Bharti Airtel
Encyclopedia
Bharti Airtel Limited commonly known as Airtel, is an Indian telecommunications company that operates in 20 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 about 230.8 million subscribers across 19 countries at the end of June 2011. It is the largest cellular service provider in India, with over 173.73 million subscribers at the end of October 2011. Airtel is the third largest in-country mobile operator by subscriber base, behind China Mobile
and China Unicom
.
Airtel is the largest provider of mobile telephony
and second largest provider of fixed telephony in India, and is also a provider of broadband
and subscription television 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.
Today, Airtel is the largest cellular service provider in India and fifth largest in the world.
The transformed organisational structure will have two distinct Customer Business Units (CBU) with clear focus on B2C (Business to Customer) and B2B (Business to Business) segments. Bharti Airtel's B2C business unit will comprehensively service the retail consumers, homes and small offices, by combining the erstwhile business units – Mobile, Telemedia, Digital TV, and other emerging businesses (like M-commerce, M-health, M-advertising etc.). The B2C organization will consist of Consumer Business and Market Operations.it is the largest telecommunication company in india
.
Its area of operations include:
Airtel operates in the following countries:
†Jersey and Guernsey are British Crown Dependencies. They are not independent countries. Therefore, Airtel's countries of operation is considered to be 19.
and The Economic Times in 2010.
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.
The Apple iPhone 4
was introduced on 27 May 2011 by Airtel & Aircel
.
, Mumbai
, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka
, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (east)
, Rajasthan, West Bengal
, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar
, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir. Airtel also operates 3G services in Maharastra, Goa
, Kanpur and Kolkata
through an agreement with Vodafone
and in Gujarat through an agreement with Idea
. This gives Airtel a 3G presence in 15 out of 22 circles in India.
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.
On 24 January 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. On 27 January 2011, Airtel launched 3G in Chennai and Coimbatore.
On 27 July 2011 Airtel launched 3G in 3 Major Cities in Kerala(Trivandrum,Cochin&Calicut) with 3G network sharing agreement between idea.
On 3 August 2011, Airtel launched 3G in Maharashtra & Goa with 3G network sharing agreement between idea.
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.
Airtel had about 3 million 3G subscribers as of May 2011.
spectrum auction in India ended. Airtel paid 3314.36 crores for spectrum in 4 circles. The circles it will provide 4G in are Maharashtra
, Karnataka
, Punjab and Kolkata
.
According to Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI)
director general Rajan S. Mathews, Airtel is expected to launch 4G services in first qaurter of 2012. They are expected to use LTE
technology.
, Reliance Communications
and Vodafone
was issued notices by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI) for violation of Mobile number portability
(MNP) Regulations. According to TRAI, they had received complains from customers regarding wrong rejection of porting requests by telecom operators and also 10 been charged for a message for requesting porting code through number 1900.
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 16Mbit/s.
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. Until 18 September 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".
. It started services on 9 October 2008 and has about 32.44 million customers as of August 2010.
s 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. It has two sections under it.
, announced they would launch mobile services in the British Crown Dependency
islands of Jersey
and Guernsey
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.
Metros
"A" Circle
"B" Circle
"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.The Brand Trust Report
published by Trust Research Advisory, places Airtel as the only mobile operator in the top 10 most trusted brands in India
magazine noted, "If anything, Bharti would be marrying up," as MTN has more subscribers, higher revenues and broader geographic coverage.
However, the talks fell apart as MTN group tried to reverse the negotiations by making Bharti almost a subsidiary of the new company.
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 31 July 2009. 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".
Talks eventually ended without agreement, due to the South African government opposition.
. 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.
On 23 November 2010, Airtel's Africa operations were rebranded to 'airtel'. Sri Lanka followed on 28 November 2010 and on 20 December 2010, Warid Telecom rebranded to 'airtel' in Bangladesh.
Bharti Airtel signed a five-year deal with ESPN Star Sports
to become the title sponsor of the Champions League Twenty20 cricket
tournament. But now the deal is terminated and Nokia is sponsoring Champions League Twenty20 cricket
."
Airtel, also signed a deal to be title sponsor the inaugural Formula One
Indian Grand Prix
during the 2011 season
.
. The tune became hugely popular and is the world's most downloaded mobile music with over 150 million downloads. A new version of the song was released on 18 November 2010, as part of the rebranding of the company. This version too was composed by Rahman himself
Alternate energy sources such as solar energy
They have already deployed these at as many as 1050 sites thus saving 6.9 mn litres of diesel and approximately Rs. 280 mn.
Energy efficiency measures such as Integrated Power Management Systems and variable speed DC generators
It has resulted in the reduction in the rate of diesel consumption by 1.2 mn litres. They have already saved Rs. 47 mn across nearly 900 sites.
Demand side management like Free Cooling Units (FCU) instead of air conditioners
It has already been implemented across 3400+ sites, saving consumption of 4.1 mn litres of diesel.
1995
2010
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
. It operates a GSM network in all countries, providing 2G
2G
2G is short for second-generation wireless telephone technology. Second generation 2G cellular telecom networks were commercially launched on the GSM standard in Finland by Radiolinja in 1991...
or 3G
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
services depending upon the country of operation. Airtel is the fifth largest telecom operator in the world with about 230.8 million subscribers across 19 countries at the end of June 2011. It is the largest cellular service provider in India, with over 173.73 million subscribers at the end of October 2011. Airtel is the third largest in-country mobile operator by subscriber base, behind China Mobile
China Mobile
China Mobile Limited is a Chinese state-owned telecommunication company that provides mobile voice and multimedia services through its nationwide mobile telecommunications network, the largest of its kind in the world...
and China Unicom
China Unicom
China Unicom or China United Netcom Ltd , is a Chinese state-owned telecommunications operator in the People's Republic of China.-History:...
.
Airtel is the largest provider of mobile telephony
Mobile telephony
Mobile telephony is the provision of telephone services to phones which may move around freely rather than stay fixed in one location. Mobile phones connect to a terrestrial cellular network of base stations , whereas satellite phones connect to orbiting satellites...
and second largest provider of fixed telephony in India, and is also a provider of broadband
Broadband Internet access
Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just "broadband", is a high data rate, low-latency connection to the Internet— typically contrasted with dial-up access using a 56 kbit/s modem or satellite Internet with inherently high latency....
and subscription television 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
Cisco
Cisco may refer to:Companies:*Cisco Systems, a computer networking company* Certis CISCO, corporatised entity of the former Commercial and Industrial Security Corporation in Singapore...
. 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
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
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
Ericsson
Ericsson , one of Sweden's largest companies, is a provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services, covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks...
, Nokia Siemens Network and Huawei
Huawei
Huawei is a Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China...
, business support by IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
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
Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent is a global telecommunications corporation, headquartered in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France. It provides telecommunications solutions to service providers, enterprises, and governments around the world, enabling these customers to deliver voice, data, and video services...
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.'2009, Airtel launched its first international mobile network in Sri Lanka. In 2010, Airtel began operating endToday, Airtel is the largest cellular service provider in India and fifth largest in the world.
Organisational Structure
The organisational structure that existed till recently concentrated on the hierarchy of the operations(not services)inside the company as a whole. The structure depicts the corresponding operation/region of different in-charges and hence it didn't hold anyone responsible for each of its services. So, the company found it better to restructure its organisational chart and it came into implementation from 1 August.The transformed organisational structure will have two distinct Customer Business Units (CBU) with clear focus on B2C (Business to Customer) and B2B (Business to Business) segments. Bharti Airtel's B2C business unit will comprehensively service the retail consumers, homes and small offices, by combining the erstwhile business units – Mobile, Telemedia, Digital TV, and other emerging businesses (like M-commerce, M-health, M-advertising etc.). The B2C organization will consist of Consumer Business and Market Operations.it is the largest telecommunication company in india
Worldwide presence
Airtel is the 5th largest mobile operator in the world in terms of subscriber base and has a commercial presence in 20 countries and the Channel IslandsChannel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
.
Its area of operations include:
- The Indian SubcontinentIndian subcontinentThe Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
:- Airtel Bangla, in Bangladesh
- Airtel, in India
- Airtel Sri Lanka, in Sri Lanka
- Airtel AfricaAirtel AfricaAirtel Africa is the collective name given to the African operations of Indian telecommunications company Bharti Airtel. Airtel Africa ended November 2011 with over 50 million customers across 16 countries.-History:...
, which operates in 17 African countries:- Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
- The British Crown DependencyCrown dependencyThe Crown Dependencies are British possessions of the Crown, as opposed to overseas territories of the United Kingdom. They comprise the Channel Island Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey in the English Channel, and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea....
islands of Jersey and Guernsey, under the brand name Airtel-VodafoneAirtel-VodafoneAirtel-Vodafone is a mobile phone provider in Jersey and Guernsey, and marks the partnership of two of the world’s most important telecommunications companies...
, through an agreement with VodafoneVodafoneVodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
.
Airtel operates in the following countries:
| Country | Site | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
 Bangladesh |
Airtel Bangladesh had about 5.1 million customers at the end of June 2011. | |
 Burkina Faso |
Airtel Burkina Faso is the dominant player with 1,433,000 customers representing 50% market share. | |
 Chad |
Airtel Chad is the no. 1 operator with 69% market share. | |
 Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Airtel is the market leader with almost 5 million customers at the end of 2010. | |
 Gabon |
Airtel Gabon has 829,000 customers and its market share stood at 61%. | |
 Ghana |
Airtel Ghana had about 1.76 million customers at the end of 2010. | |
 India |
Airtel is the market leader with almost 152.5 million customers at the end of 2010. | |
 Kenya |
Airtel Kenya is the second largest operator and has 4 million customers. | |
 Madagascar |
Airtel holds second place in the mobile telecom market in Madagascar, has a 39% market share and over 1.4 million customers. | |
 Malawi |
Airtel Malawi is the market leader with a market share of 72%. | |
 Niger |
Airtel Niger is the market leader with a 68% market share. | |
 Nigeria |
||
 Republic of the Congo |
Airtel Congo is the market leader with a 55% market share. | |
 Rwanda |
On 8 September 2011, Airtel announced that it had been awarded a licence by the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency to operate 2G and 3G GSM mobile services in Rwanda. | |
 Seychelles |
Airtel is the leading comprehensive telecommunications services providers with over 55% market share of mobile market in Seychelles. | |
 Sierra Leone |
||
 Sri Lanka |
Airtel Lanka commenced operations on 12 January 2009. It had about 1.8 million mobile customers at the end of 2010. | |
 Tanzania |
Airtel Tanzania is the market leader with a 38% market share. | |
 Uganda |
Airtel Uganda stands as the no. 2 operator with a market share of 38%. | |
 Zambia |
||
| Channel Islands Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey... :  Jersey and  Guernsey† |
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.
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 FinanceBrand Finance
Brand Finance is an independent intangible asset valuation consultancy. It advises strongly branded organisations, or those with valuable intangible assets, on how to maximise their value through effective management of their brand and other intangible assets...
and The Economic Times in 2010.
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
Research In Motion
Research In Motion Limited or RIM is a Canadian multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada that designs, manufactures and markets wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market...
(RIM).
The Apple iPhone 3G
IPhone 3G
The iPhone 3G is the second generation of iPhone designed and marketed by Apple Inc.. It was the successor to the original iPhone, and is succeeded by the iPhone 3GS. Introduced on June 9, 2008 at the WWDC 2008 at the Moscone Center, San Francisco...
was rolled out in India on 22 August 2008 by Airtel & Vodafone
Vodafone Essar
Vodafone Essar, formerly Hutchison Essar, is a cellular operator in India that covers 23 telecom circles in India. It is based in Mumbai. On July 2011, Vodafone Group agreed terms for the buy-out of its partner Essar from its Indian mobile phone business. The UK firm paid $5.46 billion to its...
. Both the cellular service providers rolled out their Apple iPhone 3GS
IPhone 3GS
-Camera:The iPhone 3GS features an improved 3 megapixel camera manufactured by OmniVision. In addition to the higher megapixel count, it also features auto-focus, auto white balance and auto macro and is capable of capturing VGA video...
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.
The Apple iPhone 4
IPhone 4
The iPhone 4 is a touchscreen slate smartphone developed by Apple Inc. It is the fourth generation iPhone, and successor to the iPhone 3GS. It is particularly marketed for video calling , consumption of media such as books and periodicals, movies, music, and games, and for general web and e-mail...
was introduced on 27 May 2011 by Airtel & Aircel
Aircel
Aircel group is a mobile phone service provider in India. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout India. The Aircel group is a joint venture between Maxis Communications Berhad of Malaysia and Sindya Securities & Investments Private Limited, whose current...
.
3G
On 18 May 2010, 3G spectrum auction was completed and Airtel will have to pay the Indian government 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: DelhiDelhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (east)
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
, Rajasthan, West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir. Airtel also operates 3G services in Maharastra, Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
, Kanpur and Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
through an agreement with Vodafone
Vodafone Essar
Vodafone Essar, formerly Hutchison Essar, is a cellular operator in India that covers 23 telecom circles in India. It is based in Mumbai. On July 2011, Vodafone Group agreed terms for the buy-out of its partner Essar from its Indian mobile phone business. The UK firm paid $5.46 billion to its...
and in Gujarat through an agreement with Idea
Idea cellular
Idea Cellular, usually referred to as Idea, is an Indian wireless telecom company based in Mumbai, India. Idea is the 3rd largest mobile services operator in India, in revenue terms, and recorded of over 98.4 million customers as of August 2011....
. This gives Airtel a 3G presence in 15 out of 22 circles in India.
On 20 September 2010, Bharti Airtel said that it has given contracts to Ericsson India
Ericsson
Ericsson , one of Sweden's largest companies, is a provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services, covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks...
, Nokia Siemens Networks
Nokia Siemens Networks
Nokia Siemens Networks is a global data networking and telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Espoo, Finland. It is a joint venture between Nokia of Finland and Siemens of Germany...
(NSN) and Huawei Technologies
Huawei
Huawei is a Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China...
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.
On 24 January 2011, Airtel launched 3G services in Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
, 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. On 27 January 2011, Airtel launched 3G in Chennai and Coimbatore.
On 27 July 2011 Airtel launched 3G in 3 Major Cities in Kerala(Trivandrum,Cochin&Calicut) with 3G network sharing agreement between idea.
On 3 August 2011, Airtel launched 3G in Maharashtra & Goa with 3G network sharing agreement between idea.
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.
Airtel had about 3 million 3G subscribers as of May 2011.
4G
On 19 May 2010, the broadband wireless access (BWA) or 4G4G
In telecommunications, 4G is the fourth generation of cellular wireless standards. It is a successor to the 3G and 2G families of standards. In 2009, the ITU-R organization specified the IMT-Advanced requirements for 4G standards, setting peak speed requirements for 4G service at 100 Mbit/s...
spectrum auction in India ended. Airtel paid 3314.36 crores for spectrum in 4 circles. The circles it will provide 4G in are Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
, Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
, Punjab and Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
.
According to Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI)
Cellular Operators Association of India
The Cellular Operators Association of India is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led and industry-managed organisation, seeking to play a proactive role in India’s telecommunications process. It was set up in 1995 with a vision to help the service providers to establish and sustain world...
director general Rajan S. Mathews, Airtel is expected to launch 4G services in first qaurter of 2012. They are expected to use LTE
3GPP Long Term Evolution
3GPP Long Term Evolution, usually referred to as LTE, is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals. It is based on the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA network technologies, increasing the capacity and speed using new modulation techniques...
technology.
VAS Fraud
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. Several thousands of users were falsely billed, for example downloading wallpaper or ringtones. In return Airtel launched STOP/START 121 services for such issues. Alternatively, you can sign up on the "Do Not Disturb" list to avoid all telemarketing calls and SMSes.Controversy
Bharti Airtel(India) along with Loop Mobile, Idea CellularIdea cellular
Idea Cellular, usually referred to as Idea, is an Indian wireless telecom company based in Mumbai, India. Idea is the 3rd largest mobile services operator in India, in revenue terms, and recorded of over 98.4 million customers as of August 2011....
, Reliance Communications
Reliance Communications
Reliance Communications Ltd. is an Indian broadband and telecommunications company headquartered in Navi Mumbai, India. RCOM is the world's 16th largest mobile phone operator with over 144 million subscribers. Established on 2004, a subsidiary of the Reliance Group...
and Vodafone
Vodafone Essar
Vodafone Essar, formerly Hutchison Essar, is a cellular operator in India that covers 23 telecom circles in India. It is based in Mumbai. On July 2011, Vodafone Group agreed terms for the buy-out of its partner Essar from its Indian mobile phone business. The UK firm paid $5.46 billion to its...
was issued notices by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI) for violation of Mobile number portability
Mobile number portability
Mobile number portability enables mobile telephone users to retain their mobile telephone numbers when changing from one mobile network operator to another.- General overview :MNP is implemented in different ways across the globe...
(MNP) Regulations. According to TRAI, they had received complains from customers regarding wrong rejection of porting requests by telecom operators and also 10 been charged for a message for requesting porting code through number 1900.
Telemedia
The Telemedia business provides services in 89 Indian cities and consists of two brands.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 16Mbit/s.
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. Until 18 September 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
The Digital TV business provides Direct-to-Home (DTH) TV services across India under the brand name Airtel digital TVAirtel digital TV
Airtel digital TV is an Indian direct broadcast satellite service provider owned and operated by Bharti Airtel. Its satellite service, launched on 2008, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in India. It uses MPEG-4 digital compression with DVB-S2 technology, transmitting...
. It started services on 9 October 2008 and has about 32.44 million customers as of August 2010.
Enterprise
The Enterprise business provides end-to-end telecom solutionSolution
In chemistry, a solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of only one phase. In such a mixture, a solute is dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent. The solvent does the dissolving.- Types of solutions :...
s 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. It has two sections under it.
Mobile data service
The different services under mobile data are BlackBerry services,a web-enabled mobile email solution working on 'Push Technology', USB modem that helps in getting instant access to Internet and corporate applications,Airtel Data Card that gives the liberty to access the internet anytime, Easy Mail is a platform that provides access to personal/corporate e-mails independent of handset operating system and application services that shorten the queues at the billing section, off-load the pressure on the billing staff and bring convenience to the user.Enterprise business solutions
There are two kind of solutions offered by Airtel. One is GPRS Based Solutions like mobile applications tools for enterprise, TrackMate, automatic meter reading solutions etc. and the other is SMS Based Solutions like interactive sms,bulk sms, inbound call center solutions.Android-based Tablet
Beetel Teletech Ltd., a unit of Bharti Enterprises Ltd., on 18 August launched a 9,999 rupees ($220) 7-inch tablet in India based on Google Inc.'s Android operating system. The offering is intended to capitalize on the expected demand for cheap computing devices in the world's fastest-growing and second-largest mobile phone market.Channel Islands: Jersey and Guernsey
On 1 May 2007, Jersey Airtel and Guernsey Airtel, both wholly owned subsidiaries of the Bharti GroupBharti Enterprises
Bharti Enterprises is an Indian business conglomerate headquartered in New Delhi, India, operating primarily across India and in some other countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Jersey, Guernsey and Seychelles with expanding operations across Africa in Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville,...
, announced they would launch mobile services in the British Crown Dependency
Crown dependency
The Crown Dependencies are British possessions of the Crown, as opposed to overseas territories of the United Kingdom. They comprise the Channel Island Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey in the English Channel, and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea....
islands of Jersey
Jersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
and Guernsey
Guernsey
Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...
under the brand name Airtel-Vodafone
Airtel-Vodafone
Airtel-Vodafone is a mobile phone provider in Jersey and Guernsey, and marks the partnership of two of the world’s most important telecommunications companies...
after signing an agreement with Vodafone
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
. 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 230.8 million subscribers worldwide – 169.18 million in India, 46 million are in Africa, 4 million in Bangladesh and 1.8 million in Sri Lanka as of the end of June 2011. The numbers include mobile services subscribers in 19 countries and Indian Telemedia services and Digital services subscribers.India
The Airtel subscriber base according to Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) as of December 2010 was:Metros
- Hyderabad −8,947,870
- ChennaiChennaiChennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
– 2,947,870 - DelhiDelhiDelhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
– 7,420,171 - MumbaiMumbaiMumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
– 3,263,688 - Kanpur - 3,259,687
- KolkataKolkataKolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
– 3,181,073
"A" Circle
- Andhra PradeshAndhra PradeshAndhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
– 15,329,598 - Gujarat – 5,980,024
- KarnatakaKarnatakaKarnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
– 14,004,247 - MaharashtraMaharashtraMaharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
– 7,865,425 - Tamil NaduTamil NaduTamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
– 9,157,295
"B" Circle
- HaryanaHaryanaHaryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
– 1,856,093 - KeralaKeralaor Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
– 3,383,097 - Madhya PradeshMadhya PradeshMadhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
– 8,527,584 - Punjab – 5,946,742
- RajasthanRajasthanRājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
– 12,001,442 - Uttar PradeshUttar PradeshUttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
(East) – 11,455,638 - Uttar PradeshUttar PradeshUttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
(West) – 5,475,843 - West BengalWest BengalWest Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
– 7,592,487
"C" Circle
- AssamAssamAssam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
– 2,828,490 - BiharBiharBihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
– 13,901,163 - Himachal PradeshHimachal PradeshHimachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
– 1,528,727 - Jammu and KashmirJammu and KashmirJammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and internationally with the People's Republic of China to the north and east and the...
– 1,879,828 - North Eastern States – 1,748,202
- OrissaOrissaOrissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
– 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.The Brand Trust Report
The Brand Trust Report
The Brand Trust Report, India Study, 2011 is published by Trust Research Advisory . The book is a result of a syndicated primary research on Brand Trust that generated 10,00,000 data points and 16,000 unique brands from over 10,000 hours of fieldwork conducted in 9 cities TRA’s study partners in...
published by Trust Research Advisory, places Airtel as the only mobile operator in the top 10 most trusted brands in India
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 EconomistThe Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
magazine noted, "If anything, Bharti would be marrying up," as MTN has more subscribers, higher revenues and broader geographic coverage.
However, the talks fell apart as MTN group tried to reverse the negotiations by making Bharti almost a subsidiary of the new company.
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 31 July 2009. 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".
Talks eventually ended without agreement, due to the South African government opposition.
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.Airtel has reported that its revenues for the fourth quarter of 2010 grew by 53% to US$3.2 billion compared to the previous year, newly acquired Zain Africa division contributed US$911 million to the total.However, net profits dropped by 41% from US$470 million last year to US$291 million this year due to a US$188 million increase in radio spectrum charges in India and an increase of US$106 million in debt interest.Telecom Seychelles
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% share of the mobile market of SeychellesSeychelles
Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....
. 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.
Airtel-Ericsson
As per a five-year managed services agreement signed recently, Ericsson will manage and optimize Airtel’s mobile networks in Africa. Ericsson will modernize and upgrade Airtel’s mobile networks in Africa with the latest technology including its multi standard RBS 6000 base station.As part of the modernization, Ericsson will also provide technology consulting, network planning & design and network deployment.Ericsson has been the managed services and network technology partner in the Asian operations.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.On 23 November 2010, Airtel's Africa operations were rebranded to 'airtel'. Sri Lanka followed on 28 November 2010 and on 20 December 2010, Warid Telecom rebranded to 'airtel' in Bangladesh.
Sponsorship
On 9 May 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
ESPN Star Sports
ESPN Star Sports is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and News Corporation...
to become the title sponsor of the Champions League Twenty20 cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
tournament. But now the deal is terminated and Nokia is sponsoring Champions League Twenty20 cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
."
Airtel, also signed a deal to be title sponsor the inaugural Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
Indian Grand Prix
Indian Grand Prix
The Indian Grand Prix is a race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. It is currently held at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India...
during the 2011 season
2011 Formula One season
The 2011 Formula One season was the 62nd FIA Formula One season. The original calendar consisted of twenty rounds, including the inaugural running of the Indian Grand Prix before the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Pirelli returned to the sport as tyre supplier for all teams, taking over...
.
Signature tune
The signature tune of Airtel is composed by Indian musician A. R. RahmanA. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
. The tune became hugely popular and is the world's most downloaded mobile music with over 150 million downloads. A new version of the song was released on 18 November 2010, as part of the rebranding of the company. This version too was composed by Rahman himself
Green initiative
GreenTowers P7 program
As of today,Bharti Infratel is the only telecom tower company, which has installed almost 3 MWT of solar capacity on their network, generating more than 5 mn units of electricity every year.The Green Towers P7 program is scoped for 22,000 tower sites (primarily rural areas having low or no Grid Power availability) out of which 5,500 sites have already been implemented in the first year as a part of this 3-year program. Once completed, the initiative will reduce diesel consumption by 66 mn litres per year with a significant carbon dioxide reduction of around 1.5 lac MT per year. Bharti Infratel bagged the 2011 'Green Mobile Award ' at the GSMA Mobile World Congress at Barcelona and was also awarded the 2010 innovative infrastructure company of the year award at the CNBC Infrastructure Awards for this groundbreaking initiative.Bharti remains the first company in the world to introduce the practice of sharing of passive infrastructure by collaborating with their competition to share mobile towers and to reduce the collective carbon footprint of the industry. This has become a subject of case studies in institutions including Harvard Business School.Energy conservation
The company has installed solar hot water generator at its main campus in Gurgaon for fulfilling the hot water requirement in the cafeteria. Majority of its facilities across NCR region are now equipped with LES (Lighting Energy Savers) which have reduced energy consumption in the lighting system to the tune of 10–25%. Variable Frequency Drives installed in AHU (Air Handling Unit) at its campus have helped in enhancing the efficiency of cooling system by 10%. These measures have resulted in a total saving of 8.5 lakh units of electricity per year. Airtel has embarked upon technology related initiatives like virtualization of servers that has helped it release over 500 CPUs. Also the drive of sending e-bills to the post-paid customers is helping save 12,840 trees annually. Within its campus the ‘Secure Print Solution' – an automated queue management based secured printing solution has led to an annualized saving of about 8 metric tonnes of paper.Alternate energy sources such as solar energy
They have already deployed these at as many as 1050 sites thus saving 6.9 mn litres of diesel and approximately Rs. 280 mn.
Energy efficiency measures such as Integrated Power Management Systems and variable speed DC generators
It has resulted in the reduction in the rate of diesel consumption by 1.2 mn litres. They have already saved Rs. 47 mn across nearly 900 sites.
Demand side management like Free Cooling Units (FCU) instead of air conditioners
It has already been implemented across 3400+ sites, saving consumption of 4.1 mn litres of diesel.
Timeline
The chronology of events since Bharti Tele-Ventures was incorporated in 1995:1995
- Bharti Cellular launched cellular services as "AirTel" in Delhi.
2010
- On 18 May 2010, Airtel won 3G spectrum in 13 circles: DelhiDelhiDelhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, MumbaiMumbaiMumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, Andhra Pradesh, KarnatakaKarnatakaKarnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West)Uttar PradeshUttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
, Rajasthan, West BengalWest BengalWest Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
, Himachal Pradesh, BiharBiharBihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir for Rs. 12,295 crores. - Bharti Airtel wins broadband spectrum in four circles: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab and Kolkata for Rs. 3314.36 crores.
- On 18 November 2010, Bharti Airtel announced a re-branding campaign wherein, they would be referred as airtel, with a new logo.
- On 20 December 2010, Airtel launched its new identity for Bangladesh subscribers.
- On 23 December 2010, Airtel opened its first underground terrestrial fibre optic cable built in alliance with China TelecomChina TelecomChina Telecom Corp. Ltd. is a Chinese state-owned telecommunication company. It is the largest fixed line service and 3rd largest mobile telecommunication provider in the People's Republic of China.-Sectors:...
.
See also
- Airtel AfricaAirtel AfricaAirtel Africa is the collective name given to the African operations of Indian telecommunications company Bharti Airtel. Airtel Africa ended November 2011 with over 50 million customers across 16 countries.-History:...
- Airtel Bangladesh
- Airtel Sri Lanka
- Bharti Airtel on Wikinvest