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V. Rishi Kumar

HYDERABAD, Jan. 1

BHARTI Mobile Ltd, with AirTel cellular service, has drawn up plans to increase its footprint to over 70 per cent of the geographical reach, spread to over 20 more towns and increase its subscriber base by over 100-120 per cent this year.

The Chief Executive Officer, Bharti Mobile Ltd, Mr K. Srinivas, told Business Line that the telecom business in India was looking up and with the last of the major players - Reliance Infocomm, announcing plans, it is likely to settle down. As is the case with the entry of any new operator, there will be some initial churn.

Mr Vijay Balakrishnan, Head, Marketing in Andhra Pradesh, said that both AirTel and Magic have carved out a place in brand recall and with a network covering the length and breadth of the State, Bharti will be able to reach out more class B and C towns. The network extends to over 150 towns and 5,000 plus villages and provides seamless connectivity.

``We added about 39 new towns in just about six months this fiscal. Unlike a matured telecom market, the concept of communication is still evolving in the country. The entry of a new player will expand the base further and reach out new areas and help tap the latent potential. This business space demands new marketing approaches and all this will only expand the subscriber base. What you have witnessed with the entry of the fourth operator in various telecom circles, will be repeated with the entry of Reliance,'' Mr Srinivas said.

"If you look at the entry of Hutch as the fourth operator in Andhra Pradesh, and AirTel in Mumbai and Idea Cellular in Delhi, they have all helped grow the market faster. For instance, both AirTel in Mumbai and Idea Cellular have added lakh-plus subscribers in barely a month of their initial services as fourth operators. This only indicates that there is huge opportunity for growth as the potential is barely scratched,'' Mr Srinivas added.

"We have garnered a subscriber base of about 49 per cent in the State having over 3 lakh customers and we expect this to grow to about 100 plus per cent this year as well. Already the tariff levels have come down significantly over the years and this will help operators expand the base. Being marketed as a FMCG product lately, it has become very easy to go mobile. The handset cost has dipped and tariffs are lower now. But importantly, we have taken up the task of a customer centric approach, where the existing customers are pro-actively supported and guided through to new and innovative offerings from the company, both with direct mailers as also one-touch kiosks offering information. The effort is to provide service in less than 10 seconds when a customer seeks information from our call centre. This is not just a promise but an assurance from the company,'' he said.

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