Bharti Airtel had a long history of being a profitable
company. We posted our first quarterly loss in 14 years; this was amid a brutal
price war unleashed by our competitor and changing consumer needs and
preferences. We have the highest average monthly revenue per user (ARPU) in the
industry and our services are unparalleled. Also, Bharti Airtel users report
highest levels of customer satisfaction. Our services have shown less variation
in terms of ticket responses and network connectivity. We have some of the most
loyal customers which is why we at Airtel are not worried, about the small
setback that we have faced this year. This does not mean that we are ignorant
to the changing market dynamics. The industry as a whole is facing the same
challenges, it is time that we as an industry try to solve these issues.
Challenges
1) Adjusted gross revenue- in October 2019 the
Indian supreme court ruled that network operators, including some that are no
longer operational, will have to pay to the government within 90 days a
combined $13 billion in adjusted gross revenue as spectrum usage charges and
license fee. The telecom industry and the DoT (department of telecom) are
disputing how gross revenue should be calculated.We are hopeful that the
government will take a considerate view in this matter given the fragile state
of the industry.
2) Low cost tariffs- low cost tariff plans
introduced by our competitors have forced us to decrease our prices. This
reduction in prices has hit our bottom line which clearly reflects in our
financial performance. Price wars aren’t sustainable in long run for the
company.
Under cutting competition is not a
good idea in the services industry companies should focus more on product
differentiation. We at Airtel have realised this and therefore we will start
normalizing our prices gradually and focus on diversification.
Airtel already trumps all other competition in terms of
service quality, timeliness and network coverage. We will now focus more on
providing personalized experience to our users and double down on issues that
our users face. We are committed to innovate and provide best service to our
users.
As an industry we have ignored the rural markets, we at
airtel are committed for INCLUSION of the largely underdeveloped market. We
believe that internet is a basic necessity and every individual in this world
should have access to these basic utilities. Airtel has already started tapping
these markets. We not only provide strong cellular network to a few select
areas we also provide broadband network to these areas. The number of villages
we reach is constantly on the rise.
With growing demand for data and speed among new age
consumers, we have ventured in to 5G rollouts. Currently we are testing our 5G
capabilities. We believe adoption of 5G will help boost the economy and reach
new heights. It would help our cities get smarter where IoT will would play a
vital role.
The opportunities to service our customers and provide
never-seen-before experiences for them are many. We are determined to create
those experiences for customers. And in the process, we are seeing enormous growth
opportunity for Airtel. The spirit is best captured in what one employee told
me: it is going to be the best times of our lives!
