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This story is from June 5, 2006
Airtel lines up $2-bn expansion
Airtel has decided to follow a twin distribution strategy FMCG style for towns and metros, and 'Matchbox' model for rural areas.
The company is also implementing the process of integrating various areas of operations to ensure that Airtel gets the brand messaging and affordable pricing.
"We will cover 60-70% of the retail reach of the FMCG firms in urban area," Bharti Airtel president Manoj Kohli said. "In rural areas, our plan is to make Airtel available wherever a matchbox is available. That's the only way forward to take telecom across the country."
Bharti will spend about $2 billion on expanding networks this fiscal to reach over 9,514 towns. "We are present in 3,778 census towns. By March, we plan to be in all 5,161 census towns and 4,353 non-census towns and villages with population of more than 10,000," he said. With that kind of growth, Bharti will cover about 50% of India's population.
For long, telcom regulator Trai and the industry have been pushing to increase the coverage beyond metros and big cities, trying to resolve issues related to funding, taxation, infrastructure sharing and the like.
"Over the past few months, we have effected a number changes that impact our customers directly," said Kohli.
In order to bring down entry costs, Bharti is in talks with various handset manufacturers. "We have partnered with Nokia and other players in driving down the prices and availability of handsets. We have also collaborated on refurbished handsets with new batteries."
He said one of the key areas of focus would be to drive branding exercises to "influence the perception of the consumer."
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