TELECOMMUNICATION MARKET IN INDIA

The Indian telecommunications Network with 250m telephone connections is the fifth largest in

the world and is the second largest among the emerging economies of Asia. Today it is the

fastest growing market in the world and represents unique opportunities for UK companies in

the stagnant global scenario. Tele-density, which was languishing at 2% in 1999, has shown an

impressive jump to 9.5% in 2006 and 10.5% in 2007 and is set to increase to 20% in the next

five years beating the Govt. target by three years. Accordingly, India requires incremental

investments of USD 20-25 bln for the next five years.

Private operators have made mobile telephony the fastest growing (over 164% p.a.) in India.

With more than 33 million users (both CDMA and GSM), wireless is the principal growth engine

of the Indian telecom industry. Given the current growth trends, cellular connections in India will

surpass fixed line by late 2004/early 2005. Intense competition between the four main private

groups - Bharti, Vodafone, Tata and Reliance and with the State sector incumbents-BSNL and

MTNL has brought about a significant drop in tariffs. There has been almost 74% in cell

phone charges, 70% in ILD calls and 25% drop in NLD charges,
resulting in a boom time for the consumers.

The Government has played a key enabling role by deregulating and liberalising the industry,

ushering in competition and paving the way for growth. While there were regulatory irregularities

earlier, resulting in litigation, these have all been addressed now. Customs duties on hardware

and mobile handsets have been reduced from 14 percent to 5 percent.

The Indian government has merged the IT and Telecom Ministries to speed up reforms and

decision on the Communication Convergence Bill to enable the common regulation of the

Internet, broadcasting and telecoms will be taken after the new Government assumes
responsibilities in may this year. An independent regulatory body (TRAI) and dispute settlement

body (TDSAT) is fully functional.

INDIAN CELLULAR MARKET

The Bharti Group, which operates in 23 circles, continues to be the country's largest cellular

operator, with 50 lakh subscribers. BSNL, which operates in 22 circles, has a subscriber base of

37 lakh subscribers. Thus BSNL stands second largest cellular operator in terms of subscriber

base at the end of the fiscal

6

ending March 31, 2007, displacing Vodafone from the second

position.

Vodafone, which operates in only eighteen circles, is the third largest operator with a subscriber

base of 32 lakh. Unlike fellow public sector undertaking, MTNL, which operates in Mumbai and

Delhi, BSNL has been a very aggressive player in the market. "Cellular operators who expected

BSNL to go the MTNL way, were taken by surprise and did not take effective steps to counter it,

till it was too late in the day," said a telecom analyst.

Belying fears of a slowdown in cellular subscriber acquisitions, the cell club has reported a

7.92% growth, the highest growth in any month so far, during March 2005. Year-on-year, the

cellular subscriber base in the country has almost doubled in March 2005, and is expanding at

the rate of 25% per year thereafter.

The cellular subscriber club expanded by 21.31 lakh last month. This is much higher than 5.9

lakh subscribers added in February 2005 and 2.13 lakh in January 2005. Idea, which operates

in Seven circles, is the fourth largest operator with a subscriber base of 17.80 lakh, higher than

BPL's 11.31 lakh subscribers across four circles. The subscriber numbers per operator drop

sharply with the sixth largest operator, Spice Communications, having a subscriber base of 9.40

lakh, followed by Reliance

Telecom's 8.9 lakh subscribers. MTNL is the ninth largest
operator, with a base of 8.32 lakh subscribers.

While the subscriber base-jumped by 3.38% to 44.39 lakh in the metros, subscriber base of

category A circles of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu jumped

by 10.18 % to reach 43.64 lakh. Category B circles of Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh

(West), Uttar Pradesh (East), Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal recorded a jump of

10.69%, with a total base of 33.74 lakh subscribers. Circle C has reported 12.74 % growth with

subscriber numbers jumping to 5.08 lakh.

Among the metros, while Mumbai added 1,63,180 subscribers, higher than the 1,58,646 added

by Delhi, the Capital's cellular subscriber base of over 80 lakh is still higher than Mumbai's

66.89 lakh. While the cellular industry has been on roll for the first three quarters of the previous

financial year with an average of 16.75 lakh monthly additions in the third quarter, the first two

months of 2007 had seen the growth slowing down

GSM MARKET IN INDIA

Regional Interest Groups - GSM India

With a population of around 1.1 billion growing at roughly 1.7 per cent a year, India is potentially

one of the most exciting GSM markets in the world. After two rather difficult years, the past 12

months have seen the region's promise beginning to come to fruition. Much of this success can

be attributed to the stabilisation of the licensing and regulatory environment.

India's telecommunications have undergone a steady liberalisation since 1994 when the Indian

government first sought private investment in the sector. More significant liberalisation followed

in 1996 with the licensing of new local fixed line and mobile service providers. However, it has

been the
government's New Telecom Policy (1999) that has had the most radical impact on the

development of GSM services. 'The policy's mission statement is 'affordable communications for

all', There is a genuine commitment to creating a modern and efficient communications

infrastructure that takes account of the convergence of telecom, IT and media. In addition, the

policy places significant emphasis on greater competition for both fixed and mobile services.'

Competition in the mobile sector has already had a visible impact on prices with calls currently

costing less than 9 cents per minute. This means that service costs have fallen by 60 per cent

since the first GSM networks became live in 1995. It also helps explain why a recent Telecom

Asia survey revealed that more than 70 per cent of Indian mobile subscribers felt that prices

were now at a reasonable level.

One of the challenges facing GSM operators in India is the diversity of the coverage regions

-from remote rural regions to some of the most densely populated metropolitan areas in the

world. India has more than 40 networks, which cover the seven largest cities, over 7000 towns

and several Lacs villages. Such depth of coverage has required enormous investment from

India's operators. It is estimated that more than Rs200 billion

had been invested in India's GSM industry by mid-2000, a figure that is set to be supplemented

by a further Rs. 300 billion over the next five years.

The good news is that subscriber growth is beginning to look healthy. With India's low PC

penetration and high average Internet usage -at 14-20 hours a month per user it is comparable

to the US -the market for mobile data and m-commerce looks extremely promising. WAP

services have already been launched in the subcontinent and the first GPRS networks are in the
process of being rolled out. In the year ahead, GSM India will work with its members to realise

the potential of early packet services in anticipation of the award of 3GSM licences.
India fastest growing GSM mart

India is expected to have 145 million GSM (global system for mobile communications)

customers by 2007-08 compared to 26 million subscribers as on March 2005, according to the

Global Mobile Suppliers Association. "For GSM, India is a success story. It is one of the fastest

growing markets with its subscriber base doubling in 2005. At this pace, the target of 150 million

subscribers by 2007-2008 is definitely achievable," Alan Hadden, president of GSA, said at a

news conference in New Delhi

Globally, the GSM market reached 1 billion users in February 2005, he said, adding GSM

accounted for 80 per cent of the new subscriber growth in 2005."Almost every Latin American

operator has chosen GSM. In North America GSM growth is bigger than CDMA (code division

multiple access)," he said. Commenting on the raging debate over GSM versus CDMA in mobile

services arena, Hadden said: "GSM is the world's most successful mobile standard with over 1

billion users, and is an open mobile standard. It also supports automatic international roaming,

which is a major contributor to business plans."

India’s GSM mobile firms’ revenue up 30 pct

India’s private telecoms firms offering GSM-based mobile services reported a 24 percent rise in

revenue in the year to March 2007 but said future growth rates could slow because of heavy

taxes on the nascent industry. Although India’s mobile sector is the world’s fastest growing

major wireless market, it is amongst the highest taxed industries in the country. Mobile carriers

pay as much as 25 percent of their revenue as licence fee, spectrum charges and other taxes.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said revenue for fiscal 2003/04 stood at
83.08 billion rupees ($1.86 billion) compared with 64 billion rupees a year earlier. According to

T.V. Ramachandran, director

general at COAI, “These revenue growth rates cannot be maintained unless there is a

concerted effort by the government to cut excessive levies and allow sharing of infrastructure”

“But the potential to do much better exists as there is still huge demand in the sector.”

Ramachandran said the sector was still losing money but declined to elaborate. Sales jumped

because of a doubling of the GSM (Global System of Mobile Communications) user base as

more people entered the flourishing market thanks to one of the lowest call rates in the world.

But the monthly average revenue per user, a key measure of profitability, declined 17.4 percent

to 432 rupees in the fourth quarter compared with 523 rupees in the first quarter due to a cut in

tariffs and excessive competition among companies. Growth slowing, demand untapped: The

association has not included the financial performance and the GSM-user base of state-run

firms Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, the second-ranked player, and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam

Ltd, Ramachandran said. There are 150 million GSM customers and more than 96 million users

of the rival CDMA-based mobile services in the country.

The pace of growth in monthly additions is slowing after just 1.25
million users took up the service in April compared with

1.9 million in the previous month and 1.63 million in February. Ramachandran blamed the

slowdown on a majority of small GSM operators being unable to expand networks into rural

swathes where demand remained largely untapped.

“Our surpluses are not enough to cover costs of network expansion and financing charges on

loans. We are making money only to cover operating expenses,” he said. Carriers are now

subsidising handset costs to woo users into the underpenetrated industry forecast to have more
than 250 million customers by 2007. Roughly three percent of Indians own a mobile phone

compared with about 20 percent in China. About a dozen firms such as Bharti Airtel Ltd, 28

percent owned by Singapore Telecommunications, Reliance Infocomm Ltd and the Indian GSM-

unit of Vodafone group battle in the hotly competitive sector.

Bharti Airtel Limited was incorporated on July 7, 1995 for promoting investments in

telecommunications services. Its subsidiaries operate telecom services across India. Bharti

Airtel is India's leading private sector provider of telecommunications services based on a strong

customer base consisting of 50 million total customers, which constitute, 44.6 million mobile and

5.4 million fixed line customers, as of March 31, 2007.

Airtel comes to us from Bharti Airtel Limited - a part of the biggest private integrated telecom

conglomerate, Bharti Enterprises. Bharti provides a range of telecom services, which

include Cellular, Basic, Internet and recently introduced National Long Distance. Bharti also

manufactures and exports telephone terminals and cordless phones. Apart from being the

largest manufacturer of telephone instruments in India, it is also the first company to export its

products to the USA. Bharti has also put its footsteps into Insurance and Retail segment in

collaboration with Multi- National giants. Bharti is the leading cellular service provider, with a

footprint in 23 states covering all four metros and more than 50 million satisfied customers.
SERVICES
Airtel Prepaid

Airtel Prepaid, the Ready Cellular Card from Airtel comes to you from Bharti Enterprises, India's

leading integrated telecom service provider. Going mobile with Airtel Prepaid is a new way of
life. With a host of great features, also simple to use, Airtel Prepaid makes everything that you

dreamt and believed, possible.

Total Cost Control

You can control your Airtel Prepaid like never before. No more rentals or deposits – simply

recharge as much as you need to from as low as Rs. 10, to as high as Rs. 10,000/-.

Pre activated STD/ISD without deposits or rentals

You can now enjoy a pre-activated STD/ISD on your Airtel

Prepaid. No more paying deposits or having a minimum balance

in your account to make an STD/ISD call. Hassle-free calls are

here to stay!
Strong Network Coverage

Enjoy complete clarity when calling with Airtel’s world-class

technology and unbreakable network coverage that spans over

23 circles across the country.

Instant Balance and Validity Enquiry

Your account balance is updated on the screen of your handset at the end of each chargeable

call. You can also call 123 from your mobile phone and listen to the voice announcement or

simply dial *123#, press 'OK' or 'YES' button and your account balance will be displayed on the

screen of your handset.

Recharge your Airtel Prepaid

Recharging is Easy. The calling value on your card keeps reducing as you make calls or use

any other chargeable service. Choose the Airtel Prepaid Recharge Coupon that’s right for you,

from a variety of tailor– made recharge coupons with different

denominations, which are available at a number of outlets across your city. Simply follow the

procedure mentioned below, to recharge your phone.

Prepaid Roaming

Airtel Prepaid comes preactivated with 'National Roaming', so you stay connected no matter

wherever you are. You can also send or receive MMS, check your email and access other

GPRS services while roaming in India as you would in your own city. While traveling abroad you

can receive calls & send or receive SMS.

Other Services

Airtel brings you, a wide range of Services that will change the

way you communicate. Try them and discover a whole new world

of fun and excitement.

Call management Services
Call waiting, call hold, call divert and Caller Line Identification
Presentation – all with your Airtel prepaid connection.
Voice Mail

When your handset is switched off, or you’re too busy to answer the phone, Airtel Voicemail will

answer your calls and record a message. The best part is that there's no extra monthly cost for

setting up Voicemail - you just pay for the phone call when you use the service.
SMS (Short Messaging Service)

Send messages quickly and easily using text, if it's too noisy to talk or you don't have much

time. It's the way to share those interesting one-liners, important reminders and rib-tickling

jokes, with anyone, anytime, anywhere in the world.

Subscription Alerts

Get regular alerts on news, jokes, business, health and films on your Airtel mobile phone with

Subscription Services. SMS <SUB NEWS> to3333 for News, <SUB JOKE> for Jokes, <SUB

BIZ> for Business News, <SUB SPO> for Sports Alerts & <SUB VAASTU> for Vaastu tips.
MMS (Multi-media Messaging Service):
Jazz up your messages with pictures, images and video clippings,

with MMS from Airtel! To activate MMS on your phone, SMS

'MMS' to 56465 and save service settings.

Airtel Live!

Make your mobile the most happening entertainment destination with Airtel Live! Airtel brings

you the latest in entertainment and information services, right on your phone!
Airtel Live! WAP Services: Download the latest ring tones,

games, wallpapers, videos and much more. You can also get news clips, watch live TV and

download full songs on you phone. To get Airtel Live! settings on your phone, SMS 'Live' to

56465 and save the settings that you receive as your preferred connection. Airtel Live! Portal

can be accessed from you GPRS enabled phone, by sending a SMS 'FUN' to 56465.
Airtel Live! Voice Services: Just Dial 56465, and name the

service. For e.g. say ring tones to download your favorite ring tones. You can also choose a

variety of content options like Live Cricket Commentary, latest National / International News,

Movie Reviews or Stock Market Updates.

Airtel Live! SIM Services: Access loads of fun content and

exciting services like cricket, stocks, on your phone at the touch of a few buttons with Airtel Live!

SIM based Services on your SIM card menu. To download new services on your Airtel SIM,

choose the "What's new" option under the "Airtel services" menu.
Airtel Live! SMS Services: You can enjoy a host of services by
sending a keyword as an SMS to 56465! Choose Astrology /Horoscope, Cricket, Bollywood /
Hollywood / Indi Pop Ring tones.

In case you need assistance SMS, Help to 56465.

Hello Tunes

Tired of that boring old ‘tring tring’ on your phone? Well now when a friend calls, you can make

them groove to the hottest new tracks burning up the music charts with Hello Tunes from Airtel!
You get a wide choice of songs in the Popular & New Arrivals categories that are updated

regularly. What's more you can directly call the number for your kind of music, e.g. call 678005

for English New and 678001 for Hindi New. This would directly take you to your favorite artist's

Hello Tunes listing.

Copy a Hello Tune

Get the tune you want, all you have to do is call 55055 and follow the simple voice instructions

to copy your favorite Hello Tunes. Once inside the copy feature, just key in the 10-digit Airtel

mobile number you want to copy the Hello Tune from and you get the same Hello Tune

assigned to your number.

Gift a Hello Tune

Forget gifting chocolates, flowers and greeting cards. Say it with

a song instead! Gift a Hello Tune to that special someone. Just

call 55055 and choose the song that you want to gift. Follow the

simple voice instructions and key in the 10-digit Airtel mobile

number that you want to gift the Hello Tune to. You will get an

SMS notification upon successful receipt of that gift.

Buy Music - Airtel Music Shops

Buying your favorite Hello Tune or Ring tone is as simple as recharging your phone with talk

time. Simply walk into your nearest Airtel Shop and walk out with your favorite song. Choose

from Bollywood Hits to Indipop Remixes, Hard Rock to Gujrati Garba, Bhajans to Jazz, Bhangra

Beats to foot tapping Tamil Hits from a list of more than 18000 songs.
Reach us Anytime Anywhere

In case you need assistance, dial '121' - our toll-free number, accessible from anywhere in the

country, even while roaming. You can also send us an SMS to 121 or mail us at
121@airtelindia.com.
*In case of email, mention your mobile no. like,9 81 00 12 34 5, in
the subject of the mail for a quicker response.
Airtel Postpaid

Airtel welcomes you to a vibrant world of unlimited opportunities. More exciting, innovative yet

simple new ways to communicate, just when you want to, not just through words but ideas,

emotions and feelings. To give you the unlimited freedom to reach out to your special people in

your special way.

Easy Billing

Enjoy a host of rich features only with Airtel e-bill. Register free

on ‘My Airtel’ section and view your monthly bill with call details

for last three months. Sort your calls between personal and

official or analyze your usage, at the click of a button. To change

your tariff plan call our IVR at 121 and leave a request.
Easy Payment Options. Anytime Anywhere

You can choose from a host of convenient payment options only with Airtel. Walk into any Airtel

relationship centre and make your payments by cash or credit card. Drop a cheque at any of the

drop boxes for making payments or simply log on to My Airtel section and pay instantly through

your credit card. You can also opt for easy payment options like:
Standing Instructions

You can give us standing instructions to debit your credit card account for your monthly Airtel

bills. All you have to do is fill the Standing Instruction Form and mail, fax it to us or drop it any of

our relationship centres

Electronic Clearing System

Fill an ECS form and mail, fax it to us or drop it any of our relationship centres to directly debit

your bank account for your monthly Airtel bill.

Pay while roaming
Airtel has introduced 'Anywhere payment' that offers you the convenience of making payments

while you roam. Walk in to any Airtel Relationship Centre in the country, make payments by

cash or credit card and enjoy uninterrupted Airtel Services.

Credit limit

Your pre-set credit limit mentioned on your monthly bill helps you keep your mobile charges in

control, keeps track of your usage and ensures that your mobile phone is not misused. Should

you exceed your credit limit, you will be informed via a voice or a non-voice message to make

an interim payment and reduce your account balance below your credit limit. You may also

choose to pay us an additional refundable deposit to enhance your credit limit or opt for our

convenient payment method of Credit Card Standing instruction .You can also make use of ECS

facility.

Strong Network Coverage

Enjoy complete clarity when calling with Airtel .It offers you world class technology and

unbreakable network coverage that spans over 23 circles across the country.
Long Distance Calling Facility
Call long distance calls in India and Overseas with STD / ISD
facility on your Airtel phone.
Widest Roaming - National and International

Airtel's roaming service allows you to stay connected and use

your mobile phone to make or receive calls from almost

anywhere in India and also over 160 countries, abroad.

GPRS - Roaming

Use Airtel Postpaid's GPRS services, while roaming, to access the

internet and office mails (eg. BlackBerry services), from almost

anywhere in India and abroad.

Say it. In more than just words, with Services from Airtel
Airtel brings you a wide range of Services that will change the

way you communicate. Try them and discover a whole new world

of fun and excitement

Call management Services

Call waiting, call hold, call divert and Caller Line Identification

Presentation, help you do more with your Airtel Postpaid

connection!
Conference call

You can hold a teleconference with 5 people simultaneously with Call Conferencing service

from Airtel. In fact, you can set up a conference even when the other five are using a landline

phone. To know more, call customer service at 121.

Missed call alert

A missed call alert is a SMS that you will receive for all the calls that you missed. The SMS will

detail the CLI and the time when the call was made. To activate, dial *135*2# then press the call

button and wait for the request to be completed.

Voice Mail

When your handset is switched off, or you’re too busy to answer the phone, Airtel Voicemail will

answer your calls and record a message. The best part is that there's no extra monthly cost for

setting up Voicemail - you just pay for the phone call when you use the service.

SMS (Short Messaging Service)

Send messages quickly and easily, using text, if it's too noisy to talk or you don't have much

time. It's the way to Share those interesting one-liners, important reminders and rib-tickling

jokes, with anyone, anytime, anywhere in the world.

Subscription Alerts
Get regular alerts on news, jokes, business, health and films on your Airtel mobile phone with

Subscription Services. SMS <SUB NEWS> for News, <SUB JOKE> for Jokes, <SUB BIZ> for

Business News, <SUB SPO> for Sports Alerts & <SUB VAASTU> for Vaastu tips to3333.
MMS (Multi-media Messaging Service):

Jazz up your messages with pictures, images and video clippings, with MMS from Airtel! To

activate MMS on your phone, SMS 'MMS' to 56465 and save service settings.
Airtel Live!

Make your mobile the most happening entertainment destination with Airtel Live! Airtel brings

you the latest in entertainment and information services, right on your phone!

Airtel Live! WAP Services: Download the latest ringtones,

games, wallpapers, videos and much more. You can also get news clips, watch live TV and

download full songs on you phone! To get Airtel Live! settings on your phone SMS 'Live' to

56465 and save the settings that you receive as your preferred connection. Airtel Live! Portal

can be accessed from you GPRS enabled phone, by sending a SMS 'FUN' to 56465.
Airtel Live! Voice Services: Just Dial 56465 and say the name

of the service. For e.g. say ‘Ring tones’ to download your favourite ring tones. You can also

choose a variety of content options like Live Cricket Commentary, latest National / International

News, Movie Reviews or Stock Market Updates.

Airtel Live! SIM Services: Access loads of fun content and

exciting services like cricket, stocks, on your phone at the touch of a few buttons with Airtel Live!

SIM based Services on your SIM card menu. To download new services on your Airtel SIM,

choose the "What's new" option under the "Airtel services" menu.
Airtel Live! SMS Services: You can enjoy a host of services by

sending a keyword as an SMS to 56465 ! Choose Astrology / Horoscope, Cricket, Bollywood /

Hollywood / Indi Pop Ring tones. In case you need assistance SMS ‘Help’ to 56465.

GPRS (General Packet Radio Services)

Log on to the internet, with GPRS that allows data transmission at a higher speed. Access e-

mails and internet across Airtel's pan-India presence using 'Mobile Office' with your phone or a

phone and laptop both.

Get the EDGE

Browse the internet on your mobile phone with Airtel's EDGE services. Enjoy live TV, enhanced

WAP experience and Airtel Data Cards on our high speed network.
Hello Tunes

Tired of that boring old ‘tring tring’ on your phone? Well now when a friend calls, you can make

them groove to the hottest new tracks burning up the music charts with Hello Tunes from Airtel!

You get a wide choice of songs in the Popular & New Arrivals categories that are updated

regularly. What's more, you can directly call the number for your kind of music, e.g. call 678005

for ‘English New’ and 678001 for ‘Hindi New’. This would directly take you to your favourite

artist's Hello Tunes listing

Copy a Hello Tunes

Like a tune you want, all you have to do is call 55055 and follow the simple voice instructions to

copy your favourite Hello Tunes. Once inside the copy feature, just key in the 10-digit Airtel

mobile number you want to copy the Hello Tune from and you get the same Hello Tune

assigned to your number.

Gift a Hello Tunes

Forget gifting chocolates, flowers and greeting cards. Say it with a song instead! Gift a Hello

Tune to that special someone. Just call 55055 and choose the song that you want to gift. Follow

the simple voice instructions and key in the 10-digit Airtel mobile number that you want to gift

the Hello Tune to. You will get an SMS notification upon successful receipt of that gift.
Buy Music - Airtel Music Shops
Buying your favourite Hello Tune or Ringtone is as simple as recharging your phone with

talktime. Simply walk into your nearest Airtel Shop and walk out with your favourite song.

Choose from Bollywood Hits to Indipop Remixes, Hard Rock to Gujrati Garba, Bhajans to Jazz,

Bhangra Beats to foot tapping Tamil Hits from a list of more than 18000 songs.

Reach us, Anytime Anywhere

In case you need assistance, dial '121' - our toll-free number, accessible from anywhere in the

country, even while roaming. *In case of email, mention your mobile no. like9 81 00 12 34 5 in the
subject of the mail for a quicker response. TARIFF
STRUCTURE
Prepaid Tariffs

Airtel Prepaid Ready Cellular Card and Recharge Cards are available, all over the city at over

retail outlets including 24-hour outlets. Airtel Prepaid Ready Cellular Card and Recharge Cards

are available, all over the city at over retail outlets including 24- hour outlets.

Airtel Prepaid Regular

449
SUK
Pulse Rate
60 sec
Price of Pack (Rs.)
Rs.449
Free Airtime on Pack (Rs.)
Nil
Incoming Calls (Rs.)
Free while in home network
Airtel
GSM / CDMA
(10 Digit)
Landline / WLL
LOCAL RATES (Rs./min)
Rs.1.20
Rs.2.00
Rs.2.40
STD RATES (Rs./min)
Rs.2.75
Rs.2.75
Rs.2.75
ISD (Rs./min)
USA, Canada, Europe (Fixed
Line), Australia, Singapore,
Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia,
Indonesia, New Zealand.
Rs.6.40
Gulf, Europe (Mobile), SAARC
countries, Africa & Rest of the
world
Rs.9.20
Cuba, Sao Tome & Principe,
Guinea Bissau, Diego Garcia,
Nauru, Solomon Islands,
Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Tuvalu,
Tokelau, Norfolk Island,
Sakhalin
Rs.40.00
SMS (Rs.)
Local
Rs.1.20
National
Rs.2.00
International
Rs.5.00
Other Details
*Rs 50 Local Airtel-Airtel Mobile talktime per month for 6 months
* First month Airtel-Airtel credit within 72hrs of activation & balance credit by 1st week of eve
month)
*The SMS charge as applicable is per 160 characters
* Validity- 24 months.

PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
Airtel to “Touch Tomorrow” with a new brand vision

The Bharti Mobile promoted AirTel cellular service will go in for repositioning of its brand image.

The new brand ethos is portrayed in two distinct fashions - the tag line "Touch Tomorrow",

which underscores the leading theme for the new brand vision, followed by "The Good Life",

which underscores a more caring, more customer centric organization. Aimed at re- engineering

its image as just simply a cellular service provider to an all out information communications

services provider, Touch Tomorrow is meant to embrace the new generation of mobile

communication services and the changing scope of customer needs and aspirations that come

along with it
The new communication is about a new dimension in the cellular category that goes beyond the

Internet, SMS, roaming, IVRS, etc but which engulfs the whole gamut of wireless digital

broadband services that will constitute tomorrows cellular services. The new campaign is in two

phases - the first of which will communicate overall brand philosophy and the second products

and services. According to Mr. Jagdish Kini, Chief Operating Officer, Bharti Mobile Limited,

Karnataka "We are adopting a new brand-

platform - Touch Tomorrow - not only to reflect our corporate

ethos but also business strategy".
The new identity will have the logo in Red, Black and White
colours along with lower case typography to convey warmth.
AirTel will incorporate the latest branding in all of its
communication and will soon be going in for an enhanced
promotional drive to establish the brand's presence.
LIFE TIME PLAN

PRE-PAID card users need not worry anymore about recharging their coupons every month.

Company has launched a plan that allows users to take a pre-paid connection with lifetime

validity for a one time payment of Rs. 999. Subscribers availing themselves of this scheme will

also get full talk time for the recharge coupon they purchase and also have the option to buy

Taiwanese manufactured Bird mobile handsets for as low as Rs. 1,399.

The move is aimed at stopping the churn in the pre-paid subscriber base. Once a subscriber

takes this plan, he will always be an Airtel subscriber whether the mobile is being used or not

MARKET SITUATION
At the time of launch

The first mover in the market was Airtel which launched its services in Delhi in Aug 1995

(Informal launch). Essar Cellphone followed by launching its services informally in Oct 95. At

this point of time, the market was at a nascent stage, awareness level was low and both

operators independently tried to spread awareness and educate the people

Once the networks were commercially launched, it became a number game with a multitude of

schemes being offered to woo customers Initially the cellphone was perceived as a status

symbol and utility took a back seat The target segment in Delhi were corporate and the high

income group. The average capacity installed was for 1.5 lakh subscribers. This coupled with

the steep license fee paid to DOT put pressure on the operators to break-even by rapidly

expanding their markets. In the first two years, this led to a number of schemes being offered

and prices crashing

COMPETITIVE SITUATION

Airtel launched its services before Essar and skimmed the market picking up the bulk of the high

usage premium clients. This is a very competitive industry with the two companies differentiating

either on value-added services or price. Airtel is perceived as the high quality provider and has

a premium image. Essar, on the other hand, is perceived as the lower end service provider.

Airtel positions itself as the market leader on the basis of the number of subscribers. Essar is

trying to counter this by emphasising on the reach of its network and the quality of its service.

However, Essar is somewhat not been very successful largely due to the inconsistency in

advertising

To promote themselves, both the players have been dependent on tactical advertising However,

they have restrained from using comparative advertising Hoardings have been a very popular

medium for carrying the advertisements Airtel has also been advertising on television using the

Bharti Telecom name.

SALES DEPARTMENT AND STRATEGY
A. Major Accounts (Direct Channel)
•

Handles corporate (named and famed) accounts

•

Forecasting of sales
•

Mapping the accounts

•

Providing after sales support to the subscribers

•

Maintaining call reports for records.

•

Providing Feedback to the marketing department regarding

the requirement of the market.
B. IDC (indirect Channel)
•

Handling distribution
•

Maintaining records and level check of the channel partner

•

Liaisoning between the channel partner and the company.

•

Target achievement
•

Training the executives of the channel

C. Distribution Support
1.
Logistics
•

Monitor handset and SIM card requirements of

channel partners and co-ordinate with stores
•

Settle areas of concerns such as incentive claims of

channel partners
2.
Rental
•

Provide cellular services (SIM cards) on rent.

•

Provide cellular phones on rent

•

Useful for people visiting Delhi for a short interval.

3
Telesales
•

Call customers and generate sales lead.

•

Follow up with the customers, if they need any assistance

•

Pass on the sales lead to the channel department.

4 Audit
•

Consultant to the AirTel showrooms.

•

Monitor the operations at the AirTel distribution outlets

Organize training.
5.
Retail
•

Locate shops to open retail counters.

•

Monitor the retail counters.

MARKET SEGMENTATION

Segmentation is beneficial because of better predictability of the target consumer group,

minimization of risk exposure, better ability to fine-tune a product / service to the requirement of
target buyer and the resultant ease in designing a proper designing marketing mix strategy In

this case segmentation is on the bade of income.

In evaluating different market segments the company looks at two factors The overall
attractiveness of the segments and the company's objectives & resources The present market
TARGET MARKET SEGMENT

Airtel has targeted the premium and upper middle class. The rationale behind it is that only

those segments should be targeted who value time and have the paying capacity. It Is also

planning to target the business tourists during their stay in the capital

About 60% of the clientele are top executives of corporate houses. About 15% are foreign

organisations and the rest are professionals and small businessmen. During the introduction

stage there was intense pressure to get consumers across to hook up with their brand, because

getting them to switch brand loyalty later would be hard

So far Airtel marketers have been concentrating totally on the business executive class but now

that the basic viable volumes has beer) built up and prices have declined to a certain extent

they are planning to venture further a field.

POSITIONING

The product is sought to be positioned as a business efficiency tool. a lifestyle revolution and a

status symbol The emphasis is to remove misconception that the cellphone is an expensive

means

of communication and drive home the point that the cellphone is

actually a day-to-day utility
PRODUCT POLICY AND PLANNING

The product or serviceis the heart of the marketing mix. Without a product or a service

customers' needs cannot be satisfied.

The basic product promise by Airtel is mobility. Airtel's main marketing strategy is to be a first

mover all the time. It has recognised the significance of making the first move-- because in the

field of Communication & Information Technology changes occur at a tremendous pace.

Effective product segmentation has to be carried on continuously because basic services can

be and will be copied and in time become expected component of the product. Airtel seeks to

carry out this segmentation through provision of new information services and making new

facilities available. The product policy and planning depends on the stage of the product life

cycle. At present the cellular phone market has reached the maturity stage. Since, the premium

segment is nearing saturation the company targeting the upper middle and middle-middle class.

In order to do so Airtel is trying to optimise the price performance package by offering suitable

"product bundling".

This involves the selection of the suitable hardware (handset) and its software (its services.)

with reasonable price in order to deliver maximum price performance to its customers.

In addition, it

offers free Airtime services and other concessions to make the prices and thus the product more

attractive. It has also opened a 24 hours customer service.

Only price doesn't serve as an effective differentiator, value
added services become the effective differentiator.
The "Value Added Services" provided from Airtela re:-
1). Voice Mail service

This system is similar to the answering machine - if the user is not able to answer a call for

some reason the caller can leave messages in the voice mail box which can be later retrieved

by the user
ii) Short Message Service
The short message service is like a two-way pager. It gives an option of sending and receiving

text messages directly from one mobile phone to another without the intervention of an operator.
iii) Mobile Fax 1 Data Service

This service helps the subscriber to send and receive Faxes, access E-mail, download

computer files from other systems and remotely log on to another computer and surf the

Internet.
iv) Cash Card

The cash card is a pre-paid and pre-activated card which allows the buyers to buy air time in

advance. All it requires is the payment of an initial amount. This is a useful service for people

who travel to Delhi often and those who want to control the expenses on their calls.

v) Caller ID

Displays calling person's number.

vi) Outgoing call restriction

To prevent or limit outgoing calls, for example, in peak hours. Also possible to exclude one or

several countries, or any geographical region, to permit only local calls, or to limit the outgoing

calls to a listed number.

viii) Call forward
Incoming calls can be forwarded to another fixed or mobile
phone.
Besides these some other services provided by Airtel are - Call
conferencing, Call Broadcast et cetera.

It is in the operators -Interest that they not only get many subscribers but also get them to use

the mobile facility frequently. In the early stages getting increases to subscribe may be easier

than getting them to talk since they will find it costlier to use the mobile phone as compared to a

conventional phone [if is believed that initially cellphones would be used buy] viii) Roaming

Facility
Roaming facility is available while the subscriber is travelling. The billing is done in the home

network (Delhi). Roaming facility is available manually* as well as semi-automatically. Once a

subscriber is In any other city or country, where a GSM network is available, simply insert the

SIM card of the local operator Into your handset and start talking.
*
Manual Roaming means a separate SIM card is provided for
each city
**
Semi automatic roaming means one card has the facility
for different cities.
AIRTEL'S MARKETING ORIENTATION.
Since this is a high-involvement expensive product, the service
provider has to fully take care of the customers.
a) They take personal responsibility to "get" the answer for any
problem faced by the customer

b)They anticipate customers' problems and take pro-active

steps to prevent them
c) They give answers to the questions & requests, quickly &
efficiently.
d) They have a positive tone & manner while interacting with
customers.
e) They end the interaction on a positive or a humorous note-
making the last 30 seconds count.

Airtel realises that attracting people 'Is easy but converting them into loyal customers is hard,

hence emphasis is on maintaining a 'Smiling and a Friendly Atmosphere' to please and retain

the customer.
PRICE AND PRICING POLICY

AIRTEL has realised that the Indian market is price sensitive. Therefore it care of the has come

up with various innovative tariff schemes to take needs of different category of customers-

Generally, the cellular services are more expensive than the land line based telephone services.

This is due to the reason that the operating companies are required to pay a fee to the

government for using airtime.

MARKETING STRATEGY
ADOPTED BY BHARTI
Bharti has spent a considerable amount on advertising its mobile phone service, Airtel. Besides

print advertising, the company had put up large no of hoardings and kiosks in and around Delhi.

The objective behind designing a promotion campaign for the ‘Airtel’ services is to promote the

brand awareness and to build brand preferences.

It is trying to set up a thematic campaign to build a stronger brand equity for Airtel. Since the

cellular phone category itself is too restricted, also the fact that a Cellular phone is a high

involvement product, price doesn't qualify as an effective differentiator. The image of the service

provider counts a great deal. Given the Cell phone category, it is the network efficiency and the

quality of service that becomes important. What now the buyer is looking at is to get the

optimum price-performance package. This also serves as an effective differentiator

Brand awareness is spread through the' campaigns and brand preference through brand

stature. Airtel's campaign in the capital began with a series of 'teaser' hoardings across the city,'

bearing just the company's name and without explaining what Airtel was. In the next phase the

campaign associated Airtel with Cellular only thereafter was the Bharti Cellular connection

brought up. Vans with Airtel logos roamed the city, handing out brochures about the company

and its services to all consumers. About 50,000 direct callers were sent out. When the name

was well entrenched in the Delhiites’s mind, the Airtel campaign began to focus on the utility of

Cellphone. In the first four months alone Airtei's advertisement spend exceeded Rs. 4 crores.

As of today the awareness level Is 60% unaided. This implies that if potential or knowledgeable

consumers are asked to name a Cellular phone service provider that is on the top of his/her

mind 60% of them would name Airtel. As for aided it -is 100% (by giving clues and hints etc.).
Brand strength of a product or the health of a brand is measured by the percentage score of the

brand on the above aided and the unaided tests. The figures show that Airtel is a healthy and a

thriving brand.

Every company has a goal, which might comprise a sales target and a game plan with due

regard to Its competitor. Airtel 's campaign strategy is designed keeping in mind its marketing

strategy. The tone, tenor and the stance of the visual ads are designed to convey the image of a

market leader in terms of its market share. It tries to portray the image of being a "first mover

every time" and that of a "market leader".

The status of the product in terms of its life cycle has just reached the maturity stage in India. It

is still on the rising part of the product life cycle curve in the maturity stage.

The diagram on the left hand side shows the percentage of the users classified into heavy,

medium and low categories. The right hand side shows the revenue share earned from the

three types of users.

Airtel, keeping in mind the importance of the customer retention,

values its heavy users the most and constantly indulges in service innovation. But, since heavy

users comprise only 15 - 20% of the population the other segment cannot be neglected. The

population which has just realised the importance of cellular phones has to be roped in. It is for

this reason that the service provider offers a plethora of incentives and discounts. Concerts like

the "Freedom concert" are being organized by Airtel in order to promote sales. The media

channel is chosen with economy in mind. The target segment is not very concrete but, there is

an attempt to focus on those who can afford.

The print advertisements

and hoarding are placed in those strategic areas which most likely to catch the attention of
 those who need a cellular phone. The product promise (which might cost different 1 higher) is

an important variable in determining the target audience.

Besides this, other promotional strategies that Airtel has adopted

are .

(i) People who have booked Airtel services have been treated to exclusive premiers of blockbuster

movies. Airtel has tied up with Lufthansa to offer customer bonus miles on the German airlines

frequent flier's programs.

(ii)
There have been educational campaigns, image
campaigns,
pre
launch
advertisements,
launch
advertisements,
congratulatory

advertisements, promotional advertise-

ments, attacking advertisements and tactical advertisements

DISTRIBUTION

The- company whose operations are concentrated in and around Delhi. It 27 Franchisees and

15 Distributors- They also have 8 'instant access cash card counters- Each franchises or

distributor can have any number of dealers under him as long as the person is approved by the

Airtel authority. Each franchises has to invest Rupees Ten Lakhs. to obtain a franchise and

should employ an officer recruited by Airtel. This person acts as an liaison between the

company and the franchises. The franchises can it any number of dealers as long as their

territories do not overlap. But unfortunately Airtel has not been very successful in controlling

territorial overlaps of dealers. The franchises can carry out his 1 her own promotional strategy.

For this the. company contributes

75% of the money and the franchises contributes 25% of the money. The dealers under the

franchisee receive the same commission. The franchises and the dealer obtain the feedback

from the customers and they are sent through the liaison officer on a day-to-day basis to Airtel.

The dealer has to invest Rupees. One Lakh as an initial investment. The dealer of Airtel are not

allowed to provide any other operators' service.

Target set for distributors and the dealers is 100 -150 activations per month. Hence the dealers

can also go for their own promotions like banners and discounts on festivals etc. The dealer

provides service promptly. The consumer on providing the bill of purchase for the handset and

proof of residence has only to wait an hour before getting connected. The staff of the dealers

and the franchisees are provided training by the Airtel personnel.

The complaints encountered by the franchisees and dealers are either handset being non-

functional or the SIM Card not getting activated. Anything more complicated is referred to the

main Airtel office in Delhi

WHAT DOES AIRTEL OFFER?

With Airtel, the subscriber wouldn't just get a personal phone that lets him/her be in touch,

always, but also gets a host of benefits that let him/her manage his/her time like never before.

An Airtel subscriber is provided with a Subscriber Identity Module Card (SIM card) - that is the

key to operating his/her cellular phone. His card activates Airtel cellular services and contains a

complete micro-computer chip with memory to enable one to enjoy one's cellular phone

thoroughly. Each SIM card contains a PIN code (Personal Identity Number) which may be

entered by one. Just plug your SIM card into your cellular phone, enter the PIN code and it

becomes 'your' personal phone'.

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

The pattern of cellphone subscriber growth observed elsewhere in the world reveals that the

growth in the market is Initially slow followed by a sharp acceleration, but so far that has not

happened in India. As far as the Product Life Cycle is concerned. Indians are at the beginning of

the maturity stage.