GRAND PROJECT REPORT

ON

BHARTI AIRTEL LIMITED

SUBMITTED BY;-
Piyush Gaur
 CONTENTS
Executive Summary 3
Introduction 4-8
 History
Change in Brand Logo & Taglines
Objectives 9
Mission
Company Overview
Subsidiary Company 10
Organisation Structure 10
Strategic Business Unit 12
Market Share of Airtel 12-14
Subscriber Trend & Growth
Competitors
Business Partners & Partners Role 14
Marketing Mix 16
Value Chain Strategy 19
Financial Analysis 20-25
Company's Revenue
Company's Working Capital Analysis
Company's Advertisement Expenditure
Revenue from Value Added services
Marketing Analysis 25-29
Porters generic Strategy
BCG Matrix
5-Force Model
SWOT Analysis
Awards & Recognitions 30
Research Methodology 30
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report on Bharti Airtel is done to find out certain objective regarding the
strategic approach adopted by Airtel to stand strongly in the competitive Telecom
market. Airtel marketing strategy analysis is done using various models like
Porters generic Strategy, BCG Matrix, 5-Force Model & SWOT Analysis of Airtel
etc.

Also the detailed study of Financial Position of Company is done to find out its
position in Market. The study includes Revenue Analysis, Working Capital
Analysis, Asset turnover ratio of Airtel, & its expenditure on Advertisement as a
percentage of Sales in recent period.

The report gives information about how Airtel adjusted itself in changing market
conditions, what are the various strategies it takes to become India’s 1st company
by Subscriber & Revenue.

INTRODUCTION
Bharti Airtel Limited formerly known as Bharti Tele-Ventures LTD (BTVL) is an
Indian company offering telecommunication services in 19 countries. It is the
largest cellular service provider in India, with more than 141 million subscriptions
as of August 2010. Bharti Airtel is the world's third largest, single-country mobile
operator and fifth largest telecom operator in the world with a subscriber base of
over 180 million. It also offers fixed line services and broadband services. It offers
its telecom services under the Airtel brand and is headed by Sunil Bharti Mittal.
Bharti Airtel is the first Indian telecom service provider to achieve this Cisco Gold
Certification. To earn Gold Certification, Bharti Airtel had to meet rigorous
standards for networking competency, service, support and customer satisfaction
set forth by Cisco. The company also provides land-line telephone services and
broadband Internet access (DSL) in over 96 cities in India. It also acts as a carrier
for national and international long distance communication services. The
company has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the
submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore.

HISTORY OF AIRTEL
• Bharti Cellular launched cellular services 'AIRTEL‘ in Delhi in 1995,Himachal Pradesh in
1997, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh circles in 1999

• In 1998, Bharti Telenet obtained a license for providing fixed-line services in Madhya
Pradesh circle and in the same year, Bharti Telecom and British Telecom formed a 51% :
49% joint venture

• In 1999, New York Life Insurance Fund acquired a 3% equity interest in Bharti Cellular.

• In 2001, Bharti Cellular entered into a joint venture, Bharti Aqua net, with SingTel for
establishing a submarine cable landing station at Chennai.

• In 2002, Bharti Cellular entered into license agreements to provide cellular services in
eight new circles.

• In 2002, Bharti Cellular Ties up with Secondary School Certification Board, Hyderabad,
where Bharti will announce SSC results to its customers on their mobile phones.

• In the same year, 2002, ICICI Bank ties up with Bharti for pre-paid mobile cards via
ATMs.

• In 2003, Bharti Group's cellular brand Airtel has unveiled free multimedia messaging
services (MMS) for its customers. The company has also rolled out pan-India GPRS
(General Packet Radio Services) for its corporate subscribers.

• Launches its `IndiaOne MeetXpress' audio-conferencing service(2003)

• Airtel provides SMS facilities to hearing impaired in Chennai(2003)

• In 2003, Airtel Subscribers exceed 3 million mark.

• In 2004, Bharti Cellular entered into license agreements to provide cellular services in 6
new circles including Uttar Pradesh (East), West Bengal & Andaman Nicobar, Orissa,
Bihar and Jammu & Kashmir.

• Same year Airtel launches GPRS services for pre-paid customers.

 Brand Logo

TAGLINES OF BRAND
'Power to keep in Touch‘ (1995)

'Touch tomorrow‘ (1999)

'Live Every Moment' (2002)

'Express yourself‘
(2003)
Following are the reasons for change in Tagline of Airtel

'Power to keep in Touch‘

YEAR- 1995-1998

SIGNIFICANCE-

-- The tag line 'Power to keep in Touch' used in the brand promise was designed
to make the user feel 'in control…powerful'

-- Positioned in premium category aimed at elite class of society.

-- Perception of aspiration and lifestyle brand

REASON FOR CHANGE-

-- Now, cellular service operators could drop their prices and target new customer
segments.

-- As the category developed with prices going down sharply, Airtel began talking
to a wider spectrum of potential users. This gives the birth to the new Tagline.

'Touch tomorrow‘

YEAR- 1999-2001

SIGNIFICANCE–

-- Airtel started talking to new segments by positively positioning and establishing

itself as a brand that improved the quality of life.

-- New look and the feel of the brand tagline indicated the core values of the
brand i.e. leadership, performance and dynamism.

REASON FOR CHANGE-

-- Airtel started to look from a regional level to pan India position

-- Rediffussion DY&R, which is the ad agency that took charge of revamping
Airtel's brand image thought, To become a Indian leader, Airtel need to change its
tagline

'Live Every Moment'

YEAR– 2002-2003

SIGNIFICANCE—

-- This was the first time A R Rehman had agreed to work for any brand, anywhere
in the world. The music from the commercial became the most downloaded ring
tone in the history of telecommunications.

-- Tagline denotes that each and every person in India live every moment
(emotions, feelings etc.) of the life with Airtel.

REASONS FOR CHANGE–

-- Rediffussion DY&R, which is the ad agency that took charge of revamping

Airtel's brand image again changed the tagline to give better tagline to Airtel
which catches some emotional appeal.

'Express yourself‘

YEAR- 2003-2008…….

SIGNIFICANCE—

-- ‘Express yourself' was successfully launched taking the ownership of the entire
space of communication and strengthening the emotional bond Airtel enjoys with
its customers

-- The masterminds behind the 'Express Yourself' campaign are the joint vice-
presidents: Mr. Prashant Godbole and Zarwan Patel.
-- Airtel is a market leader in the cellular network and they wanted a very fresh
and contemporary idea to build a brand image which their customers could
identify".

Vision- By end of 2010 to be loved by more customers & Benchmark by more

businesses.

Mission-To provides Error free & cost effective service delivery with Innovative
products & Services to the customers.

Values- We will always put our customers first. We will always trust and respect
each other. We will respect our associates as we respect each other. We will work
together through a process of continuous improvement.

COMPANY OVERVIEW

• Globally, Bharti Airtel is the 3rd largest in-country mobile operator by

subscriber base, behind China Mobile and China Unicom.

• In India Airtel is No. 1 by subscriber base and revenue.

• Bharti Airtel formerly known as Bharti Tele-ventures Limited (BTVL) is a JV

between Singtel and Bharti Telecom.

• India’s First Telecom Company that provides telecom services in all the
circles.
 • The company also has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which
connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore.

SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES

• Bharti Hexacom

• Bharti Comtel

• Bharti Aquanet

• Bharti Broadband

• Bharti Infratel

• Bharti Telemedia

• Bharti Airtel (UK, USA, Canada, Hongkong, USA, Lanka)

ORGANISATION STRUCTURE
CMD’s (Founder) Profile:-

• Sunil Bharti Mittal

• He started his career at a young age of 18 after graduating from Punjab

University in India and then he founded Bharti.

• Chairman & Managing Director

since October 2001

• Age: 49 years
 • Today, at 49, he heads a successful enterprise, amongst the top 5 in India,
with a market capitalization of over US$ 40 billion and employing over
30,000 people.

• He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School, USA.

• He has been conferred one of the highest civilian award – Padma Bhushan.

• He has been conferred the degree of Doctor of Science by the G B Pant

University of Agriculture & Technology.

FIGURES & FACTS

• Total Wireless subscribers in India In June 09 & July 09 are 102,367,881 &

1, 05,177,635 respectively.

• Total Wire line subscribers in India In June 09 & July 09 are 2,827,882 &
2,861,822 respectively.

STRATEGIC BUSINESS UNIT OF AIRTEL

MARKET SHARE
SUBSCRIBER GROWTH

PREPAID & POSTPAID USERS

COMPETITORS

National Long Distance

• BSNL, RELIANCE, VSNL, VODAPHONE, TATA, IDEA

International Long Distance

• VSNL, RELIANCE , BSNL

BUSINESS PARTNERS

Outsourcing Deals Vendors/Partners Features/Advantages

Network outsourcing & Ericssion Ease in network planning
maintenance
Nokia siemens network Payments Linked to

-Usage & Network quality

- Service level agreement

Informational technology IBM Pricing & payment as a %
of Revenue
Passive infrastructure Bharti Infratel Reduced capex spend

Indus Towers Increase focus on sharing

passive Infrastructure
Call center outsourcing IBM Daksh Enhanced & Consistent
customer experience
Mphasis
Common platform across
Hinduja TMT
the group
Aegis BPO

Nortel
Partners Role

Service Partners/Vendors Role

Mobile services Ericission & Nokia Network Equipments
partners

IBM Daksh
Call center operations
Mphasis

Hinduja TMT

Tele tech
Telemedia & Enterprise Siemens Equipments suppliers
services
Nortel
IT requirements IBM Group wide technology
requirements

Call center technology

Nortel
requirements

OTHER ALLIANCE

In 2007, Bharti Airtel has entered into following major agreements and alliances:

• With Microsoft to offer software and services for the Small and Medium
Business (SMB) market in India.

• As part of the agreement, Airtel will bring Google search to the Airtel Live
mobile WAP portal. Google will also incorporate advertising through its
Mobile Ads product on the Airtel Live mobile portal;
 • A three-year contract with Nokia at an estimated value of US$ 400 mn
to expand its managed GSM/ GPRS/EDGE networks in eight Airtel circles
and deploy a pan India WAP solution across its networks;

• The company has a strategic alliance with SingTel. The investment made by
SingTel is one of the largest investments made in the world outside
Singapore, in the company.

MARKETING MIX

PRODUCTS

• Airtel Connections Postpaid

• Airtel Connections Prepaid

• Airtel Data Cards

• Airtel Blackberry phones

* 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).

• Airtel I Phones

* As of 22 August 2008, the Apple iPhone 3G is available in India on Airtel

and Vodafone.

• Airtel Digital TV

* On 9 October 2008, Airtel joined the DTH bandwagon in India with Airtel
Digital TV, a Direct-to-Home Television service
SUBSCRIBER BASE

• The Airtel subscriber base according to TRAI - Telecom Regulatory Authority

of India as of February 2009 was:

Delhi - 4,671,177

Mumbai - 2,791,963

Madhya Pradesh - 7,690,609

Gujarat - 3,981,660

Andhra Pradesh - 8,892,353

Karnataka - 9,820,812

Tamil Nadu - 6,003,040

PRICE

 Customer based pricing strategies.

 Flexible pricing mechanism

 Controlled by TRAI.

PLACE

 It has wide and extensive presence even in the remotest areas

 Airtel Customer Care Touch Points

 Distributors like

E.g. Paan shops, grocery stores, chemists, outlet etc.

PROMOTION

 Large scale print and video advertising.

 Big celebrities like SRK and Sachin are roped in to endorse the product
because it .

 In 2002 Airtel got its Signature tune from A.R. Rehman, this signature tune
is the most downloaded tune in India.

 Provides innovations such as Bollywood movie premiers, music services

such as ring back tones & many more.

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
INNOVATION
VALUE CHAIN PROCESS
Telecom process Detail
Customer Importance- First they find the customer requirements.

Technology- Latest change in telecom technology.

Competitive position- Conduct SWOT Analysis of competitors

Capable Suppliers- Suppliers capable of component design

Start- Decide which service we are going to provide using which technology,
who is our customers, Vendors & partners.

CORPORATE CUSTOMERS

 Hathway – Internet gateway. National Long distance services.

 EFD Corporation -

 Raymond

 Bajaj Allianz

 Mphasis

 Wipro

 IBM Daksh

 Large Stock Broking Company

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
• Wireless Customer market share leadership at 24.7 %.

• Total minutes on network carried in Q3 – 143 billion.

• Total employee strength – 25,553.

• Balance sheet strength :

• Assets - $ 12 billion

• Net Debt - $ 677 million

• Net Debt to EBITDA – 0.21 times

Economies of scale and efficient working capital management helped boost
profit margin
Company’s policy of retaining entire profits helps in keeping the D/E low despite
surging loan book

Better controls helped check bad debt losses

Economies of scale help reduce the percentage cost of advertisement expenditure

Value Added Services (VAS)

 VAS Contribution is 10.6 % of total revenue (for 2007-08).

 VAS revenue is 2844 cr. In 2007-08.

Composition of VAS Revenue (2007-08)

Source-IMRB Reserch
AIRTEL REVENUE TELECOM SECTOR 2007-08

MARKETING ANALYSIS

TARGET CUSTOMERS

• Up market professionals

• Entrepreneur with business plans

• Low income mass category

• Youth

• Women and senior citizens by post paid connection

PORTER GENERIC STRATEGY

NARROW MARKET E.g.: VERGIN MOBILE

BROAD MARKET E.g.: VODAFONE E.g.: AIRTEL
UNIQUENESS COMPETENCY LOW COST COMPETENCY

BCG Matrix of Bharti AIRTEL

MARKET GROWTH HIGH STAR- DTH & IPTV, ?- RETAIL INSURANCE

BROADBAND
MARKET GROWTH LOW COW- MOBILE SERVICES DOGS- FIXED LINE
SERVICES
MARKET SHARE HIGH MARKET SHARE LOW

5-FORCE MODEL
2.Customer Bargaining Power

 Lack of differentiation among Service Providers HIGH

 Cut throat Competition

 Low Switching Costs
 Number Portability will have –Ve Impact
 Businesses & Consumers
3.Supplier Bargaining Power

LOW

4. Threat of Substitutes.

 Landline
DIMINISHING MARKET
 CDMA HIGH

 Video Conferencing
BROADBAND
SERVICES
 VOIP - Skype, Gtalk, Yahoo Messenger
 e-Mail & Social Networking Websites

GROUP 7 60
5. Threat of New Entrant.

LOW

Huge License Fees to be paid upfront & High gestation period

Entry of WiMAX operators
Spectrum Availability & Regulatory Issues
Infrastructure Setup Cost - High
Rapidly changing technology

GROUP 7 61

Strength Weakness
• Outsourcing of core system
• Market Leader
• Network Coverage
• Recognized Globally
• Strong Brand Image
• Strong New Business Development team
• Strong Financials
• Largest Telecom Player 22.6%

Opportunities
• Low Broadband Penetration, Rural
• Bharti Infratel – Cutting Down cost in
Rural area
• Current Tele-Density – 30.6 is still low
among developing countries
Threats
• Intense Competition & Shortage of
Bandwidth
• New Players coming in India
• Uncertain Economic Condition
Bibliography
• www.trai.gov.in

• www.airtel.in

• www.wikipedia.com/airtel/

• www.airtel-broadband.com

• www.google.com