Together good things happen - Airtel

m-commerce applications etc. Prior to 2008, majority of VAS
revenues were attributable to short messaging services.
However, recent trends indicate that this trend is evolving.
With greater penetration of new services, availability of
relatively inexpensive feature-rich handsets and consumer
education, VAS other than SMS is gaining importance. It is
further expected that over the next few years, non-SMS VAS
would become a dominant contributor to VAS revenue.
Growing Overseas Footprints
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh offer exciting potential for the
Company and it is using its experience of Indian telecom
market to build a low cost business model for these markets
as well.
Strong Strategic Partnerships
Forming enduring partnerships of strategic importance
successfully is an intrinsic part of Bharti Airtel’s DNA.
Company’s strategic alliance with Singtel has enabled it to
continuously enhance and expand its telecommunication
network in India. Singtel’s investment in Bharti Airtel is one of
their largest investments in the world outside Singapore.
IBM is Bharti Airtel’s partner for all business and enterprise IT
systems. Company’s contract with IBM caters to technology
evolution, scale, tariff changes and subscriber growth. More
than 90 hardware, software and service providers serve Bharti
Airtel through IBM. Ericsson, Nokia Siemens and Huawei are
network equipment partners of Bharti Airtel. During the year,
the Company had awarded a network expansion contract
each to Ericsson (worth USD 1.3 bn) and Nokia Siemens
(worth USD 0.7 bn). The Company has formed a Joint Venture
with Alcatel Lucent to manage its pan-India broadband and
telephone services. This partnership will help in Company’s
transition to next generation networks in order to offer
advanced services like high-speed internet, triple play, mediarich
VAS, MPLS and VPN.
During the year, the Company formed a strategic alliance with
Cisco for jointly producing products and services for the Small
and Medium Businesses (SMB). Partners like Juniper, ECI,
Tellabs, Wipro provide various equipments for Telemedia and
Long Distance Services of the Company. IBM Daksh, Mphasis,
Firstsource, Teleperformance, Aegis, and Hinduja TMT are
associated as call centre partners and provide superlative
experience to Company’s customers.
In addition, the Company works with several globally
renowned organisations like On Mobile, Yahoo, Google,
Cellebrum and Comviva to improve its customers’ VAS
experience via services like CRBT, music on demand, e-mail
services etc. During the year, the Company formed a strategic
partnership with Limelight Networks for Content Delivery
Network (CDN) services.
These strategic partners have been an integral part of Bharti
Airtel’s achievements over the years. They have supported its
ambitious growth plans, helped it launch new and innovative
products in the market and maintain its leadership position in
the telecom industry. Besides these strategic partners, Bharti
Airtel is also associated with a large number of partners,
spread across the globe, who support its product and service
requirements. The Company seeks regular feedback from its
partners through Annual Partner Meets, Satisfaction Surveys
and Regular Management Interactions. These initiatives play
an important role in developing an enduring relationship.
Threats
Global Economic Environment
The global economy is recovering at varied pace with the
developed economies progressing at a very moderate pace.
Large MNC’s operating from India are still cautious with their
expansion plans, which might possibly impact Bharti Airtel’s
Enterprise Services Business. However, with increased focus
on Small and Medium businesses and enhanced portfolio of
telecommunications solutions, this threat can be mitigated.
Increased Competition
Financial year 2009-10 witnessed entry of several new
operators and roll-out of their services in various circles. The
market also saw entry of many international and long
distance operators. The resultant increase in competition can
lead to further lowering of tariff and put pressure on
marketing expenses. Bharti Airtel, with significantly large and
diverse customer base; integrated suite of products and
services; pan India operations; and a very strong Airtel brand
is best positioned to emerge stronger from the market
environment and will retain its leadership position in the
market.
REVIEW OF OPERATIONS
Bharti Airtel put up a strong performance in the financial year
2009-10. With the highest-ever net addition of 34 mn
customers in a single year, it grew its customer base by 35%
and closed the year with 131 mn customers on its network in
India. Mobile services clocked over 127 mn subscribers,
recording a growth of 36%. The Company maintained its
leadership position as the largest mobile service provider by
customer base and its market share stood at 21.8%. 95.8%
of Bharti Airtel’s 127.62 mn mobile customers were using
pre-paid services as at March 31, 2010. The Company’s
Telemedia Services customer base grew by 12% to
reach 3 mn.
The Company closed the financial year 2009-10, carrying over
2 bn minutes a day on its network. It added 31 census towns
and 24,027 non-census towns and villages under its coverage
and grew the population coverage to 84% (from 81% as at
March 31, 2009). The Company’s optic fibre network grew to
126,357 route kms with addition of 25,020 route kms during
the year.