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Telecom Services V&D 100

Top10 Vendors: 2 - BHARTI: Brimming with Excellence

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Voice&Data Bureau
New Update

FY '06-07 was an year of dynamic growth and evolution for
Bharti Airtel. The company registered total revenue of Rs 17,888 crore, a growth
of 58.4% y-o-y. Total number of subscribers for FY '06-07 stood at 39.01 mn,
an 86% jump, reiterating its market leadership with a bang.

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The growth can be clearly attributed to the innovative schemes
and services launched by the operator to strengthen, and build its customer
base. The company has broadband and telephone operations in ninety-four cities
with 1,871,387 customers as on March 31, 2007, and total revenue Rs 2,497 crore
from the segment.

2 - Bharti

International reach remained one of the main agendas for the
company in FY '06-07. During the year, seven wholly owned subsidiaries were
incorporated. Through its recently floated US arm, it started a Call-Home
facility for the NRI population-Bharti Airtel (UK), and Bharti Airtel (Canada)
with their principal business of providing international calling services and
wholesale switching data products. The company also announced a tie-up with Hong
Kong-based PCCW Global to offer enhanced services in international connectivity.
It also tied up with GSMA to develop a pathbreaking international mobile money
transfer service.

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Another service that re-established Bharti Airtel as a pioneer
in innovation was the "songcatcher" which took the country by storm in
the last fiscal. The company also associated with Google and Microsoft for
providing new services to the individual consumer, and the SMB segment
respectively.

Area of operation:

Mobile
services, Fixed line/Broadband, Internet services, ILD and NLD

Address: Bharti Airtel Ltd. JIL Tower-II, 3rd Floor, Plot No 78,
Institutional Area, Sector-18, Gurgaon-122 001

Tel: 022 56615445

Fax: 022 5660594

Website: www.bhartiairtel.in 

Highlights

  • Restructured its
    business, and created new management structure

  • $1 bn network expansion
    contract with Ericsson

  • $400 mn contract with
    Nokia to expand its managed GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks

  • Launched 3G service in
    Seychelles

It floated another subsidiary called Bharti Infratel with the
principal business of providing passive infrastructure for mobile services. The
company also forayed into DTH services with its recently floated subsidiary,
Bharti Telemedia, and announced plans to start IPTV services in Gurgaon, the
trials for which were undertaken in FY '06-07. Through another subsidiary, it
bagged a mobile operator license in Sri Lanka to provide 2G and 3G services, and
also launched 3G services in Seychelles.

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FY '06-07 was the year when Bharti Airtel took decisive steps
toward institutionalizing and building a conglomerate of the future. It
announced and took forward Bharti Enterprises' Apex strategic organization
structure and governance model to strengthen and enhance existing business
roles. The company entered into a $1 bn expansion contract with Ericsson, and
with IBM it tied up for the country's first service delivery platform.

Bharti restructured its business and announced the formation of different
business groups-telecom, retail and wholesale, communication and media
devices, insurance and financial services, agri business, BPO/software, and the
Bharti Foundation.

'Our
plan is to be one of the top 3 telcos of the world'

How was Bharti's performance in FY
'06-07?



We believe our performance has been highly satisfactory. We continue to
lead the industry; we have added market share to our kitty, and were far
ahead of competition. Our brand variant scores have also enhanced
substantially. The climax is that we are one of the top ten integrated
operators in the world, which was our dream for many years, because an
Indian telco deserves an apex position in the global telecom arena.

Manoj
Kohli
President
and CEO

This year has been a very
special year for us. We entered a new era of professionalization and
institutionalization. We are also coming up with new projects in retail,
agriculture, and insurance. As Sunil Bharti Mittal assumed the new role of
CII chief, my colleagues and I have taken charge of the company, which is
number 3 in BSE's market value. We termed this year as break free, and
our objective is to reach the numero uno position, and significantly
enhance the leadership position through winning hearts of customers and
gaining market share. Emergence of Infratel, a passive infrastructure to
manage the entire passive infrastructure for the company and industry, was
also the highlight of FY '06-07. We also launched global calling cards
in the US.

What are the key missions for FY '07-08?

The key missions for our company are: leading the network rollout, and
increasing coverage, so that we become popular among rural customers as
well; leading the geographical distribution of our products to bring a
situation where Airtel products should be available wherever even a match
box is available; being the most admired brand across all categories,
products, and services; enhancing our brand visibility to broadband and
enterprise; and providing excellent quality of customer service, as it is
a long-term differentiator. We are also excited about our foray into media
through IPTV, which would be available in select cities initially.
Regarding acquisition, viable options would be considered, and our most
cherished future plan is to be one of the top 3 telcos in the world.

How has been your performance in the
broadband space?

We believe we are at the threshold of the broadband revolution in India.
At present, we have a substantial market share in it, and we will lead
this revolution also. Our focus will be on providing services to
commercial buildings, schools, and colleges in the top 100 cities with a
2-5 Mbps speed range.

FY '07-08 will be a year of rural
growth. How is Bharti positioned for the rural market?

We are 100% committed to the rural market. We believe that the benefits of
telephony should reach every nook and corner of India. We have a
three-legged strategy for rural India-to have local partners to manage
our network services; to have availability and visibility of our products
and services; and to increase brand visibility through good quality wall
paintings.

What is your strategy for SMB?

SMBs have been traditionally neglected by the telecom sector, but they are
on our top priority. The growth of SMBs is 17%, which is double that of
the GDP, and they are hungry for sophisticated tools in IT and telecom. We
will give them the satisfaction that large companies give at an affordable
price. We have already tied up with Microsoft, Nortel, HCL, and Wipro.
Recently, we completed a project for the department of Income Tax, and the
government gave us a positive feedback on it.
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In line with organizational changes, it also announced
managerial changes. Sunil Bharti Mittal, in his role as the chairman and Group
CEO of Bharti Enterprises, will be assisted by four group lead directors. In
addition, there will be nine group/corporate directors.

Regarding 3G, the company is ready to roll out services as and
when they are allowed by the government. Also, preference should be given to
Indian operators for spectrum allocation. On the WiMax front, the company has
deployed WiMax for last mile needs of customers, and are waiting for the
government policy to carry it forward.