Bharti Airtel targets sizeable market share here
Having established a clear leadership position in the Indian mobile
services market, Bharti Airtel has set its eyes on repeating the success
story in Sri Lanka.
India's leading mobile operator, which got a mobile licence for
offering 2G and 3G services last year, is gearing up for a launch later
this year.
The man in charge of Bharti Airtel's growth story is confident that
the company will corner a sizeable share of the Sri Lankan market.
Manoj Kohli, President and CEO, Bharti Airtel who was in town to
review the company's launch preparations expressed his satisfaction with
the progress made so far.
The company has committed an initial investment of USD 200 million in
Sri Lanka and Kohli said Airtel will bring world-class and affordable
services to customers in Sri Lanka. "Our vision is to be the most
admired brand in India by 2010 and every initiative of ours is aimed
towards that.
Sri Lanka would be no different and we will give our customers the
best in class service and great value," he said.
Kohli, who joined Bharti Airtel in 2002 as head of mobile services
unit and is the President and CEO of the integrated telecom since 2006,
feels one of the biggest contributors to the company's success is its
unique business model based on outsourcing of IT and Networks.
This has transformed Bharti into a company completely focused on the
customer and helped it roll-out its networks rapidly to cover over 71%
of the country's population spread over 342,000 towns and villages. But
above all, it has allowed Bharti Airtel to offer the lowest call rates
in the world.
This increasing affordability has seen the India market take off and
emerge as the fastest growing mobile market in the world.
Kohli is excited about the potential of India's rural markets as
Bharti Airtel aggressively expands into small towns and villages across
India. "We are confident that we will be able to transplant our low cost
model in this market and it will work very well."
Bharti Airtel has already signed a managed networks deal with Huawei
for its Sri Lanka operations. |
