Bharti Airtel

Bharti Airtel Limited:

Type Industry Founded Founder(s) Headquarters Area served Key people

Public BSE: 532454 NSE: BHARTIARTL Telecommunications 7 July 1995 (1995-07-07) Sunil Bharti Mittal New Delhi, India South Asian & African countries and the Channel Islands Sunil Bharti Mittal
(Chairman) and (MD)

Services

Mobile Network Wireless Landline Broadband Satellite Television $9.290 billion (2010)[1] $2.313 billion (2010)[1] $2.079 billion (2010)[1] $15.527 billion (2010)[1] $9.491 billion (2010)[1] 24,501 (December 2010)[1] Bharti Enterprises (63.45%) SingTel (32.15%) Vodafone (4.4%) List[show] Bharti Hexacom Bharti Airtel Services Limited Bharti Infratel Bharti Infratel Ventures

Revenue Operating income Profit Total assets Total equity Employees Parent Subsidiaries

Website

Limited (subsidiary of Bharti Infratel Limited), Bharti Telemedia Bharti Airtel (USA) Limited Bharti Airtel (UK) Limited Bharti Airtel (Canada) Limited Bharti Airtel (Hong Kong) Limited Bharti Airtel Lanka (Private) Limited Network i2i Limited Bharti Airtel Holdings (Singapore) Pte Limited Bharti Infratel Lanka (Private) Limited (subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Lanka (Private) Limited) Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) B.V. Bharti International (Singapore) Pte Ltd Warid Telecom International Limited Airtel M Commerce Services Limited Bharti Airtel (Japan) Kabushiki Kaisha (subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Holdings (Singapore) Pte Ltd) Bharti Airtel (France) SAS (subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Holdings (Singapore) Pte Ltd) Bharti Airtel International (Mauritius) Limited Indian Ocean Telecom Limited Telecom Seychelles Limited Bharti Airtel Africa B.V airtel.com

Bharti Airtel Limited: (NSE: BHARTIARTL, BSE: 532454), commonly known as airtel, is an 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 207.8 million subscribers across 19 countries at the end of 2010. It is the largest cellular service provider in India, with over 164.61 million subscribers

at the end of 2011 April. Airtel is the 3rd largest in-country mobile operator by subscriber base, behind China Mobile and China Unicom.. 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. 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.) are maintained by Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Network and Huawei., business support by IBM and transmission towers by another company (Bharti Infratel Ltd. in India). 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. 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.

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 Bombay 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

Coverage map of Bharti Airtel across 19 countries 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:

The Indian Subcontinent:

Airtel Bangla, in Bangladesh Airtel, in India Airtel Sri Lanka, in Sri Lanka 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.

Airtel Africa, which operates in 16 African countries:

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

Airtel operates in the following countries:

Country sh Site Remarks Airtel Bangladesh had about 3.2 million customers at the end of 2010.[7] Airtel Burkina Faso is the dominant player with 1,433,000 customers representing 50% market share.[8] Airtel Chad is the no. 1 operator with 69% market share.[8] Banglade bd.airtel.com

Burkina africa.airtel.com/burkina Faso Chad africa.airtel.com/chad

Democra tic Republic africa.airtel.com/drc of the Congo

Airtel Gabon has 829,000 customers and its Gabon market share stood at 61%.[9] Airtel Ghana had about 1.76 million customers at Ghana africa.airtel.com/ghana the end of 2010.[10] Airtel is the market leader with almost 152.5 airtel.in India million customers at the end of 2010.[11] Airtel Kenya is the second largest operator and Kenya africa.airtel.com/kenya has 4 million customers.[12] Airtel holds second place in the mobile telecom Madagas africa.airtel.com/madagascar market in Madagascar, has a 39% market share car and over 1.4 million customers.[8] Airtel Malawi is the market leader with a market Malawi africa.airtel.com/malawi share of 72%.[8] Airtel Niger is the market leader with a 68% africa.airtel.com/niger market share.[8] Niger africa.airtel.com/gabon Nigeria ng.airtel.com Airtel Congo is the market leader with a 55% market share.[8]

Republic africa.airtel.com/congob of the Congo

Airtel is the leading comprehensive Seychelle africa.airtel.com/seychelles telecommunications services providers with over 55% market share of mobile market in Seychelles.
[13]

Sierra Leone Sri Lanka

africa.airtel.com/sierra airtel.lk Airtel Lanka commenced operations on 12 January 2009. It had about 1.8 million mobile customers at the end of 2010.[14] Airtel Tanzania is the market leader with a 38% market share.[8] Airtel Uganda stands as the no. 2 operator with a market share of 38%.[8]

Tanzania africa.airtel.com/tanzania Uganda africa.airtel.com/uganda Zambia africa.airtel.com/zambia Channel Islands : Jersey and y Guernse airtel-vodafone.je

Airtel operates in the Channel Islands under the brand name Airtel-Vodafone through an agreement with Vodafone.

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

Africa
Main article: Airtel Africa

Bangladesh
Main article: Airtel Bangla

India
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. [15] 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. 3G On May 18, 2010, 3G spectrum auction was completed and Airtel will have to pay the Indian government 12,295 crore (US$2.73 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.[16] 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. [17] On January 24, 2011, Airtel launched 3G services in Bangalore, Karnataka - its largest circle by revenue. With this launch, Airtel became the third private operator (fifth overall) to launch its 3G services in the country following Reliance Communications and Tata Docomo.[18] On January 27, 2011, Airtel launched 3G in Chennai and Coimbatore. Airtel plans to cover 1,500 cities across 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.[19] Airtel had about 3 million 3G subscribers as of May 2011.[20] 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.[21] [22]

Telemedia
The Telemedia business provides services in 89 Indian cities and consists of two brands.[23] 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.[24] 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".

Digital Television
Main 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.[24]

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.

Sri Lanka
Main article: Bharti Airtel Lanka

Channel Islands: Jersey and Guernsey

Main article: Airtel-Vodafone 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[25] and Guernsey[26] 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.

Subscriber Base
Bharti Airtel has about 207.8 million subscribers worldwide - 152.5 million in India, 50.3 million are in Africa, 3.2 million in Bangladesh and 1.8 million in Sri Lanka as of the end of 2010. The numbers include mobile services subscribers in 19 countries and Indian Telemedia services and Digital services subscribers. [27]

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

Chennai - 2,947,870 Delhi - 7,420,171 Mumbai - 3,263,688 Kolkata - 3,181,073 Andhra Pradesh - 15,329,598 Gujarat - 5,980,024

"A" Circle

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 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

"C" Circle

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.

Acquisitions and Mergers

MTN
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.[28] However, the talks fell apart as MTN group tried to reverse the negotiations by making Bharti almost a subsidiary of the new company.[29] 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.[30] 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".[31] Talks eventually ended without agreement, due to the South African government opposition.
[32]

Zain

In March 2010, 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. Bharti Airtel completed its $9 billion acquisition of African operations from Kuwait's Zain, making the firm the world's No. 5 wireless carrier by subscribers.

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.[33] 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.

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."[34]

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.[35] A new version of the song was released on 18 November 2010, as part of the rebranding of the company.[35][36] This version too was composed by Rahman himself[36]

Timeline

Logo used by Airtel till 2010 November The chronology of events since Bharti Tele-Ventures was incorporated in 1995:[37] 1995 1996

Bharti Cellular launched cellular services as "AirTel" in Delhi. 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 British Telecom acquired a 21.05% equity interest in Bharti Cellular

1997

 1998

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 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). 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 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. 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%

1999

2000

2001

equity interest in Bharti Mobinet, which was further increased to 95.3% following an issuance of additional equity shares by way of rights issue 2002

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". 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 TeleVentures 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

2003

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 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

2004

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-MEWE-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 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 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.

2005

2006

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. 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. 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.

2009

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.[16] Bharti Airtel wins broadband spectrum in four circles: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab and Kolkata for Rs. 3314.36 crores.[38] 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.[39] On 20 December 2010, Airtel launched its new identity for Bangladesh subscribers.
[40]

On 23 December 2010, Airtel opened its first underground terrestrial fibre optic cable built in alliance with China Telecom.[41] On 24 January 2011, Bharti Airtel launched it's 3G services for the first time in India. The service was launched in Bangalore. [42] On 27 January 2011, 3G services were launched in Chennai circle. Airtel announced that it will cover 11 more circles, by March 2011. [43] On 31 January 2011, Indias first mobile wallet service - Airtel Money was launched in the millennium city of Gurgaon. Airtel mobile customers will be able to use mobile platform to make payments. [44] On 6 February 2011, Bharti airtel announced partnership with Savvis. Savvis to leverage airtels state-of-the-art Data Centres to expand its service platforms in India.
[45]

2011

On 23 February 2011, Bharti Airtel launched the Europe-India gateway cable system, along with 16 other global telecom firms. A 15,000 kilometre long cable, between Mumbai and London.[46] On 27 February 2011, Bharti Airtel launched its speech recognition based service, 'One Number, One Voice'.[47] On 2 March, 2011, Airtel launched it's 3G services in Northern India for the first time in Jaipur, State Capital of Rajasthan. On 3 March, 2011, Airtel launched it's 3g services in the national capital region (NCR). This launch was based on the back of a robust network of 1800 plus 3G sites, making 3G available to Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Noida. [49] On 7 March, 2011, Airtel launched it's 3G services in the financial capital of IndiaMumbai. [50]

[48]

On 14 March, 2011, Airtel launched Broadband TV, which enables the customers to watch live TV on their computers or laptops. [51] On 24 March, 2011, Airtel launched it's 3G Services in Hubbali in Karnataka. [52] On 5 April, 2011, Airtel rolled out 3G services in Hyderabad. [53] On 12 April, 2011, Airtel launched 3G Services in Durgapur, West Bengal. [54] On 18 April, 2011, Bharti Airtel entered into an exclusive partnership with leading photo service-Zoomin.com to launch Airtel Photo Service, that enables the Airtel customers to upload unlimited number of photos online and also get the prints at their doorstep. [55]

References
1. ^ a b c d e f Bharti Airtel Financial Results For Third Quarter Ended - December 31,

2010
2. ^ http://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2011/02/03/airtel-profits-drop-41-after-zain-

africa-acquisition/
3. ^ Agencies (2010-08-22). "Bharti Airtel gets Gold Certification". Express India.

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Bharti-Airtel-gets-GoldCertification/663519/. Retrieved 2010-11-21.

4. ^ "Business.in.com". Business.in.com. http://business.in.com/article/cross-

border/bhartis-minutes-factory-moves-to-africa/12502/0. Retrieved 2010-08-23.

5. ^ "Economist.com". Economist.com. 2010-04-15.

http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15879359. Retrieved 2010-08-23.

6. ^ "Economist.com". Economist.com. 2010-04-15.

http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15879369. Retrieved 2010-08-23.

7. ^ http://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2011/02/03/airtel-profits-drop-41-after-zain-

africa-acquisition/
8. ^ a b c d e f g h "Zain.com". Zain.com. 2008-07-14.

http://www.zain.com/muse/obj/lang.default/portal.view/content/Investor %20relations/Financial%20Reports/Earning%20Releases. Retrieved 2010-08-23.

9. ^ AMETW.com[dead link] 10. ^ http://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2011/02/03/airtel-profits-drop-41-after-zain-

africa-acquisition/
11. ^ http://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2011/02/03/airtel-profits-drop-41-after-zain-

africa-acquisition/
12. ^ http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=35816&email=html 13. ^ "About us | Airtel (Seychelles) - Mobile Phones, Mobile Internet, Broadband,

Email, Blackberry & Roaming". Airtel.sc. 1997-10-24. http://www.airtel.sc/about-us. Retrieved 2010-08-23.

14. ^ http://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2011/02/03/airtel-profits-drop-41-after-zain-

africa-acquisition/

15. ^ "India's top 10 brands". business.rediff.com. http://business.rediff.com/slide-

show/2010/oct/26/slide-show-1-tata-motors-is-indias-top-brand.htm. Retrieved 26 Oct 2010.

16. ^ a b Nikhil Pahwa. "Medianama.com". Medianama.com.

http://www.medianama.com/2010/05/223-3g-auction-india-ends-provisionalwinners/. Retrieved 2010-08-23.

17. ^ 20 Sep, 2010, 05.40PM IST,PTI (2010-09-20). "Ericsson, NSN and Huawei to build

3G networks for Airtel - The Economic Times". Economictimes.indiatimes.com. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6592626.cms?prtpage=1. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
18. ^ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/news/telecom/Airtel-launches-3G-in-

Karnataka/articleshow/7352596.cms
19. ^ http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/airtel-3g-service-to-cover-all-circles-

by-march-2012/422938/

Telecommunication companies in India:

Aircel Airtel BSNL Cheers Mobile Service Idea Cellular Loop Mobile (Formerly BPL) MTNL Reliance Spice Telecom Tata DoCoMo Vodafone Uninor Videocon Mobile Service S Tel Virgin Mobile India (MVNO) BSNL MTNL MTS India Reliance Tata Indicom Virgin Mobile India (MVNO) BSNL Airtel MTNL Reliance Tata Indicom Shyam Telelink

GSM T e l CDMA e c o Wireline m

MNP MNP Interconnection Telecom Solutions Syniverse Technologies clearinghouse I n t Railtel GAILTEL You Telecom Sify BSNL Bharti Airtel Reliance MTNL e HFCL Tata Teleservices Spice Communications Alliance Broadband Services Tikona r Broadband Wishnet Spectranet n e t T DTH e Airtel digital TV BIG TV DD Direct+ Dish TV Sun Direct DTH Tata Sky Videocon D2H

lIPTV BSNL Bharti Airtel Reliance MTNL e v CAS, i Cable, Hathway DEN Networks Digicable CTV.in Wire & Wireless India s HITS i o Terrestrial n Doordarshan TV MWAIR R SW a d i o FM AIR Radio_IIMT 90.4 Radio City 91.1 Radio Indigo 91.9 BIG FM 92.7 Red FM 93.5 Radio One 94.3 Hit FM 95 Radio Mirchi 98.3 AIR FM Rainbow 102.6 Fever 104 FM 104.0 Meow FM 104.8 Radio Hello 106.4 Gyan Bharti 105.6 Club FM 94.3 Club FM 104.8 Radio Mango 91.9 BEST FM 95 Red FM 93.5 Red FM 91.1 Big FM 92.7 Radio Mirchi 98.3 Radio DC

A d v a n c e d I n f o S e r v i c e B h

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L t d L & T M a h i n d r a & M a h i n d r a M a r u t i N T P C O N G C

R e l i a n c e C o m m u n i c a t i o n s R e l i a n c e I n f r a s t r u c t u r e R

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m I n d u s t r i e s G u j a r a t A m b u j a C e m e n t s H C L T e c h n o l o g i

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r o c h e m i c a l s I n f o s y s J e t A i r w a y s I T C L i m i t e d L & T

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U d y o g N a t i o n a l A l u m i n i u m C o m p a n y N I I T O N G C O r i e n

t a l B a n k o f C o m m e r c e P N B R a n b a x y L a b o r a t o r i e s R e l

i a n c e C o m m u n i c a t i o n s R e l i a n c e E n e r g y R e l i a n c e I n d

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l o n T C S T a t a M o t o r s T a t a P o w e r T a t a S t e e l V S N L

 W i p r o Z e e
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