The 800 million bait
“Both RCOM and 
Airtel do not have a very dense presence in C-circles, which is the next big telecom opportunity. Both need to ramp up their rural act,” avers Gupta. He is bang on. With metros and urban areas reaching saturation levels, the estimated 800 million rural target audiences are the key. And in line with their respective visions to be the number one guy in the Indian telecom space, both Anil and Sunil are actively straddling the rural horse.
In this segment, however, Mittal presently has an upper hand, given that Airtel was present in all 23 circles much before RCOM even woke up to the telecom opportunity. A visibly elated Mittal told 4Ps B&M that, “Years back, we went for expansion that I believe has been the most important factor for our rural plans.” Manoj Kohli, CEO, Bharti Airtel adds that the company is now pursuing a three pronged strategy for the rural India attack, namely affordability, reach and simplifying the tariff plans. “We are using the elasticity of the market in our favour by clubbing affordability with simplicity. I see this as a very important strategy for us going forward,” Kohli told this magazine, revealing that the company plans to invest $2.5 billion in FY09 to increase its penetration in far flung areas. Slashing call rates to entice rural consumers, forming a JV company with IFFCO to offer customised mobile services to a target base of 55 million farmers, are just among a few of Mittal’s flurry of recent initiatives in this direction.
So far as monthly subscriber additions are concerned, Airtel is growing the fastest in C-circles, stumping even state-owned BSNL with its aggressiveness. As per COAI, in 2007, Airtel added 37,21,816 subscribers in C-circle as opposed to BSNL’s 7,51,328. Sunil Bharti Mittal told 4Ps B&M, “There was a time when politicians who had to roam in far-flung areas used to keep a separate BSNL number for roaming. We knew that if we had to remain number one then we had to go beyond BSNL and I am pleased to inform that today we have actually achieved that. Our coverage today, goes much further than any other provider.” In fact, almost 35-36% of Airtel’s net additions are coming from rural areas, with distribution being another key focus area. “Going forward, Airtel sim cards and recharge vouchers will be available in all shops that sell something as basic as a matchbox,” explains Kohli.
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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