A PROJECT REPORT ON

Developing a new plan for prepaid customers of

airtel

A Project Submitted to

Rizvi College of Arts, Science and Commerce

By

Mrs. Misbah Shaikh

Roll no.83

(MANAGEMENT)

Dec-2021
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project done on “Developing a new plan for prepaid customers of
airtel”. Submitted to Rizvi College of Arts, Science and Commerce . This work has not been
submitted to anywhere else for my degree/diploma. The original work was carried during 01
December to 3rd December . Name of Guide

Name and signature of guiding teacher

 SELF DECLARATION CERTIFICATE

I hereby declare that the project entitled “DEVELOPING A NEW PLAN FOR PREPAID
CUSTOMERS OF AIRTEL” Submitted for the MCOM is my original work and the project has
not formed the basis for the Award of any other degree.

Signature of the Student: Misbah Shaikh

Place: Mumbai

Date: 04/12/2021
 Acknowledgement

The satiation and euphoric that accompany the successful completion of the task would be
incomplete without the mention of the people who made it possible. After all, success is the
epitome of hard work, severance, undeterred missionary, zeal, steadfast, determination and most
of all encouraging guidance. So, immense gratitude, I acknowledge all those whose guidance and
encouragement served as a “beacon light” and crowned my effort with success.

I sincerely thank Mr. for giving opportunity to carry out my project titled “DEVELOPING A
NEW PLAN FOR PREPAID CUSTOMERS OF AIRTEL”
 PREFACE

The objective of any marketing activity is to sell a product. For this, one must have the right
product at the right price, available at the right time and place, through the right promotion
commonly understood as the 4Ps of marketing mix. The fundamental point to be appreciated is
that all these variables must simultaneously fall in place for the success of a product. Take a look
around you at all the successful brands and ask the marketing managers the reason for success
.They will invariably tell you that it is because the company has been able to get this ‘mix´
right .If one were to examine these variables carefully one will realize that there are indeed ways
of ‘communicating´ with the consumer. A product talks to the consumer through its features,
packaging and the promise of fulfilling a need .Its pricing tells the consumer whether it is
affordable, value for money or premium. Its placement also communicates the values associated
with the product. A premium store versus a discount store communicate very different message
to the consumer .The promotion of the product also obviously communicates some message to
consumer. In effect therefore, marketing is all about communication, whether through the
product and its packaging, the pricing, the placement and the promotion. We would therefore
like to use the term communication mix and highlight the importance of sales promotion in that
context.
TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE TOPIC

1.2 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

1.4 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION

CHAPTER 2: COMPANY PROFILE

2.1 TELECOM INDUSTRIES IN INDIA

2.2 BHARTI AIRTEL LTD

2.3 VISION OF BHARTI AIRTEL

2.4 HISTORY OF THE COMPANY

2.5 CORPOATE GOVERNANCE

CHAPTER 3: THE COMPETITIVE AREA

3.1 COMPETITORS PROFILE

3.2 MARKETING STRATEGY BY AIRTEL

3.3 PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY

3.4 TARGET MARKET SEGMENT

CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS

4.1 DATA ANALYSIS

4.2 FINDING

4.3 SUGGESTION

4.4 LIMITATION OF STUDY

4.5 CONCLUSION

4.6 BIBLIOGRAPHY
CHAPTER-1
1.1 INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE TOPIC

This project is made on the project title “DEVELOPING A NEW PLAN FOR PREPAID
CUSTOMERS OF AIRTEL” purpose of this project is to study the new plan for prepaid
customers and to know what are the promotional activities company follow to increase the sale.
Now a day’s mobile service has become a necessary service. In field of marketing many kind of
survey are conducted by Airtel time to time for promotion awareness. Bharti Airtel Limited
NSE: BHARTIARTL, BSE: 532454 Airtel is an Indian telecommunications company that
operates in 19 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 230.8 million subscribers
across 19 countries at the end of June 2011. It is the largest cellular service provider in India,
with over 169.18 million subscribers as of June 2011. 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. 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, business support by IBM
and transmission towers by another company (Bharti Infratel Ltd. in India). 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. PROFILE Name: Bharti
Airtel Limited. Business Description:  Provides GSM mobile services in all the 22 telecom
circles in India, Srilanka, Bangladesh and now in 16 countries of Africa.  Provides tele media
services (fixed line and broadband services through DSL) in 87 cities in India.  Provides an
integrated suite of Enterprise solutions, in addition to providing long distance connectivity both
nationally and internationally.  They also offer DTH and IPTV Services Established: July 07,
1995, as a Public Limited Company ISIN: INE397D01024 Proportionate Revenue:  Rs. 169,749
million (ended June 30, 2011-Audited)  Rs. 122,438 million ( ended June 30, 2010-Audited)
(As per IFRS Accounts) Proportionate EBITDA  Rs. 57,058 million ( ended June 30, 2011 -
Audited)  Rs. 44,456 million ( ended June 30, 2010 - Audited) (As per IFRS Accounts) Shares
in Issue: 3,797,530,096 as at June 30, 2011 Listings:  Bombay Stock Exchange Limited (BSE) 
National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) Stock Exchange Symbol:  NSE –
BHARTIARTL  BSE – 532454 Customer Base:  India & South Asia: 174,941,000 GSM
mobile, 3,322,000 Tele media customers and 6,262,000 Digital TV Services (Status as on June
30, 2011)  Africa: 46,306,000 GSM mobile customers. (Status as on June 30, 2011) Registered
Office: Bharti Airtel Limited (A Bharti Enterprise) Bharti Crescent, 1 Nelson Mandela Road,
Vasant Kunj, Phase II, New Delhi - 110 070. Tel. No.: +91 11 4666 6100 Fax No.: +91 11 4666
6411 Brand Airtel Airtel was born free, a force unleashed into the market with a relentless and
unwavering determination to succeed. A spirit charged with energy, creativity and a team driven
“to seize the day” with an ambition to become the most admired telecom service provider
globally. Airtel, in just ten years of operations, rose to the pinnacle of achievement and continues
to lead. As India's leading telecommunications company, Airtel brand has played the role of a
major catalyst in India's reforms, contributing to its economic resurgence. Today Airtel touch
people's lives with our Mobile services, Tele media services, to connecting India's leading 1000+
corporate. Airtel also connect Indians living in USA, UK and Canada with their call home
service. Business Divisions Bharti Airtel offers GSM mobile services in all the 22-telecom
circles of India and is the largest mobile service provider in the country, based on the number of
customers. The group offers high-speed broadband with the best in class network. With fixed
line services in 87 cities, they help you stay in touch with your friends & family and keep you
updated round the clock. Enterprise Services provides a broad portfolio of services to large
Enterprise and Carrier customers. This division comprises of the Carrier and Corporate business
unit. Enterprise Services is regarded as the trusted communications partner to India's leading
organizations, helping them to meet the challenges of growth. Discover the magical experience
of digital entertainment with Airtel. From DVD quality picture and sound, the best and widest
variety of channels and programmes to the best on-demand content on Airtel Live, TV viewing
experience change forever with digital TV from Airtel. Corporate Governance The board of
directors of the company has an optimum mix of executive and non- executive directors, which
consists of two executive and fourteen non-executive directors. The chairman and managing
director, Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, is an executive director and the number of independent
directors on the board is 50% of the total board strength. The independence of a director is
determined on the basis that such director does not have any material pecuniary relationship with
the company, its promoters or its management, which may affect the independence of the
judgment of a director. The board members possess requisite skills, experience and expertise
required to take decisions, which are in the best interest of the company. The composition of the
board is as under: Mr. Sunil Bharti Mr. Rajan Bharti Mittal Mittal Mr. Akhil Gupta Mr. Rakesh
Bharti Mittal  Ms. Chua Sock Koong Mr. N. Kumar Mr. Craig Ehrlich Mr. Pulak Chandan
Prasad Mr. Ajay Lal Mr. Tsun yan Hsieh H.E. Salim Ahmed Ms. Tan Yong Choo Salim Mr.
Nikesh Arora Mr. Manoj Kohli Mr. Hui Weng Lord Evan Mervyn Davies Cheong .

WORK CULTURE  Bharti provides a friendly environment, encouraging its employees to put
in their best.  Hewitt-BT has ranked Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (BTVL) 14th amongst the
25 Best Employers in India in 2003.  Employees are asked to face challenges and display
leadership qualities.  The company is open for all hardworking and innovative telecom
professionals. The training and development of employees is a priority for the company. 
Internal & external communication: discussion boards & information posts.  Acknowledge
domain expertise in a specific content area but provide general management opportunities. 
Mentors and Networking opportunities  Support and encouragement for taking initiative and
participation: gender neutral sensitivity.  Job assignment with visibility to key decision makers.
Vision & promise By 2015 Airtel will be the most loved brand, enriching the lives of millions.

"Enriching lives means putting the customer at the heart of everything we do. We will meet their
needs based on our deep understanding of their ambitions, wherever they are. By having this
focus we will enrich our own lives and those of our other key stakeholders. Only then will we be
thought of as exciting, innovation, on their side and a truly world class company."
PROFILE OF THE LEADER (CEO)

Sanjay Kapoor Chief Executive Officer Bharti Airtel Ltd. (India & South Asia) Sanjay Kapoor
has over 26 years of professional experience, 13 years of which have been in the
telecommunications sector. Sanjay Kapoor joined the Bharti Group in 1998 and since then has
held a number of senior management positions across businesses. He started his journey in
Bharti at Bharti Cellular Ltd. which had the license for Delhi circle - at that time the mainstay of
Bharti’s mobile operations, from where he moved on to become the principal architect of the
company’s operations in western India - one of the largest telecom projects in the history of
telecommunications in the country. After successfully rolling out and launching the new
operations, Sanjay Kapoor took the role of Group Director – Corporate Strategy and Planning in
2002, covering all the telecom activities of Bharti Airtel Ltd. during which he created a strategic
blueprint for the telecom group and managed its early deployment. In 2003, Sanjay accepted the
position of President and of TeleTech Services (India) Ltd. and established the company as a
recognized player in the country's burgeoning ITES-BPO landscape. Early in March 2006 Sanjay
Kapoor was made responsible for managing the growth of the largest mobile services company
in India, in the capacity of President of Bharti Airtel’s Mobile Services. During his tenure, the
mobile business scaled newer heights and added more than 70 Mn customers to reach over 93
Mn customers in March 2009, gaining an incremental market share of nearly 4% during this
period. As a part of strategic organizational changes for future growth, in mid- March 2009
Sanjay was elevated from President – Mobile Services to a newly created position of Deputy
CEO and was asked to lead all the consumer oriented businesses - Mobile, Telemedia and Digital
TV at Bharti Airtel Limited, which constitute around 90% of company’s overall revenues.

Sanjay Kapoor advanced to his current position of CEO (India and South Asia), Bharti Airtel
w.e.f March 2010. In this role, Sanjay has the end-to-end responsibility of leading India and
South Asia businesses of Bharti Airtel and of driving growth and business synergies across
business units - Mobile Services, Telemedia Services, Enterprise Services and DTH services. As
the CEO of country’s largest private integrated telecom operator, Sanjay has spearheaded
significant business transformations like the launch of airtel’s new global identity; integration of
SriLanka and Bangladesh operations with rest of South Asia; implementation of Shared Services
model for the networks group and the customer services division to bring about synergies at One
airtel level; commencement of airtel’s prestigious partnership with SBI for mobile commerce and
the launch of airtel’s first ever Employer Brand –“jobs never done before.” Under his able
leadership airtel is well poised to lead the next wave of growth in telecom from voice to data. For
more than 13 years he has played an active role in various industry forums like CII and
NASSCOM. He currently serves as a Board member of GSMA, member of CII National Council
and Chairman of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI). Sanjay is also on the Board
of Indus Towers, world’s largest telecom tower company with a portfolio of more than 1 lakh
towers. Prior to joining the Bharti Group, Sanjay worked with Xerox India as Director -
Operations Support. He spent 14 years with the global document management company,
handling a range of key portfolios, ranging from Sales & Marketing to General Management
functions. Sanjay Kapoor commenced his professional career in 1983 as an executive trainee
with Jay Engineering Works Ltd., India’s largest manufacturers of fans and sewing machines.
Sanjay Kapoor holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce (Hons) from Delhi University, an MBA
from Cranfield School of Management (UK) and is a Graduate of The Wharton Advanced
Management Program.
WHAT IS SALES PROMOTION?

Sales promotion describes promotional methods using special short-term techniques to persuade
members of a target market to respond or undertake certain activity. As a reward, marketers offer
something of value to those responding generally in the form of lower cost of ownership for a
purchased product (e.g., lower purchase price, money back) or the inclusion of additional value-
added material (e.g., something more for the same price). Sales promotions are often confused
with advertising. For instance, a television advertisement mentioning a contest awarding winners
with a free trip to a Caribbean island may give the contest the appearance of advertising. While
the delivery of the marketer’s message through television media is certainly labeled as
advertising, what is contained in the message, namely the contest, is considered a sales
promotion. The factors that distinguish between the two promotional approaches are: 1. Whether
the promotion involves a short-term value proposition (e.g., the contest is only offered for a
limited period of time), and 2 The customer must perform some activity in order to be eligible to
receive the value proposition (e.g., customer must enter contest). The inclusion of a timing
constraint and an activity requirement are hallmarks of sales promotion Sales promotions are
used by a wide range of organizations in both the consumer and business markets, though the
frequency and spending levels are much greater for consumer products marketers. One estimate
by the Promotion Marketing Association suggests that in the US alone spending on sales
promotion exceeds that of advertising.

SALES PROMOTION TECHNIQUES OF COMPANY

 Good Advertising. Effective Incentive Policy.

 Good services.
 Wide & Deep Distribution System.
 Decorating Retailers shop by display board, dealers board etc.
 Posters.
 Banners.

TYPES OF SALES PROMOTION

Sales promotion can be classified based on the primary target audience to whom the promotion is
directed.

These include:

 Consumer Promotion
 Trade Promotion
 Sales force Promotion

CONSUMER SALES PROMOTION

Consumer sales promotions encompass a variety of short-term promotional techniques designed

to induce customers to respond in some way. The most popular consumer sales promotions are
directly associated with product purchasing. These promotions are intended to enhance the value
of a product purchase by either reducing the overall cost of the product (i.e., get same product
but for less money) or by adding more benefit to the regular purchase price (i.e., get more for the
money). While tying a promotion to an immediate purchase is a major use of consumer sales
promotion, it is not the only one. As we noted above, promotion techniques can be used to
achieve other objectives such as building brand loyalty or creating product awareness.
Consequently, marketer‟s promotional toolbox contains a large variety of consumer. We are one
of India’s leading providers of telecommunication services with a nationwide presence in all the
23 licensed jurisdictions (also known as Telecom Circles). We served an aggregate of
88,270,194 customers as of December 31, 2008; of who 85,650,733 subscribe to our GSM
services and 2,619,461 use our Telemedia Services either for voice and/or broadband access
delivered through DSL. We are the largest wireless service provider in the country, based on the
number of subscribers as of December 31, 2008. We also offer an integrated suite of telecom
solutions to our enterprise customers, in addition to providing long distance connectivity both
nationally and internationally. We have recently forayed into media by launching our DTH and
IPTV Services. All these services are rendered under a unified brand “Airtel”. The company also
deploys, owns and manages passive infrastructure pertaining to telecom operations under its
subsidiary Bharti Infratel Limited. Bharti Infratel owns 42% of Indus Towers Limited. Bharti
Infratel and Indus Towers are the two top providers of passive infrastructure services in India.
Successful businesses have extensive knowledge about their customers and competitors. Getting
accurate and specific information about your customers and competitors is a critical first step in
market investigation and development of a marketing plan. Accurate market assessment and
development of an effective plan is critical to the success of both new and existing businesses.
The market impacts and directs all aspects of the company's activities and ultimately will lead to
success or failure of the business. In developing a market plan, your primary functions are to
understand the needs and desires of your customer select or develop a product or service that will
meet. customer needs, develop promotional material that will make the customer aware, and
ensure product or service delivery. ABSTRACT This document is the Final Research Product for
BITM, titled “OVERVIEW OF TELECOM SERVICES INDUSTRY IN INDIA & ANALYSIS
OF BHARTI AIRTEL”. ABOUT BHARTI AIRTEL Bharti Airtel is India’s no.1 reliable
network, serving at around 88 million voice & data user subscribers. The need of research study
is to study about Bharti Airtel, understanding its various strategies that keep it ahead of all other
competitors like Vodaphone, Idea, Reliance etc.. This study is undergone through various steps
of research project. The method used for the research project are- Group Discussion, internet
browsing, different graphs & chart study etc. From this analysis we found that Bharti Airtel has
the largest market share due to its calling plans, Tariff plans and other strategies.  Telecom
giant Bharti Airtel is the flagship company of Bharti Enterprises.  Bharti Airtel, formerly
known as Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (BTVL).  India's largest and world's third largest
cellular service provider.  More than 88 million subscribers as of 31 December 2008.  Airtel
provides mobile & fixed wireless services using GSM technology across 23 telecom circles. 
Largest Telecom Company listed on Indian Stock Exchanges.  The company also has a
submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting
Chennai and Singapore. The service strategies of Bharti Airtel are- • Best-in-class technology: •
World-class Installation & Customer Service • Interactive VAS to Drive ARPU enhancement •
One Airtel Synergies for Distribution, Brand & IT • Data Products: Internet, MPLS etc •
Integrated Solutions to Drive Share of wallet • Strategic Alliances • Indirect Channel to Drive
Penetration • Deeper & Not Wider: 94 Cities • Vertical & Not Horizontal: Hi-Rise • Network
Enhancement to Deliver 8+ MBPS • New Products & VAS to drive Flat, combo plans CORE
BUSINESS AREA Mobile Services - We offer mobile services using GSM technology on
900MHz and 1800MHz bands, and are the largest wireless service provider in the country, based
on the Number of customers. Our 85,650,733 mobile customers accounted for a market share of
24.7% of wireless market, as on December 31, 2008. We offer post-paid, pre-paid, roaming and
value added services through our extensive sales and distribution channel covering 1,069,706
outlets. Our network is present in 5,057 census towns and 401,882 non-census towns and
villages in India, thus covering. There are several possible tools that can be used for consumer
promotions. Some of the more important ones are:

 Sampling
 Price-off
 Quality deals
 Banded offers
 In-product gift
 Out- product gift
 Coupons
 Consumer contests
TRADE SALES PROMOTIONS

As note in the Promotion Decisions Tutorial, certain promotions can help ‘push´ a product
through the channel by encouraging channel members to purchase and also promote the product
to their customers. For instance, a trade promotion aimed at retailers may encourage retailers to
instruct their employees to promote a marketer’s brand over competitor’s offerings. With
Thousands of products competing for limited shelf space, spending on trade promotion is nearly
equal that spent on consumer promotions. Many sales promotions aimed at building relationships
with channel partners follow similar designs as those directed to consumers including
promotional pricing, contests and free product. In addition to these, several other promotional
approaches are specifically designed to appeal to trade partners. approximately 79% of the
country’s population. Our network operating centers, which monitor the health of our mobile
network are located in Gurgaon, near Delhi, and Chennai. Telemedia Services – We provide
broadband (DSL) and telephone services (fixed line) in 95 cities with growing focus on new
media and entertainment solutions such as DTH and IPTV. We had 2,619,461 customers as on
December 31, 2008 of which 37.9% were subscribing to broadband/internet services. Our
product offerings in this segment include supply and installation of fixed-line telephones
providing local, national and international long distance voice connectivity and broadband
Internet access through DSL. We also remain strongly committed to our focus on Small and
Medium Business enterprises .We provide a range of customised Telecom/ IT solutions and aim
to achieve revenue leadership in this rapidly growing segment of the ICT market. The strategy of
our Telemedia business is to focus on cities with high revenue potential, except for DTH which
is an all- India offering. Airtel digital TV is available to customers through 23,200 retail points in
120 cities across the country. Enterprise Services - Enterprise Services provides a broad portfolio
of services to large Enterprise and Carrier customers. This division comprises the Carrier and
Corporate business units. Enterprise Services is regarded as the trusted communications partner
to India's leading organizations, helping them to meet the challenges of growth. Carriers –
Carrier business unit provides long distance wholesale voice and data services to carrier
customers as well as to other business units of Airtel. It also offers virtual calling card services in
the overseas markets. The business unit owns a state of the art national and international long
distance network infrastructure enabling it to provide connectivity services both within India and
connecting India to the world. The national long distance infrastructure comprises of 90,205 kms
of optical fibre, over 1,500 MPLS and SDH POPs and over 1,250 POIs with the local exchanges,
providing a pan India reach. The international infrastructure includes ownership of the i2i
submarine cable system connecting Chennai to Singapore, consortium ownership of the SMW4
submarine cable system and investment in capacities across a number of diverse submarine cable
systems across transatlantic and transpacific routes. In recent past we have announced
investments in new cable systems such as Asia America Gateway (AAG), India Middle East and
Western Europe (IMEWE), Unity North, EIG (Europe India Gateway) and Eastern Africa
Submarine Cable System (EASSy). Corporate – This business unit delivers end to end telecom
solutions to India’s large corporate. It serves as the single point of contact for all
telecommunication needs for corporate customers in India by providing full suite of
communication services across data, voice and managed services. It specializes in providing
customized solutions to address unique requirements of different industry verticals; BFSI, IT,
ITeS, Manufacturing and distribution, media, education, telecom, Government and PSUs and
retail among others. Backed by the alliances with leading technology companies worldwide and
state of the art infrastructure, it offers complete range of telecom solutions. These solutions
enable corporate to network their offices within India and across the globe, provide them
infrastructure to run business critical applications and provide them means to connect with their
customers, vendors and employees.

TECHNIQUES USED IN TRADE PROMOTION

 On-consignment sales
 Dealer contests
 Dealer gifts
 Display contests
 Point of sale material
 Shop board painting
 Dealer discounts
 Trade fair participation
 Dealer meets
 Cooperative advertising

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF SALES PROMOTION

Sales Promotion techniques yield results that many other marketing communication elements
cannot achieve .For example it can turn around a sales trend in the short run, help introduce a
new product by encouraging consumer and retail acceptance, reinforce message driven by other
communication -mix element, etc
Some of the benefits of sale promotion

 Sales promotion produces result by stimulating people to act - to try, to buy, to buy more, or
to buy more often. It can lead to trial, generate excitement, encourage rein peat purchase,
attract switchers, etc. It is especially helpful in situations where there is extreme pressure to
increase sales eg.at the end of the year when there are shortfalls in budgeted sales.
 It produces immediate results. While advertising or public relation act as an investment
producing sales in the long run, sales promotion works during a definite span of time. Most
of the sales come during the sale promotions period itself. Very often, if the promotion is
successful, one can get results within hours, days or weeks.
 It can prevent competitor entry or offset competitor promotions and thus help maintain the
brands current market share.
 Sales promotion techniques directed at channel members or sales force can gain channel
support and involvement and help ³push´ the product. It helps in getting shelf space and
merchandising benefits at the retail level, clearing off excess inventory, motivating sales
people to find new contacts etc .Sales promotion is relatively easy to design and implement.
It is possible to calculate costs effect on sales and sometimes even on competitor sales.

DISADVANTAGES OF SALES PROMOTION

 Most sales promotion is used for short-term results. Any excessive use can shift the focus on
short-term marketing planning that acts only at the behavioral level. 
 Increasing sales promotion activities has led to clutter, leading companies to cut each other
and thus eroding the bottom line. In mature markets sales promotion does not do much in
attracting new customers but only switchers who are dear prone

AWARDS and RECOGNITIONS

Economic Times Telecom Awards 2011  Innovative Product Value Added Service  Customer
Experience Enhancement Frost & Sullivan 2011 Asia Pacific ICT Awards  Enterprise Telecom
Service Provider of the Year  Wholesale Data Service Provider of the year  Mobile VAS
Provider of the Year India‟s Most Innovative company - Wall Street Journal Telecom Operator
award 2011 - Won in 5 categories.  Most Admired company  Best National Mobile operator 
Operator with Rural performance  Best VAS provider  Best Enterprise services DSCI
Excellence Award 2011 for Security in Telecom- „Security Leader of the Year' Bharti Airtel
rated as India‟s Best Enterprise Connectivity Provider- Users choice award Instituted by PC
Quest Sunil Bharti Mittal : – Global Game changer at Economic Times Telecom Awards 2011
Global Telecom Leader - Voice & Data magazine Akhil Gupta, Deputy Group CEO and MD -
CFO India Hall of Fame by CFO India Manoj Kohli, CEO( International) & Joint MD - Telecom
Man of the year - Tele.net Business world – FICCI – SEDF Corporate Social Responsibility
Awards 2009-10.

Thousands of products competing for limited shelf space, spending on trade promotion is nearly
equal that spent on consumer promotions. Many sales promotions aimed at building relationships
with channel partners follow similar designs as those directed to consumers including
promotional pricing, contests and free product. In addition to these, several other promotional
approaches are specifically designed to appeal to trade partners. approximately 79% of the
country’s population. Our network operating centers, which monitor the health of our mobile
network are located in Gurgaon, near Delhi, and Chennai. Telemedia Services – We provide
broadband (DSL) and telephone services (fixed line) in 95 cities with growing focus on new
media and entertainment solutions such as DTH and IPTV. We had 2,619,461 customers as on
December 31, 2008 of which 37.9% were subscribing to broadband/internet services. Our
product offerings in this segment include supply and installation of fixed-line telephones
providing local, national and international long distance voice connectivity and broadband
Internet access through DSL. We also remain strongly committed to our focus on Small and
Medium Business enterprises .We provide a range of customised Telecom/ IT solutions and aim
to achieve revenue leadership in this rapidly growing segment of the ICT market. The strategy of
our Telemedia business is to focus on cities with high revenue potential, except for DTH which
is an all- India offering. Airtel digital TV is available to customers through 23,200 retail points in
120 cities across the country. Enterprise Services - Enterprise Services provides a broad portfolio
of services to large Enterprise and Carrier customers. This division comprises the Carrier and
Corporate business units. Enterprise Services is regarded as the trusted communications partner
to India's leading organizations, helping them to meet the challenges of growth. Carriers –
Carrier business unit provides long distance wholesale voice and data services to carrier
customers as well as to other business units of Airtel. It also offers virtual calling card services in
the overseas markets. The business unit owns a state of the art national and international long
distance network infrastructure enabling it to provide connectivity services both within India and
connecting India to the world. The national long distance infrastructure comprises of 90,205 kms
of optical fibre, over 1,500 MPLS and SDH POPs and over 1,250 POIs with the local exchanges,
providing a pan India reach. The international infrastructure includes ownership of the i2i
submarine cable system connecting Chennai to Singapore, consortium ownership of the SMW4
submarine cable system and investment in capacities across a number of diverse submarine cable
systems across transatlantic and transpacific routes. In recent past we have announced
investments in new cable systems such as Asia America Gateway (AAG), India Middle East and
Western Europe (IMEWE), Unity North, EIG (Europe India Gateway) and Eastern Africa
Submarine Cable System (EASSy). Corporate – This business unit delivers end to end telecom
solutions to India’s large corporate. It serves as the single point of contact for all
telecommunication needs for corporate customers in India by providing full suite of
communication services across data, voice and managed services. It specializes in providing
customized solutions to address unique requirements of different industry verticals; BFSI, IT,
ITeS, Manufacturing and distribution, media, education, telecom, Government and PSUs and
retail among others. Backed by the alliances with leading technology companies worldwide and
state of the art infrastructure, it offers complete range of telecom solutions. These solutions
enable corporate to network their offices within India and across the globe, provide them
infrastructure to run business critical applications and provide them means to connect with their
customers, vendors and employees.
OBJECTIVE OF STUDY

Primary research objective:- to study the new plan for prepaid customers and to know what
are the promotional activities company follow to increase the sale. The aim of this research
project is to study about different strategies used, different products used by Bharti Airtel. It also
includes Indian market study, Bharti Airtel Corporate Study, its financial & Industrial study.
Under this research project following points are covered-

objective:-

 To determine the most popular telecom brand

 To determine the average age on consumers on same network
 To determine the best sales promotion scheme
 To determine the consequences of current schemes
1.1SCOPE OF STUDY

The Scope of the Research study would include the geographic & Demographic region of
Mumbai.

1.2DATA COLLECTION METHOD

Primary method: - Data was collected from respondents through direct interaction and google
form.

Secondary method: - External study data has also been used through internet. And through
newsletters & journals
CHAPTER-2 COMPANY
PROFILE
2.1 TELECOM INDUSTRY IN INDIA

Indian telecom sector, like any other industrial sector in the country, has gone through many
phases of growth and diversification. Starting from telegraphic and telephonic system in the 19th
century, the field of telephonic communication has now expanded to make use of advanced
technologies like gsm, cdma, and wll to great 3g technology in mobile phones. day by day, both
the public players and the private players are putting in their resources and efforts to improve the
telecommunication technologies so as to give maximum to their customers. The telecom industry
of India is on the edge of becoming the second biggest telecom sector in the world with an
overall compactness of telecommunications of up to 4789%. in the year 2009, the industry
attracted subscribers of over 562.21 million which was 35% greater than its previous year, as per
telecom regulatory authority of India (trai) report. the Indian telecom industry registered annual
revenues of over us$ 8.57billion in2009triggered by the revival in incomes from landline and
mobile services. by 2014 the industry is anticipated to surface as the highest element in the
nation's gdp by contributing up to 15.5%.currently, the telecom industry is on an expansion spree
and is adding 9-11 million cellular phone subscribers per month. With this pace the sector is
estimated to cover more than half of the nation's population by 2012 .2010 budget telecom
industry expectations are re-introduction of tax exemptions in context of system rollouts in rural
districts and to telecom infrastructure service providers, tax relief to businesses undergoing
reformatting mentioned in provisions under section80ia (12a) by the finance act,2007 special
additional duty (sad) compensation, accessibility of cenvatcredit in case of relocation of the
business, tariffs of not up to 0.5-2% and explanation on tax reduction of entire spectrum charge
GSM MOBILE MARKET SHARE IN INDIA - 1. Bharti Airtel: 121.7million (30.86%) 2.
Vodafone Essar: 94.1 million (23.87%) 3. IDEA: 59.8million (15.19%)4 4. BSNL: 59.million
(15.08%) 5. Aircel: 33.0 million (838%) 6. Reliance Telecom: 15.7million (4.0%) 7. MTNL:
4.6million (1.17%) 8. Loop Mobile: 2.7million (0.9%) 9. Uninor: 2.5million (0.64% 10. STel:
0.5million (0.13%) Total Users: 395.3 million 13.  More than 88 million subscribers as of 31
December 2008.  Airtel brand is headed by Sunil Bharti Mittal.  Airtel provides mobile &
fixed wireless services using GSM technology across 23 telecom circles .  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.  Company shares are listed on The Stock Exchange, Mumbai (BSE)
and The National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) .  Per Share price of Airtel in BSE is
Rs 601.40 (5th march 2009) . • Dynamism • Leadership Targeting – • Elite • Up market
professionals • Entrepreneur with business plans • Low income mass category • Youth • Women
and senior citizens by post paid connection Advertisement- Airtel basically uses two appeal to
connect to the users • Emotional • Humorous BCG MATRIX- 20.  Lack of differentiation
among Service Providers  Cut throat Competition  Low Switching Costs  Number
Portability will have –Ve Impact  Businesses & Consumers 2.Customer Bargaining Power
HIGH.
2.2 BHARTI AIRTEL LTD

Telecom giant Bharti Airtel is the flagship company of Bharti Enterprises. The Bharti Group has
a diverse business portfolio and has created global brands in the telecommunication sector.Bharti
has recently forayed into retail business as Bharti Retail Pvt. Ltd. under a MoU with Wal-Mart
for the cash & carry business. It has successfully launched an international venture with
ELRothschild Group to export fresh agri products exclusively to markets in Europe and USA and
has launched Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Ltd under a joint venture with AXA, world
leader in financial protection and wealth management.Airtel comes from Bharti Airtel Limited;
Bharti Airtel is one of the leading alternative providers of telecommunications services in India
and the first private telecom services provider with footprint in all the 23 telecom circles. Bharti
Airtel since its inception has been at the forefront of technology and has steered the course of the
telecom sector in the country with its world class products and services. The businesses at Bharti
Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBUs) - Mobile
Services, Airtel Telemedia Services & Enterprise Services. The mobile business provides mobile
& fixed wireless services using GSM technology across 23Telecom circles while the Airtel
Telemedia Services business offers broadband &telephone services in 94Cities. The Enterprise
services provide end-to-end telecom solutions to corporate customers and national &
international long distance services to carriers. All these services are provided under the Airtel
brand .Airtel comes from Bharti Airtel Limited, one of Asians leading integrated telecom
services providers with operations in 18 countries across Asia and Africa. Bharti Airtel since its
inception has been at the forefront of technology and has pioneered several innovations in the
telecom sector. The company is structured into four strategic business units - Mobile, Telemedia,
Enterprise and Digital TV The mobile business offers services in India, Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh. TheTelemedia business provides broadband, IPTV and telephone services in89
Indian cities. The Digital TV business provides Direct-to-Home TV services across India. The
Enterprise business Provides end-to-end telecom solutions to corporate customers and national
and international long-distance services to Telco‟s. Airtel was born free, a force unleashed into
the market with a relentless and unwavering determination to succeed. A spirit charged with
energy, creativity and a team driven ³to seize the day´ with an ambition to become the most
globally admired telecom service. Airtel, in just ten years of operations, rose to the pinnacle to
achievement and continues to lead. As India's leading telecommunications company Airtel brand
has played the role as a major catalyst in India's reforms, contributing to its economic
resurgence.

COMPANY PROFILE
Date of Establishment 1995 Revenue 6716.88(USD in Millions) Market Cap 1062548.9208608(
Rs. in Millions ) Corporate Address- Aravali Crescent ,1 Nelson Mandela Road,Vasant Kunj
Phase 2 NewDelhi-110070, Delhi Chairperson - Sunil Bharti Mittal MD - Sunil Bharti Mittal
Directors - Ajay Lal, Akhil Gupta, Arun Bharat Ram, Bashir Currimjee, Chua Sock Koong,Craig
Ehrlichanalysi, Deven Khanna, Lim Chuan Poh, Manoj Kohli, Mauro Sentinelli, N Kumar,
Nikesh Arora, Paul O'sullivan, Pulak Chandan Prasad, Quah Kung Yang, Rajan Bharti
Mittal,Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Sarvjit Singh Dhillon, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Tan Yong Choo,
VijayaSampathBharti Airtel, incorporated on July 7, 1995 is the flagship company of Bharti
Enterprises. The Bharti Group has a diverse business portfolio and has created global brands in
the telecommunication sector. Bharti Airtel is Asia‟s leading integrated telecom services
provider with operations in India and Sri Lanka. Bharti Airtel has been at the forefront of the
telecom revolution and has transformed the sect Company Secretary- Vijaya Sampath Bankers
Auditors- SR Batliboi & Associates. Company Profile Logo: Airtel adopted the free form A to
represent the relationship without boundaries that the company has with its customers. It is also
meant to convey the idea of freedom or not being confined within the space of a closed circle or
box. It is meant to be a symbol that invites people into the Airtel family. The full name of the
company is BhartiAirtel. It is based in India, but has customers throughout India, Bangladesh, Sri
Lanka and Africa. The new logo was designed to celebrate the company passing the 200 million
customer mark. The company is also making a push for a global presence and wanted to create a
logo that conveyed this to customers all over the world. As well, it wanted to present itself as a
youthful company because it believes that society as a whole is experiencing a youth renaissance
in which even older people are embracing more youthful ideas and habits. Airtel aspires to marry
those youthful tendencies with its services with the hope of increasing profit margins.
Mission–“Hunger to win customers for life.” Vision- “Our vision is to enrich the lives of our
customers. Our obsession is to win customers for life through an exceptional experience.”
Tagline – “The smartphone Network”. Objectives-Grow market share profitably. Accelerate non-
mobile businesses. Marketing Strategies of BhartiAirtel Airtel is the world’s 3rd largest mobile
telecommunication Indian MNC operating in 20 countries across Asia & Africa. Airtel has
presence in 22 telecom circles across India & is India’s largest integrated telecom service
provider. Segmentation, targeting, positioning in the Marketing strategy of Airtel Airtel uses mix
of segmentation strategies to segment its offerings like basic Call /SMS plans, prepaid / Post-
paid plans, VAS – Data, caller tunes etc. Apart from geographically segmenting the market in
East, West, North, South & central, the market is also segmented in each region on the basis of
demographic variables like age, Income, Social groups. Different geographic regions are handled
independently and different campaigns are run according to the preferences of people in each
region. Airtel has targeted the generation Z of 15-25 ages, generation X & baby Boomers by
using different campaigns over the period of time i.e. campaign like “Har Ek friend Jaruri hota
hai”/ “Jo tera hai wo mera hai ” to target Gen Z and recently launched campaign of “one touch
internet” targeting Gen X & baby boomers. Airtel has been successful in top-of-the-mind recall
amongst cellular phone users and is enjoying a leadership position in most markets. After
changing its logo it has repositioned itself as Young, Energetic & International brand. It has
evolved itself as a torch bearer of the telecom industry in India. Marketing mix of Airtel
BhartiAirtel Limited (BhartiAirtel) is one of India’s most popular providers of integrated
telecommunication services and is based in India and headquartered in New Delhi. Basically, the
company is tasked with the work of operating telecommunication services in the larger Indian
subcontinent. The company’s business services include mobile services, enterprise services and
Telemedia services. The telecom industry of India is on the edge of becoming the second biggest
telecom sector in the world with an overall compactness of telecommunications of up to 4789%.
in the year 2009, the industry attracted subscribers of over 562.21 million which was 35%
greater than its previous year, as per telecom regulatory authority of India (trai) report. the Indian
telecom industry registered annual revenues of over us$ 8.57billion in2009triggered by the
revival in incomes from landline and mobile services. by 2014 the industry is anticipated to
surface as the highest element in the nation's gdp by contributing up to 15.5%.currently, the
telecom industry is on an expansion spree and is adding 9-11 million cellular phone subscribers
per month. With this pace the sector is estimated to cover more than half of the nation's
population by 2012 .2010 budget telecom industry expectations are re-introduction of tax
exemptions in context of system rollouts in rural districts and to telecom infrastructure service
providers, tax relief to businesses undergoing reformatting mentioned in provisions under
section80ia (12a) by the finance act,2007 special additional duty (sad) compensation,
accessibility of cenvatcredit in case of relocation of the business, tariffs of not up to 0.5-2% and
explanation on tax reduction of entire spectrum charge GSM MOBILE MARKET SHARE IN
INDIA - 1. Bharti Airtel: 121.7million (30.86%) 2. Vodafone Essar: 94.1 million (23.87%) 3.
IDEA: 59.8million (15.19%)4 4. BSNL: 59.million (15.08%) 5. Aircel: 33.0 million (838%) 6.
Reliance Telecom: 15.7million (4.0%) 7. MTNL: 4.6million (1.17%) 8. Loop Mobile: 2.7million
(0.9%) 9. Uninor: 2.5million (0.64% 10. STel: 0.5million (0.13%) Total Users: 395.3 million 13.
 More than 88 million subscribers as of 31 December 2008.  Airtel brand is headed by Sunil
Bharti Mittal.  Airtel provides mobile & fixed wireless services using GSM technology across
23 telecom circles .  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.  Company shares are listed on The
Stock Exchange, Mumbai (BSE) and The National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) . 
Per Share price of Airtel in BSE is Rs 601.40 (5th march 2009) . • Dynamism • Leadership
Targeting – • Elite • Up market professionals • Entrepreneur with business plans • Low income
mass category • Youth • Women and senior citizens by post paid connection Advertisement-
Airtel basically uses two appeal to connect to the users • Emotional • Humorous BCG MATRIX-
20.  Lack of differentiation among Service Providers  Cut throat Competition  Low
Switching Costs  Number Portability will have –Ve Impact  Businesses & Consumers
2.Customer Bargaining Power HIGH.

Business Divisions

The enterprise services group includes units for both long-distance carriers and for corporate
clients. Bharti Airtel has nearly 29 million total customers -- approximately more than
27millionGSM mobile and 1.6 million fixed-line customers. The company was founded as Bharti
Tele-Ventures in 1995 and changed its name in early 2006 to Bharti Airtel Limited. It is a unit of
Indian conglomerate Bharti Enterprises)Sunil Bharti Mittal (Chairman and Group Managing
Director)This highly innovative company created telecom history when it farmed out its network
management to experts Nokia and Ericsson, and set a trend in the global cellular industry. Last
year, Vodafone gave the company a vote of confidence by acquiring 10% mostly from early
Bharti investor Warburg Pincus. This year, Bharti will offer its second overseas services after the
Seychelles. It acquired a license for tax haven Jersey, in the Channel Islands, and is looking for
more. It also plans to spend $2billion this year to double the size of its network and cover 50%of
India's population, up from40% currently. The group offers high speed broadband internet with a
best in class network. With Landline services in 94 cities we help you stay in touch with your
friends & family and the world. Get world class entertainment with India‟s best direct to home
(DTH) service digital TV in more than 150 cities. Bharti Airtel offers GSM mobile services in all
the 23-telecom circles of India and is the largest mobile service provider in the country, based on
the number of customers.

Discover the magical experience of digital entertainment with Airtel. From DVD quality picture
and sound, the best and widest variety of channels and programmes to the best on-demand
content on Airtel Live, your TV viewing experience change forever with digital TV from Airtel!
Enterprise Services provides a broad portfolio of services to large Enterprise and Carrier
customers. This division comprises of the Carrier and Corporate business unit. Enterprise
Services is regarded as the trusted communications partner to India's leading organizations,
helping them to meet the challenges of growth. Airtel Money Airtel has started a new
mCommerce platform called Airtel Money with collaboration with Infosys and Smart Trust (now
Giesecke & Devrient). It was launched on April 5, 2012, in Infosys Campus of Bangalore. with
the help of Airtelmoney,users can transfer money, pay bills and other financial transactions using
mobile phone. The mobile services comprise of fixed wireless services and mobile services
which use GSM network technology across major telecommunication circles in the country.
With a Pan-India presence, Airtel an established player in providing 3G services is now planning
aggressively to roll out its 4G services in a phased manner. These services are now available in
metros and big cities like Bangalore and Mumbai. The company also provides world class
landline telephone and broadband services and the enterprise unit across 95 cities in India. Some
of BhartiAirtel competitors include the following:  Idea  Tata Docomo.  Reliance
Communications Limited  Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.  Vodafone (strongest competitor)
Products in the marketing mix of Airtel The company provides a wide array of products and
services. In order to retain the maximum number of customers, Airtel has tried to provide as
many products and services as possible in order to keep the customers. The following is a list of
its products:  Airtel Pre-paid services  Blackberry Wireless Handheld  Airtel Post-paid
services  Value added services like instant balance inquiry, caller line identification, 24 hour
recharge facility, multimedia messaging service, call wait & call Hold, Caller divert, Airtel Live
portal  SMS based information services  Voice mail services  Hello tunes, Ring tones, 
Ringtones and hello tunes offers.  Easy post-pay bill payment solutions  Enterprise Solutions
Place in the marketing mix of Airtel Airtel’s penetration in India is quite impressive because the
services and networks can be found even in India’s remotest regions. Currently, gross subscriber
base has pass the 200 million mark while the total wireless subscriber base for CDMA, GSM and
WLL is about 162 million. Clearly, the customer base of Airtel is strong in India. It is also worth
mentioning that millions of the network’s lines are added per year. Airtel enjoys a well
distributed network of distributors including even businesses like groceries and chemist outlets.
One of the things that have made BhartiAirtel a force to reckon in telecommunication industry in
India and Africa is that it has the strategy of making the first moves and emerging as a winner. It
has managed to buy Kuwait’s Zain and Tata steel in the past, making it a top 5 wireless carrier in
the world by subscription.  Wider distribution network as compared to competitors  Network is
widespread bringing many customers daily to Airtel  Fourth largest mobile operator in the
world with presence in 20 countries Promotion in the Marketing mix of Airtel Airtel engages in
aggressive marketing strategy ranging from traditional print media to social network marketing.
However, the company’s recent rebranding efforts bombed in the market and were not received
positively. The company also engages in large scale TV and print advertising. The company
frequently uses big celebrities who endorse the services. The company also managed to create its
signature tune from Oscar winning musician A.R.Rahman which has become one of the most
downloaded tunes in India. It is also interesting to note that even such seemingly redundant
activities like providing wallpapers and screensavers to computer users has proved a very
effective.

2.3 VISION OF BHARTI AIRTEL

By 2010 Airtel will be the most admired brand in India: Loved by more customers Targeted by
top talent Benchmarked by more businesses

2.4 HISTORY OF THE COMPANY

Bharti Tele-Ventures was incorporated on July 7, 1995 as a company with limited liability under
the Companies Act, for promoting telecommunications services. Bharti Tele-Ventures received
certificate for commencement of business on January 18, 1996. The Company was initially
formed as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bharti Telecom Limited. The chronology of events
since Bharti Tele-Ventures was incorporated in 1995 is as follows Calendar year & Events 1995
 Bharti Cellular launched cellular services'AirTel'in Delhi 1996 20.

 STET International Netherlands NV, or STET, a company promoted by Telecom Italia,Italy

acquired a 20% equity interest in BhartiTele-Ventures Bharti Telenet launched cellular services
in Himachal Pradesh 1997

 British Telecom acquired a 21.05% equity interest in Bharti Cellular

 Bharti Telenet obtained a license for providing fixed-line services in Madhya Pradesh circle

 Bharti Telecom and British Telecom formed a 51% :49% joint venture, Bharti BT, for
providing VSAT services 1998 Bharti Telecom and British Telecom formed a 51% :49% joint
venture, Bharti BTInternet for providing Internet services

 First Indian private fixed-line services launched in Indore in the Madhya Pradesh circle on
June 4, 1998 by Bharti Telnet thereby ending fixed-line services monopoly of Dot(nowBSNL)
1999

 Warburg Pincus (through its investment company Brentwood Investment HoldingsLimited)

acquired a 19.05% equity interest in Bharti Tele-Ventures

 Bharti Tele-Ventures (by acquiring a 63.45% equity interest in SC Cellular Holdings) acquired
an effective 32.36% equity interest in Bharti Mobile (formerly JT Mobiles), the cellular services
provider in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh circles

 New York Life Insurance Fund, or NYLIF, acquired a3% equity interest in BhartiCellular
2000

 Bharti Tele-Ventures acquired an effective equity interest of 40.5% in Bharti

Mobinet(formerly Sky cell Communications), the cellular services provider in Chennai

 Bharti Tele-Ventures acquired a30.2% equity interest of Telecom Italia in BhartiTelenet and
18.8% from Bharti Telecom thereby making Bharti Telnet a 100%subsidiary of Bharti Tele
Ventures 21.
 SingTel (through its investment company Pastel Limited) acquired STET's 15.3%
equityinterest in Bharti Tele-Ventures
 Bharti Tele-Ventures acquired an additional effective41.64% equity interest in BhartiMobile
(by acquiring the remaining36.55% equity interest in SC Cellular) resulting inBharti Tele-
Ventures holding an effective74 % equity interest in Bharti Mobile. 2001
 Bharti Tele-Ventures acquired NYLIF's 3% equity interest in Bharti Cellular
 Bharti Telesonic entered into a joint venture, Bharti Aqua net, with SingTel for establishing a
submarine cable landing station at Chennai
 Bharti Tele-Ventures issued additional equity for approximately US$ 481.30 million to
SingTel, Warburg Pincus, AIF group, IFC, NYLIF, and See jay Cellular and BhartiTelecom
 Bharti Cellular acquired a 100% equity interest in Bharti Mobitel (formerly Spice Cell),the
cellular services provider in Kolkata
 Bharti Tele-Ventures acquired 85% and 1 5% in Bharti Telespatial from Bharti Telecomand
Intel, respectively
 Bharti Tele-Ventures acquired a 44 % equity interest in Bharti Cellular from British
Telecom, thereby making Bharti Cellular its 100% subsidiary
 Bharti Tele-Ventures acquired an additiona l49% equity interest in Bharti Mobinet from
Millicom International and BellSouth International, thereby owning 89.5% equity interest in
Bharti Mobinet, which was further increased to 95.3% following an issuance of additional
equity shares by way of rights issue
 Punjab license restored to Bharti Mobile by the DoT and migration to NTP – 1999 accepted
 Bharti Cellular entered into license agreements to provide cellular services in eight new
circles following the fourth operator cellular license bidding process
 Bharti Telenet entered into license agreements to provide fixed-line services in the Haryana,
Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka circles
 Bharti Telesonic entered into a license agreement with the DoT to provide national long-
distance services across India 22.
 Bharti Aqua net, Bharti Telesonic and Bharti Cellular entered into license agreements with
the DoT to provide ISP services in India
 Bharti Telesonic launched national long distance services under the brand name of India One
 Bharti Telnet launched fixed line services in Haryana under the brand name of TouchTel
2002
 Comes out with issue of 18.53crore equity shares through book building route with afloor
price of Rs45 per share, received bid for 18.55crore shares. Through the issue, it becomes the
first company in India to come out with 100% book building issue
 Issue price fixed at Rs45per share, floor price fixed by the company. Raises Rs834 crore
 Shares listed on BSE, NSE and DSE, opens at 11% premium to its issue price of Rs 45
 Enters into a 5 -year agreement with Escotel and ETL of the Escorts group to contractleased
line connectivity for its cellular operations
 Mr. Ravi Akhoury ceases to be Director of Bharti Tele
 DoT grants ILD Telephony License to Bharti Telesonic, subsidiary of the company
 Signs MoU with Telia AB to buy out their 26 % stake in Bharti Mobile
 Ties up with SSC (Secondary School Certification) Board, Hyderabad, where Bharti will
announce SSC results to its customers on their mobile phones
 ICICI Bank ties up with Bharti for pre-paid mobile cards via ATMs
 Bharti forays into Mumbai with offers
 Alpine International Ltd. and ELM International Ltd. acquire shares of Bharti Tele- Ventures
 Sunil Mittal, Chairman & Managing Director of the company, bags Businessman of the year
award by Business India 2003
 Airtel breaks interconnectivity with Tata Teleservices in Andhra Pradesh Circle
 Company accorded its approval for amalgamation of its subsidiary companies viz:
BhartiTelenet Ltd, Bharti Telesonic Ltd, Bharti Broadband Networks Ltd and Bharti Comtel
Ltd through scheme of Amalgamation. The merged entity would be renamed as Bharti Infotel
Ltd.
 Air Tel launches Local direct dialing facility in Chennai circle
 Mobilizes5 m long term foreign currency borrowings for expansion of cellular operations 
Bharti Cellular unveils Care Touch service
 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 `India One Meet press' audio-conferencing service
 Punjab, Haryana get free incoming calls from Airtel
 AirTel provides SMS facilities to hearing impaired in Chennai
 Goa, Maharashtra gets 'voice portal' services by Bharti Cellular-Launches free additional
connection to its new subscribers in New Delhi
 Mr. Sin Hang Boon and Mr. Wong Hung Khim have resigned from the Board of Directors of
Bharti Tele Ventures Ltd with effect from February27, 2003.
 Airtel provides SMS cricket updates
 Bharti Mobinet Ltd, the Bharti group company that provides the AirTel mobile service
inChennai, today launched its GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) network and an MMS
(multimedia messaging) on the GPRS platform
 AirTel unveils new ring tones for Karnataka cellular market
 AirTel Subscribers exceed 3 Million mark
 AirTel unveils RAD system
 Mr. P M Sinha resigns from the Board of Directors of the Company with effect
fromMarch31,2003.
 Bharti TeleVentures announces the completion of merger with Bharti Mobitel
 Bharti Mobitel Ltd. merged with Bharti Cellular Ltd. AirTel reintroduces 'Mobile 2 Mobile'
offer for Karnataka customers
 AirTel, Touchtel jointly offer freeTouchtel land line for post-paid Airtel connection
 AirTel rolls out voice mail service for pre-paid customers
 AirTel unveils new scheme for pre-paid customers giving away free talk time worth
Rs10crore
 Airtel surpasses 4 lakh subscriber base in Karnataka
 Bharti announces new tariff plan AirTel 2012
 Offers 0-1-2, a new cellular package for the customers, which means zero charges on
incoming calls, Re 1 on mobile-to-mobile outgoing calls, Rs2 on mobile-to-mobile STD calls
 Rolls out Airtel messenger service
 AirTel offers bundled handset, connection package for Rs 5715
 Airtel slashes SMS rates to60 paisa; excludes Delhi and Mumbai
 Bharti cellular, wholly owned subsidiary of Bharti Tele-Ventures, increases its stake to100%
in Bharti Mobile
 Iinks distribution pact with Hathaway Cable. With this alliance, Bharti is said to be the first
telecom firm to step into television distribution services
 Six cell operators move over from Bharti to VSNL
 Airtel augments cellular coverage in TN by including Arcot & Walajapet in its network
 Airtel ties up with Coke in Chennai to sell its Magic prepaid cards
 AirTel embarks on network expansion in Hyderabad
 Airtel unveils India One Long Distance Calling Card
 AirTel introduces unified tariff package in TN, Chennai
 Airtel becomes front runner in Karnataka's mobile services market
 Bharti Tele launches 'Always on' service to its subscribers
 SBI, AirTel announce EMI offer at Rs 299
 Bharti and MTV join hands to launch new SIM card
 AirTel unveils new post-paid scheme at zero rental
 AirTel launches `Happy Plan' in AP
 Airtel emerges as the highest selling pre-paid card
 Airtel join hands with Alcatel & Videocon to launch new scheme
 AirTel service provider touches 5 lakh customers in Punjab
 Airtel offers5 new services for its customers in Mumbai
 Bharti launches first dual band network in Delhi
 Gets 14th place among top25 Cos in India
 Bharti Mobile crosse 4 lakh mobile subscribers in AP
 Airtel holds top position in terms of dealer penetration
 Prof. V S Raju has been inducted on the Board of Directors of the Company.
 Touchtel launches SMS service in fixed line phones in Karnal, Panipat
 AitTel unveils special offers in Kerala
 AirTel launches InnoWest for the western region
 Bharti Tele-Ventures enters into an agreement with Telesystem (Mauritius) Pvt. Ltd
 Airtel slashes out going sms price to30ps
 AirTel on December 16,2003 announced the launch of expense tracker service, which
provides customers the option of tracking their day-to-day expenses on a daily or monthly
basis. To avail of this service, the customer should register himself by sendingEXP REG
your mail ID{gt} to3020. This service will allow a user to track expenses,while on the move
by sending an SMS. Each SMS sent to 3020 would cost Rs3.
 AirTel introduces MTV Club Card in Chennai 2004
 Bharti unveils new card for Mecca pilgrims
 AirTel enrolls 50,000 customers in its mobile service in60 days
 Launches WAP enabled portal Service in Kerala
 Bharti Cellular's AirTel has extended its mobile connectivity to Karaikkal,
Nagur,Mannargudi and Kovilpalayam in Tamil Nadu circle.
 Airtel customer base touches new high of 5 lakh mark in Andhra Pradesh
 Mobile service provider AirTel is launching its first ever MMS (Multi Media service)
downloads in Tamil. The launch of this service has been timed to coincide with Pongal.
 AirTel tie up with MAA TV  Airtel launches Rs50 pre-paids recharge
 AirTel launched a family pack for its post-paid customers in Chennai on January 2
 According to a press release, the family pack may have a maximum of 10 members Spread
across the country. The combined basic plan fixed charges/rental of all family members in
the pack will have to be equal to Rs450 but less than Rs 1000 for the family450 pack and
above Rs 1000 for the family 1000 pack. The offerings under family pack 450 include 15free
mobile to mobile STD minutes within the family, 50 free local calling minutes to each family
member, calls within the family in same circle at50 paisa per minute, 25free local SMS and
one subscription alert service free for 3months.
 Bharti Tele-Ventures enters into a three year service agreement with Ericsson.
 Bharti Tele-Ventures (BTVL) has signed and received unified access service license to
provide GSM services in five circles including Uttar Pradesh (East), West Bengal
&Andaman Nicobar, Orissa, Bihar and Jammu & Kashmir. The license has been granted to
Bharti Cellular Ltd (BCL), the cellular arm and subsidiary of BTVL.
 Airtel announces the signing of the first-ever bilateral roaming agreement between an Indian
mobile service provider and its counterpart in Pakistan. This facility will be available to pre-
paid as well as post-paid customers. AirTel's roaming agreement is with Mobil ink, the only
GSM cellular service provider in Pakistan
 Acquires switching systems from Tekelec that will give a technological edge to the company
 Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd signed an information technology outsourcing deal with InfoTech
major IBM, estimated to be in the range of 0-750 million for a ten-year period.
 Jayant Khosla, new chief executive officer, Mumbai Signs MoU to join the South East Asia -
Middle East - Western Europe 4(SEA-ME-WE-4) consortium along with 15 other global
telecom operators.
 Bharti Tele-Ventures has struck a deal with Shyam Telecom to buy out the latter's 67.5 per
cent stake in cellular services company Hexacom for Rs430 crore.
 Bharti Tele garners 0 m via FCCBs
 Samsung India Electronics Limited has tied up with cellular operator Bharti for bundling its
mobile handsets with a connection.
 The Bharti group finalized an Rs500-crore deal to share its national long-distance (STD)
network with VSNL in a first-of-its-kind accord between two top telecom service providers
in a bid to optimize capacities in the NLD segment.
 Internet gateway and services provider, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (VSNL) has signed a
right to Use (RoU) agreement to deploy mobile telephony major, Bharti Tele-Ventures
„existing National Long Distance (NLD) backbone.
 Airtel offers talk time transfer service
 Airtel has announced money-back guarantee offer in case of call drop or poor network
experience for its subscribers
 Bharti launches 2-in-1 card.
 Airtel launched two-way international roaming and GPRS for prepaid customers in the
Maharashtra and Goa circles
 India's leading cellular company Bharti Tele-Ventures has bagged the Asian Mobile News
operator of the year award in India and the subcontinent
 Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd has awarded a million equipment contract to Swedish telecoms
company Ericsson
 Bharti Televentures announced formation of a new strategic business unit to offer various
telecom and IT services through a single contact
 Bharti Televentures unveiled a mobile portal featuring sports, entertainment and news among
others
 Airtel ties up with Micro Tech to set up 'Mcops' vehicle security system
 Bharti Tele-Venture on July 19 launched ring back tone service which is a personalized
mobile music service where the caller hears songs and other sound clips instead of the
traditional switchboard ring-ring tone
 Airtel, a private telecom services provider, has commissioned its first24x7 customer service
centre in Andhra Pradesh Airtel unveils Rs 199 pre paid card
 AirTel join hands with NMIMS to offer executive MBA programme
 AirTel introduces new scheme for hearing impaired in Maharashtra & Goa
 AirTel inks pact with JP Mobile
 AirTel unveils first virtual calling cards in India
 BTVL rolls out EDGE services in Bangalore
 Airtel rolls out Full Talk time Advantage card
 Airtel rolls out Wi-Fi services in Mumbai
 BTVL launches new 'Airtel Broadband Friendly Offer'
 Airtel launches GPRS services for pre-paid customers
 Airtel partners with ITPO to set up Wi-Fi network in Delhi
 Airtel launches EDGE services and a new pre-paid plan for Chennai
 Airtel introduces LAS in Karnataka 2005
 Airtel launches video services for its GPRS customers on February 22,2005 28
 Airtel unveils new TV ad featuring Sachin, Sharukh

 Bharti Tele-Ventures launches telecom network in Andaman & Nicobar

 BTVL unveil fixed line, broadband services

 Bharti inks5 -m deal with Nokia for rural network expansion

 Bharti Tele Ventures Ltd has announced that Airtel, ICICI Bank & VISA have joined hands
to launch mChq - a revolutionary new service - a credit card on the mobile phone

 Bharti Tele Ventures - Airtel introduces BlackBerry Connect in India

 Bharti Tele Ventures announces agreement with Vodafone

 Airtel unveils 'free flight' offer  Airtel unveils starter pack

 Bharti Tele-Ventures launches under sea cable system 2006

 Airtel unveils Re 1 STD plans  Airtel launches NetXpert.

 Airtel launches Post2 Pre recharging service on April 04,2006

 Airtel sets up customer centre  Mobile service provider Airtel today announced the launch
of `Save My Phone Contact „service for its pre-paid and post-paid customers in Delhi

 Bharti Tele Ventures bags 'Wireless Service Provider of the Year' & 'Competitive Service
Provider of the Year' awards Sunil Mittal bags CEO of the Year award

 Cellebrum join hands with Airtel  Airtel Mega unveiled in Coimbatore

 Airtel joins hand with Microsoft

 Bharti Airtel Ltd has informed that Microsoft and the Company announced a strategic
partnership that will offer a range of software and services for small and medium businesses
(SMBs) in India.

 Bharti Airtel Ltd on Nov8, announced a first-of-its-kind alliance with the Adani Group for
establishing an end-to-end modern telecommunication network infrastructure for the latter’s
 Multi-sector special economic zone (SEZ), located near Mundra Port in Kutch district of
Gujarat. 2007 Bharti Airtel, telecom major, has come out with a slew of initiatives including
buying OutSingTel‟s50 per cent stake in joint venture undersea cable company Network i2i
for 0 million.
 Bharti Airtel on Feb 11, has been awarded QCI-DL Shah National Award on Economics of
Quality.

 Bharti Airtel Ltd has announced the following changes in the operational leadership structure
and roles in the Company effective April 01,2007

 Bharti Airtel Ltd on April 01,2007 , has announced the reduction in International Long
Distance Tariffs (ISD) for all its mobile customers in India.

 Airtel signs agreement with HTC for touch screen mobile 2008

 Nokia Siemens Networks on Jan3declared that it has been awarded a multi million euro
contract from Bharti Airtel Ltd for deployment of a single interactive voice response (IVR)
platform across23 circles. The three-year turnkey contract comprises designing, planning,
systems integration and optimization services to raise overall customer experience. The new
IVR solution will enable Airtel to deliver services such as voices, televoting, call
management services, caller ring back tone and voice portal on a faster time-to-market basis
and, therefore, reduce OPEX costs.

 Bharti Airtel Ltd on February 1 2008 has announced that it has achieved the60 million
customer marks. This landmark has catapulted Bharti Airtel into the club of top mobile
operators in the world in terms of subscriber base. The 60 million customer base covers
mobile as well as fixed line and broadband customers.

 Bharti Airtel tied up with US-based Apple Inc to bring the popular GSM-based iPhone in the
country.

 Bharti Airtel Ltd has forged a technology alliance with Infosys Technologies Ltd to launch
its Direct-to-Home (DTH) television services. Infosys, through its digital convergence
platform, will offer a suite of products including devices, application servers and interactive
applications for Airtel's DTH services. 2009
 Bharti Airtel HAS signed a five-year managed services deal valued at 0 million withAlcatel
Lucent for its fixed-line and broadband operations.

 Bharti Airtel launched the 'Airtel Advantage' initiative. The initiative is aimed at offering the
added advantage to Airtel customers to be in touch with each other at an affordable rate of 50
paisa per minute, be it a national long distance call (STD) or local call.

 In order to create products and services for the small, medium and large enterprises, Bharti
Airtel and Cisco announced a strategic business alliance. The alliance would combine the
strengths of Airtel's network service and Cisco' Internet Protocol (IP) technologie
 Bharti Airtel - Airtel and mChek announce milestone of One Million users; introduce a broad
range of new mCommerce services. 2010

 Bharti Airtel submitted its bid for 3G spectrum, the auction for which starts from April l9th.
2.5. CORPOATE GOVERNANCE

Integrity and Ethics

 The partners will conduct all its dealings in a very ethical manner and with the highest
business standards.

 All partners with a business relationship with Bharti Airtel shall comply with the highest-
level of integrity and ethical practices.

 The partners will provide all possible assistance to Bharti Airtel in order to investigate any
possible instances of unethical behavior or business conduct violations by its employee.
 Partner will disclose forthwith any breach of these provisions that comes to their knowledge
to allow for timely action in their prevention and detection.

 Partners will adopt appropriate processes to prevent offering any illegal gratification in the
form of bribes or kickbacks either in cash or in kind in the course of all dealings with us. Any
instances of such violations will be viewed in a serious manner and Bharti Airtel reserves the
right to take all appropriate actions or remedies as may be required under the circumstances.

 All partners are required to confirm their compliance to ethical dealings on an annual basis
by signing a certificate to this effect as per Bharti Airtel's standard annual certificate. Any
ethical or integrity issues observed or encountered while dealing with Bharti Airtel shall be
bought to the notice of Bharti Airtel’s senior management or the Head of Internal Audit
immediately. Environment, health and safety Suppliers dealing with Bharti Airtel shall
comply and adhere to all laws, regulations and guidelines on environment, health and safety.
Suppliers will ensure that all new service offerings as well as new product designs are
incompliance with the relevant environmental regulation and guidelines, at the time of
implementation at Bharti Airtel. Protection of Intellectual Property the Partner:  Shall
comply with the guidelines for use of the trademarks and trade names notified by the
Company (including but not limited to 'Bharti' and 'Airtel') and shall not use the Company
trademarks and trade names without the prior written consent of the Company.

 Shall, under no circumstances, advertise or use Bharti Airtel's name to market its own
product or associate its company with Bharti Airtel. If a partner spots any counterfeit or
infringing Company product/service, the partner shall immediately notify Bharti Airtel. Shall
not reproduce, in whole or in substantial part, any copyrighted work in hard copies, prints,
video or electronic copies in violation of the copyright laws including the Bharti Airtel's
Partner Manual. Bharti Airtel's intellectual property also resides in trade secrets or know-
haws. Trade secrets are technical, commercial or other information unknown to the public,
which can bring economic benefits to its owner. Documents that contain trade secrets and
available to the Partner shall be safeguarded and not shared by the Partner with any third
party without prior written consent of Bharti Airtel.
 Domestic and international trade controls Suppliers shall understand and follow applicable
domestic and international trade control and customs laws and regulations, including, but not
limited to those relating to licensing, shipping and import documentation and reporting and
record retention requirements Conflict of Interest Suppliers will ensure they do not engage in
any personal dealings with Bharti employees, especially those that they interact with on
Bharti business matters.

PARTNER POLICY
1. Airtel would strive to conduct its business in a manner that reflects its vision and brand
essence. As the sourcing base expands, Airtel will only do business with partners who are
committed to a long term relationship focusing on mutual growth and trust. All Partners are
responsible for making sure that Airtel's vision and brand essence is adhered to when
subcontracting any portion of their obligations. Partners are individually responsible for
ensuring that their employees understand Airtel's vision and brand essence. Regulatory
Compliance All Partners of Airtel must operate within the bounds of all applicable laws.
They must also adhere to the governing standards of the country and international countries
in which they conduct business. If at any time a Partner ceases to meet any statutory and/or
other requirement of the country in which they are doing business, Airtel reserves the right
to immediately cancel all its outstanding orders with that Partner as well as terminate its
agreement with the Partner. Corporate Citizenship Airtel believes in Corporate Citizenship.
Airtel is committed to protecting the environment wherever it does business. As a
responsible corporate citizen we will favor those Partners who share our commitment to the
community and the environment, as well as those who conform to all local requirements
regarding environmental codes and guidelines. Corporate Citizenship All potential partners
are required to undergo the registration process to be considered for business with Airtel. On
successful completion, the partner would be added to Airtel's Supplier Base and a
registration code would be provided. Only registered partners would be considered for new
business opportunities. The registration code would be rendered inactive for Partner
performing a service or supplying products without the proper authorization would do so at
its own cost and risk. Confidentiality Airtel will treat information received from Partners in
a responsible fashion, and expects Partners to treat information received from Airtel in the
same manner. Partners should not disclose BhartiAirtel as a customer, documentation
received from Bharti Airtel or release information about relationships with Bharti Airtel
without written consent (should such disclosures be legally required, Bharti Airtel will not
unreasonably withhold that permission, which must be obtained in advance and in writing).
Partner Satisfaction Airtel would conduct an annual partner satisfaction survey and use it as
an important tool to continuously improve and further develop its internal and external
processes with partners. In order to obtain an unbiased feedback, the survey would be
conducted by an independent external agency. Partner Awards Airtel recognizes consistent
performance of its partners annually by presenting performance awards. The awards would
be primarily based on the partner performance score card. Awards would be announced and
presented during the partners meets. Consistent & good performers would also be entitled to
better share of business and other benefits, as would be announced from time to time by
Bharti Airtel. Partner Disengagement Airtel reserves the right to cancel all orders and/or
contracts with a partner in cases where there is an unethical practice used, code of conduct
violation, partner bankruptcy or insolvency, ownership transfer and/or any other reason
deemed fit for disengagement. Airtel would follow a structured approach for disengagement
to ensure the smooth transitioning where separation becomes inevitable. Partner Grievance
Airtel's Partner grievance process ensures a Partner's ability to access Airtel's corporate
assurance group and leadership to address concerns, grievances, or complaints relating to
the contracting award process for products or services, or in general‟s Partner who believes
that a contract award decision was not determined appropriately must file a written
grievance using the Partner Grievance form stating facts and concerns. The completed form
must be sent via e-mail to central.scm@airtel.in A Partner who has a general concern,
grievance & complaint must file a written grievance using the Partner Grievance form
stating facts and concerns. Complete form must be sent to the supplier Ombudsperson at
Airtel via e-mail Ombudsperson@airtel.in
 CHAPTER-3 THE
COMPETITIVE AREA
3.1 COMPETITORS PROFILE
Vodafone Essar- Vodafone Essar, previously Hutchison Essar is a cellular operator in India that
covers 16 telecom circles in India . Despite the official name being Vodafone Essar, its products
are simply branded Vodafone. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage
throughout India and is especially strong in the major metros. Vodafone Essar provides2G
services based on 900 MHz and 1800 MHz digital GSM technology, offering voice and data
services in 16 of the country's 23license areas. marketing strategy. The company also offers
special discounts and offers to its subscribers. Apart from that Airtel has been hiring several
figures from Bollywood right from the legendary AmitabhBachhan to VidyaBalan as their brand
ambassadors. The God of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar too has been a part of their advertisement
campaigns too. The advantage of Airtel is that I goes regional with its advertisement efforts.
Some salient points about the promotions of Airtel are  Uses ATL and BTL activities  Makes
an effort to go regional  Recent rebranding effort has failed in the market  Has good word of
mouth and a good brand image second only to Vodafone. Price in the marketing mix of Airtel
The company uses competitive pricing strategy just like any other network providers because of
the competition which is present in this sector. However, Airtel also provides flexible pricing
mechanism depending on the prevailing market conditions. For instance, when the company
relaxes taxation, it also reduces its prices across all affected products. The make my plan
introduced by Airtel was a smart strategy as customers could now modify their plan as they see
fit. Analysis of Advertisements and Marketing Campaigns  Airtel Jingle by A. R. Rahaman 16
states, 600 million people, one service provider One network that connects India, like A.R
Rahaman moves India with his music. TG: People who need wireless network , people who want
to connect on the go, people who want to be the part of the revolution of wireless
communication. This music went on to become the “Airtel Signature Tune”. Growth of the
company as Hutchison Essar- In 1992 Hutchison Whampoa and its Indian business partner
established a company that in 1994 was awarded a license to provide mobile telecommunications
services in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) and launched commercial service as Hutchison Max in
November 1995. Analjit Singh of Max still holds 12% in company. By the time of Hutchison
Telecom's Initial Public Offering in 2004, Hutchison Whampoa had acquired interests in six
mobile telecommunications operators providing service in 13 of India's23 license areas and
following the completion of the acquisition of BPL that number increased to 16. In2006, it
announced the acquisition of company thatheld license applications for the seven remaining
license areas. In a country growing as fast as India, a strategic and well managed business plan is
critical to success. Initially, the company grew its business in the largest wireless markets in
India – in Cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. In these densely populated urban areas it was
able to establish a robust network, well known brand and large distribution network -all vital to
long-term success in India. Then it also targeted business users and high-end post-paid customers
which helped Hutchison Essar to consistently generate a higher Average Revenue per User
("ARPU") than its competitors.  Communication Boundaries ‘Express yourself platform making
the breaking of communication barriers its focal point.’ “Deewarein gir jaati hain, Faasle mit
jaate hain, Jahan do baatein ho jaati hain (Barriers break when people talk)”. Connecting
cultures, longing to communicate without any barriers the society places, making new friends,
caring, unity, peace, free mindedness. TG: long distance relationship  Street Performer “Dil Jo
Chahe Pass Laye” Wherever you go, carry your entertainment with you. Entertainment anywhere
any day…. TG: On the Go entertainment lovers, Demanding.  Har Ek Friend Zaroori hota Hai
Besides entertaining one and all with its catchy jingle, the ad served to position Airtel as a brand
that stands for friendship, and helps one to stay in touch with all kinds of friends.  Jo Tera Hai
Wo Mera Hai “Friendship is all about sharing” Picturisation: vibrant, peppy, colorful and pretty
much bursting with youth, and the upbeat mood of the ad is complemented by an anthem that has
started creating quite a buzz on the digital space.
adopting this focused growth plan, it was able to establish leading positions in India's largest
markets providing the resources to expand its footprint nationwide. IDEA CELLULAR- Idea
Cellular is a wireless telephony company operating in various states in India. It initially started in
1995 as a join venture between the Tatas, Aditya Birla Group and AT&T by merging Tata
Cellular and Birla AT&T Communications. Initially having a very limited footprint in the GSM
arena, the acquisition of Escotel in 2004 gave Idea a truly pan-India presence covering
Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai), Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh (East and West), Haryana, Kerala, Rajasthan and Delhi (inclusive of
NCR).The company has its retail outlets under the "Idea n' U" banner. The company has also
been the first to offer flexible tariff plans for prepaid customers. It also offers GPRS services in
urban areas. Presently, operations exist in 11 Service Areas covering Delhi, Maharashtra, Goa,
Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Haryana, UP-West,
Himachal Pradesh, UP-East, Rajasthan and Kerala. With a customer base of over 23 million,
IDEA Cellular’s footprint currently covers approximately 60% of India's telecom population A
frontrunner in introducing revolutionary tariff plans; IDEA Cellular has the distinction of
offering the most customer friendly and competitive Pre Paid offerings, for the first time in India
in an increasingly segmented market Customer Service and Innovation are the drivers of this
Cellular Brand. A brand known for their many firsts, Idea is only operator to launch GPRS and
EDGE in the country. Idea has received international recognition for its path-breaking
innovations when it won the GSM Association Award for "Best Billing and Customer Care
Solution" for 2 Consecutive years. IDEA Cellular is part of the Aditya Birla Group, a US$ 24
billion corporation with a market cap of US$ 31.5 billion and in the league of Fortune 500.
Anchored by an extraordinary force of over 100,000 employees belonging to 25 different
nationalities, over 50% of its revenues flow from its overseas operations. With ambitious future
plans, the company is poised for rapid growth across the whole country. The Brand Idea : It is
almost impossible to disintegrate brand Idea from the corporate Idea. Brand values are the
company values and vice versa. The Brand Vision : It goes without saying that the brand vision
of idea mirrors the Company’s vision The brand mission statement is... To be the most customer-
focused mobile service brand, continuously innovating to help liberate our customers from the
shackles of time& space RELIANCE COMMUNICATIONS- Reliance Communications
(formerly Reliance Infocomm), along with Reliance Telecom and Flag Telecom, is part of
Reliance Communications Ventures (RCoVL). According to National Stock Exchange data, Anil
Ambani controls 66.75per cent of the company, which accounts for more than 1.36 billion shares
of the company. Reliance Infocomm is an Indian telecommunications company. It is the flagship
company of the Reliance-Anil DhirubhaiAmbani Group, comprising of power (Reliance
Energy), financial services (Reliance Capital)and telecom initiatives of the Reliance ADA
Group. Reliance Infocomm is currently managed byAnil Dhirubhai Ambani. It uses CDMA 2000
1x technology. company profile On November 15th 1999, Reliance infocomm begins its project
planning. The founder of RELIANCE INFOCOMM, Dhirubhai Ambani dream was ³Make a
phone call cheaper than a postcard and you will usher in a revolutionary transformation in the
lives of millions of Indians‟. In 2000, optic fiber laying process commences in Gujarat, Andhra
Pradesh and Maharashtra. In 2001, first media convergence Node made ‘Ready for Electronics´
at Jaipur. In 2002, first Base Transceiver Station (BTS) made ³Ready for Electronics´. Then in
same year company obtains International Long Distance License from Govt. of India. After that
they establish 1st point of Interconnect in New Delhi and on December 27, Honorable Prime
Minister of India Atal BihariVajpayee inaugurates RELIANCE INFOCOMM. Then year 2003
starts which was the most successful year for Reliance Communications strategic business units-
The business of Reliance Communications is organized into three strategic customer facing
business units: Wireless, Global, and Broadband. In addition, one of the wholly owned
subsidiaries of Reliance Communications is engaged in the marketing and distribution of
wireless handsets. Their strategic business units are supported by our fully integrated, state-of-
the-art network and operations platform and by the largest retail distribution and customer
service facilities of any communications service provider in India. TATA TELESERVICES-
COMPANY PROFILE- Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) is part of the Tata Group of
Companies, an Indian Conglomerate. It runs the brand name Tata Indicomin India in various
telecom circles of India. The company forms part of the Tata Group's presence in the
Telecommunication Industry in India.TTSL was incorporated in 1995 and was the first company
to offer CDMA Mobile services in India, specifically in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Tata is the
direct competitor with other operators in India. The company provides unified
telecommunication solutions including mobile, fixed wireless, fixed line and broadband. Other
competitors like Vodafone, Airtel, Aircel, Idea MTNL and BSNL providing GSM based mobile
telephony. The company was first in India to provide free intra network calling within city limits.
They launched a unique scheme providing lifetime rental free connectivity on its mobile and
fixed wireless for a one-time charge. The Tata Group's commitment to building a substantial
presence in India's telecom industry has seen it play a leading role in the development of the
country's communications infrastructure. The telecom services of the Group are offered under
the brand name Tata Indicom, and cover all segments, from retail and enterprise to wholesale
and international. The objective is to make TataIndicom the preferred telecommunications choice
of customers across the country. The TataIndicom Enterprise Business Unit (TIEBU) is the
central, specialized enterprise sales and marketing unit for the Tata Group's telecom initiatives.
The unit is the benchmark telecom player in the enterprise space and was formed with a view to
providing customized, end-to-end voice and data solutions to customers across India. It delivers
cost-effective, integrated solutions that are designed to fulfill the most complex communication
needs. Tata Indicom offers you a range of products and services like Wireless Internet, Wireless
US Modem and Mobile Phones so you are always connected. Landline Phones Net Telephony
Internet & Broadband It has partnered with Motorola, Ericsson, Lucent and ECI Telecom for the
deployment of a reliable, technologically advanced network. The company, which heralded
convergence technologies in the Indian telecom sector, is today the market leader in the fixed
wireless telephony market with a total customer base of over 3.8 Million BHARAT SANCHAR
NIGAM LTD.COMPANY OVERVIEW Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited provides
telecommunications services in India. Its services include wire line and cellular services, as well
as other value added services, such as voice mail service, short message service (SMS), group
messaging, national and international roaming, call forwarding, corporate virtual private
network, call conferencing, friend and family talk, call waiting, and call holding services. The
company also provides3G; wireless in local loop (WLL)mobile telephone; Internet; Web-
hosting; Web co-location; SMS and bulk SMS; and broadband services. In addition, it offers
managed network services; multi protocol label switching based virtual private network (VPN)
services; integrated services digital network (ISDN) services; data communication services;
intelligent network services consisting of toll free phone service, universal access number, voice
VPN, televoting, and virtual calling cards; and video, audio, and Web conferencing services.
Further, the company provides fleet management solution comprising track, an on-line tracking
system to manage fleet, such as trucks, car carriers, trailers, tankers, containers, or vehicles
carrying hazardous and specialty explosive chemicals; net services for use in various
applications, including electronic mail services, corporate communications, information retrieval,
database services, remote job applications, credit card verifications, travel reservations, and
Internet connectivity; telex/telegraph services;PABX/EPABX services; and DSPT services, as
well as offers VSAT, voice over Internet protocol, and IN services. Bharat Sanchar Nigam
Limited was founded in 2000 and is based in New Delhi, India.
3.2 MARKETING STRATEGY BY AIRTEL

Bharti decided to design different marketing strategies for different circles depending on the
strategies, employed by the competitors. While the company was focusing on its pricing
strategies, its competitors in various sectors were concentrated on new service offerings and
value additions since the players almost immediately matched price reduction moves, companies
had begun focusing on developing value-added offerings and schemes to expand their market
and gain customer loyalty. Analysts remarked that the players were coming up with new
schemes or value-additions almost every week to get the better of their competitors. Organization
Structure BhartiAirtel announced a new organization structure for its operations in India and
South Asia. The new structure has been aimed at driving greater business and functional
synergies, providing a common interface to customers, and creating a de- layered and more agile
organization. In addition, the new structure would provide more meaningful, empowered roles
and enhance employee engagement. The transformed organisation structure had two distinct
Customer Business Units (CBU) with clear focus on B2C (Business to Customer) and B2B
(Business to Business) segments. BhartiAirtel’s B2C business unit would serve 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 consisted of Consumer Business and Market Operations.
Market Operations group would lead the ‘go-to-market’ strategy. This vertical would take
products and services to customers in South Asia with speed and efficiency. Market Operations
would complement the Consumer Business by building a robust ‘go-tomarket’ ecosystem and
leverage BhartiAirtel’s vast distribution reach. Market Operations in India & South Asia was be
divided in three regions (each headed by an Operations Director): North, East & Bangladesh;
South & Sri Lanka; and West. The B2B business unit would continue its focus on serving large
corporate and carriers through BhartiAirtel’s wide portfolio of telecommunication solutions.
Organizational Culture The company has put in place a culture statement to capture its HR
strategy and has named it as ‘AIR culture’. The statement reads as follows: “Our values are
imbibed in what we do and how we do it”. To further elaborate on this, three elements have been
introduced which are as follows: Alive – This means that the company’s employees are alive to
the needs of the customers. They are driven by passion, energy and a can-do attitude. The Airtel
family believes that there is always a way to do things and they would not accept a ‘no’ for an
answer. Inclusive –Airtel recognizes that it is in the business of serving diverse communities and
it necessitates to align employees to their diverse customer group in terms of working,
anticipating, adapting & delivering solutions enrich their lives. Respectful – The company staff
are always reminded of the fact that humility and honesty are the necessary qualities for
achieving mutual respect for customers and communities at large, since any company exists in
relation to these stakeholders and Airtel is not an exception to the case. .By constantly keeping
itself abreast with the moves of its competitors and launching various proactive/reactive
schemes, Bharti was able to retain its leadership position. Despite continual attacks from
Vodafone, Reliance, Idea Cellular and BSNL, Bharti cellular services received good high
response in all circles during 2005 It was reported that in Mumbai,60-75% of customers seeking
Airtel services were BPL Mobile and Hutch subscribers. In fact, it was becoming difficult for the
company to activate cellular connections in Mumbai swiftly on account of the high rush ± in
some cases; it took almost three days to activate a connection. 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 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 Delhi it essmind, the Airtel campaign began to focus on the utility of Cell
phone. In the first four months alone Airtel's advertisement spends exceeded Rs.4 crores. As of
today the awareness level is60% unaided. This implies that if potential or knowledgeable
consumers are asked to name cellular phone service provider that is on the top of his/her
mind60% 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 hows 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 realized 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. People who have booked Airtel services have been treated to exclusive premiers
of block buster movies. Airtel has tied up with Lufthansa to offer customer bonus miles on the
German airlines frequent flier's programs. There have been educational campaigns, image
campaigns, pre launch advertisements, launch advertisements, congratulatory advertisements,
promotional advertisements, attacking advertisements and tactical advertisements. Bharti decided
to design different marketing strategies for different circles depending on the strategies,
employed by the competitors. While the company was focusing on its pricing strategies, its
competitors in various sectors were concentrated on new service offerings and value additions
since the players almost immediately matched price reduction moves, companies had begun
focusing on developing value-added offerings and schemes to expand their market and gain
customer loyalty. Analysts remarked that the players were coming up with new schemes or
value-additions almost every week to get the better of their competitors. Organization Structure
BhartiAirtel announced a new organization structure for its operations in India and South Asia.
The new structure has been aimed at driving greater business and functional synergies, providing
a common interface to customers, and creating a de- layered and more agile organization. In
addition, the new structure would provide more meaningful, empowered roles and enhance
employee engagement. The transformed organisation structure had two distinct Customer
Business Units (CBU) with clear focus on B2C (Business to Customer) and B2B (Business to
Business) segments. BhartiAirtel’s B2C business unit would serve 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 consisted of Consumer Business and Market Operations. Market Operations group
would lead the ‘go-to-market’ strategy. This vertical would take products and services to
customers in South Asia with speed and efficiency. Market Operations would complement the
Consumer Business by building a robust ‘go-tomarket’ ecosystem and leverage BhartiAirtel’s
vast distribution reach.

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'. Human Resource Management Strategies at Airtel Airtel strives
to align its HR strategy with its corporate strategy. The HR team kept checking to see if the
organization teams had the attitude that would help realize the vision of the company. The
emphasis of the HR team has been aligning the corporate objectives with those of the various
groups objectives and individual objective of the company. The emphasis of the company has
been to recruit young people. The average age is just 26 years. The company wanted to bring in
young entrants and mould them as per the business organization and at the same time, enhance
their interaction and creativity . Senior management was advised by the HR management to walk
the talk. The employees were encouraged to put forward their views openly and, at the same
time, to play a more proactive role in team building efforts. This was further augmented by a
reward and recognition system coupled with a strong training program. The motto behind the
training programs was – “We let our employee decide their training needs, and if the individual
does not know what his training needs are, then we don’t need him”. The company put in place a
state-of-the-art learning centre to encourage employees to log on to customized training program
developed by British Telecom (BT), as a part of the continuous development of its employees.
Airtel seeks to certify every employee on quality and IT and the motto behind that is – “To be
ahead in the business, we need to train, develop and re-certify our employees on a continuous
basis”. HR steering committee (HRSC) of the company has been the focal point of all the HR
activity of the company. HRSC consists of the CEO, the COO and all other functional heads.
The committee meets once a week to discuss various initiatives and the plan of action on the
same. As a part of the planning process, the entire organization is measured on five performance
parameters: profitability, market share, brand saliency, customer satisfaction, and employee
satisfaction. Further, each employee is given individual targets, that are linked to these five
parameters. Performance-related bonuses gave further boost to these activities and around 60%
of the employees have been on a variable pay structure. The organization also conducts an
internal employee satisfaction survey called PACE (Progressive Assessment of Culture and
Environment), the inputs of which go into the company’s annual strategy. A philosophy of
constant monitoring has been inculcated to make the system as transparent and efficient as
possible. ‘Measurement Boards’ for every department are prominently displayed where the
performance indicators of the same are displayed graphically. This is with a notion that only
through constant feedback an individual can perform at the level expected of him/her. Along
with this, formal job description documents which clearly capture the KRAs are issued to all
employees. The HR department endeavors to constitute cross-functional teams in times of
product or service launches. Such teams typically constitute high performers from each
department. A host of key HR initiatives like the managers’ communication forum, the ‘open
house’ , ‘family group meetings’, HR intranet add as supportive HR initiatives as part of the
process. Specific HR Policies Adopted by Airtel To augment the above HR strategy, the
company has embarked on a series of innovative and important HR policies with a view to
integrate the business policies and strategies of the company with those of people related
companies. Company with a view to derive competitive advantage through people and their
development have initiated the following HR policies: Recruitmentand Selection In BhartiAirtel,
recruitment and selection policy seems to follow a system commonly found in a corporate set up
in the private sector. It starts with the manpower budgeting at the end of the financial year, where
the top management and the Head of the Departments (HODs) are involved. Wherever there is a
vacant position, the concerned manager requests for manpower through Manpower Requisition
Form (MRF). This has to be then approved by the GM-HR. On approval the form is forwarded to
the recruitment manager. The CVs are sourced using various methods and initial screening takes
place. The shortlisted candidates are required to fill a format and mark the date of functional
interview. Once this is done, the shortlisted candidates are called for interview as per the
requirements (qualifications and experience of the candidate are matched with the requirement).
The functional interview is conducted by the function manager. Once, the candidate is through
this stage, he/she is scheduled for salary negotiations with the HR. Once, all conditions are
satisfied and an agreement is reached, the offer letter is issued. Talent Management As a part of
development of talent pipeline, Airtel initiated two specific programs:  BhartiAirtel Young
Leader Program (BYLP) -This program is created with a view to create a future pool pf business
leaders drawn from premium business schools across the country to instill a fresh and energetic
outlook into the working of the organization. The young leaders are provided with leadership
inputs on periodic basis and an accelerated career track, which would enable them to be a part of
the higher level management positions, a much needed initiative for effective succession
planning within the company.  Technical Leaders Program - BhartiAirtel attracts and absorbs
the finest talent from the most prestigious technical campuses across India. The objective of the
program is to create a “future technology leadership pool” that will not only infuse fresh energy
into the organization, but also generate a constant stream of talent in order to deliver superior
business performance. A combination of technical training and on-the-job skill and knowhow
helps technical leaders understand different aspects of the department for smooth functional role-
play. Performance management At Airtel, the HR team measures the individual’s performance
linked to Organizational goals by giving employees a feedback, rewarding them, based on their
achievements against set performance goals and required competencies and working out a plan
for their development. The method which Airtel follows for Appraisal is 180-degree.
Performance Management System (PMS) at Airtel includes, developing job descriptions,
selecting appropriate people with an appropriate selection process and providing effective
orientation, education and Training. Coaching and feedback is provided which is followed by
compensation, recognition and reward for people’s contributions. Promotional and career
development opportunities for staff are provided. Leadership and other competencies of
individuals are assessed and improved through various workshops and training programs.
Developmental gaps are identified during PMS and Self Development Plans. Training and
Development Airtel allows the employees to identify their training needs. This motivates the
employee to achieve better results. The company offers ‘study while work’ programmes,
leadership development programs, general management programs, action-learning experiences,
feedback tools and development relationships. The senior management interacts with the
employees through open houses, employee forums and help lines. Airtel in conjunction with
some of the leading institutes across the world like, Centre for Creative Leadership (CCL),
INSEAD Business School, Indian School of Business Hyderabad (ISB), Indian Institute of
Management (Ahmadabad) has developed a suite of customized programs to cater to the top
talent in Junior, Middle and Senior management. These programs cover leadership and general
management skills and enable Airtel to manage the careers of ambitious and talented employees
while build an internal leadership pipeline. The above programs envisage to develop the
following competencies among Airtel employees: Achieving Business Success  Displaying
Entrepreneurial Spirit  Empowering and Developing  Delighting the Customer  Winning with
Others Reward Management Reward and Recognition Policy of BhartiAirtel is exclusive and
it’s the most vital motivation factor for the employees. The success of the rewards and
recognition system at Airtel is attributable to the following measures:  The reward is matched to
the person  The reward is matched to the achievement  The rewards are timely and specific
Some of the areas that are rewarded at Airtel are – cost-saving suggestions, exceptional customer
service and the attainment of sales goals. Employee Benefits at Airtel An array of family friendly
benefits has been designed for the employees:  Flexibility: Employees can opt for flexible work
timings, flexibility to work from home, work from a remote location, or work part time for
specified periods of time.  Day care centre: A day care centre facility is provided within the
office premises to support working parents.  Easy day: A Grocery shopping centre to help
employees take care of their personal chores is available at office.  Health and Fitness Centre:
World-class fitness centre and spa facility in office.  Concierge Desk: Small errands like bill
payments, finding a plumber, etc.  Food Court: Cafeteria has a multi-cuisine food court that
includes counters like Costa Coffee, Banana Leaf and Healthy sip n bite.  Fun@work: At Airtel,
all achievements and launches are celebrated with zest.  Sabbatical Policy: Employees can opt
for leave of 6 months for personal reasons. Leave of up to one year may be applied for, to pursue
higher education.  ESOPs Some of the growth benefits available are as follows:  Career
Progression: Based on the defined career paths, career discussions between ‘employee and
manager’ help them chalk out employees’ career progression. The process supports self-analysis
of employees, keeping in mind their long-term and short-term career plans. At Airtel, career
growth is fuelled by opportunities that help employees diversify into different functions of work.
The opportunities available in all Strategic Business Units (SBUs) across functions are internally
advertised for employees to choose their growth trajectory.  Continuing Education
Opportunities: The program offers a range of courses in General Management, Human
Resources, Marketing & Sales, Finance, IT, Networks and Supply Chain from premier
educational bodies and institutes. Benefits for women include the following:  Maternity/
postnatal benefits: Maternity leave may be extended up to 6 months. Employees may also opt for
flexible work options after joining back from maternity leave.  Mentoring program: Designed
for high potential middle management women employees, the program involves mentormentee
sessions and flexible interactions to encourage a higher ratio of women employees in the top
management.  Social & learning events focused on women’s interests: “Astitva, a celebration of
womanhood” organizes events such as senior leadership interactions, health awareness programs,
parenting workshops, etc. Corporate Governance at Airtel BhartiAirtel has a firm belief in
maintaining transparency with a view to maximizing shareholder value with a long-term basis.
The company has, therefore, embarked on developing sound policies and practices related to
corporate governance for this purpose. The company’s commitment towards compliance is
backed up by an independent and fully informed Board, comprehensive processes, policies and
communication. Due attention is paid by the company to ensure that various disclosures required
are compiled in both ‘letter and spirit’ for effective corporate governance. For this purpose, the
company has created the office of an ombudsperson, which is an independent forum for
employees and external stakeholders of the company to raise concerns and complaints about
improper practices which are in breach of the Bharti Code of Conduct. If any stakeholder
(employee, associate, strategic partner, vendor) observes unprofessional behavior, he/she can
approach the Ombudsperson to voice his or her concerns. The Office aims to provide a fair and
equitable redressal mechanism. The process is designed to offer protection to the complainant
provided the disclosure is made in good faith and the alleged action constitutes a genuine and
serious breach of Bharti Code of Conduct. The Ombudsperson will treat all disclosures in a
confidential and sensitive manner. Financial Statements of Bharti Airtel The financial statements
of the company has been prepared in accordance with the generally accepted accounting
principles in India (Indian GAAP). The financial statements have been prepared to comply in all
material respects with the accounting standards nortified under section 133of the Companies Act,
2013 read with rule 7 of the Companies(Accounts) Rules, 2014 issued by the Ministry of
Corporate Affairs. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost
convention and on an accrual basis except in case of assets for which revaluation is carried out
and certain derivative financial instruments. Telecom administrator BhartiAirtel's combined
benefit amid July-September quarter declined insignificantly to Rs 1,461 crore from Rs 1,462
crore in past quarter however that was a long ways in front of investigators' evaluations on
superior to expected operational execution. Income amid the quarter slipped 3.5 percent to Rs
24,671.5 crore contrasted and Rs 25,572.9 crore in past quarter, which missed desires.
Remarking on the outcomes, Naveen Kulkarni of Phillip Capital said that EBIDTA numbers
were unquestionably superior to anticipated. He included that incomes didn't spring any shocks
yet EBIDTA numbers were an astonishment. The organization's compelling cost administration
may have prompted to solid edges amid the second quarter, Kulkarni said. BhartiAirtel's
combined EBITDA (profit before intrigue, assessment, devaluation and amortization) fell by 1.3
percent year-on- year to Rs 9,466.2 crore however edge extended by 90 premise focuses to 38.4
percent in Q2, which outperformed investigators' evaluations of Rs 9,250 crore and 36.3 percent,
separately. Edge development proceeded for fourth straight quarters. Bhavesh Gandhi of IIFL
said he anticipates that the stock will see a positive predisposition when the business sectors
open on Wednesday. He said that IIFL keeps up a purchase on the stock. In the interim, Prakash
Diwan of Altamount Capital said the edges and benefit look superior to anything expected
because of rental cost diminishment work out.

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

The pattern of cell phone 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. INTRODUCTION, GROWTH, MATURITY
Marketing objectives
 Create product awareness and trial
 Maximize market share
 Maximize profits whole defending market share

3.3 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 colors 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. 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'. Human Resource Management Strategies at Airtel
Airtel strives to align its HR strategy with its corporate strategy. The HR team kept checking to
see if the organization teams had the attitude that would help realize the vision of the company.
The emphasis of the HR team has been aligning the corporate objectives with those of the
various groups objectives and individual objective of the company. The emphasis of the
company has been to recruit young people. The average age is just 26 years. The company
wanted to bring in young entrants and mould them as per the business organization and at the
same time, enhance their interaction and creativity . Senior management was advised by the HR
management to walk the talk. The employees were encouraged to put forward their views openly
and, at the same time, to play a more proactive role in team building efforts. This was further
augmented by a reward and recognition system coupled with a strong training program. The
motto behind the training programs was – “We let our employee decide their training needs, and
if the individual does not know what his training needs are, then we don’t need him”. The
company put in place a state-of-the-art learning centre to encourage employees to log on to
customized training program developed by British Telecom (BT), as a part of the continuous
development of its employees. Airtel seeks to certify every employee on quality and IT and the
motto behind that is – “To be ahead in the business, we need to train, develop and re-certify our
employees on a continuous basis”. HR steering committee (HRSC) of the company has been the
focal point of all the HR activity of the company. HRSC consists of the CEO, the COO and all
other functional heads. The committee meets once a week to discuss various initiatives and the
plan of action on the same. As a part of the planning process, the entire organization is measured
on five performance parameters: profitability, market share, brand saliency, customer
satisfaction, and employee satisfaction. Further, each employee is given individual targets, that
are linked to these five parameters. Performance-related bonuses gave further boost to these
activities and around 60% of the employees have been on a variable pay structure. The
organization also conducts an internal employee satisfaction survey called PACE (Progressive
Assessment of Culture and Environment), the inputs of which go into the company’s annual
strategy. A philosophy of constant monitoring has been inculcated to make the system as
transparent and efficient as possible. ‘Measurement Boards’ for every department are
prominently displayed where the performance indicators of the same are displayed graphically.
This is with a notion that only through constant feedback an individual can perform at the level
expected of him/her. Along with this, formal job description documents which clearly capture
the KRAs are issued to all employees. The HR department endeavors to constitute cross-
functional teams in times of product or service launches. Such teams typically constitute high
performers from each department. A host of key HR initiatives like the managers’
communication forum, the ‘open house’ , ‘family group meetings’, HR intranet add as supportive
HR initiatives as part of the process. Specific HR Policies Adopted by Airtel To augment the
above HR strategy, the company has embarked on a series of innovative and important HR
policies with a view to integrate the business policies and strategies of the company with those of
people related companies. Company with a view to derive competitive advantage through people
and their development have initiated the following HR policies: Recruitmentand Selection In
BhartiAirtel, recruitment and selection policy seems to follow a system commonly found in a
corporate set up in the private sector. It starts with the manpower budgeting at the end of the
financial year, where the top management and the Head of the Departments (HODs) are
involved. Wherever there is a vacant position, the concerned manager requests for manpower
through Manpower Requisition Form (MRF). This has to be then approved by the GM-HR. On
approval the form is forwarded to the recruitment manager. The CVs are sourced using various
methods and initial screening takes place. The shortlisted candidates are required to fill a format
and mark the date of functional interview. Once this is done, the shortlisted candidates are called
for interview as per the requirements (qualifications and experience of the candidate are matched
with the requirement). The functional interview is conducted by the function manager. Once, the
candidate is through this stage, he/she is scheduled for salary negotiations with the HR. Once, all
conditions are satisfied and an agreement is reached, the offer letter is issued. Talent
Management As a part of development of talent pipeline, Airtel initiated two specific programs:
 BhartiAirtel Young Leader Program (BYLP) -This program is created with a view to create a
future pool pf business leaders drawn from premium business schools across the country to instill
a fresh and energetic outlook into the working of the organization. The young leaders are
provided with leadership inputs on periodic basis and an accelerated career track, which would
enable them to be a part of the higher level management positions, a much needed initiative for
effective succession planning within the company.  Technical Leaders Program - BhartiAirtel
attracts and absorbs the finest talent from the most prestigious technical campuses across India.
The objective of the program is to create a “future technology leadership pool” that will not only
infuse fresh energy into the organization, but also generate a constant stream of talent in order to
deliver superior business performance. A combination of technical training and on-the-job skill.

3.4 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 about60% of the clientele are top
executives of corporate houses. About 15% are foreign organizations 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 afield. 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 cell phone is an expensive means of
communication and drive home the point that the cell phone is actually a day-to-day utility .
While the company was focusing on its pricing strategies, its competitors in various sectors were
concentrated on new service offerings and value additions since the players almost immediately
matched price reduction moves, companies had begun focusing on developing value-added
offerings and schemes to expand their market and gain customer loyalty. Analysts remarked that
the players were coming up with new schemes or value-additions almost every week to get the
better of their competitors. Organization Structure BhartiAirtel announced a new organization
structure for its operations in India and South Asia. The new structure has been aimed at driving
greater business and functional synergies, providing a common interface to customers, and
creating a de- layered and more agile organization. In addition, the new structure would provide
more meaningful, empowered roles and enhance employee engagement. The transformed
organisation structure had two distinct Customer Business Units (CBU) with clear focus on B2C
(Business to Customer) and B2B (Business to Business) segments. BhartiAirtel’s B2C business
unit would serve 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 consisted of Consumer Business
and Market Operations. Market Operations group would lead the ‘go-to-market’ strategy. This
vertical would take products and services to customers in South Asia with speed and efficiency.
Market Operations would complement the Consumer Business by building a robust ‘go-
tomarket’ ecosystem and leverage BhartiAirtel’s vast distribution reach. Market Operations in
India & South Asia was be divided in three regions (each headed by an Operations Director):
North, East & Bangladesh; South & Sri Lanka; and West. The B2B business unit would continue
its focus on serving large corporate and carriers through BhartiAirtel’s wide portfolio of
telecommunication solutions. Organizational Culture The company has put in place a culture
statement to capture its HR strategy and has named it as ‘AIR culture’. The statement reads as
follows: “Our values are imbibed in what we do and how we do it”. To further elaborate on this,
three elements have been introduced which are as follows: Alive – This means that the
company’s employees are alive to the needs of the customers. They are driven by passion,
energy and a can-do attitude. The Airtel family believes that there is always a way to do things
and they would not accept a ‘no’ for an answer. Inclusive –Airtel recognizes that it is in the
business of serving diverse communities and it necessitates to align employees to their diverse
customer group in terms of working, anticipating, adapting & delivering solutions enrich their
lives. Respectful – The company staff are always reminded of the fact that humility and honesty
are the necessary qualities for achieving mutual respect for customers and communities at large,
since any company exists in relation to these stakeholders and Airtel is not an exception to the
case. .By constantly keeping itself abreast with the moves of its competitors and launching
various proactive/reactive schemes, Bharti was able to retain its leadership position. Despite
continual attacks from Vodafone, Reliance, Idea Cellular and BSNL, Bharti cellular services
received good high response in all circles during 2005 It was reported that in Mumbai,60-75% of
customers seeking Airtel services were BPL Mobile and Hutch subscribers. In fact, it was
becoming difficult for the company to activate cellular connections in Mumbai swiftly on
account of the high rush ± in some cases; it took almost three days to activate a connection.
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 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 Delhi it essmind, the Airtel campaign began
to focus on the utility of Cell phone. In the first four months alone Airtel's advertisement spends
exceeded Rs.4 crores. As of today the awareness level is60% unaided. This implies that if
potential or knowledgeable consumers are asked to name cellular phone service provider that is
on the top of his/her mind60% 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 hows 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 realized 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. People who have booked Airtel services have
been treated to exclusive premiers of block buster movies. Airtel has tied up with Lufthansa to
offer customer bonus miles on the German airlines frequent flier's programs. There have been
educational campaigns, image campaigns, pre launch advertisements, launch advertisements,
congratulatory advertisements, promotional advertisements, attacking advertisements and tactical
advertisements. Bharti decided to design different marketing strategies for different circles
depending on the strategies, employed by the competitors. While the company was focusing on
its pricing strategies, its competitors in various sectors were concentrated on new service
offerings and value additions since the players almost immediately matched price reduction
moves, companies had begun focusing on developing value-added offerings and schemes to
expand their market and gain customer loyalty. Analysts remarked that the players were coming
up with new schemes or value-additions almost every week to get the better of their competitors.
Organization Structure BhartiAirtel announced a new organization structure for its operations in
India and South Asia. The new structure has been aimed at driving greater business and
functional synergies, providing a common interface to customers, and creating a de- layered and
more agile organization. In addition, the new structure would provide more meaningful,
empowered roles and enhance employee engagement. The transformed organisation structure
had two distinct Customer Business Units (CBU) with clear focus on B2C (Business to
Customer) and B2B (Business to Business) segments. BhartiAirtel’s B2C business unit would
serve 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 consisted of Consumer Business and Market Operations.
Market Operations group would lead the ‘go-to-market’ strategy. This vertical would take
products and services to customers in South Asia with speed and efficiency. Market Operations
would complement the Consumer Business by building a robust ‘go-tomarket’ ecosystem and
leverage BhartiAirtel’s vast distribution reach.
.PRODUCT POLICY AND PLANNING The product or services the hearts 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 recognized 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 beand 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 optimize 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 Airtel are:- 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 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 Mobile Fax 1 Data Service This service helps the subscriber to send and receive Faxes,
access E-mail, download files from other systems and remotely log on to another computer and
surf the Internet. 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. Caller ID Displays calling person's number. 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. 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 cell phones would be used buy] 
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. The product or services the
hearts 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 recognized 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
beand 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 optimize 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 Airtel are:- 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 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 Mobile Fax 1 Data Service This service helps the subscriber to send
and receive Faxes, access E-mail, download files from other systems and remotely log on to
another computer and surf the Internet. 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. Caller ID Displays calling person's number. Outgoing call
restriction To prevent or limit outgoing calls, for example, in peak hours

CHAPTER- 4: ANALYSIS
4.1 DATA ANALYSIS

FORM PREPARED FOR THE SURVEY

THE RESULT OF THE SURVEY IS AS FOLLOWS:
GSM MOBILE MARKET SHARE IN INDIA

TELECOM COMPANY SHARE {%} BHARTI AIRTEL 30% From the above data its can be
say that Airtel is the leading brand in telecom industry of India, having30% market share and
121.7million customers. And second leading brand is Vodafone with 23.87% market share.
Airtel is most admired brand by consumers India GSM subscribers continue to decline in July
2011 news Operator Total Sub Figures Market Share Bharti Airtel 170,696,526 28.15 %
Vodafone Essar 143,011,007 23.58 % IDEA 96,111,475 15.85 % BSNL 90,234,162 14.88 %
Aircel 58,589,349 9.66 % Uninor 27,388,666 4.52 % Videocon 7,034,876 1.16 % MTNL
5,265,149 0.87 % Loop Mobile 3,162,932 0.52 % S-Tel 3,501,247 0.58 % Etisalat 1,424,554
0.23 % All India 606,419,943 100.00 % .
SWOT ANALYSIS- Strength • Market Leader • Recognized Globally • Strong Brand Image •
Strong New Business Development team • Strong Financials • Largest Telecom Player 22.6%
Weakness • Outsourcing of core system • Network Coverage Opportunities • Low Broadband
Penetration, Rural • Telephony • Bharti Infratel – Cutting Down cost in rural area • Current Tele-
Density – 30.6 is still low among developing countries. Airtel SWOT analysis One of the top
telecommunication companies in India, Airtel has spread across far and wide in the last 2
decades of its existence. The company is known for its availability and its smart range of value
added services. Here we present you the SWOT analysis of Airtel to understand the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the company. Strengths in the SWOT analysis of Airtel
1. Renowned Telecom company: With its 19+ years of rich experience in telecom industry this
MNC had travelled far to become world’s 3rd largest telecom operator overseas with operations
in nearly 20 countries. 2. High Brand Equity: It is one of the pioneer brands in
telecommunication having a high brand recall and with a whopping subscriber base. 3. Extensive
infrastructure: With the formation of Indus tower & due to its partnership with Idea & Vodafone,
the infrastructure of Airtel has extended in all parts of the country resulting into nationwide
penetration. 4. Strategic Alliances: The company has top notch stakeholders, namely Sony
Ericsson, Nokia and singtel, and the recent one being Apple. Such strategic alliances boost the
brand equity and the bottom line of the company. 5. Torchbearer of the telecom Industry: With
its number 1 spot due to its excellent services in developing economies, Airtel has interconnected
the life of people in an highly efficient way. Thus, where Vodafone is an external entrant, Airtel
is a leading nationwide player in India and the torchbearer of the telecom industry in India.
Weaknesses in the SWOT analysis of Airtel 1. Outsourced Operations: Outsourcing operations
helped Airtel in lowering its cost. But on the other hand, they are running the risk of being
dependent on some other companies which may affect its operations. 2. Venturing into African
operations: Although it’s been 4 years that Airtel has acquired Zain’s Africa business, but Airtel
is still struggling to turn around the unit which was bought at a whoppy 9 billion dollars. 3. High
Debt: With its acquisitions turning out to bad investment, and credit being high and margins
being low, Airtel group is under high debt. Airtel does not have as deep pockets as Vodafone.
Opportunities in the SWOT analysis of Airtel 1. Strategic Partnership: Partnering with smart
phone companies is going to be a smart strategy as far as MNP (mobile number portability in
India) is concerned. This will ensure fixed cash flows in the future and a higher customer base. 2.
Market Development: With fierce competition in the telecom industry & shrinking margins,
venturing out in new markets/developing economies will prove fruitful for the company. 3. VAS:
VAS (Value Added services) is going to future of the telecommunication industry & by
specializing itself in this vertical Airtel can differentiate itself in highly competitive market. With
introduction of unique services, Airtel can avail higher margins. 4. Untapped geography of the
current market: Although it is currently providing 3G & 4G services, but these services are
limited to specific geographical locations. Expansion of these services to most of its regions will
help the company get more margins and customers. 5. LTE: The whole wireless world is moving
towards LTE (long term evolution or 4G). LTE for mobile broadband can be a good solution for
India where fixed broadband penetration is otherwise low. Airtel has taken the lead with this
version of LTE in 4 cities, but deployment needs to catch up pace. Despite a weak LTE
ecosystem in India, Airtel should portray itself as the embracer of that technology.

4.2 FINDING 

Bharti Airtel’s Awards and Recognitions (for the year 2016-2017) Bharti Airtel is conferred with
the "Certificate of Recognition for Excellence in Corporate Governance 2016" by the Institute of
Company Secretaries of India (ICSI). Bharti Airtel ranked first in a listing of 100 emerging
market multinational companies by Transparency International on corporate transparency and
reporting. According to the study, the Company topped the list with a cumulative score of 7.3 out
of 10. Bharti Airtel was positioned among the top eight companies in the listing of top BSE 100
listed companies in FTI Consulting’s ‘India Disclosure Index 2016’ Report with a composite
score of 10 out of 10. Bharti Airtel was recognized as the ‘Firm of the Year – Telecom’ at the
3rd edition of ICICI Lombard & CNBC-TV18 India Risk Management Awards. Bharti Airtel
secured the second position in Interbrand’s ‘Best Indian Brands Report 2016’. Bharti Airtel has
been declared winner of ‘Golden Peacock Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance’ for
the year 2016. The product or services the hearts 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 recognized 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 beand 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 optimize
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 Airtel are:- 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 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
Mobile Fax 1 Data Service This service helps the subscriber to send and receive Faxes, access E-
mail, download files from other systems and remotely log on to another computer and surf the
Internet. 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. Caller ID Displays calling person's number. Outgoing call restriction To prevent or limit
outgoing calls, for example, in peak hours

1.Airtel holds number one position in India with 30.86% market share.
2. Earlier Airtel provided SIM cards at very low price or free. But this method was not so
effective because consumers started making it use and throw kind of stuff. By this way company
was being unable to make such stable and long last consumers.
3. Now airtel launches some FRC schemes. So the customer has to pay a amount for a new sim
activation. By this way now consumer age is started being long.
4. Vodafone is the biggest competitor of Airtel in telecom industry.
5. The distributer gives different scheme to different shopkeepers.
6. Mostly retailers are satisfied with Airtel service
7. Some retailers reported that they do not get time to time airtel products.
8. Some retailers are not satisfied with margin policy of Airtel.
9. Earlier the FRC plan61 launched that time some light retailers were facing problem to
convince the customers. Because competitors were providing same plan at low cost.
10. Some Outlets owners are very angry with the company’s performance because they did well
in Airtel mo. Connection but they were not appreciated by the company
11. Some retailers are facing problem in ID verification policy of Airtel. Because the company
make so strict this procedure.
12. Many customers are diverted to other network due to strictness in id verification.
13. Some retailers reported that the company does not provide enough return on their
performance. 14. Modern trade is very effective concept. In this concept the Airtel is
contributing95% market. And rest 5% covered by all other competitors .

The company lacks nationwide 3G license with spectrum in 13 out of 22 telecom service areas.
Airtel’s LTE network for mobile broadband is still confined to only 4 cities in India. Threats in
the SWOT analysis of Airtel 1. Government Regulatory Framework: With the auction of
spectrum & change in the government policies on a regular basis, it is a potential threat to the
stability & existence of this industry thereby affecting the players. 2. Competition: Price war in
the home market and declining margins due to this is adversely affecting the overall business of
the group. 3. MNP (Mobile number portability): MNP gives the customer independence to
change the service provider while retaining the number and as Airtel charges are premium over
other service providers, it can see slump in subscriber base in the next fiscal year with PAN India
MNP applicable from May 3rd 2015.

4.3 SUGGESTION

 First of all company will provide all its dealers and retailers to all sort of promotion
equipment such as glow sign board, banner, etc. in time so that they increase their sales
which is benefited both retailer as well as company.
 Few outlets are unaware about scheme so proper communication is necessary between
distributor and retailers. Number of hoarding should be increased.
 Company should be lenient in ID verification procedure.
 To increase the consumer as on network, company should make change in its FRC plan for
example the talk value should be divided in two parts.50% of talk value should provide at the
time of activation and rest T.T. provide after gap of some days.
 Company should make understand its retailers about the benefits of consumer as on network.
 Company should give extra return and other bonus, gifts to its retailers so they put their full
efforts to increase the Airtel sales.
 Threats • Falling ARPU • Intense Competition & Shortage of Bandwidth • New Players
coming in India • Uncertain Economic Condition .
 Company should motivate its sales staff so they will pay more concentration in sales and
activation of new connections.
 Company should make some necessary change in its FRC plan. For example company should
divide the talk time in to two time {50% at the time of activation+50% after.

4.4 LIMITATION OF STUDY

 Many retailers do not cooperate and searching of retailer outlet name was much more
difficult as many of them have not put their Shop name in Board.
 Dealers and Retailer do not like to give information of their selling.

4.5 CONCLUSION

 Everything in this world is made to utilize properly but it should be reach at the proper
person or to the proper utilized areas. Otherwise the value added to those things became
in vein. Thus promotion role plays a very important role in achieving the objectives of a
company. Undoubtly, value utility is created by the manufacture of product or service but
time and place utilities are created by marketing role. The various finding and befitting
recommendation have been made to increase the market share of each product (postpaid,
prepaid) of Airtel thereby increasing the market share of Airtel as a whole. Various facts
and data have been enclosed for better perusal and various graphs have been provided for
better comprehension. Sales Promotion techniques yield results that many other
marketing communication elements cannot achieve. Sales promotion that is used in with
the overall long-turn communication strategy of the brand is said to use strategically. A
promotion should not be used for the sole purpose of altering sales in the short run .Sales
promotion is used as a very strategic tool to introduce a new product. Although
advertising plays a large role towards creating awareness and attitude information, sales
promotion used to make new product launch easier and more effective
4.6 BIBLIOGRAPHY

WEB SITES

 http://trak.in/tags/business/2007/06/19/indian-telecommunication-story- From-10-
million-to-150-million-mobile-subscribers-in-5-years/

 http://www.google.co.in/#hl=en&source=hp&q=telecom+industry+in+india+in+2006+t
o+2008&aq=o&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&fp=ab22efe5d2 b8757

 http://airtel.in/wps/wcm/connect/about+ bharti+airtel/Bharti+Airtel/About+Bharti+
Airtel/?
WCM_Page.ResetAll=TRUE&CACHE=NONE&CONTENTCACHE=NONE&CONNE
CTORCACHE=NONE&SRV=Page http://airtel.in/wps/wcm/connect/about+
bharti+airtel/Bharti+Airtel/About+Bharti+Airt el/Our +Brand+Airtel/

 http://www.economywatch.com/world-industries/telecommunications/telecom-industry-
in-india.html

MAGAZINES

 Business today
 India today
 Forbes India