Airtel breaks into list of world’s top 25 telcos

India’s biggest mobile phone company by customers Bharti Airtel Ltd has found a place among the world’s 25 most valuable telecom brands, ranked by the UK-based brand valuation firm Brand Finance Plc. Bharti Airtel ranked 25th in the recently released list, with a brand value of $2.48 billion (Rs97,780 million then) at the end of 2007. This is the first time an Indian telecom brand broke into the list.

Brand Finance ranked Britain’s Vodafone Group Plc. the world’s most valuable telecom brand, with a value of $26.59 billion, followed by AT&T Inc. at $24.6 billion and Verizon Communications Inc. at $24.38 billion. Bharti Airtel had an AA+ (very strong) rating for brand strength.

 “The key to our success has been our constant focus on service and innovation—be it our unique business model of outsourcing IT (information technology) and networks or revolutionary products such as Hello Tunes and Lifetime Prepaid,” said Manoj Kohli, chief executive officer and joint managing director of Bharti Airtel. “With established presence across all three screens— mobile, PC and TV—Airtel is in the process of transforming itself from a telecom firm to a lifestyle enabler.”

Significantly, none of the other Indian telecom brands—such as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, or BSNL, Reliance Communications Ltd and Idea Cellular Ltd—has found a place on this list, even though most would feature in a listing of top 25 telecom firms by the number of subscribers.

An earlier Brand Finance report had estimated the brand value of Idea Cellular at $527 million, with brand strength of A+ (strong), and that of Reliance Communications at $1.89 billion, with similar brand strength, based on values ending 2007.

Unni Krishnan, managing director of Brand Finance India, reckons Bharti Airtel would have gained by 10-12% in brand value since December.

The Brand Finance valuation methodology is known as “royalty relief” and is based on the notion that a brand holding company owns the brand and licenses it to an operating company. The notional price paid by the operating company to the brand company is expressed as a royalty rate. The net present value of all forecast royalties represents the value of the brand to the business.

While Indian telecom brands may be advancing, they don’t stack up against the global brigade that is going from strength to strength.

“Vodafone’s brand value continues to strengthen as its enterprise value has risen from $158 billion to $185 billion due largely to investors favouring its developing world expansion strategy,” Brand Finance said.

AT&T is narrowing the gap with Vodafone, according to the brand valuation firm. AT&T’s brand value has increased from $10 billion in 2007 to $24.6 billion, and if it expands more aggressively beyond the US, Vodafone will have a run for its money.

 

Airtel, VISA in tie-up to 'finance' iPhones

VISA will offer easy financing options for all VISA cardholders of ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI Cards and Citibank

 New Delhi: Teleom operator Bharti Airtel, in partnership with VISA, will offer easy finance options to VISA cardholders of four major banks for purchasing the Apple iPhone 3G, the company announced on Sunday.

"For consumers who aspire to own the iPhone 3G, VISA will offer easy financing options for all VISA cardholders of ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI Cards and Citibank," Bharti Airtel's chief marketing officer (mobile services) Sanjay Gupta said in a statement.

The handsets can be acquired on monthly instalments for periods ranging from nine to 24 months, depending on the bank and the option on offer.

iPhone 3G is priced at Rs.31,000 for 8GB and Rs.36,100 for the 16GB version, available in two colours - black and white.

"Such initiatives will further widen the market of iPhone 3G in India", he added.

Source: Indo-Asian News Service

Indians in Canada get a Airtel CallHome service from Bharti Airtel

Indians in Canada now get a chance to connect to their homes via Bharti Airtel. One of the leading services in India, Bharti Airtel has unveiled a ‘Airtel CallHome' for the Non Resident Indians and students abroad.

David Nishball, President, Enterprise Services, Bharti Airtel Ltd., said, 'We are excited to launch the Airtel CallHome service in Canada after our successful foray in three international markets. With the large NRI population, Canada is a strategic market for us and we see great potential here. According to industry estimates, the total outgoing traffic to India from Canada is around

180 million minutes per month of whiAirtel Launches ‘Airtel CallHome' Virtual Calling Card Svc in Canadach 60 million minutes is through calling cards.'

As per Airtel CallHome service, Indians in Canada can call back home at the charges of 5.9 cents per minute on a toll-free access. There is also an inaugural offer which provides 50 percent free talk time which makes the calling charges as 3.9 cents per minute mobile to mobile. Also, the subscribers can call countries (enlisted on the Airtel CallHome web site) other than India.

Customers interested in the service have to log on at www.airtelcallhome.com and create a personal account. After creating the account the subscribers will get a PIN to commence their service. The service is available 24×7. The online account enables the users to view their payment history, control usage and have a look at new promotional schemes every time.

Subscribers can register 10 telephone numbers for outgoing calls in Canada. Users can later configure upto 50 Indian numbers that they call up frequently and save them as short code for Easy Dial feature. Also with the help of the Speed Dial feature on their handsets, user can connect to their friends and families by just pressing two buttons.

Also available with the service are other offers like the Astro chat and Friends Chat. Users get a personalized consultation to an astrologer in India fro 49 cents per minute and 39 cents per minute of calling charges on the Friends Chat.

The service is exclusively offered to prepaid customers and the payments for the service can also be paid via the credit card via the web portal. The users can recharge their calling accounts with top-ups even using an Indian credit from India as well.

The Airtel Call Home service is already available in UK, US and Singapore. 

Bharti Airtel announces results for the second quarter and half year ended September 30, 2008

Highlights for Second Quarter ended September 30, 2008

• Overall customer base at 79.9 million.

• Highest ever-net addition of 8.211 million customers in a single quarter.

• Market leader with a market share of all India wireless subscribers at 24.6%.

• Total Revenues of Rs. 9, 0200 million (up 42% Y-o-Y).

• EBITDA of Rs. 3, 6990 million (up 37% Y-o-Y).

• Cash Profit of Rs. 3, 1250 million (up 20% Y-o-Y).

• Net Income of Rs. 2, 0460 million (up 27% Y-o-Y).

New Delhi, India, October 31, 2008: Bharti Airtel Limited (“Bharti Airtel” or “the company”) today announced its audited US GAAP results for the second quarter and half year ended September 30, 2008. It has once again maintained its strong growth momentum.

The consolidated total revenues for the quarter ended September 30, 2008 of Rs.9, 0200 million grew by 42% and EBITDA of Rs. 36,990 million grew by 37% on a year on year basis. The net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2008 was Rs. 20,460 million, a growth of 27% over last year.

Bharti had 79.9 million subscribers, as on September 30, 2008, an increase in the total subscriber base of 57% over the corresponding period last year and maintained its leadership position through an improved market share of all India wireless subscribers at 24.6% as on September 30, 2008, up from 23.4% corresponding to the same period of last year.

Commenting on the results and performance, Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharti Airtel Limited, said “With record customer additions every month, Airtel continues to consolidate its leadership position in the market. The successful launch of DTH service has provided another opportunity to the brand to strengthen it’s connect with the customers, while generating a new revenue stream.”

Add Emotions to your Message!

VoiceSMS is a voice messaging platform that enables the sharing of asynchronous short voice messages between users. VoiceSMS does not require an end-user to download a handheld software client, does not require users to sign-up for a new service or plan, and is available in numerous languages. This allows VoiceSMS to be immediately available to all of the subscribers (pre-paid and post-paid). Forget typing and sending just text messages. Now you can record your message, song or just voice, in any language of your choice and send to a friend. Airtel recently launched this unique "talk and listen" Voice SMS service across India.

Here is how it works: to send a message, the user dials "*" followed by the recipient's number, and leaves a message up to 29 seconds long. The service then sends an SMS notification to the receiver, who dials "*0*" to hear the message. The service is charged at 75cents per SMS. Airtel customers, on receiving a Voice SMS, could hear it free of cost for the first time. The voice SMS can be stored in the archives too. To retrieve it from the archive, the user would have to press "*1*" for which he/she would be charged 75 cents per message. When the message is sent to a non-Airtel number, the user can retrieve the voice SMS by dialling a 10-digit number that he receives on his mobile. This will be an outgoing call for him, charged according to the rate plan. The voice SMS service will be available for Airtel customers in India and can be sent to all mobile networks in the circle.

Bharti Airtel Lanka signs IT management deal with IBM

Bharti Airtel, which is set to launch mobile services in Sri Lanka by December, has outsourced all its IT requirements in the island nation to IBM. In 2004, Bharti Airtel had signed a 10-year $750 million IT outsourcing deal with IBM, but the value of the contract is now pegged to be over $1.5 billion, making it by far the largest domestic IT arrangement.

Bharti Airtel’s president (mobility) said that IBM would provide IT support for Bharti’s operations in Sri Lanka and also added that this was an extension of the software major’s contract in India. In fact, amongst Bharti’s partners in India, only IBM’s contract extends to new markets that Bharti is expanding to.

For instance, while Ericsson and Nokia Siemens are Bharti’s network partners in India, China’s Huawei is building the telco’s infrastructure in Sri Lanka. Similarly, the four BPOs IBM Daksh, MphasiS, TeleTech (acquired by Aegis BPO this year) and Hinduja TMT — who handle Bharti’s customer services here will not be involved in the Lankan operations. Mr Kapoor was also confident that Bharti will be able to launch its mobile services by December despite tbeing involved in a bitter war of words with operators there. Bharti has accused the existing mobile players there of ‘not providing interconnection to it on the same terms as they practice amongst themselves’.

Interconnection charges apply when any voice or data which originates in the network of one operator is passed on the network of another operator. For instance, if a Bharti customer were to call a customer with Dialog, than Bharti pays an interconnect charge to transit of the traffic.

“This issue is temporarily resolved. All operators have agreed to maintain status quo for the next six months,” Mr Kapoor said.

HSPA, the undisputed choice for mobile broadband

HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) is like having your home cable broadband experience delivered to your mobile phone or notebook.

HSPA is part of the GSM 3G network and is (predominately) a software upgrade of the network infrastructure. To use the high speed variant, you need a mobile device that is HSPA-enabled - most new mobile phones and high-end notebooks have these as standard.

HSPA has a great legacy, coming from the GSM family, which delivers mobile communications to over a third of the world’s population. It is the latest technology to enable even faster data rates for mobile users available today. The evolution has seen familiar acroymns such as GPRS (the first packet technology giving around 128kb/s) to EDGE (an enhanced version offering around 240kb/s) and then the introduction of 3G networks increasing the data rate to 384kb/s.

The various enhancements on the HSPA route are as follows:

HSDPA – High Speed Downlink Packet Access – the ability to receive large files to your mobile device such as email attachments, PowerPoint presentations or web pages. HSDPA 3.6mbps network can download a typical music file of around 3Mbytes in 8.3 secs and a 5Mbps video clip in 13.9 secs. Speeds achieved by HSDPA top 14.4Mb/s but most network operators provide speeds up to 3.6Mbps, with the rollout of 7.2Mbps quickly growing. HSDPA networks have been around for about 2 years and are deployed and offering mobile broadband right across the world.

HSUPA – High Speed Uplink Packet Access – this is a further enhancement to increase the speed by which you communicate from your mobile device – for example, this enables you to upload videos to YouTube in secs so that you can share the experience in real time. The upload speeds which were at 384kb/s with HSDPA are now increased to a maximum of 5.7Mb/s

HSUPA is available in a few countries today with 2008 really seeing this as common place.

HSPA Evolved – this is also known as HSPA+ is the next step and is more focused on delivering data services enabling speeds of up to 42Mb/s in the downlink and 11Mb/s in the uplink. HSPA Evolved will be available in late 2008 early 2009.

All of these are acronyms mean Mobile Broadband, today!

Common terms used by mobile network operators to market the service are: 3G+, NextG, 3G Broadband, 3.5G and many more.

Mobile virtual network operator

A mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) is a company that provides mobile phone service but does not have its own licensed frequency allocation of radio spectrum, nor does it necessarily have all of the infrastructure required to provide mobile telephone service.[1] A company that does have frequency allocation(s) and all the required infrastructure to run an independent mobile network is known simply as a Mobile Network Operator (MNO). MVNOs are roughly equivalent to the "switchless resellers" of the traditional landline telephone market. Switchless resellers buy minutes wholesale from the large long distance companies and retail them to their customers.

An MNO that does not have a frequency spectrum allocation in a particular geographical region may operate as an MVNO in that region. MVNOs can operate using any of the mobile technologies MNOs use, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), GSM and the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS).

The first commercially successful MVNO in the UK was Virgin Mobile UK, launched in the United Kingdom in 1999 and now has over 4 million customers in the UK. Its success was replicated in the US, but ventures in Australia have not been so successful, and failed in Singapore, albeit with a different strategy.

An MVNO's roles and relationship to the MNO vary by market, country and the individual situations of the MNO and MVNO. In general, an MVNO is an entity or company that works independently of the mobile network operator and can set its own pricing structures, subject to the rates agreed with the MNO. Usually, the MVNO does not own any GSM, CDMA or other core mobile network related infrastructure, such as Mobile Switching Centers (MSCs), or a radio access network. Some may own their own Home Location Register, or HLR, which allows more flexibility and ownership of the subscriber's mobile phone number (MSISDN) - in this case, the MVNO appears as a roaming partner to other networks abroad, and as a "network" within its own region. Some MVNOs run their own Billing and Customer Care solutions known as BSS (Business Support Systems). Many use an MVNE.















There is a distinction between MVNOs and service providers. MVNOs refer to mobile operators who are not licensed radio frequency holders and lease radio frequency from MNOs in order to set up their mobile virtual networks. By these virtual networks they act similar as genuine MNOs in the sense that they can have their own SIM-cards which are different from the SIM-cards of the MNOs who lease those frequencies and they can also conclude interconnection agreements with MNOs or MVNOs. Based on their virtual networks they can either provide wholesale services to their retail arms, or sell wholesale services to mobile service providers. By contrast, service providers are companies that purchase wholesale mobile minutes and resell to end-users. Normally they do not have their own SIM-cards that are provided by their hosting MNOs or MVNOs. The services provided by service providers depend on the services of the hosting MNOs or MVNOs. In addition, interconnection of service providers is carried out by their hosting MNOs or MVNOs.

MNP next big entry to Sri Lanka mobile market

The next big change in the Sri Lankan telecom industry, Mobile Number Portability (MNP) is expected to result in price cuts and other benefits to all mobile users. MNP allows a mobile subscriber to change his operator without changing the number. This easier entry into other networks allows users to choose the best service with less hassle.

It improves market competition which can result in many companies luring subscribers with better services and rates. Executive Director of LIRNEasia, Prof. Rohan Samarajiva said the service charges have come down even in countries which already had lower rates than Sri Lanka, and we can be very optimistic of better rates. He added that the country is estimated to have seven million mobile users and is in a good position to implement MNP.

Since there is a slowing of growth in the mobile subscriber base, this can be beneficial for companies with a small market share. “MNP does not create competition but improves existing competition” he said, explaining that MNP is only good for smaller companies and new entrants, who can lure subscribers with better packages. MNP gives customers to exercise their right to choose so if the existing companies are providing better service, the subscribers will continue to use them. MNP has been implemented in several countries with mixed results and Pakistan has become the first South Asian country, starting its operations this year.

Remember the joy of running?

There was a time when we just ran.

To the school bus.

To the water tap.

To the sound of the door bell.

Nothing stopped us then.

Come let’s see the world through the eyes of a child

and drop the barriers that we put around ourselves.

It’s the time to experience the joy of running.

Once again

Airtel & RIM unveil new BlackBerry Bold in India

Airtel and Research In Motion (RIM) introduced the highly anticipated BlackBerry Bold smartphone to customers in India. Priced at Rs. 34,990/-, the BlackBerry Bold now available at Airtel authorized channels nationally.

The launch of BlackBerry Bold marks the beginning of a new era in business mobility in India. Crafted from premium materials inside and out, the BlackBerry Bold smartphone is the first BlackBerry smartphone to support tri-band HSDPA high-speed networks around the world, providing superior functionality and performance for business professionals and power users.

The BlackBerry Bold smartphone integrates 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi and GPS, which can pinpoint the user's location and supports location-based applications and services. It comes with a beautiful half-VGA (480x320 resolution at 217 ppi) color LCD that is fused to the undersurface of the lens, making images and videos appear in stunning definition and clarity. The smartphone also comes with rich multimedia capabilities including a media player for music, videos and photos and a 2 megapixel camera with video recording.

“We at RIM are excited with the response to BlackBerry in the Indian market. Through the widened reach of Airtel, we look forward to penetrate the high level of consumer sophistication in the Indian market by introducing the new BlackBerry Bold which will set new benchmarks in business mobility by integrating elegance with powerful internet speed,” said Mr. Jim Balsillie Co-CEO Research In Motion.

“We are delighted with the opportunity to bring the BlackBerry Bold smartphone for Airtel customers" said, Mr. Sanjay Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer, Mobile Services, Airtel. “We are always committed to introduce innovative and cutting edge technology to our users. BlackBerry Bold users will experience next generation technology and also be able to optimize their business and leisure time while on the move.”

Rich multimedia functionality with desktop-style web pages

The BlackBerry Bold smarpthone features a 2 megapixel camera with video recording capability and an enhanced media player that can display pictures and slideshows quickly, play movies smoothly in full screen mode, and manage an entire music collection. Audio can be played over the handset’s dual speakers in rich, stereo sound, and when using headphones or external speakers, the media player gives the user an equalizer with 11 preset filters – like "Lounge", "Jazz" and "Hip Hop" – that boost or soften audio ranges to create the perfect ambiance.

Managing music, pictures and video is made easy with the inclusion of Roxio Media Manager for BlackBerry as well as Roxio Photosuite 9 LE in the BlackBerry Desktop Manager software. Users can enhance pictures and create photo albums on the computer. For users that manage their collection with iTunes, the new BlackBerry Media Sync application provides a simple way to sync iTunes digital music collections with the smartphone*.

The BlackBerry Bold smartphone also comes with a newly enhanced, high performance browser, giving users an on-the-go web browsing experience with desktop-style depiction. The trackball mimics a mouse, making it easy to navigate sites in "Page View" or "Column View" or to zoom in on specific parts of a web page, while various emulation settings allow users to choose between the full desktop-style HTML content and layout or the mobile version.

Outstanding performance with superb phone features

Powering its robust communications and multimedia capabilities, including phone, email, messaging, organizer, browser, camera and media player, the BlackBerry Bold smartphone comes with a next-generation 624 MHz mobile processor, 128 MB Flash memory plus 1 GB on-board storage memory, and a microSD/SDHC memory card slot** that is conveniently accessible from a side door. DataViz Documents to Go is also preloaded, enabling users to edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly on the smartphone.

The BlackBerry Bold smartphone also features a new acoustic design that increases the size of the phone’s audio sweet spot, improving listening quality and clarity. It comes with support for hands-free headsets, stereo headsets, car kits (including car kits that adhere to the Bluetooth Remote SIM Access Profile) and other Bluetooth peripherals, noise cancellation technology that offsets background noise, a powerful speaker phone and support for polyphonic, mp3 and MIDI ring tones.

Robust email and messaging

The BlackBerry Bold smartphone works with BlackBerry Enterprise Server, which enables advanced security and IT administration within IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise environments, as well as BlackBerry Professional Software for small businesses. It also works with BlackBerry Internet Service, which gives users access to up to 10 supported work or personal email accounts (including most popular ISP email accounts).

Bharti Airtel Adds 2.70 Million Mobile Phone Users In September

Indian telecommunications operator Bharti Airtel Ltd. (532454.BY) added 2.70 million mobile users in September, industry data showed Saturday.

As a result, Bharti's total mobile phone user base grew to 77.48 million subscribers at the end of September, according to data released by Cellular Operators Association of India.

In the same month, Vodafone Essar added 1.87 million mobile phone users taking its total subscriber base to 54.62 million, said COAI, which represents the cellular operators using global system for mobile communications technology.

State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL.YY) added 676,965 mobile phone users, taking its total subscriber base to 39.17 million at the end of September.

Idea Cellular Ltd. (532822.BY) added 1.10 million users and had 30.38 million mobile phone subscribers at the end of September.

Another state-run operator, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (500108.BY), added 38,478 new mobile phone users in September and has a total mobile subscriber base of 3.68 million.

Dialog share price down to all time low

Sri Lanka’s telecom giant and once most profitable corporate Dialog Telekom’s share price yesterday slipped to its all time low of Rs. 7.75 including an intra-day lowest of Rs. 7.50, but the Company has ruled out a share buy back deal.

Dialog Telekom CEO Dr. Hans Wijesuriya in comments to Reuters yesterday had said there were no plans to buy- back shares to try to boost the price from an all-time low.

Dialog share price has dropped 40% since Aug. 13, when the company announced a 78% fall in quarterly profits. “Movement of the share price is certainly a result of multiple market dynamics and the company does not intend to influence those,” Wijesuriya said, referring to market speculation about a share buyback. High interest rates, high inflation and a global credit crunch have also contributed to the share’s fall, as well as squeezed profit margins, Wijesuriya said.

Despite a sour bottom line, Dialog remains the undisputed leader. Last week it announced a key milestone of 5 million plus customer base, growing 17.4 percent in January-September. “Usage is growing, but at a rate which is a little lower than last year. With the economic conditions, plus competition, there is pressure on margins. I think it’s short-term.” Sri Lanka’s annual inflation hit a 6-year high last month, and Dialog slashed call charges twice last year and once this year to spur usage. “We need to continue to grow in order to support the usage need and the coverage need. There will be a requirement for investment in coverage, in capacity as well as in technology advancement,” Wijesuriya told Reuters.

Airtel India takes major step towards transforming Airtel from just a telecom brand to a lifestyle enabler

Airtel makes its television debut - Set to redefine home entertainment with Airtel digital TV

• Airtel digital TV to be available in 62 cities in first phase
• MPEG4 standard with DVB S2 technology offers high audio, video quality and ensures system in HD ready
• For the first time a universal remote for both Set Top Box and TV to offer enhanced customer convenience
• Wide range of channels and interactive applications
• 20% larger dish antenna offers better performance during rains

New Delhi, October 7, 2008: Bharti Airtel Limited today announced the launch of Airtel digital TV , its Direct To Home (DTH) Satellite TV service. Airtel digital TV, which is a perfect blend of latest technology, unique features, and great content, promises to redefine the digital home entertainment experience. The service will be available to customers through 21,000 retail points including Airtel Relationship Centres in 62 cities across the country starting October 9, 2008 .

On the occasion, Mr. Manoj Kohli, CEO and Jt. MD, Bharti Airtel, said, “Today we are starting a new chapter in our journey, one that adds a new dimension to our existing product portfolio and is a major step towards transforming Airtel from just a telecom brand to a lifestyle enabler. The launch of Airtel digital TV is the culmination of our three screens strategy, which is to be present across mobile phone, computer and TV screens.”

Mr. Atul Bindal, President - Telemedia Services, Bharti Airtel, added, “We believe that the Indian DTH segment offers immense growth potential going forward. Given our deep understanding of Indian customer, we believe that Airtel has created an excellent product offering. With added benefits of Airtel's strong brand equity and wide distribution network, we are well placed to emerge as a leading player in this segment.”

Airtel digital TV uses the latest MPEG4 standard with DVB S2 technology, which translates i nto exceptional picture clarity and consistent high quality audio for the customer. This latest technology also enables delivery of more complex interactive content and is High Definition ready. Also, Airtel digital TV uses 20% larger dish antenna that offers better performance during rain.

Besides the latest technology, Airtel digital TV brings many firsts to the DTH segment in India :

• Universal remote for both Set Top Box and TV that offers enhanced viewer convenience;
• Highest Set Top Box memory enabling more interactive applications;
• Exclusive content such as World space Radio;
• Interactive applications such as iMatinee (Book cinema tickets), iTravel (Browse and book travel packages), iShop (Shop on TV for your favorite brands), iCity (Get your city's information) and Widgets (Update yourself on latest stock news). 8 screen iNews, 2 / 4 screen iSports .
• Amazing games with high quality graphics, refreshed every 6 weeks
• Audio gain control for uniform audio levels across all channels
• Simple and intuitive search
• On screen account meter
• Last viewed channel in case of power disruption/switch off
• Low battery indicator on the screen

These great viewing experience and unique features are backed by 24x7 customer care available in 8 different languages and a team of 800 professionally trained service engineers.