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Reliance Communications vs Airtel

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Reliance Communications Reliance Communications Ltd. Type Public NSE: RCOM BSE: 532712 Industry elecommunications Founded 2!!" Founder(s) #$i%ub$ai &mbani Headquarters Na'i Mumbai( Ma$a%as$t%a( )ndia Area served )ndia Key people *asit S$u+la( ,P%esident- Products i/ed0line and mobile tele $on ( b%oadband and i/ed0line inte%net se%'ices( di4ital tele'ision( ) and net o%+ se%'ices Revenue 6".77" billion ,2!1!- 18 Net income 61.!91 billion ,2!1!- 18 Total assets 62!.55 billion ,2!1!- 18 Total equity 6 .779 billion ,2!1!- 18 Employees 2;(!95 ,2!1!- 18 Parent Reliance <%ou u!sidiaries Reliance <lobalcom Limited Reliance Bi4 = Limited "e!site %com.co.in Reliance Communications #td$ ,commonl called RC%& - is an )ndian b%oadband and telecommunications com an $ead>ua%te%ed in Na'i Mumbai( )ndia. RCOM is t$e
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Reliance Communications

Reliance Communications Ltd.

TypePublicNSE:RCOM BSE:532712

IndustryTelecommunications

Founded2004

Founder(s)Dhirubhai Ambani

HeadquartersNavi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Area servedIndia

Key peopleHasit Shukla, (President)

ProductsFixed-line and mobile telephony, broadband and fixed-line internet services, digital television, IT and network services

Revenue$4.774 billion (2010)[1]

Net income$1.061 billion (2010)[1]

Total assets$20.559 billion (2010)[1]

Total equity$9.776 billion (2010)[1]

Employees28,065 (2010)[1]

ParentReliance Group

SubsidiariesReliance Globalcom LimitedReliance Big TV Limited

Websitercom.co.in

Reliance Communications Ltd. (commonly called RCOM) 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. The company has five segments: Wireless segment includes wireless operations of the company; broadband segment includes broadband operations of the company; Global segment include national long distance and international long distance operations of the company and the wholesale operations of its subsidiaries; Investment segment includes investment activities of the Group companies, and Other segment is consists of the customer care activities and direct-to-home (DTH) activities.BackgroundIt ranks among the top 5 telecommunications companies. Retrieved 2010-04-14. in the world by number of customers in a single country. Reliance Communications corporate clientele includes 2,100 Indian and multinational corporations, and over 800 global, regional and domestic carriers. The company has established a pan-India, next-generation, integrated (wireless and wireline), convergent (voice, data and video) digital network that is capable of supporting services spanning the entire communications value chain, covering over 24,000 towns and 600,000 villages. Reliance Communications owns and operates the next-generation IP-enabled connectivity infrastructure,[2] comprising over 190,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable systems in India, USA, Europe, Middle East and the Asia Pacific region.[citation needed]Main subsidiariesReliance Telecommunication Limited (RTL)In July 2007, the company announced it was buying US-based managed ethernet and application delivery services company Yipes Enterprise Services for a cash amount of 1200 crore (the equivalent of US$300 million). The deal was announced of the overseas acquisition, the Reliance group has amalgamated the United States-based Flag Telecom for $210 million (roughly 950 crore). RTL operates in Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, Assam, Kolkata and Northeast, offering GSM services.[3][citation needed]Reliance GlobalcomRGL owns the worlds largest private undersea cable system,[4] spanning 65,000km seamlessly integrated with Reliance Communications. Over 110,000km of domestic optic fiber provides a robust Global Service Delivery Platform, connecting 40 key business markets in India, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and the U.S.Reliance Internet Data Center (RIDC)RIDC provides Internet Data Center (IDC) services located in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. Spread across 650,000 sqft (60,000 m2) of hosting space, it offers IT infrastructure management services to large, medium and small enterprises. It is one of the leading data center service provider in India and provides services like colocation, managed server hosting, virtual private server and data security. It has launched cloud computing services,[5] offering product under its infrastructure as a server (Iaas) and software as a service (Saas) portfolio, which enables enterprises, mainly small and medium, a cost-effective IT infrastructure and application on pay-per-user model.Reliance Digital TVReliance Big TV launched in August 2008[6] and thereafter acquired 1 million subscribers within 90 days of launch,[7] the fastest ramp-up ever achieved by any DTH operator in the world. Reliance Big TV offers its 1.7 million customers DVD-quality pictures on over 200 channels using MPEG-4 technology.Acquisition FLAG Telecom Yipes ethernet service DigicableOfficesReliance Communications Limited has its offices in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Patna and Pune.3G and 4GOn 19 May 2010, the 3G spectrum auction in India ended. Reliance Communications paid 5864.29 crores for spectrum in 13 circles. The circles it will provide 3G in are Assam, Orissa, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kanpur, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh, Mumbai, North East, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal.[8]On 11 June 2010, the broadband wireless access (BWA) or 4G spectrum auction in India ended. Infotel Broadband, a subsidary of Reliance Industries[9], won pan-India licence in the auction across 22 circles, the only telecom operator other than state-owned BSNL/MTNL to do so.[10]. Infotel paid the government 12847.77 crore for the licence.According to Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) director general Rajan S. Mathews, Reliance Industries is expected to launch 4G services in December 2011.[11] They are expected to use LTE technology.TechnologyCurrently Reliance is only operator who provides up to 28 Mbps speed in india with its 3G MIMO technology.CompetitorsReliance Communications competes with 14 other mobile operators throughout India. They are Aircel, Airtel, BSNL, Idea, Loop Mobile, MTNL, MTS, Ping Mobile, S Tel, Tata DoCoMo, Tata Indicom, Uninor, Videocon, Virgin Mobile (GSM & CDMA) and Vodafone.2G Spectrum Scam Arrests and ChargesheetsOn February 2, 2011, the CBI arrested former Telecommunications Union Minister A.Raja. The CBI also arrested R.K. Chandolia, Raja's personal aide, and Siddharth Behura, the former Telecom Secretary.[12][13] Both A.Raja and R.K Chandolia are heard in conversation with Niira Radia in the released Radia tapes.On February 8, 2011, the CBI arrested Mumbai based Dynamix Balwas (DB) group managing director Shahid Usman Balwa in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation scam. The CBI has evidence from the Income Tax department that Shahid Usman Balwa, considered close to A. Raja, was instrumental in channelling the kickbacks allegedly received by the former telecom minister.[14]On March 29, 2011, in Delhi, the CBI arrested Asif Balwa (younger brother of the arrested former Managing Director of DB-Etisalat Group, Shahid Balwa) and Rajeev Agarwal for their alleged involvement in money transfer to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (DMK) Kalaignar TV channel.[15]On April 2, 2011, the CBI filed its first 80,000 page chargesheet in the 2G spectrum scam before a Special Court in Delhi naming nine individuals and three companies. It said the wrongful acts of the accused deprived the government exchequer of possible revenues amounting to INR Rs 30,985 crore (USD $ 6,983,322,233). The accused include the following individualsAirtel,Idea and Reliance are the three of the all cellular service providers in India. Airtel,being cheap and having good coverage is used by most of the students.But its coverage weakens in remote places unlike Idea,which provides excellent coverage,but with little more cost as compared to Airtel that is why it is being used by most of the employers and business executives. Im using 2 cell phones,one having Airtel sim card and the other one having Reliance(Gsm) prepaid sim card. Im using Airtel since 20 months and has caused lots of problems in the time period.They had sent me an offer that Ill get free job tips for 10 days and after that ill be charged Rs.30/month and if you want to stop after that,please sms us on the desired number,but when I messaged them,continuously it was coming message sending failed and the tips started coming to me for nearly 2 months inspite of complaining to them.Atlast I went to their main office in my city and that time I got relief. This was one of the cases Ive faced.Similar incident was of Hellotunes which was free for one month and charges after that. The main thing is that they wont even ask our consent whether we want to start the service or not?! I think this is absolutely ridiculous and it is the bad way fetching money from the customers. The other cell phone consisting of Reliance(Gsm) prepaid sim card is the best Ill say as of now because you get better coverage with cheap call rates and messaging rates as compared to Airtel and Idea.If the bonus card of Airtel costs Rs.45 with 2 months validity,the same bonus card will cost Rs.21 with 3 months validity of Reliance(Gsm) i.e. half the value of Airtel and with more validity. In Idea,youll get the sms pack of 350 sms with 1 month validity for Rs.75/- and for the sms pack of 500 sms ,Airtel will cost you Rs.76/- whereas Reliance(Gsm) will cost you just Rs.32/- for 500 sms with 1 month validity. So,I think,guys you should go for Reliance(Gsm) because of its excellent coverage and absolutely cheap rates instead of using Airtel or Idea.Bharti Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited

TypePublic companyBSE:532454 NSE:BHARTIARTL

IndustryTelecommunications

Founded7 July 1995(1995-07-07)

Founder(s)Sunil Bharti Mittal

HeadquartersNew Delhi, India

Area servedSouth Asia, Africa and the Channel Islands

Key peopleSunil Bharti Mittal(Chairman) and (MD)

ProductsFixed-line and mobile telephony, broadband and fixed-line internet services, digital television, IPTV and network services

Revenue$9.290billion (2010)[1]

Operating income$2.313billion (2010)[1]

Profit$2.079billion (2010)[1]

Total assets$15.527billion (2010)[1]

Total equity$9.491billion (2010)[1]

Employees22,858 (June 2011)[1]

ParentBharti Enterprises (63.45%)SingTel (32.15%)Vodafone (4.4%)

SubsidiariesAirtel AfricaAirtel Digital TV

Websiteairtel.in

Bharti Airtel Limited (NSE:BHARTIARTL, BSE:532454), 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 230.8million subscribers across 19 countries at the end of June 2011.[2] It is the largest cellular service provider in India, with over 171.85million subscribers as of August 2011.[3] Airtel is the 3rd 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.[4] 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,[5] business support by IBM and transmission towers by another company (Bharti Infratel Ltd. in India).[6] 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.[7] During the last financial year [200910], Bharti has roped in a strategic partner Alcatel-Lucent to manage the network infrastructure for the Telemedia Business.[edit] HistorySunil 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.[citation needed][edit] Organisational StructureThe 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.[edit] Worldwide presence

Coverage map of Bharti Airtel across 20 countriesAirtel 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 Islands.

Its area of operations include: The Indian Subcontinent: Airtel Bangla, in Bangladesh Airtel, in India Airtel Sri Lanka, in Sri Lanka Airtel Africa, 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 Dependency islands of Jersey and Guernsey, under the brand name Airtel-Vodafone, through an agreement with Vodafone.Airtel operates in the following countries:CountrySiteRemarks

Bangladeshbd.airtel.comAirtel Bangladesh had about 5.1million customers at the end of June 2011.[8]

Burkina Fasoafrica.airtel.com/burkinaAirtel Burkina Faso is the dominant player with 1,433,000 customers representing 50% market share.[9]

Chadafrica.airtel.com/chadAirtel Chad is the no. 1 operator with 69% market share.[9]

Democratic Republic of the Congoafrica.airtel.com/drcAirtel is the market leader with almost 5 million customers at the end of 2010.

Gabonafrica.airtel.com/gabonAirtel Gabon has 829,000 customers and its market share stood at 61%.[10]

Ghanaafrica.airtel.com/ghanaAirtel Ghana had about 1.76million customers at the end of 2010.[11]

Indiaairtel.inAirtel is the market leader with almost 152.5million customers at the end of 2010.[11]

Kenyaafrica.airtel.com/kenyaAirtel Kenya is the second largest operator and has 4 million customers.[12]

Madagascarafrica.airtel.com/madagascarAirtel holds second place in the mobile telecom market in Madagascar, has a 39% market share and over 1.4million customers.[9]

Malawiafrica.airtel.com/malawiAirtel Malawi is the market leader with a market share of 72%.[9]

Nigerafrica.airtel.com/nigerAirtel Niger is the market leader with a 68% market share.[9]

Nigeriang.airtel.com

Republic of the Congoafrica.airtel.com/congobAirtel Congo is the market leader with a 55% market share.[9]

RwandaOn 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.[13]

Seychellesafrica.airtel.com/seychellesAirtel is the leading comprehensive telecommunications services providers with over 55% market share of mobile market in Seychelles.[14]

Sierra Leoneafrica.airtel.com/sierra

Sri Lankaairtel.lkAirtel Lanka commenced operations on 12 January 2009. It had about 1.8million mobile customers at the end of 2010.[11]

Tanzaniaafrica.airtel.com/tanzaniaAirtel Tanzania is the market leader with a 38% market share.[9]

Ugandaafrica.airtel.com/ugandaAirtel Uganda stands as the no. 2 operator with a market share of 38%.[9]

Zambiaafrica.airtel.com/zambia

Channel Islands: Jersey and Guernseyairtel-vodafone.jeAirtel 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.[edit] India[edit] Mobileairtel 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 Finance and The Economic Times in 2010.[15][16]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.[edit] 3GOn 18 May 2010, 3G spectrum auction was completed and Airtel will have to pay the Indian government 12,295 crore (US$2.49 billion) 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: Delhi, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (east), Rajasthan, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir.[17] 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.[18]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.[19] 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.[20]Airtel had about 3million 3G subscribers as of May 2011.[21][edit] 4GOn 19 May 2010, the broadband wireless access (BWA) or 4G 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.[22]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.[23] They are expected to use LTE technology.[edit] CriticismThere 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.[24][25] Alternatively, you can sign up on the "Do Not Disturb" list to avoid all telemarketing calls and SMSes.[26][edit] ControversyBharti Airtel(India) along with Loop Mobile, Idea Cellular, 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.[27][edit] TelemediaThe Telemedia business provides services in 89 Indian cities and consists of two brands.[28]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 3.16million wireline customers, of which 42.6% are broadband/internet subscribers as of August 2010.[29] 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".[edit] Digital TelevisionThe Digital TV business provides Direct-to-Home (DTH) TV services across India under the brand name Airtel digital TV. It started services on 9 October 2008 and has about 32.44million customers as of August 2010.[29][edit] EnterpriseThe Enterprise business provides end-to-end telecom solutions 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.[edit] Mobile data serviceThe 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.[edit] Enterprise business solutionsThere 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.[edit] Android-based TabletBeetel 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.[30] [edit] Subscriber BaseBharti Airtel has about 230.8million subscribers worldwide 169.18million in India, 46million are in Africa, 4million in Bangladesh and 1.8million 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.[33][edit] IndiaThe Airtel subscriber base according to Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) 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.[citation needed][edit] Acquisitions and Mergers[edit] MTNIn 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$45billion 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 Economist magazine noted, "If anything, Bharti would be marrying up," as MTN has more subscribers, higher revenues and broader geographic coverage.[34] However, the talks fell apart as MTN group tried to reverse the negotiations by making Bharti almost a subsidiary of the new company.[35]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.[36] 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".[37]Talks eventually ended without agreement, due to the South African government opposition.[38][edit] ZainIn 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 $13billion buy of Corus in 2007. Bharti Airtel completed its $9billion 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$3.2billion compared to the previous year, newly acquired Zain Africa division contributed US$911million to the total.However, net profits dropped by 41% from US$470million last year to US$291million this year due to a US$188million increase in radio spectrum charges in India and an increase of US$106million in debt interest.[citation needed][edit] Telecom SeychellesOn 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 Seychelles.[39] 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 2,000km undersea high speed link to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.[40][edit] Joint Ventures[edit] Airtel-EricssonAs per a five-year managed services agreement signed recently[when?], Ericsson will manage and optimize Airtels mobile networks in Africa. Ericsson will modernize and upgrade Airtels 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.[citation needed][edit] RebrandingOn 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.[41]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.SponsorshipOn 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 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."[42]Airtel, also signed a deal to be title sponsor the inaugural Formula One Indian Grand Prix during the 2011 season.[43]Signature tuneThe signature tune of Airtel is composed by Indian musician A. R. Rahman. The tune became hugely popular and is the world's most downloaded mobile music with over 150 million downloads.[44] A new version of the song was released on 18 November 2010, as part of the rebranding of the company.[44][45] This version too was composed by Rahman himself[45][edit] Green initiative

[edit] GreenTowers P7 programAs 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.[citation needed][edit] Energy conservationThe 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 1025%. 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 energyThey 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 generatorsIt 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 conditionersIt has already been implemented across 3400+ sites, saving consumption of 4.1 mn litres of diesel.[edit] Timeline

Logo used by Airtel till 2010 NovemberThe chronology of events since Bharti Tele-Ventures was incorporated in 1995:[46]1995 Bharti Cellular launched cellular services as "AirTel" in Delhi.2010 On 18 May 2010, Airtel won 3G spectrum in 13 circles: Delhi, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West), Rajasthan, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir for Rs. 12,295 crores.[17] Bharti Airtel wins broadband spectrum in four circles: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab and Kolkata for Rs. 3314.36 crores.[22] On 18 November 2010, Bharti Airtel announced a re-branding campaign wherein, they would be referred as airtel, with a new logo.[47] On 20 December 2010, Airtel launched its new identity for Bangladesh subscribers.[48] On 23 December 2010, Airtel opened its first underground terrestrial fibre optic cable built in alliance with China Telecom.[49]


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