Story of Second Largest Telcom Globally: Bharti Airtel Success Story

Bharti Airtel Ltd., popularly known as Airtel, is an Indian company based in New Delhi, India & a multinational telecommunication provider. It is not only the second-largest mobile operator in India but also the second-largest in the world too. The company has over 355 million subscribers in India alone. It also has around 100 million subscribers from all over the world. It currently operates in 18 countries and provides services like 2G, 4G, & 4G+.

The company was incorporated in 1995 under the Companies Act as a Limited Liability Company. It also provides OTT services Airtel Xtream App, AirtelBlueJeans, Wynk Music, Airtel Payments, Airtel Thank App, etc. It has also partnered with more than a hundred companies to provide high-quality enterprise and consumer services.

BhartiAirtel - Key Points

• Company Type: Public
• Industry: Telecom
• Founder: Sunil Bharti Mittal
• Chairman & CEO: Sunil Bharti Mittal, GopalVittal
• Listings: National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. (NSE) & Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd. (BSE)
• Headquarters: New Delhi, India
• Owners: Bharti Enterprises (64%), Singtel (36%)
• Revenue: $13 billion
• Employees: 17,917 (as of Dec 2020)

Bharti Airtel Story - History

Airtel started in India to promote push-button phone services back in 1984. Sunil Mittal, the founder of the company, was the one such person who saw India as a massive consumer of mobile telecom services. He successfully bid on one of the four licenses for mobile network services in India in 1992. It was also the first company to launch a fax machine and a cordless telephone in India.

Airtel Facts

• The company went Public in 2002 and got listed in the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
• The Airtel's 'Hello Tune': composed by AR Rehman in 2004, was the most popular in that year. It also launched its first international services in Sri Lanka in 2005.

Bharti Airtel - Acquisitions and Mergers

One of the key factors of Airtel being one of the largest telecom service providers in the country is its smart acquisitions and mergers. It helps the company in getting more subscribers, wide geographic coverage, increased revenue, etc. The company has the second-biggest international acquisitions, followed by TATA. Some of the major acquisitions and mergers of the company are:

• Telecom Seychelles - 100% stake for $62 million
• Augere Wireless - 100% stake for $21 million
• Warid Bangladesh and Robi - 70.9% stake for $300 million
• Wireless Business Services Private Ltd. - 49% stake for $130 million
• Telenor India - 100% stake, no cash deal but cost around INR 1600 crore over ten years
• Tata Teleservices and Tata Docomo - 100% stake at INR 7200 crore worth bank guarantee
• Tikona 4G spectrum - 100% stake for INR 1600 crore.

Bharti Airtel - Awards and Honours

• Most Innovative mobile application - ET Telecom Awards, 2020
• Best Broadband Service Provider - ET Telecom Awards, 2020
• Best Partnership for partnering with Telecom Egypt - Telecoms World Middle East Awards, 2019
• Enterprise Telecom Service Provider of the Year - Frost and Sullivan ICT Awards, 2020
• Best Video Experience, Best Voice App, Best Game Experience, Fastest Download Speed Experience - Open Signal Report, 2020
• Best Global Wholesale Carrier, Best Security Solution, Best Voice Service Innovation - Global Carriers Awards, 2019
• Digital Initiate Award - HDFC Bank
• India's 1st music streaming app (Wynk) - App Annie, 2019

Bharti Airtel - Employees

• Free Training Programs,
• Employee Recognition,
• Special Events,
• Gift Certificates,
• Merchandise Incentives,

Employees have to sign a few terms and conditions before joining the company and, it states that they are working of their own will.

They have genuine disciplinary work in the company. Also, the employees get paid at the end of every month. It provides health and life insurance to its employees and its family. They get a lot of financial and non-financial allowances and perquisites too.

Bharti Airtel - Competitors

Airtel has quite several competitors in the Indian market. This telecom industry doesn't allow many new entrants but, the existing ones are enough to give a cut-throat competition. Some of its competitors are:

• Jio
• Vodafone
• Idea
• TATA Docomo
• Reliance

Bharti Airtel - Strength

Some of the vital strengths of the company are:

• Largest telecom service provider in India.
• Only India operator to have VSNL, which has an international submarine cable.
• Strong marketing and advertising strategy and collaboration with various celebrities as brand ambassadors
• Service provider in countries like Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh.
• Many service provider like bill payment, money transfer, online recharges.
• High brand visibility, huge & trusted customer base
• A good partnership with various companies and innovative sponsorship programs

Bharti Airtel - Services

At the end of Financial Year 2019-2020, Airtel has more than 423 million strong customer bases. It provides a series of diversified services to its customers. Some of those services are:

• 24/7 online support
• Prepaid and postpaid plans
• Wifi services and unlimited voice packs
• V-fiber technology
• Airtel Thanks App
• Satellite network and submarine cables
• Fastest download speed and best video experience
• Attractive offers and plans for landline services

Bharti Airtel - Growth and Revenue

Airtel Revenue as of the year ended 2020 was INR 8,75,390 million. The earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of the company is INR 3,71,503 for the financial year 2019-2020.

It has issued 5,455.55 million shares and, the expectation is to bring a return up to 68%. However, the company has seen a downward line in the share price but, it is anticipated to grow once the lockdown uplifts. Factors such as new digital plans, tariff hikes, new 4G subscribers, etc., will play a vital role in gaining the market share price. It could go as high as Rs. 690 in the coming quarter.

Airtel has 4 million new subscribers in the last year only and, the estimated EBITDA and Revenue have seen a significant hike since last year.

Bharti Airtel has ruled the telecommunication services in India for more than two decades now. The company is only growing every year and, it has done a commendable job in providing one of the best services to its customers. The company has its business game on point and has always got good reviews from its service consumers.