government 12,295 crore (US$2.67 billion) for spectrum in 13 circles, the most amount spent by an operator in this auction. Airtel won 3G licences in 13 telecom circles of India: Delhi, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (east), Rajasthan, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir.[26]

On 20 September 2010, Bharti Airtel said that it has given contracts to Ericsson India, Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) and Huawei Technologies to set up infrastructure for providing 3G services in the country. These vendors will plan, design, deploy and maintain 3G-HSPA (third generation, high speed packet access) networks in 13 telecom circles where the company has won 3G licences. While Bharti Airtel has awarded network contracts for seven 3G circles to Ericsson India, NSN would manage networks in three circles. Chinese telecom equipment vendor Huawei Technologies has been introduced as the third partner for three circles. [27]

On January 24, 2011, Airtel launched limited 3G service in Bangalore, Karnataka - its largest circle by revenue. With this launch & On January 27, 2011, Airtel launched limited 3G in Chennai and Coimbatore after following launch of Bangalore & Karnataka Circles .Bharti Airtel becomes the third private operator (fifth overall) to launch its 3G services in the country following Reliance Communications and Tata Docomo.[28]

The operator will is expected to launch 3G services across 40 cities (11 of which are expected to be in Karnataka) in 13 telecom circles by March 2011. Airtel plans to cover 1,500 cities across these 13 circles by the end of March 2012. The company, which has 3G licences for 13 circles, is also in talks with other service providers to roll out the services in the remaining 10 circles as part of its roaming offerings.[29]

[edit] Criticism

There has been lot of criticism about Airtel for its unauthorised VAS activation. Many of its services were activated automatically according to a complaint forum. In return Airtel launched STOP/START 121 services for such issues. [30] [31]

[edit] Telemedia

The Telemedia business provides services in 89 Indian cities and consists of two brands.[8]

Airtel Broadband provides broadband and IPTV services. Airtel provides both capped as well as unlimited download plans [reduced speeds at unlimited data are implied]. The maximum speed available for home users is 16Mbps.

Airtel Fixed Line which provides fixed line services.

Airtel has about 3.16 million wireline customers, of which 42.6% are broadband/internet subscribers as of August 2010.[32] Until September 18, 2004, Bharti provided fixed-line telephony and broadband services under the Touchtel brand. Bharti now provides all telecom services including fixed-line services under a common brand "Airtel".

[edit] Digital TelevisionMain article: Airtel Digital TV

The Digital TV business provides Direct-to-Home (DTH) TV services across India under the brand name Airtel Digital TV. It started services on 9 October 2008 and has about 32.44 million customers as of August 2010.[32]

[edit] Enterprise

The Enterprise business provides end-to-end telecom solutions to corporate customers and national and international long distance services to telcos through its nationwide fiber optic backbone, last mile connectivity in fixed-line and mobile circles, VSATs, ISP and international bandwidth access through the gateways and landing stations.

[edit] Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

[edit] Bangladesh

In January 2010, Bharti Airtel acquired a 70% stake in Warid Telecom Bangladesh, a subsidiary of the UAE-based Abu Dhabi Group for $300 million.

Bharti Airtel is making a fresh investment of USD 300 million to rapidly expand the operations of Warid Telecom and have management and board control of the company. This is the largest investment in Bangladesh by an Indian company. Dhabi Group continues as a strategic partner retaining 30% shareholding and has its nominees on the Board of the Company. The new funding is being utilised for expansion of the network, both for coverage and capacity, and introduction of innovative products and services. As a result of this additional investment, the overall investment in the company will be in the region of USD 1 billion.[33]

This is Bharti Airtel’s second operation outside of India. The company launched its mobile services in Sri Lanka in January 2009 on a state-of-the-art 3.5G network

On December 20, 2010, Warid Telecom rebranded to airtel.

Airtel Bangladesh covers the entire country and has over 4 million customers.[34]

[edit] Sri Lanka

In December 2008, Bharti Airtel rolled out 3.5G services in Sri Lanka in association with Singapore Telecommunications. Airtel's operation in Sri Lanka, known as Airtel Lanka, commenced operations on 12 January 2009.[35] Airtel Lanka has 1.4 million mobile customers in Sri Lanka, across all administrative districts.

[edit] Channel Islands: Jersey and Guernsey

On 1 May 2007, Jersey Airtel and Guernsey Airtel, both wholly owned subsidiaries of the Bharti Group, announced they would launch mobile services in the British Crown Dependency islands of Jersey [36] and Guernsey [37] under the brand name Airtel-Vodafone after signing an agreement with Vodafone. Airtel-Vodafone operates a 3G network in Jersey and Guernsey.

Jersey and Guernsey are British Crown Dependencies. They are not independent countries. Therefore, Airtel's countries of operation is considered to be 19.

[edit] Subscriber Base

Bharti Airtel has crossed the 200 million wireless subscribers mark worldwide. The announcement was made by Sunil Bharti Mittal on 18 November 2010. Out of the 200 million subscribers, 150 million are out of India, 43 million are in Africa and about 7

million are from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The numbers include mobile services subscribers in India, South Asia and Africa, Telemedia services subscribers and Digital services subscribers. [38]

[edit] India

The Airtel subscriber base according to Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) as of December 2010 [39] was:

Metros

Chennai - 2,947,870 Delhi - 7,420,171 Mumbai - 3,263,688 Kolkata - 3,181,073

"A" Circle

Andhra Pradesh - 15,329,598 Gujarat - 5,980,024 Karnataka - 14,004,247 Maharashtra - 7,865,425 Tamil Nadu - 9,157,295

"B" Circle

Haryana - 1,856,093 Kerala - 3,383,097 Madhya Pradesh - 8,527,584 Punjab - 5,946,742 Rajasthan - 12,001,442 Uttar Pradesh (East) - 11,455,638 Uttar Pradesh (West) - 5,475,843 West Bengal - 7,592,487

"C" Circle

Assam - 2,828,490 Bihar - 13,901,163 Himachal Pradesh - 1,528,727 Jammu and Kashmir - 1,879,828 North Eastern States - 1,748,202 Orissa - 4,989,102

Airtel is the market leader in India with about 152,495,219 out of the total 745,000,000 subscribers in India or about 20.46% market share as of December 2010.

[edit] Merger talks

In May 2008, it emerged that Bharti Airtel was exploring the possibility of buying the MTN Group, a South Africa-based telecommunications company with coverage in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East. The Financial Times reported that Bharti was considering offering US$45 billion for a 100% stake in MTN, which would be the largest overseas acquisition ever by an Indian firm. However, both sides emphasize the tentative nature of the talks, while The Economist magazine noted, "If anything, Bharti would be marrying up," as MTN has more subscribers, higher revenues and broader geographic coverage.[40] However, the talks fell apart as MTN group tried to reverse the negotiations by making Bharti almost a subsidiary of the new company.[41]

In May 2009, Bharti Airtel again confirmed that it is in Talks with MTN and companies have now agreed discuss the potential transaction exclusively by July 31, 2009.[42] Bharti Airtel said in a statement "Bharti Airtel Ltd is pleased to announce that it has renewed its effort for a significant partnership with MTN Group".[43]

Talks eventually ended without agreement, due to the South African government opposition.[44]

Bharti Airtel has completed its $9 billion acquisition of African operations from Kuwait's Zain in a deal that would make the firm the world's No. 5 wireless carrier by subscribers.

In March, Bharti struck a deal to buy the Kuwait firm's mobile operations in 15 African countries, in India's second biggest overseas acquisition after Tata Steel's $13 billion buy of Corus in 2007.

[edit] Rebranding

On 18 November 2010, Airtel rebranded itself in India in the first phase of a global rebranding strategy. The company unveiled a new logo with 'airtel' written in lower case. Designed by London-based brand agency, Brand Union, the new logo is the letter 'a' in lowercase, with 'airtel' written in lowercase under the logo.

Explaining the new look in detail, Sanjay Kapoor, CEO, Bharti Airtel states that the new identity underlines Airtel's willingness to embrace everything that is new. He adds, "The logo type is modern, vibrant and friendly and signals our resolution to be accessible to our customers and stakeholders. And the lowercase is our recognition for humility. The red colour, which is an integral part of the brand, continues to represent heritage, energy and passion. The new curved and the gentle highlight almost gives the impression of a living object; at the same time, it represents a dynamic force of unparalleled energy, brings us closer to consumers and is a symbol which will help ensure instant recognition across diverse international markets."[45]

On November 23, 2010, Airtel's Africa operations were rebranded to 'airtel'. Sri Lanka followed on November 28, 2010 and on December 20, 2010, Warid Telecom rebranded to 'airtel' in Bangladesh.

[edit] Sponsorship

On May 9, 2009 Airtel signed a major deal with Manchester United Football Club. As a result of the deal, Airtel gets the rights to broadcast the matches played by the team to its customers.

Bharti Airtel signed a five-year deal with ESPN Star Sports to become the title sponsor of the Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament. The tournament itself is named "Airtel Champions League Twenty20."[46]

[edit] Signature tune

The signature tune of Airtel is composed by Indian musician A. R. Rahman. The tune became hugely popular and is the world's most downloaded mobile music with over 150 million downloads.[47] A new version of the song was released on 18 November 2010, as part of the rebranding of the company.[47][48] This version too was composed by Rahman himself[48]

[edit] Timeline

Logo used by Airtel till 2010 November

The chronology of events since Bharti Tele-Ventures was incorporated in 1995:[49]

1995

Bharti Cellular launched cellular services as "AirTel" in Delhi.

1996

STET International Netherlands NV, or STET, a company promoted by Telecom Italia, Italy acquired a 20% equity interest in Bharti Tele-Ventures

Bharti Telenet launched cellular services in Himachal Pradesh

1997

British Telecom acquired a 21.05% equity interest in Bharti Cellular

Bharti Telenet obtained a license for providing fixed-line services in Madhya Pradesh cirlce (and later Chattisgarh).

Bharti Telecom and British Telecom formed a 51% : 49% joint venture, Bharti BT, for providing VSAT services

1998

Bharti Telecom and British Telecom formed a 51% : 49% joint venture, "Bharti BT Internet" for providing Internet services

First Indian private fixed-line services launched in Indore in the Madhya Pradesh circle on June 4, 1998 by Bharti Telenet thereby ending fixed-line services monopoly of Department of Telecom (now BSNL).

1999

Warburg Pincus (through its investment company Brentwood Investment Holdings Limited) acquired a 19.05% equity interest in Bharti Tele-Ventures

Bharti Tele-Ventures (by acquiring a 63.45% equity interest in SC Cellular Holdings) acquired an effective 32.36% equity interest in Bharti Mobile (formerly JT Mobiles), the cellular services provider in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh circles

New York Life Insurance Fund, or NYLIF, acquired a 3% equity interest in Bharti Cellular

2000

Bharti Tele-Ventures acquired an effective equity interest of 40.5% in Bharti Mobinet (formerly Skycell Communications), the cellular services provider in Chennai

Bharti Tele-Ventures acquired a 30.2% equity interest of Telecom Italia in Bharti Telenet and 18.8% from Bharti Telecom thereby making Bharti Telenet a 100% subsidiary of Bharti Tele-Ventures

SingTel (through its investment company Pastel Limited) acquired STET's 15.3% equity interest in Bharti Tele-Ventures

Bharti Tele-Ventures acquired an additional effective 41.64% equity interest in Bharti Mobile (by acquiring the remaining 36.55% equity interest in SC Cellular) resulting in Bharti Tele-Ventures holding an effective 74% equity interest in Bharti Mobile.

2001

Bharti Tele-Ventures acquired NYLIF's 3% equity interest in Bharti Cellular Bharti Telesonic entered into a joint venture, Bharti Aquanet, with SingTel for

establishing a submarine cable landing station at Chennai

Bharti Tele-Ventures issued additional equity for approximately US$ 481.30 million to SingTel, Warburg Pincus, AIF group, IFC, NYLIF, and Seejay Cellular and Bharti Telecom

Bharti Cellular acquired a 100% equity interest in Bharti Mobitel (formerly Spice Cell ), the cellular services provider in Kolkata

Bharti Tele-Ventures acquired 85% and 15% in Bharti Telespatial from Bharti Telecom and Intel, respectively

Bharti Tele-Ventures acquired a 44% equity interest in Bharti Cellular from British Telecom, thereby making Bharti Cellular its 100% subsidiary

Bharti Tele-Ventures acquired an additional 49% equity interest in Bharti Mobinet from Millicom International and BellSouth International, thereby owning 89.5% equity interest in Bharti Mobinet, which was further increased to 95.3% following an issuance of additional equity shares by way of rights issue

Punjab license restored to Bharti Mobile by the Department of Telecom (DoT) and migration to NTP - 1999 accepted

Bharti Cellular entered into license agreements to provide cellular services in eight new circles following the fourth operator cellular license bidding process

Bharti Telenet entered into license agreements to provide fixed-line services in the Haryana, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka circles

Bharti Telesonic entered into a license agreement with the DoT to provide national long distance services across India

Bharti Aquanet, Bharti Telesonic and Bharti Cellular entered into license agreements with the DoT to provide ISP services in India

Bharti Telesonic launched national long distance services under the brand name of IndiaOne

Bharti Telenet launched fixed line services in Haryana under the brand name of "TouchTel".

2002

Enters into a 5-year agreement with Escotel (now called Idea Cellular) and ETL of the Escorts group to contract leased line connectivity for its cellular operations

Mr. Ravi Akhoury ceases to be Director of Bharti Tele DoT grants ILD Telephony License to Bharti Telesonic, subsidiary of the

company Signs MoU with Telia AB to buy out their 26% stake in Bharti Mobile Ties up with Secondary School Certification (SSC) Board, Hyderabad, where

Bharti will announce SSC results to its customers on their mobile phones ICICI Bank ties up with Bharti for pre-paid mobile cards via ATMs Bharti forays into Mumbai with offers Alpine International Ltd. and ELM International Ltd. acquire shares of Bharti

Tele-Ventures

2003

Airtel breaks interconnectivity with Tata Teleservices in Andhra Pradesh

Company accorded its approval for amalgamation of its subsidiary companies viz: Bharti Telenet Ltd, Bharti Telesonic Ltd, Bharti Broadband Networks Ltd and Bharti Comtel Ltd through scheme of Amalgamation. The merged entity would be renamed as Bharti Infotel Ltd

Airtel launches Local direct dialling facility in Chennai circle Bharti Cellular unveils "CareTouch" service Cellular brand "Airtel" unveils free multimedia messaging services (MMS) for its

customers. The company has also rolled out pan-India GPRS for its corporate subscribers

Launches its `IndiaOne MeetXpress' audio-conferencing service Punjab, Haryana get free incoming calls from Airtel AirTel provides SMS facilities to hearing impaired in Chennai Goa, Maharashtra gets 'voice portal' services by Bharti Cellular Launches free additional connection to its new subscribers in New Delhi Mr Sin Hang Boon and Mr Wong Hung Khim have resigned from the Board of

Directors of Bharti Tele Ventures Ltd with effect from February 27, 2003. Airtel launches its GPRS network in Chennai Airtel subscribers cross 3 million mark AirTel unveils RAD system Mr P M Sinha resigns from the Board of Directors of the Company with effect

from March 31, 2003. Bharti TeleVentures announces the completion of merger with Bharti Mobitel Bharti Mobitel Ltd. merged with Bharti Cellular Ltd. "Airtel" and "Touchtel" jointly offer free Touchtel land line for post-paid Airtel

connection Airtel rolls out voice mail service for pre-paid customers AirTel unveils new scheme for pre-paid customers giving away free talk time

worth Rs 10 crore Airtel surpasses 4 lakh subscriber base in Karnataka Bharti announces new tariff plan AirTel 012 Offers 0-1-2, a new cellular package for the customers, which means zero charges

on incoming calls, Re 1 on mobile-to-mobile outgoing calls, Rs 2 on mobile-to-mobile STD calls

Rolls out Airtel messenger service AirTel offers bundled handset, connection package for Rs 5715 Airtel slashes SMS rates to 60 paise; excludes Delhi and Mumbai Bharti cellular, wholly owned subsidiary of Bharti Tele-Ventures, increases its

stake to 100% in Bharti Mobile Signs distribution pact with Hathway Cable. With this alliance, Bharti is said to

be the first telecom firm to step into television distribution services Six cell operators move over from Bharti to VSNL Airtel augments cellular coverage in Tamil Nadu by including Arcot & Walajapet

in its network Airtel ties up with Coke in Chennai to sell its "Magic" prepaid cards AirTel embarks on network expansion in Hyderabad Airtel unveils IndiaOne Long Distance Calling Card

AirTel introduces unified tariff package in Tamil Nadu and Chennai Airtel becomes front runner in Karnataka's mobile services market Bharti Tele launches 'Always on' service to its subscribers State Bank of India and AirTel announce EMI offer at Rs 299 Bharti and MTV join hands to launch new SIM card AirTel unveils new post-paid scheme at zero rental AirTel launches `Happy Plan' in AP Airtel emerges as the highest selling pre-paid card Airtel join hands with Alcatel & Videocon to launch new scheme AirTel service provider touches 5 lakh customers in Punjab Airtel offers 5 new services for its customers in Mumbai Bharti launches first dual band network in Delhi Gets 14th place among top 25 Cos in India Bharti Mobile crosses 4 lakh mobile subscribers in AP Airtel holds top position in terms of dealer penetration Prof. V S Raju has been inducted on the Board of Directors of the Company. Touchtel launches SMS service in fixed line phones in Karnal and Panipat in

Haryana. Airtel unveils special offers in Kerala AirTel launches InnoWest for the western region Bharti Tele-Ventures enters into an agreement with Telesystem (Mauritius) Pvt.

Ltd Airtel slashes out going SMS price to 30ps On December 16, 2003, Airtel announced the launch of expense tracker service,

which provides customers the option of tracking their day-to-day expenses on a daily or monthly basis. This service will allow a user to track expenses, while on the move by sending an SMS.

AirTel introduces MTV Club Card in Chennai

2004

Bharti unveils new card for Mecca piligrims AirTel enrolls 50,000 customers in its mobile service in 60 days Launches WAP enabled portal Service in Kerala Bharti Cellular's AirTel has extended its mobile connectivity to Karaikkal, Nagur,

Mannargudi and Kovilpalayam in Tamil Nadu. Airtel customer base touches new high of 5 lakh mark in Andhra Pradesh On Pongal, Airtel is launching its first ever MMS downloads in Tamil. AirTel tie up with MAA TV Airtel launches Rs 50 pre-paids recharge AirTel launched a family pack for its post-paid customers in Chennai on January

29. Bharti Tele-Ventures enters into a three year service agreement with Ericsson Bharti Tele-Ventures (BTVL) has signed and received unified access service

licence to provide GSM services in Uttar Pradesh (East), West Bengal &

Andaman Nicobar, Orissa, Bihar and Jammu & Kashmir. The licence has been granted to Bharti Cellular Ltd (BCL), the cellular arm and subsidiary of BTVL.

Airtel and Mobilink, the only GSM cellular service provider in Pakistan, sign the first-ever bilateral roaming agreement between India and Pakistan

Acquires switching systems from Tekelec Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd signed an information technology outsourcing deal with

infotech major IBM, estimated to be in the range of 0-750 million for a ten-year period.

Jayant Khosla, new chief executive officer, Mumbai Signs MoU to join the South East Asia - Middle East - Western Europe 4 (SEA-

ME-WE-4) consortium along with 15 other global telecom operators. Bharti Tele-Ventures has struck a deal with Shyam Telecom to buy out the latter's

67.5 per cent stake in cellular services company Hexacom for Rs 430 crore. Samsung India Electronics Limited has tied up with cellular operator Bharti for

bundling its mobile handsets with a connection. The Bharti group finalised a Rs 500-crore deal to share its national long-distance

(STD) network with VSNL in a first-of-its-kind accord between two top telecom service providers in a bid to optimise capacities in the NLD segment.

Internet gateway and services provider, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (VSNL) has signed a Right to Use (RoU) agreement to deploy mobile telephony major, Bharti Tele-Ventures' existing National Long Distance (NLD) backbone.

Airtel offers talktime transfer service Airtel has announced money-back guarantee offer in case of call drop or poor

network experience for its subscribers Bharti launches 2-in-1 card Airtel launched two-way international roaming and GPRS for prepaid customers

in the Maharshtra and Goa circles Bharti Tele-Ventures has bagged the Asian MobileNews operator of the year

award in India and the subcontinent Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd has awarded a million equipment contract to Swedish

telecoms company Ericsson Bharti Televentures announced formation of a new strategic business unit to offer

various telecom and IT services through a single contact Bharti Televentures unveiled a mobile portal featuring sports, entertainment and

news among others Airtel ties up with Micro Tech to set up 'Mcops' vehicle security system Bharti Tele-Venture on July 19 launched "Caller Tunes" service, a personalized

mobile music service where the caller hears songs and other sound clips instead of the traditional switchboard ring-ring tone

Airtel, a private telecom services provider, has commissioned its first 24x7 customer service centre in Andhra Pradesh

Airtel unveils Rs 199 pre paid card AirTel join hands with Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS)

to offer executive MBA programme AirTel introduces new scheme for hearing impaired in Maharashtra & Goa AirTel inks pact with JP Mobile

Rolls out Enhanced Data Rate for Global Evolution (EDGE) network in Pune on September 9, 2004, Ties up with Nokia for sale of Nokia 6230, an EDGE-enabled handset.

AirTel unveils first virtual calling cards in India BTVL rolls out EDGE services in Bangalore Airtel rolls out Full Talktime Advantage card Airtel rolls out wi-fi services in Mumbai BTVL launches new 'Airtel Broadband Friendly Offer' Airtel launches GPRS services for pre-paid customers Airtel partners with ITPO to set up Wi-Fi network in Delhi Airtel launches EDGE services and a new pre-paid plan for Chennai Airtel introduces LAS in Karnataka

2005

Airtel launches video services for its GPRS customers on February 22, 2005 Airtel unveils new TV ad featuring Sachin Tendulkar and Shah Rukh Khan Bharti Tele-Ventures launches telecom network in Andaman & Nicobar BTVL unveil fixed line, broadband services Bharti inks 5-m deal with Nokia for rural network expansion Bharti Tele Ventures Ltd has announced that Airtel, ICICI Bank & VISA have

joined hands to launch mCheq - a revolutionary new service - a credit card on the mobile phone

Airtel introduces BlackBerry Connect in India Bharti Tele Ventures announces agreement with Vodafone Airtel unveils 'free flight' offer Bharti Tele-Ventures launches under sea cable system

2006

Airtel unveils Re 1 STD plans Airtel launches NetXpert. Airtel launches Post2Pre recharging service on April 04,2006. Airtel sets up customer centre Airtel announced the launch of `Save My Phone Contact' service for its pre-paid

and post-paid customers in Delhi Bharti Tele Ventures bags 'Wireless Service Provider of the Year' & 'Competitive

Service Provider of the Year' awards Cellebrum join hands with Airtel Airtel Mega unveiled in Coimbatore Bharti Airtel Ltd and Microsoft announced a strategic partnership that will offer a

range of software and services for small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India. Bharti Airtel Ltd on Nov 8, announced a first-of-its-kind alliance with the Adani

Group for establishing an end-to-end modern telecommunication network infrastructure for the latter's multi-sector special economic zone (SEZ), located near Mundra Port in Kutch district of Gujarat.

2007

Bharti Airtel has come out with a slew of initiatives including buying out SingTel's 50 per cent stake in joint venture under sea cable company Network i2i

Bharti Airtel on Feb 11, has been awarded QCI-DL Shah National Award on Economics of Quality.

Bharti Airtel Ltd has announces changes in the operational leadership structure and roles in the Company effective April 01, 2007.

Bharti Airtel Ltd on April 01, 2007, has announces the reduction in ISD Tariffs for all its mobile customers in India.

8Airtel signs agreement with HTC for touch screen mobile.

2008

Nokia Siemens Networks on Jan 3 declared that it has been awarded a multi million euro contract from Bharti Airtel Ltd for deployment of a single interactive voice response (IVR) platform across 23 circles. The three-year turnkey contract comprises designing, planning, systems integration and optimisation services to raise overall customer experience. The new IVR solution will enable Airtel to deliver services such as voice SMS, televoting, call management services, caller ring back tone and voice portal on a faster time-to-market basis and, therefore, reduce OPEX costs.

Bharti Airtel Ltd on February 13, 2008 has announced that it has achieved the 60 million mobile, fixed line and broadband customers.

Bharti Airtel tied up with US-based Apple Inc to bring the popular GSM-based iPhone in the country.

Bharti Airtel Ltd has forged a technology alliance with Infosys Technologies Ltd to launch its Direct-to-Home (DTH) television services. Infosys, through its digital convergence platform, will offer a suite of products including devices, application servers and interactive applications for Airtel's DTH services.

2009

Bharti Airtel signed a five-year managed services deal with Alcatel-Lucent for its fixed-line and broadband operations.

Bharti Airtel launched the 'Airtel Advantage' initiative. The initiative is aimed at offering the added advantage to Airtel customers to be in touch with each other at an affordable rate of 50 paise per minute, be it a national long distance call (STD) or a local call.

In order to create products and services for the small, medium and large enterprises, Bharti Airtel and Cisco announced a strategic business alliance. The alliance would combine the strengths of Airtel's network service and Cisco' Internet Protocol (IP) technologies.

Airtel and mChek announce milestone of 1 Million users and introduce a broad range of new mCommerce services.

2010

On 14, February 2010, Zain Ghana issued a resolution to accept a $10.7 billion buyout offer from Bharti Airtel Limited (Bharti) to enter into exclusive discussions until 25 March 2010, regarding the sale of its African unit, Zain Africa BV.

Bharti Airtel submitted its bid for 3G spectrum auction which starts from April 9, 2010.

Bharti Airtel has partnered with US-based software maker VMware Inc. It has done this in order to focus on the cloud-based managed computer services market.

On May 18, 2010, Airtel won 3G spectrum in 13 circles: Delhi, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West), Rajasthan, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir for Rs. 12,295 crores.[26]

Bharti Airtel wins broadband spectrum in four circles: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab and Kolkata for Rs. 3314.36 crores.[50]

On 8, June 2010, Bharti Airtel completed a deal to Zain Telecom's businesses in 15 African countries for $10.7 billion.

On August 11, 2010, Bharti Airtel announced that it would acquire 100% stake in Telecom Seychelles for US$62 million taking its global presence to 19 countries.

On 20 September 2010, Bharti Airtel said that it has given contracts to Ericsson India, Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) and Huawei Technologies to set up infrastructure for providing 3G services in the country.

On 18, November,2010, Bharti Airtel announced a re-branding campaign wherein, they would be referred as airtel, with a new logo.[51]

Bharti Airtel in KenyaBy Bankelele — Global Blogger Published: August 19, 2010 01:57 ET in Africa

Zain/Bharti shake market: On August 18, Zain Kenya announced new unprecedented low rates for voice calls and SMS in a new tariff war. The new rates for calls of Kshs 3/=(~$0.04) per minute and for SMS of Kshs 1/=(~$0.01), which apply across all networks and are available to all Zain customers, easily trumps their main competitor, and market leader, Safaricom whose rates hover around Kshs 8 for a phone call and Kshs 3.50 for an SMS (and 12/= and 5/= to other networks for the same).

True cheap rates: The new rates have been well received with very popular comments online and a rush by consumers to obtain Zain lines or re-activate old ones. CEO Rene Meza called this a new long dark journey to market dominance [i.e. from 10% now] and one they will tackle aggressively for the long term. But is it sustainable? The last time Zain engaged in a price war, they ended in a bloody loss, with Zain gaining customers but not market share and $90 million in the red.

Airtel Strategy : However Zain Kenya is no more. The push comes from new owners Bharti Airtel of India who completed their takeover of the Zain Africa Group last month and will rebrand the company (in Kenya) by October 2010. They have also set out to re-position the local telecommunications sector in tandem with Essar and France Telecom by lobbying the government for other changes to level the playing field in a market they believe is unfairly dominated by Safaricom and which denies Kenyans true freedom of choice.

At the official launch in July, Airtel executives the emphasized some of their strategies including:- They are rural focused and will build a rural brand through farming related promotions and CSR activities- Be a low cost operators; employ low skilled sales force- Lobby for number portability- Push for lower interconnection rates which will lead to affordable products- Lobby for infrastructure sharing i.e. no need to have 5 cell phone towers in a small town (all incurring electricity, security, cement, other charges) town when 1 will do with all Telco’s sharing transmission and fibre- Work with ecosystem partners, like HP and Eriksson, and have a BPO call centre

Will the government deliver on low connection fees, number portability and infrastructure sharing? At the launch Meza mentioned that the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) had lowered the interconnection tariff from about 4 to 2 shillings effective September 2010.

Short-term losses: Meza said they plan to grow revenue and subscribers, and margins and profits will come later from operating a lower cost structure. And in a back stab at the previous owners (and perhaps minority shareholders), he said for the first time in eight years they have shareholders with the right mind-set to allow them to take opportunities in the market, increase rural penetration and utilise the right technology - by investing Kshs 24 billion (~$296 million) in the next 18 months on rural cell phone sites, revamping their zap money transfer systems, increasing their outlets & distribution network, expanding their 2G network, and rolling out a 3G network by the end of the year (since the license fee was reduced this year, they will be able to cover more parts of Kenya than just Nairobi and Mombasa)

Improve on Marketing: Marketing has always been a weak point at Zain, who keep throwing out too many confusing promotions one after another after another. The Wednesday Nation had a full-page ad for the new Zain (3/= and 1/=) rates and on the adjacent page was a small story touting a tariff for Zain ‘Club 20’ subscribers who could now get free calls and unlimited SMS from 11pm to 6 a.m. within the Zain network only! And all this comes a month after they had launched anotherrevolutionarypromotion. Hopefully this will hopefully change with the recent marketing executive appointments and re-focused brand and strategy.

EDIT - Other Developments- Zain accuses Safaricom of sabotaging its new price offer - Safaricom reassures Zain over inter-connect capacity, and says their concerns are premature. - CEO's e-mail exchange between Rene Meza (Zain) and Michael Joseph (Safaricom)- Safaricom launches Masaa tariff with prices of Kshs 2-4 for Safaricom calls and Kshs 3-5 to other networks. - Orange (France Telecom/Telkom Kenya) make their low cost pitch with Kshs 2 and Kshs 4 for on and off net calls respectively, with free on net calls from 10 AM to 5 PM for Kshs 100 per month ($1.25)

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Beyers Emerges CMO, Bharti Airtel AfricaAndre Beyers has been confirmed as Chief Marketing Officer, CMO, for Bharti Airtel African operations. He joins Bharti with over 20 years of rich experience in marketing and brand management, particularly in the telecoms sector.As a staff of FCB, South Africa’s largest advertising group, Beyers led brand strategy for telecoms giant, Vodacom, across Africa and also set up the initial marketing framework across Mozambique, Congo DRC, Tanzania and Lesotho, among others.Commenting on the appointment, Manoj Kohli, CEO, Bharti Airtel (International), says, “We are delighted to have Beyers on board and we believe that his experience will be immensely valuable and contribute to our vision of making Airtel the most loved brand in the daily lives of African people.“It will be our endeavour to achieve leadership position in all our markets by delivering a superior brand experience backed by world-class service, strong distribution network and innovative products that delight customers. I wish Andre the very best on his new assignment.”The new CMO will be responsible for developing the company’s marketing & distribution strategy, enhancing revenue & customer market share in all markets, developing innovative products, and nurturing the Airtel brand across Africa.Bharti Airtel recently acquired the mobile service operations of Zain in 15 countries across Africa and is working towards introducing its brand, Airtel, in these markets.

Beyers Emerges CMO, Bharti Airtel AfricaRalph TathagataAndre Beyers has been confirmed as Chief Marketing Officer, CMO, for Bharti Airtel African operations. He joins Bharti with over 20 years of rich experience in marketing and brand management, particularly in the telecoms sector. As a staff of FCB, South Africa’s largest advertising group, Beyers led brand strategy for telecoms giant, Vodacom, across Africa and also set up the initial marketing framework across Mozambique, Congo DRC, Tanzania and Lesotho, among others. Commenting on the appointment, Manoj Kohli, CEO, Bharti Airtel (International), says, “We are delighted to have Beyers on board and we believe that his experience will be immensely valuable and contribute to our vision of making Airtel the most loved brand in the daily lives of African people. “It will be our endeavour to achieve leadership position in all our markets by delivering a superior brand experience backed by world-class service, strong distribution network and innovative products that delight customers. I wish Andre the very best on his new assignment.”   The new CMO will be responsible for developing the company’s marketing & distribution strategy, enhancing revenue & customer market share in all markets, developing innovative products, and nurturing the Airtel brand across Africa.Bharti Airtel recently acquired the mobile service operations of Zain in 15 countries across Africa and is working towards introducing its brand, Airtel, in these markets.

Review of Bharti’s Airtel App Central Performanc

The management of Bharti Airtel Ltd, led by Manoj Kohli plans to introduce affordability and high usage in its African portfolio which is currently a high price environment (with tariffs in some markets as high as Europe/US according to Bharti). We believe the current market environment in Africa is supportive.

Some of the key points about replicating Indian Wireless business model in Africa that are in favor of Airtel are,

Bharti’s 15-country portfolio has a population is 459m as of June 2010. Share of population living in urban areas in Africa is ~40% according to Bharti and expected to grow to 40%. This compares to 30% of India’s population living in urban areas.

The youth population in Africa accounts for a fourth of the global youth and had a median age of 17-18 years. The working population is estimated to be higher than

that in China and the middle class is 400m people, expected to growth to 500m. [Does this mean, if you are not in Africa, you are not in to Wireless Business ? ]

GDP growth in 27 economies in Africa is 5%+. Bharti Airtel stressed that governments had received Bharti well in Africa and that

some officials stated that Bharti’s plans are in-line with their own. Current Wireless penetration adjusting for Multiple SIMs is around 24%. Operators have 20MHz of 2G spectrum and 10MHz of 3G (those who do) which

Bharti stated implies little room for more competitors.

Mr. Manoj Kohli alluded to Bharti’s viable rural operations in India and stated that coverage in some African markets (~60%-80%) can be improved. We find this interesting as our conversations with industry experts revealed that rural markets are not being aggressively targeted currently, probably because they may not be viable.

And some of the ground realities and concerns in Africa for Bharti Airtel are,

Nigeria accounted for ~36% of revenue and EBITDA of the 15 country portfolio in 2009.

Long approval time for tower sites – A tower can take three months on average to set up once a site is identified (this compares to 5-6 weeks in India).

Power supply unreliable – Even with a generator, a tower can experience about seven hours or ~29% downtime.

Human capital availability – We believe that political pressures may manifest with Bharti largely compelled to hire locals. We are concerned that political pressures for employment generation may make outsourcing of services to other countries e.g. call centers in

India, unlikely Distribution network – In Kenya, anecdotal evidence suggests a rather

unorganized distribution network. Furthermore, with pre-paid accounting for over 99% of the subs base in most markets, the subscriber acquisition cost is low resulting in a high incidence of dual and multi-SIMs subs in African countries.

Subscriber registration is being introduced which can result in a series of disconnections or slow net add growth. African markets have multiple SIM subs in several markets so we could see a one-off step down in subscriber base.

Bharti Airtel is banking on the idea of infrastructure sharing to mitigate some of the concerns addressed above. With proven execution skills, Analysts are keeping their fingers crossed. Your thoughts ?