Company Given: Bharti Airtel Major Sector: Telecom Industry Analysis: Telecom The Indian Telecommunications network is the third largest in the world and the second largest among the emerging economies of Asia. Today, it is the fastest growing market in the world. The telecommunication sector continued to register significant success during the year and has emerged as one of the key sectors responsible for India’s resurgent India’s economic growth. The mobile services were commercially launched in August 1995 in India. Driven by wireless revolution, the Indian telecommunications industry is one of the fastest growing in the world. Government policies and regulatory framework implemented by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) have provided a conducive environment for service providers. This has made the sector more competitive, while enhancing the accessibility of telecommunication services at affordable tariffs to the consumers. According to TRAI's report 'Telecom Sector in India: A Decadal Profile', the tele-density has increased from 4.3 in March 2002 to 78.1 in February 2012, wherein the rural areas registered an increase from 1.2 in March 2002 to 38.5 in February 2012. Also, the share of telecommunication services (excluding postal and miscellaneous services), as per cent of the total gross domestic product (GDP), has increased from 0.96 in 2000-01 to 3.78 in 2009 -10. According to the same report, international comparisons (among 222 countries) show that India has the second largest number of telephone subscribers in the world accounting for 12 per cent of the world's total telephone subscribers. Statistics of users
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In its recent statement issued, TRAI has revealed that the country's mobile subscriber base has reached 951.3 million wherein the operators added 8 million subscribers in March 2012. The overall tele-density in India reached 78.66. The urban tele-density was recorded to be 169.55, while rural tele-density stood at 39.22. Total broadband subscriber base increased from 13.54 million in February 2012 to 13.79 million in March 2012, registering a growth of 1.86 per cent.
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Market Size According to a report 'India Monthly Mobile Handsets Market Review for November, 2011' by CyberMedia, total mobile handset shipments in India reached about 166 million units during the first eleven months of 2011, wherein Finnish handset maker Nokia accounted for 30.7 per cent share of the market, followed by Samsung with 14.9 per cent and Micromax with 5 per cent. The overall shipments included 14.4 million feature phones and 1.07 million smartphones.
Nokia remained the leader in both the feature and smartphone segments, accounting for 30.2 per cent and 38.4 per cent, respectively, of the market. Smartphone shipments during the period stood at approximately 10 million. Samsung and BlackBerry smartphone-maker Research In Motion (RIM) were the second and third largest players in the smartphone segment with a 27.5 per cent and 15.5 per cent market share, respectively. Smartphones Indian handset makers are venturing into smartphone segment by following the features of multinational companies and breaking the Rs 5,000 (US$ 88.6) barrier for entry-level phones. While Micromax is devising a speech-recognition application that replicates Apple's Siri, Karbonn Mobiles has developed its own instant messenger and push-mail service that is similar to BlackBerry's messenger. Karbonn Mobiles, on the other hand, is offering its handset at Rs 4,490 (US$ 80). The handset makers are targeting college students in tier II and III cities that wish to upgrade from a feature phone, but can't afford to buy premium brands. Lava has taken a different path to stay in the game. It has partnered with Intel to launch the computer chipmaker's first smart phone Xolo - packed with an Atom processor used in netbooks - only in India. The company hopes to cash-in the 'Intel Inside' faith from consumers while it has launched its product at an entry price of Rs 22,000 (US$ 389.72). Developments & Investments
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Swedish company Flexenclosure has formed a 51:49 joint venture (JV) in India with Mumbai-based Artheon group to enhance its relations with Bharti Airtel and forge into new ones with firms which are looking for environment-friendly solutions. Flexenclosure is a global developer for unconventional energy solutions for telecom companies. India's largest mobile operator Bharti Airtel has partnered with Oslo-based Opera Software to provide its customers across India, Africa, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, access to a customised version of the latter's internet browser on their mobiles. This will bring 253 million more customers to the Norwegian browser maker for mobiles and enhance its value. Canadian phone maker RIM and Kerala-based business incubator Start-up Village have jointly decided to launch the first BlackBerry Innovation Zone in India. First of its kind in the Asia Pacific region, the zone would be located at Rubus Labs with Start-up Village. The labs will facilitate developer activities like BlackBerry Hackathons and Bar Camps.
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The partners will conduct training sessions across 126 engineering colleges in Kerala under the BlackBerry BASE (BlackBerry Apps by Student Entrepreneurs) program.
Government Initiatives The Cabinet has given its nod to National telecom Policy 2012. The policy directs new initiatives, which includes free roaming, unrestricted Net telephony and a new unified licensing regime for operators. The policy also endorses a boost to broadband expansion and an increase in local manufacturing of telecom equipment. The National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, Technopark and MobME Wireless have joined hands to set up the Startup Village - Indian Telecom Innovation Hub in Kerala. The country's first Public Private Partnership (PPP) telecom business incubator is a step to support new product initiatives and turn them into successful ventures. TRAI is also doing its bit to achieve the aim of carbon emission reduction under which operators are directed to achieve carbon reduction to the extent of 5 per cent by 2012-13, 12 per cent by 2016-17 and 17 per cent by 2018-19. With regards to these norms under 'Green Telephony', TRAI has further mandated for all the operators that at least 50 per cent of all rural towers and 20 per cent of all urban towers are to be powered by hybrid power by 2015. The Government has also given its nod. Road Ahead Research firm KPMG predicts that 26 out of every 100 phones sold globally will be smartphones. The analysts added that smartphones will consist of 40 per cent of the total handsets sold across the world and India's situation would be similar. Smartphones segment is going to rule the future handset market undoubtedly. According to market intelligence and research firm IDC, the segment is poised to witness a substantial growth at 63.4 per cent from 2011-15 and is forecasted to achieve a shipment of 77.5 million by 2015 in the Indian market. Moreover, IDC predicts that India will be one of the top five country markets for Smartphone shipments by 2016. The gigantic growth would be driven through the roll out of 3G networks and data plans, while domestic vendors are seeking to enhance their value chains and upgrade from feature products to smarter ones. The green telecom concept aims at reducing the carbon footprint of the telecom industry through reduced energy consumption. TRAI initiated a consultation process in May 2010, requesting inputs from firms across the telecom value chain to provide recommendations on green telecom’s framework and implementation Mobile Number Portability requests increased from 41.88 million subscribers at the end of March 2012 to 45.89 million at the end of April 2012. In the month of April 2012 alone, 4.01 million requests have been made for MNP.
Major Market Players in India Company
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL)
Ownerships
Government (56.3 per cent)
Presence
Fixed line and mobile telephony (in Delhi and Mumbai), data and interne Fixed line and mobile telephony (GSM – outside Delhi and Mumbai), data and internet in 22 circles Mobile (CDMA) and Broadband GSM Broadband and mobile (GSM) in 22 circles
Government (100 per cent)
Reliance communications Bharti Airtel Vodafone Essar
ADAG Group (Approx 64 per cent) Bharti Group(45.50), SingTel (15.57 per cent), LIC India (5.0) Vodafone (74 per cent), Telecom Investment India (19.5 per cent)
Competitor Analysis: In terms of the telecom market environment, India competes with Japan, Singapore, Australia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan. The country has an edge over China, Indonesia, Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Sri Lanka
Telecom industry rewards India China Indonesia Philippines Pakistan Bangladesh Laos Cambodia Thailand Vietnam Sri Lanka 63.3 52.5 47.5 50 52.5 40.5 46.8 40 67.5 33.8 63.3
Country Reward 35 42.7 46.7 45.3 36 60 54 32.7 36.7 30 35
Telecom industry risks 70 60 70 70 60 50 50 60 60 50 70
Country risks 70.6 51.1 53.1 28.1 44.5 49.9 36.4 62.2 47.8 59.9 70.6
telecom rating 58.4 51 50 48.6 48.4 48.1 47.5 44.5 42.2 39.2 58.4
Market Share by telecom companies in India Top players by revenue in India (2011) 1) Vodafone------------- 19.5% increase 2) Bharti Airtel --------- 20% increase 3) Idea Cellular--------- 26% increase Service Provider wise Wireless Market Share (CMS) February 2012
Sistema, 1.69%
MTNL, 0.63% Videocon, 0.68%
S Tel, 0.37% Loop, 0.36%
Etisalat, 0.09% HFCL, 0.15%
Bharti Reliance Vodafone Idea BSNL Tata Aircel Uninor Sistema Videocon MTNL S Tel Loop
Uninor, 4.52% Aircel, 6.94% Tata, 8.99% BSNL, 10.73%
Bharti, 19.62%
Reliance, 16.68%
Idea, 12.15%
Vodafone, 16.40%
SWOT Analysis of Telecom Industry Strengths: • • • • • • Indian telecom market is one of the largest telecom markets in the world FDI limit of 74% + attracts investments from abroad Consumer base is already around 900 million and yet rural India is distant from telecom services Share of private sector is increasing in the sector Enormous customer potential Lower capital expenditure
Weaknesses: • • Government policies Retrospective taxes
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Poor infrastructure Late adoption of new technologies like 3G Most competitive market in the India and new entrants find it difficult to capture
Opportunities: • • • • • Explore rural market Make 3G and 4G services available at lower prices Quality of service Build infrastructure Value added services
Threats: • • • • Content piracy Government norms Decreasing average revenue per customer Foreign companies with better technologies
PEST Analysis of Telecom Industry Political factors • • • • • • FDI limits have been increased to 74% National telecommunication policies TRAI regulation on spectrum allotment Auctioning of spectrum New entrants 2G scam
Economic factors • • • • Taxation policy Retrospective taxes on companies like Vodafone Contribution in GDP is significant NTP policy which put forward concept of roaming free to all over India
Social Factors • • • • Tremendous increase in consumer base Provision for video calling Wireless fidelity options Mobile number portability
Technological factors • Provision for change in number series like number starting from 7 and 8.
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Commencement of 3G and 4G technology Airtel did roaming free all over state Smartphones Security to Blackberry services
Analysis of Company:
BHARTI AIRTEL
Introduction: The company was formerly known as Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited and changed its name to Bharti Airtel Limited in April 2006. Bharti Airtel Limited was founded in 1995 and is based in New Delhi; India. Bharti Airtel is the largest telecom company in India by market capture. The company offers mobile voice and data services, fixed line, high speed broadband, internet protocol television (IPTV), direct-to-home (DTH), turnkey telecom solutions for enterprises and national and international long distance services to carriers. Board of Directors:
Chairman and Managing Director Founder of Bharti Airtel Rajan Bharti Mittal – Vice chairman and Manageing Director Akhil Gupta - Deputy Group CEO & Managing Director of Bharti Enterprises & a Director of Bharti Airtel Limited Rakesh Bharti Mittal – Vice Chairman and managing Director Chua Sock Koong – Non executive director N. Kumar- Independent chairman and director of Audit committee
Craig Ehlrich – Non Executive director Pulak Chandan Prasad – Non Executive director Ajay Lal – Non Executive director Tsun Yan Hseih – Non Executive director H E Salim Ahmed Salim – Non Executive director Tan Yong Choo – Non Executive director Nikesh Chopra – Non Executive director Manoj Kohli – CEO and join managing director Hui weng Cheong – Non Executive director Lord Evan Mervyn Davies – Non Executive director Subsidiary Companies As of today company has more than 113 subsidiary companies and some of them ar listed below: • • • • • • • • • • • • Bharti Hexacom Limited Bharti Comtel Limited Bharti Aquanet Limited Satcom Broadband Equipment Limited Bharti Broadband Limited Bharti Infratel Limited Bharti Telemedia Limited Bharti Airtel (UK) Limited Bharti Airtel (Canada) Limited Bharti Airtel (Hongkong) Limited Bharti Airtel (USA) Limited and Bharti Airtel Lanka (Private) Limited
Mergers and Acquisitions by Company till Date: 1996 – STET international Netherlands acquired 20% equity interest in Bharti Tele – Ventures 1997 – British telecom acquired 21.05% equity share in Bharti Cellular Bharti telecom and British Telecom formed joint venture of 51:49 for providing VSAT services
1999 – Warbug Pincus through its investment company acquired 19.05 % equity share in Bharti Tele-Venture 2000 – Bharti tele – ventures acquired 40.5% equity interest in Skycell Communications Company based in Chennai 2001 – Joint venture into Bharti aquanet with SingTel for establishing submarine cable 2002 – 5 year agreement with ETL and Escotel of Escorts group to contract leased line connectivity for its cellular operations. 2004 - 3 year service agreement with Ericsson Airtel ties up with MAA TV Acquired switching systems from Tekelac to give technological edge to company Tie up with Samsung India Electronics 2005 – Bharti did deal with Nokia worth USD125 mn for its rural operations Agreement with Vodafone 2006 – Cellebrum had agreement with Airtel Joins hands with Microsoft 2008 – Contract with Nokia Siemens network Tied up with Apple Inc to bring iPhone in country 2009 – Signed 5 year managed services deal with Alcatel worth $500 mn Strategic business alliance with Cisco 2010 - Partnered with US based software maker VMare for focusing on the cloud based computer services 2011 – With SBI a Joint Venture (JV) agreement to usher in the new era of financial inclusion for the unbanked in India. Strategic Alliances • With Ericsson and Huawei to deploy state-of-the-art network infrastructure in Bangladesh. Ericsson to deliver and manage majority of the Company’s network capacity in Bangladesh, while Huawei to swap the existing radio network in the eastern areas of Bangladesh State Bank of India (SBI), a Joint Venture (JV) agreement to usher in the new era of financial inclusion for the unbanked in India. The JV will become the Business
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Correspondent of SBI and offer banking products and services at affordable cost to the citizens in unbanked and other areas. Nokia to launch ‘Ovi Life Tools’ service targeted at providing Airtel's mobile customers with access to relevant content on agriculture, education and entertainment. Radio Mirchi, to launch ‘Mirchi Mobile’ on airtel, enabling its customers to choose and follow their favourite local Mirchi radio station from anywhere in India from the 12 Radio Mirchi stations. Encyclopedia Britannica to offer airtel broadband customers two year free access to ‘Britannica online’, the world’s most trusted information source. Novatium to help expand the broadband market by launching ‘Net PC Plus’ on airtel broadband for customers in Chennai. Savvis to offer managed IT and cloud services in the high growth Indian IT market. The collaboration aims to launch innovative managed services to enterprises operating in or expanding into India. China Telecom to launch direct underground terrestrial link between India and China VMware, to launch virtualisation services based on VMware vSphere™ platform, extending the Managed Service portfolio. Servion and Cisco for launch of Hosted Contact Center services for large, medium and small enterprises offering freedom from technology obsolescence, capital investments and continuity challenges while leveraging the capability to customise the solution, based on business requirements. IBM for transformation and management of the comprehensive IT infrastructure and applications in all the 16 countries of operations in Africa. Ericsson, NSN Siemens and Huawei for network management of 2G and 3G network in all the 16 countries of operations in Africa. IBM, Tech Mahindra and Spanco for world-class customer service across all 16 countries in Africa.
Segment Wise Performance: Mobile Services (India and South Asia) The Company offers mobile services using GSM technology in South East Asia across India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, serving over 167 Mn customers in these geographies as at end of March 31, 2011.The Company had over 162 Mn mobile customers in India as on March 31, 2011, which makes it the largest wireless operator in India both in terms of customers with a customer market share of 20% and revenues with a revenue market share of 30%. The Company offers post-paid, pre-paid, roaming, internet and other value added services through its extensive sales and distribution network covering over 1.6 Mn outlets. It has its network presence in 5,113 census towns and 452,215 non-census towns and villages in India, covering approximately 86.1% of the country’s population. During the financial year gone by, the Company had acquired 3G licenses in 13 telecom services areas of the total 22 service areas (Delhi, Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, UP (West), Rajasthan, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, North East and Jammu & Kashmir) and BWA
licenses in 4 telecom ares (Maharashtra, Kolkata, Punjab, Karnataka) in India at a total cost of 156.1 Bn (USD 3.3 Bn). The Company has recently launched 3G services in key cities of the country offering host of innovative services like Mobile TV entertainment, video calls, live streaming of videos, high finition gaming along with access to high speed internet. de Airtel Sri Lanka expanded its presence to all the 25 administrative districts of Sri Lanka with the launch of mobile services in the northern and the eastern region of the country and had 1.81 Mn customers as end of March 31, 2011. Airtel Sri Lanka has launched 3.5G services in major towns and have created a nationwide distribution network comprising over 26,000 retailers. Airtel Bangladesh had 3.7 Mn customers as at end of FY11 and offers mobile services across 64 districts of Bangladesh with a distribution network of over 64,000 retailers across the country. The burgeoning economy of Bangladesh coupled with low penetration of approx. 43% and a strong youth base presents a unique market opportunity for telecom services in the country. Enterprise Services Enterprise services deliver end-to-end telecom solutions to large Indian and global corporate by serving as the single point of contact for all telecommunication needs across data, voice, and network integration and managed services requirement Digital TV Services Airtel Digital TV breached the coveted 5 Mn customer mark in FY11, in just 21 months of its national operations, fastest ever by any operator. The Company added 3.1 Mn digital TV customers during FY 2010-11 taking its total customer base to 5.7 mn customers as at end of March 31, 2011. Financial Aspects Financial Highlights of Consolidated Statement of Operations of the Company as per International Financial Reporting Standards Particulars Financial Year (Rs Growth Mns) 2010-11 2009-10 594672 418472 42% 199664 167633 19% 177851 167455 6% 76782 105091 -27% 60467 89768 -33%
Gross Revenue EBITDA Cash Profit from Operations Earnings before taxation Net profit/loss
Balance Sheet
------------------- in Rs. Cr. ------------------Mar '11 Mar '10 Mar '09 Mar '08 Mar '07
Sources Of Funds Total Share Capital Equity Share Capital Share Application Money Preference Share Capital Reserves Revaluation Reserves 1,898.80 1,898.80 278.6 0 41,932.10 2.1 1,898.77 1,898.77 186.09 0 34,650.19 2.13 1,898.24 1,898.24 116.22 0 25,627.38 2.13 1,897.91 1,897.91 57.63 0 18,283.82 2.13 1,895.93 1,895.93 30 0 9,515.21 2.13
Networth Secured Loans Unsecured Loans Total Debt Total Liabilities Application Of Funds Gross Block Less: Accum. Depreciation Net Block Capital Work in Progress Investments Inventories Sundry Debtors Cash and Bank Balance Total Current Assets Loans and Advances Fixed Deposits Total CA, Loans & Advances Deffered Credit Current Liabilities Provisions Total CL & Provisions Net Current Assets Miscellaneous Expenses Total Assets Contingent Liabilities Book Value (Rs)
44,111.60 17.1 11,880.40 11,897.50 56,009.10
36,737.18 39.43 4,999.49 5,038.92 41,776.10
27,643.97 51.73 7,661.92 7,713.65 35,357.62
20,241.49 52.42 6,517.92 6,570.34 26,811.83
11,443.27 266.45 5,044.36 5,310.81 16,754.08
61,437.50 20,736.70 40,700.80 6,497.60 11,813.00 34.4 2,375.80 126.6 2,536.80 11,186.10 7.2 13,730.10 0 16,104.80 627.6 16,732.40 -3,002.30 0 56,009.10 49,771.40 115.42
44,212.53 16,187.56 28,024.97 1,594.74 15,773.32 27.24 2,104.98 54.89 2,187.11 7,072.42 761.86 10,021.39 0 12,979.55 658.75 13,638.30 -3,616.91 0 41,776.12 3,921.50 96.24
37,266.70 12,253.34 25,013.36 2,566.67 11,777.76 62.15 2,550.05 153.44 2,765.64 5,602.83 2,098.16 10,466.63 0 13,832.49 634.4 14,466.89 -4,000.26 0.09 35,357.62 4,104.25 145.01
28,115.65 9,085.00 19,030.65 2,751.08 10,952.85 56.86 2,776.46 200.86 3,034.18 5,103.13 302.08 8,439.39 0 12,400.38 1,961.95 14,362.33 -5,922.94 0.2 26,811.84 7,140.59 106.34
26,509.93 7,204.30 19,305.63 2,375.82 705.82 47.81 1,418.52 239.11 1,705.44 3,160.02 541.35 5,406.81 0 9,809.83 1,232.84 11,042.67 -5,635.86 2.66 16,754.07 7,615.04 60.19
Profit and Loss Statement
------------------- in Rs. Cr. ------------------Mar '11 Income Sales Turnover Excise Duty Net Sales Other Income Stock Adjustments Total Income Expenditure Raw Materials Power & Fuel Cost Employee Cost Other Manufacturing Expenses Selling and Admin Expenses Miscellaneous Expenses Preoperative Exp Capitalised Total Expenses Operating Profit PBDIT Interest PBDT Depreciation Other Written Off Profit Before Tax Extra-ordinary items PBT (Post Extra-ord Items) Tax Reported Net Profit Total Value Addition Preference Dividend Equity Dividend Corporate Dividend Tax Per share data (annualised) Shares in issue (lakhs) Earnings Per Share (Rs) Equity Dividend (%) Book Value (Rs) Mar '10 Mar '09 Mar '08 Mar '07
38,015.80 0 38,015.80 218.2 7.2 38,241.20 251.3 0 1,304.50 14,204.20 8,137.70 699.6 0 24,597.30 13,425.70 13,643.90 296.7 13,347.20 4,193.70 417.9 8,735.60 11.8 8,747.40 1,007.60 7,716.90 24,346.00 0 379.8 60.1 37,975.30 20.32 20 115.42
35,609.54 0 35,609.54 1,118.46 -34.91 36,693.09 278.72 0 1,401.66 11,882.41 6,856.42 1,482.39 -293.31 21,608.29 13,966.34 15,084.80 283.35 14,801.45 3,890.08 207.84 10,703.53 -50.78 10,652.75 1,177.87 9,426.15 21,329.56 0 379.79 64.55 37,975.30 24.82 20 96.24
34,048.32 0 34,048.32 -1,261.75 5.29 32,791.86 286.94 0 1,397.54 8,627.13 9,385.68 1,409.89 -269.25 20,837.93 13,215.68 11,953.93 434.16 11,519.77 3,206.28 178.82 8,134.67 -46.15 8,088.52 321.78 7,743.84 20,551.00 0 379.65 64.52 18,982.40 40.79 20 145.01
25,761.11 0 25,761.11 104.04 9.05 25,874.20 42.9 0 1,297.88 7,339.01 5,892.50 535.46 0 15,107.75 10,662.41 10,766.45 393.43 10,373.02 3,166.58 266.07 6,940.37 -60.67 6,879.70 632.43 6,244.19 15,064.84 0 0 0 18,979.07 32.9 0 106.34
17,851.61 0 17,851.61 105.62 30.07 17,987.30 52.16 0 1,076.95 5,017.27 4,030.48 444.28 0 10,621.14 7,260.54 7,366.16 282.07 7,084.09 2,353.30 137.8 4,592.99 9.92 4,602.91 566.79 4,033.23 10,568.98 0 0 0 18,959.34 21.27 0 60.19
Marketing Strategies Bharti is working on complex three layered branding architecture: • • • Create specific brands for each service Build sub brands within each service Use Bharti as mother brand providing the group its corporate identity as well as defining its goal to become a national builder of telecom infrastructure
Rebranding: In 2010 Airtel changed its logo to new smaller one. People criticized it as mash up of Videocon and Vodafone logo. Logo was designed in such a way that it can be use for multiple purposes. In the name TIMES OF INDIA, ‘O’ was occupied by Airtel logo. Well that was the intention behind it. Logo can be utilised in small things.
Celebrities and Sports Player Music which is passion in India was used as the marketing tool by Bharti. Oscar winner singer and music director A R Rehman created music for Airtel which ruled youth’s mind for years. Shah Rukh with his great acting talent and his own brand value helped Airtel to go more in public. Other actors like Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor are also used by Bharti. Most recent add campaign by Airtel was ‘Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hain’. By realizing the importance that every person has different requirements from network provider Airtel gave the privilege to his customers to modify their plans according to their convenience. It was real sale boosting strategy for Bharti. MAMO (My Airtel My Offer) is Africa's first marketing tool offering segmented and personalised offers to both active and inactive customers. A single number, '141' is being advertised inviting customers to listen to their customised offers with the option of fulfilment. The offers range from voice (local and international), SMS, VAS and data depending on customers’ usage and activity. Marketing Strategy in Africa On the marketing front, two of Africa’s biggest passions – Music and Football have been a key focus area for Bharti. Bharti is driving and leveraging music with the one8 anthem, which brings together eight African music superstars with the American R & B superstar R Kelly. Similarly, Airtel’s association with football is being driven by the theme commercial “Kabutu”, its partnership with English Premier League leader Manchester United and launch of "airtel Rising Stars “programme for under 17 boys and girls in 15 countries. Both the
initiatives have struck an instant chord with customers across the 16 markets. Product innovation remains a key driver for market penetration strategy in Africa. Bharti has successfully launched attractive propositions such as 2Good in Nigeria, Magic number in all the OpCos, Loba Nayo in DRC, MNP in Kenya to just mention a few. Besides working as smart penetration tools, the initiatives have helped us to keep our existing consumers excited and glued to our networks. SWOT Analysis of Bharti Airtel Strengths: • • • • Largest Consumer base in India Largest company by market capture in India Strategic alliance with companies like Nokia, Sony Ericsson Operates across 19 countries in the world
Weaknesses: • • • • Price competition from BSNL and MTNL Could capture rural market yet. According to TRAI customer complaint rates are high Improper implementation of rebranding strategy
Opportunities: • • • • • Increase the consumer base of 3G services Explore rural market New subscriber addition through MNP Explore the African market Acquisition of smaller companies as they cannot stand by there own
Threats: • • • MNP can be fatal to Airtel also Quality of service TRAI regulations on auctions of spectrum