PROJECT REPORT

On
“PERCEPTION OF AIRTEL

BRANDING STRATEGY ON THE USER”

For the partial fulfillment of the degree of

Bachelor of Business Administration (Industry Integrated)

Affiliated to Maharshi Dayanand University (Rohtak)

Session (2008-2011)

Project Guide: Ms. jyoti

Submitted to: Submitted by:

(Controller of The Examination) Vikas
B.B.A.(II)5th semester

D.A.V Institute of Management

FARIDABAD

5
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

No research can blossom from a single person’s mind without proper guidance,
assistance and inspiration from various quarters. My project was given its present
shape by assistance of many people whom I am greatly indebted to. To begin with I
would like to offer my sincere thanks to Mr. Ravi kant singh for giving me a chance to
research in their reputed organization and Ms. Sangeeta (project in charge) for her
guidance for the fulfillment of the requirement of research.
In particular I would like to thanks all the faculty members of DAV INSTITUTE OF
MANAGEMENT, FARIDABAD for their cooperation and contribution.

Vikas

6
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

S.No. PARTICULARS Page No.

1-2
1 Executive summary
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 3
2

4-7
3 Introduction to Industry

4
Literature review 8-9

5 Company Profile 10-36

6 Research methodology 37-42

7 Data Analysis & Interpretation 43-47

8 Conclusion 48

9 Suggestion&recommendation 49

10 Bibliography

11 Questionnaire

7
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Performance, a business term, is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company
meet customer expectation. It is seen as a key performance indicator within business and is part
of the four perspectives of a Balanced Scorecard.

In a competitive marketplace where businesses compete for customers, performance of industry

is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business strategy.

There is a substantial body of empirical literature that establishes the benefits of performance of
firms.

A customer is the most important person in any business a customer is not dependent upon us.
We are dependent upon him. A customer is not an interruption of our work. He is the sole
purpose of it. A customer does us a favor when he comes in. We aren't doing him a favor by
waiting on him. A customer is an essential part of our business--not an outsider.

This study helps in judging the performance of airtel customers towards airtel and helps in
improving the brand level
.

In terms of measuring the performance of airtel in telecommunication industry we use research

methodology.

Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. One can also define research as
a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. In fact, research is
an art of scientific Investigation.

In short, the search for knowledge through objective and systematic method of finding solution

8
to a problem is research.

Thus term ‘research’ refers to the systematic method consisting of enunciating the problem,
formulating a hypothesis, collecting the facts or data.

In the research methodology we gathered the related data about the telecommunication
companies and study out the performance of airtel in telecommunication industry.

9
 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

1) To know the awareness about the Airtel in the people.

2) To know the reaction of the peoples towards the Airtel.

3) To know how much knowledge of Airtel people have.

4) To calculate the people who are with Airtel.

5) To know what the preference of people are they like Airtel or an other company.

10
 INTRODUCTION OF THE INDUSTRY

CELLULAR INDUSRY IN INDIA

The government of India recognizes that the provision of a world-class

telecommunication infrastructure and information is the key to rapid Economic and
Social development of the country. It is critical not for the development of the
information technology industry, but also has widespread Ramifications on the entire
economy of the country. It is also anticipated that going forward, a major part of the
GDP of the country would be contributed by this sector. Accordingly, it is of vital
importance to the country that there be a comprehensive and forward looking
telecommunication policy which creates an enabling framework for development of
this industry.

NEW TELECOM POLICY 1999

Telecommunication is now universally recognized as one of the prime movers of the

modern economy; hence it’s vital importance for a developing country like India.
The availability of adequate infrastructure facility is critical for acceleration of the
economic development of country.
In fact international studies have established that for every 1% increase in tele
density, there is a 3%increase in the growth of GDP. Accordingly, the government of
India has accorded the highest priority to investment and development of the
telecommunication sector.
Telecom requires very heavy investment and it was not possible for the Indian
government to organize public funding of this sector on such a massive scale. In fact
the national telecom policy 1994.

11
It was for this reason to bridge the resource gap between government funding and
the total projected funds requirement and to provide the additional resources to
achieve the nation’s telecom targets that the telecommunications Sector was
liberalized in 1992 and the government invited private sector Participation in
telecommunications.

Cellular mobile services were one of the first areas to be opened up to Private
Competition. The whole country was divided into the 4 metropolitan cities of
telecom Circles, which were roughly analogous with the states of India.

Cellular licenses were awarded to told the private sector first in the metropolitan
cities in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai in 1994 and then in the 19 telecom
Circles in 1995.

The first metro cellular network started operating in August, 1995 in Calcutta when
cellular mobile services were first introduced in 1994 it was as a Duopoly (that is a
maximum of two cellular mobile operator could be licensed for in each telecom
Circle), under a fixed license fees regime and for a license of 10 years. The initial
responsible the private sector was very encouraging. The attractiveness of the
Indian market – the low tele density, a high latent demand and a burgeoning middle
class – bought in some of the largest global telecom player, foreign institutional
investors and the major Indian industrial houses to invest in telecom, especially the
Indian cellular industry, telecom proved to be a powerful attractor of foreign
investment. The cumulative FDI inflow into telecom since 1993 has exceeded Rs.
43,000 million.

Within telecom, the cellular industry has attracted most the foreign investment since
1993, according for almost 50% of the FDI inflow into telecom – representing
amongst the biggest investment in any one sector in India.

12
Annual foreign investment in telecom increased steadily from an insignificant Rs.
20.6 million to 1993 to Rs. 17, 75604 million in 1998.

• However, the attractiveness of the Indian market did not last for very long, as
by 1997-1998; the private cellular operators were confronted with a series of
problems that threatened their very viability and survival. As a result of this,
FDI inflow into telecom dropped sharply, declining by almost 90% to Rs.
2126.7 million in 1999. This dropped further in year 2000 as until June 2000,
only Rs. 918 million had flow into the country. One of the key factors
responsible for the critical state of the telecom sector & consequently also the
cellular industry was that liberalization / deregulation was undertaken in an
inverted manner vis-à-vis international practices and generally accepted
norms. Usually, tariff rebalancing, and only then is private sector participation
invited. In India, private sector participation was invited in 1992, the
regulatory authority was set up in 1997 and tariff rebalancing exercise
commenced in 1999 and is still far from complete. Further, even when the
regulatory authority was set up, there was considerable ambiguity on its
powers, which resulted in virtually each and every order of the authority being
challenged by the licensor / incumbent. The ambiguities in the jurisdiction of
TRAI in limbo in the industry. Another important factor was the basic
approach of the government towards Liberalization. Consumer benefit was
given the go-by and the telecom sector was viewed as revenue generator /
cash cow for government exchequer. NTP 99, which was announced in
March 1999 and the amendment of the TRAI act in January 2000. NTP 99 is
an extremely forward-looking policy.

13
It significantly changed the dynamics of the Indian telecom industry as it not only
replaced the high cost fixed licensing regime with a lower cost licensing structure
through revenue sharing, but also provide for greater degree of competition and
more flexibility in choice of technologies. The amendments in the TRAI Act resulted
in a considerable strengthening of regulator & greater clarity on its role and power.
It also put in place a separate dispute settlement mechanism in the form of the
dispute settlement and appellate tribunal to expeditiously deal with the issues
relating to telecom sector. Existing private cellular operators migrated to the new
telecom regime with effect from August 1999. There can be no doubt that a more
beneficial regime translated into tangible consumer benefits – lower tariffs, greater
subscriber uptake and increased coverage.

Cellular tariffs have dropped by over 90% since May 1999 – a feat unparalleled by
any other sector or industry in India. The average tariff in year 2001 was prevailing
around Rs. 2 per minute as against the peak ceiling tariff of Rs. 16.80 per minutes
when TNP 99 was announced. Parallely, there has also been a significant drop in
cost of mobile handsets. Cellular handsets that were available for around Rs. 25
-30,000 in initial days of cellular handsets have now dropped significantly, with base
level handsets being available for as little as Rs. 2,000 upwards. This has come
about as a result of increased volumes and some degree of rationalization of
Government levies. As a result of improved affordability, there an increased take up
of the service and the cellular operators were able to venture into more and more
cities and more towns of the country. In fact cellular services are now available in
almost 1400 town of India.

With the lower tariffs and increased coverage, there was also a resultant increase
in number of cellular subscribers.

The point of inflexion for subscriber take –off is clearly post NTP-99 from 1.2
million subscriber in April 1999, to almost 2 million by April 2000, the number of

14
cellular subscriber have now grown to almost 6.5 million by the end of March 2002.

By March 2001, the industry had invested nearly RS. 16,000 crores in cellular
Infrastructure and it is estimated that these investment now grow more then RS.20,
000 crores.

The year 2001 also saw the entry of BSNL and MTNL as the third cellular
Operator as had been mandated in NTP 99. Further, in July 2001, cellular license
were awarded to the 4th cellular operator has gone up to 89 licenses.

As of March 2002, the Indian cellular mobile industry had 42 networks on air,
Serving over 1400 town and cities covering thousands of villages and serving almost
6.5 million subscribers across the country.

The quality of the service is widely accepted to be international standards and till
date there has been no waiting period involved in availing of this service.

The cellular industry has been growing at an average rate of 85% per annum and
it is hoped that the industry will be able to sustain this growth in the coming
years. The working group on the telecom sector set up by government of India for
the tenth five-year plan, has estimated that over the next five years, around 31.55
million cellular subscribers would be added all over India To achieve this growth,
the working group has also estimated that recourses to the tune of about RS. 25,240
crores will be required over the next five years.

15
 However, to attract foreign investments into India, it is imperative to
ensure the predictability and stability of the policy and regulatory
regime of the country. Policy flip-flop & regulatory ambiguity have
plagued the Indian telecom sector since the introduction of
privatization. This had the unhappy result of putting the entire sector
into a state of limbo as investor – both foreign & domestic await
clarity on the final direction that the policy will take.

Further, for the industry to attract the requisite investment and to reach the growth
targets set for the tenth five – year plan, it is imperative that a few crucial industry
issues that have been plaguing the industry be resolved on an urgent footing. This
includes most importantly. The early resolution of the dispute relating to the recent
permission granted to fixed operation to offer WLL based mobile services without a
mobile license and under the more advantageous term of their fixed services license
and institution of a formal interconnection agreement between the cellular operators and
the fixed service providers especially the incumbent fixed service operators- BSNL and
MTNL.

CONTRIBUTION OF CELLULAR INDUSTRY TO THE INDIAN

ECONOMY

WORLD CLASS INFRASTRUCTURE

The Indian cellular industry has been instrument in bringing to the Indian consumer, a
world –class telecom infrastructure.

The Indian cellular industry is:

The largest recipient of foreign direct investment (around RS 2200 crores)-

A responsible performing sector that has met all its abli9gations to the GOI.

16
The industry would have invested over RS. 25,000 crores to:

-Set up 69 network

-Serve over one crore subscribers as of December 2002

-Offer services in over 1575 cities & towns and

REPUTED INDIAN BUSINESS HOUSES & INTERNATIONAL TELECOM MAJORS

The privatizing of Indian cellular bought in to the arena some of the most reputed
business houses of the country as also biggest houses of the country as also biggest
names in the international telecommunication industry. These included: -

REPUTED INDIAN BUSINESS HOUSES - Birla, BPL, Escorts, Essar, Reliance, RPG,
Tata, and Thapar.

INTERNATIONAL TELECOM MAJORS – Singtel, Asia, AT&T, Bell, South, Nynex,

Millicom, First Pacific, Hutchison Whampoa, Telecom Italia, New York Life Telecom
Investments, Telesystems International Wireless, Cellanet and other.

INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR

There are presently 42 networks operating in the country covering over

1350cities and towns and directly servicing over 6.7 million subscriber‘s nation –
Wide. Importantly, the connectivity benefit also extent to over 33.5 Mn PSTN
subscribers”any time and anywhere”

17
EMPLOYMENT GENERATION

As the 3rd and 4th cellular licensees would start their operation and with 77 Networking
(42 presently and 35 new networks) on air, the employment generated by the industry
would be promising. In additional to the direct employment generated by these
networks, there is also the multiplier effect of indirect employment generated down
the supply chain comprising vendors, infrastructure suppliers, contractors, dealers,
etc it is estimated that the total
Employment generation by the cellular would be in the tune of a few lakhs once the new
networks are rolled in.

INCREASED FDI FLOW

The telecom sector is the largest attractor of foreign direct investment in the country,
accounting for almost fifth of FDI approvals since 1991.

HEAVY INVESTMENT IN INFRASTRUCTURE

The cellular industry is responsible for the single largest chunk of investment by any
individual industry. The industry has already invested over RS. 20,000 crores and is
expected to invest even more in the year to come.

REVENUE GENERATION FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

The cumulative revenues that have flowed to the government are already about RS.
10,000 crores from license fee and service-tax alone.

18
Major Players

There are three types of players in telecom services:

• State owned companies (BSNL and MTNL)
• Private Indian owned companies (Reliance Infocomm, Tata Teleservices,)
• Foreign invested companies (Hutchison-Essar, Bharti Tele-Ventures,
Escotel, Idea Cellular, BPL Mobile, Spice Communications)

BSNL

On October 1, 2000 the Department of Telecom Operations, Government of India

became a corporation and was renamed Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). BSNL
is now India’s leading Telecommunications Company and the largest public sector
undertaking. It has a network of over 45 million lines covering 5000 towns with over 35
million telephone connections.
The state-controlled BSNL operates basic, cellular (GSM and CDMA) mobile, Internet
and long distance services throughout India (except Delhi and Mumbai). BSNL will be
expanding the network in line with the Tenth Five-Year Plan (1992-97). The aim is to
provide a telephone density of 9.9 per hundred by March 2007. BSNL, which became
the third operator of GSM mobile services in most circles, is now planning to overtake
Bharti to become the largest GSM operator in the country. BSNL is also the largest
operator in the Internet market, with a share of 21 per cent of the entire subscriber base

BHARTI
Established in 1985, Bharti has been a pioneering force in the telecom sector with many
firsts and innovations to its credit, ranging from being the first mobile service in Delhi,
first private basic telephone service provider in the country, first Indian company to
provide comprehensive telecom services outside India in Seychelles and first private
sector service provider to launch National Long Distance Services in India. Bharti Tele-
Ventures Limited was incorporated on July 7, 1995 for promoting investments in
telecommunications services. Its subsidiaries operate telecom services across India.

19
Bharti’s operations are broadly handled by two companies: the Mobility group, which
handles the mobile services in 16 circles out of a total 23 circles across the country; and
the Infotel group, which handles the NLD, ILD, fixed line, broadband, data, and satellite-
based services. Together they have so far deployed around 23,000 km of optical fibre
cables across the country, coupled with approximately 1,500 nodes, and presence in
around 200 locations. The group has a total customer base of 6.45 million, of which
5.86 million are mobile and 588,000 fixed line customers, as of January 31, 2004. In
mobile, Bharti’s footprint extends across 15 circles.
Bharti Tele-Ventures' strategic objective is “to capitalize on the growth opportunities the
company believes are available in the Indian telecommunications market and
consolidate its position to be the leading integrated telecommunications services
provider in key markets in India, with a focus on providing mobile services”.

MTNL
MTNL was set up on 1st April 1986 by the Government of India to upgrade the quality of
telecom services, expand the telecom network, introduce new services and to raise
revenue for telecom development needs of India’s key metros – Delhi, the political
capital, and Mumbai, the business capital. In the past 17 years, the company has taken
rapid strides to emerge as India’s leading and one of Asia’s largest telecom operating
companies. The company has also been in the forefront of 5 technology induction by
converting 100% of its telephone exchange network into the state-of-the-art digital
mode. The Govt. of India currently holds 56.25% stake in the company. In the year
2003-04, the company's focus would be not only consolidating the gains but also to
focus on new areas of enterprise such as joint ventures for projects outside India,
entering into national long distance operation, widening the cellular and CDMA-based
WLL customer base, setting up internet and allied services on an all India basis.
MTNL has over 5 million subscribers and 329,374 mobile subscribers. While the market
for fixed wireline phones is stagnating, MTNL faces intense competition from the private
players—Bharti, Hutchison and Idea Cellular, Reliance Infocomm—in mobile services.
MTNL recorded sales of Rs. 60.2 billion ($1.38 billion) in the year 2002-03, a decline of
5.8 per cent over the previous year’s annual turnover of Rs. 63.92 billion.

20
RELIANCE INFOCOMM
Reliance is a $16 billion integrated oil exploration to refinery to power and textiles
conglomerate (Source: http://www.ril.com/newsitem2.html). It is also an integrated
telecom service provider with licenses for mobile, fixed, domestic long distance and
international services. Reliance Infocomm offers a complete range of telecom services,
covering mobile and fixed line telephony including broadband, national and international
long distance services, data services and a wide range of value added services and
applications. Reliance India Mobile, the first of Infocomm's initiatives was launched on
December 28, 2002. This marked the beginning of Reliance's vision of ushering in a
digital revolution in India by becoming a major catalyst in improving quality of life and
changing the face of India. Reliance Infocomm plans to extend its efforts beyond the
traditional value chain to develop and deploy telecom solutions for India's farmers,
businesses, hospitals, government and public sector organizations.
Until recently, Reliance was permitted to provide only “limited mobility” services through
its basic services license. However, it has now acquired a unified access license for 18
circles that permits it to provide the full range of mobile services. It has rolled out its
CDMA mobile network and enrolled more than 6 million subscribers in one year to
become the country’s largest mobile operator. It now wants to increase its market share
and has recently launched pre-paid services. Having captured the voice market, it
intends to attack the broadband market.

TATA TELESERVICES
Tata Teleservices is a part of the $12 billion Tata Group, which has 93 companies, over
200,000 employees and more than 2.3 million shareholders. Tata Teleservices provides
basic (fixed line services), using CDMA technology in six circles: Maharashtra (including
Mumbai), New Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Karnataka. It has over
800,000 subscribers. It has now migrated to unified access licenses, by paying a Rs.

21
5.45 billion ($120 million) fee, which enables it to provide fully mobile services as well.
The company is also expanding its footprint, and has paid Rs. 4.17 billion ($90 million)
to DoT for 11 new licenses under the IUC (interconnect usage charges) regime. The
new licenses, coupled with the six circles in which it already operates, virtually gives the
CDMA mobile operator a national footprint that is almost on par with BSNL and
Reliance Infocomm. The company hopes to start off services in these 11 new circles by
August 2004. These circles include Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Kolkata,
Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (East) & West and West Bengal.

VSNL
On April 1, 1986, the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) - a wholly Government
owned corporation - was born as successor to OCS. The company operates a network
of earth stations, switches, submarine cable systems, and value added service nodes to
provide a range of basic and value added services and has a dedicated work force of
about 2000 employees. VSNL's main gateway centres are located at Mumbai, New
Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. The international telecommunication circuits are derived
Via Intelsat and Inmarsat satellites and wide band submarine cable systems e.g. FLAG,
SEA-ME-WE-2 and SEA-ME-WE-3.
The company's ADRs are listed on the New York Stock Exchange and its shares are
listed on major Stock Exchanges in India. The Indian Government owns approximately
26 per cent equity, M/s Panatone Finvest Limited as investing vehicle of Tata Group
owns 45 per cent equity and the overseas holding (inclusive of FIIs, ADRs, Foreign
Banks) is approximately 13 per cent and the rest is owned by Indian institutions and the
public. The company provides international and Internet services as well as a host of
value-added services. Its revenues have declined from Rs. 70.89 billion ($1.62 billion) in
2001-02 to Rs. 48.12 billion ($1.1 billion) in 2002-03, with voice revenues being the
mainstay. To reverse the falling revenue trend, VSNL has also started offering domestic
long distance services and is launching broadband services. For this, the company is
investing in Tata Telservices and is likely to acquire Tata Broadband.

22
HUTCH
Hutch’s presence in India dates back to late 1992, when they worked with local partners
to establish a company licensed to provide mobile telecommunications services in
Mumbai. Commercial operations began in November 1995. Between 2000 and March
2004, Hutch acquired further operator equity interests or operating licences. With the
completion of the acquisition of BPL Mobile Cellular Limited in January 2006, it now
provides mobile services in 16 of the 23 defined licence areas across the country.
Hutch India has benefited from rapid and profitable growth in recent years. it had over
17.5 million customers by the end of June 2006.

IDEA
Indian regional operator IDEA Cellular Ltd. has a new ownership structure and grand
designs to become a national player, but in doing so is likely to become a thorn in the
side of Reliance Communications Ltd. IDEA operates in eight telecom “circles,” or
regions, in Western India, and has received additional GSM licenses to expand its
network into three circles in Eastern India -- the first phase of a major expansion plan
that it intends to fund through an IPO, according to parent company Aditya Birla Group .

Telecom Policy Environment

Indian telecommunications today benefits from among the most enlightened
regulation in the region, and arguably in the world. The sector, sometimes considered
the “poster-boy for economic reforms,” has been among the chief
beneficiaries of the post-1991 liberalization. Unlike electricity, for example, where
reforms have been stalled, telecommunications has generally been seen as removed
from “mass concerns,” and thus less subject to electoral calculations. Market oriented
reforms have also been facilitated by lobbying from India’s booming technology sector,
whose continued success of course depends on the quality of communications
infrastructure.

23
Despite several hiccups along the way, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(TRAI), the independent regulator, has earned a reputation for transparency and
competence. With the recent resolution of a major dispute between cellular and fixed
operators (see below), Indian telecommunications, already among the most competitive
markets in the world, appears set to continue growing rapidly.
While telecom liberalization is usually associated with the post-1991 era, the seeds of
reform were actually planted in the 1980s. At that time, Rajiv Gandhi proclaimed his
intention of “leading India into the 21 st century,” and carved the Department of
Telecommunications (DOT) out of the Department of Posts and Telegraph. For a time
he also even considered corporatizing the DOT, before succumbing to union pressure.
In a compromise, Gandhi created two DOT-owned corporations: Mahanagar Telephone
Nigam Limited (MTNL), to serve Delhi and Bombay, and Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited
(VSNL), to operate international telecom services. He also introduced private capital
into the manufacturing of telecommunications equipment, which had previously been a
DOT monopoly. These and other reforms were limited by the unstable coalition politics
of the late 1980s. It was not until the early 1990s, when the political situation stabilized,
and with the general momentum for economic reforms, that telecommunications
liberalization really took off. In 1994, the government released its National
Telecommunications Policy (NTP-94), which allowed private fixed operators to take part
in the Indian market for the first time (cellular operators had been allowed into the four
largest metropolitan centres in 1992). Under the government’s new policy, India was
divided into 20 circles roughly corresponding to state boundaries, each of which would
contain two fixed operators (including the incumbent), and two mobile operators.
As ground-breaking as NTP-94 was, its implementation was unfortunately marred by
regulatory uncertainty and over-bidding. A number of operators were unable to live up
to their profligate bids and, confronted with far less lucrative networks than they had
supposed, pulled out of the country. As a result, competition in India’s telecom sector
did not really become a reality until 1999. At that time the government’s New
Telecommunications Policy (NTP-99) switched from a fixed fee license to a revenue
sharing regime of approximately 15%. This figure has subsequently been lowered (to
10%-12%), and is expected to be reduced even further over the coming years. Still,

24
India continues to derive substantial revenue from license fees ($800 million in 2001-
2002), leading some critics to suggest that the government has abrogated its
responsibilities as a regulator to those as a seller.
Another, perhaps even more significant, problem with India’s initial attempts to
introduce competition was the lack of regulatory clarity. Private operators
complained that the licensor – the DOT – was also the incumbent operator. The many
stringent conditions attached to licenses were thus seen by many as the DOT’s attempt
to limit competition. It was in response to such concerns that the government in 1997
set up the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the nation’s first independent
telecom regulator.
Over the years, TRAI has earned a growing reputation for independence, transparency
and an increasing level of competence. Early on, however, the
regulator was beleaguered on all fronts. It had to contend with political interference, the
incumbent’s many challenges to its authority, and accusations of ineptitude by private
players. Throughout the late 1990s, TRAI’s authority was steadily whittled away in a
number of cases, when the courts repeatedly held that regulatory power lay with the
central government. It was not until 2000, with the passing of the TRAI Amendment Act,
that the regulatory body really came into its own. Coming just a year after NTP-99, the
act marks something of a watershed moment in the history of India telecom
liberalization. It set the stage for several key events that have enabled the vigorous
competition witnessed today. Some of these events include:
• The corporatization of the DOT and the creation of a new state-owned telecom
company, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), in 2000;
• The opening up of India’s internal long-distance market in 2000, and the
subsequent drop in long-distance rates as part of TRAI’s tariff rebalancing
exercise;
• The termination of VSNL’s monopoly over international traffic in 2002,
and the partial privatization of the company that same year, with the Tata
group assuming a 25% stake and management control;
• The gradual easing of the original duopoly licensing policy, allowing a
greater number of operators in each circle;

25
• The legalization, in 2002, of IP telephony (a move that many believe
Was held up due to lobbying by VSNL, which feared the consequences on
its international monopoly); The introduction in 2003 of a Calling Party Pays (CPP)
system for cell phones, despite considerable opposition (including litigation) by fixed
operators;
• And, more generally, the commencement of more stringent interconnection regulation
by TRAI, which has moved from an interoperator “negotiations-based” approach (often
used by the stronger operator to negotiate ad infinitum) to a more rules-based
approach. All of these events have created an impressive forward-momentum in Indian
telecommunications, resulting in a vigorously competitive and fast-growing sector. India
has also suffered from its fair share of regulatory hiccups. Many operators (mobile
players in particular) still complain about the difficulties of gaining access to the
incumbent’s (BSNL) network, and the government’s insistence on capping FDI in the
telecom sector to 49% (a move made in the name of national security) limits capital
availability and thus network rollout. In addition, ISPs, who were allowed into the market
under a liberal licensing regime in 1998, continue to hemorrhage money, and have
been pleading with the government for various forms of relief, including the provision of
unmetered phone numbers for Internet access. Despite initially impressive results, the
growth of Internet in the country has recently stalled, with only 8 million users.
Broadband penetration, too, remains tiny. Unified Licensing 10
But perhaps the biggest – and, until recently, most intractable – regulatory problem has
been the drawn-out battle over “limited mobility” telephony. This imbroglio began in
1999, when MTNL sought permission from TRAI to provide CDMA-based WLL services
with “limited mobility.” GSM cellular operators were soon up in arms, arguing that
“limited mobility” was simply a backdoor entry into their business. Moreover, fixed
operators had paid lower license and spectrum fees than cellular ones; were not
required to pay access charges for cell-to-fixed calls (unlike their cellular counterparts);
and, amidst accusations of cross-subsidization, were charging considerably lower rates
than the cellular operators. The resulting conflict dragged on in the courts and in the
political arena for years. Fixed operators including new entrants Reliance and Tata
Teleservices claimed that they were being prevented from providing a cheap service

26
that would drive penetration and be of benefit to the “common man”; cellular players
bitterly opposed what they perceived as unequal regulatory treatment for two kinds of
operators who were in fact offering the same service. The real victim, of course, was the
Indian telecommunications market, which suffered from investor perceptions of
regulatory confusion and operator in-fighting. In late 2002, for example, thousands of
mobile users in New Delhi were for a time cut off from the fixed-line network when
MTNL shut down interconnection for cellular companies. (MTNL later attributed the
incident to a “technical snag.”)
It was not until late 2003 that the issue was finally resolved, under considerable
government pressure, when cellular operators agreed to withdraw their many cases
against the fixed-line operators. Fixed operators would in effect be allowed to enter the
mobile business; in return, the government granted cellular players several
concessions, including lower revenue-share arrangements estimated to total over $210
million. Perhaps most notably, the government announced its intention to adopt a
“unified access licensing” regime, which would in the future provide a single,
technology-neutral license for fixed and cellular operators. The hope is that this new
license category will prevent a repeat of the recent controversy, and allow new
technologies to enter the Indian market without requiring a wholesale rewrite of
licensing laws.

MAJOR MARKET TRENDS

The telecoms trends in India will have a great impact on everything from the humble
PC, internet, broadband (both wireless and fixed), cable, handset features, talking SMS,
IPTV, soft switches, and managed services to the local manufacturing and supply chain.
This report discusses key trends in the Indian telecom industry, their drivers and the
major impacts of such trends affecting mobile operators, infrastructure and handset
vendors.

Higher acceptance for wireless services

Indian customers are embracing mobile technology in a big way (an average of four
million subscribers added every month for the past six months itself). They prefer

27
wireless services compared to wire-line services, which is evident from the fact that
while the wireless subscriber base has increased at 75 percent CAGR from 2001 to
2006, the wire-line subscriber base growth rate is negligible during the same period.
In fact, many customers are returning their wire-line phones to their service
providers as mobile provides a more attractive and competitive solution. The main
drivers for this trend are quick service delivery for mobile connections, affordable pricing
plans in the form of pre-paid cards and increased purchasing power among the 18 to 40
years age group as well as sizeable middle class – a prime market for this service.
Some of the positive impacts of this trend are as follows. According to a study, 18
percent of mobile users are willing to change their handsets every year to newer models
with more features, which is good news for the handset vendors. The other impact is
that while the operators have only limited options to generate additional revenues
through value-added services from wire-line services, the mobile operators have
numerous options to generate non-voice revenues from their customers. Some
examples of value-added services are ring tones download, coloured ring back tones,
talking SMS, mobisodes (a brief video programme episode designed for mobile phone
viewing) etc.
MERGERS
Demand for new spectrum as the industry grows and the fact the spectrum allocation in
done on the basis of number of subscribers will force companies to merge so as to
claim large number of subscribers to gain more spectrum as a precursor to the launch
of larger and expanded services. However it must also be noted that this may very well
never happen on account of low telecom penetration.

NEW CIRCLES
As mentioned earlier there is a significant number of tier-2 and tier 3 cities that can
accommodate more players we expect aggressive response by the companies to such
opportunities as and when they are created.

28
 LITERATURE REVIEW

The company is a part of Bharti Enterprises, and is India's leading provider of

telecommunications services. The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into
three individual strategic business units (SBU’s) - mobile services, broadband &
telephone services (B&T) & enterprise services. The mobile services group provides
GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles, while the B&T business group
provides broadband & telephone services in 90 cities. The Enterprise services group
has two sub-units - carriers (long distance services) and services to corporates. All
these services are provided under the Airtel brand.

Airtel Networks & Alliances

Internet infrastructure: Our Internet backbone involves state of the art high-end
routers and switches as may deployed on the best networks across the world to offer
our customers reliable service of unmatched quality. Three years back we had
established satellite based gateway for internet access. This was the first gateway by a
private operator. Now we have established our fibre gateway on Network i2i, first private
submarine cable owned by us and SingTel.
Fixed line infrastructure: Our high quality fibre-based, fixed line networks in Delhi,
Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chahattisgarh,intensively
covers the most prominent commercial and business districts in the country.At Airtel
Enterprise Services, we provide the power of last mile fixed line network to bring end-to-
end voice and data solutions.

Long distance infrastructure: Our 25,000 km advanced fibre-optic cable long distance
network covers India's top 200 cities. And it powers the services of India's leading
private telecom service providers - cellular, fixed line and internet through Airtel Long
Distance Services.

29
Submarine cable: We have partnered with SingTel to create the world's largest
submarine cable system- Network i2i with 8.4 Tbps capacity. This 3200 km undersea
cable structure stretches from Chennai to Singapore and thereon to Tier-1 carriers on
SingTel's capacity on 175,000 km of cables. The huge capacity on network i2i is
distributed locally in India through our 25,000 km of advanced fibre-optic domestic long
distance backbone, providing unprecedented capacity, speed & reliability.

Infrastructure
A Class - A ISP in India, Airtel Enterprise Services has got Points of Presence (PoPs) in
all the major business locations of the country. With thirty-four PoPs in Strategic
business locations, Airtel Enterprise Services has been providing its customers with
ubiquitous connectivity to the Internet.

Airtel Enterprise Services has established a high speed Internet backbone of nxSTM-1
bandwidth across the country in a redundant mode. The Backbone is designed in two-
tiers. Tier-1 consists of six Core PoPs which connect to the Undersea Fiber Gateway at
Chennai. Tier -2 consists of twenty-eight PoPs which in turn connect to the Tier-1
Backbone.

The undersea Fiber Gateway on Network i2i at Chennai peers with SingTel at the
SingTel Internet Exchange (STIX) in Singapore and USA at nxSTM-1 levels. STIX has
extensive peering arrangements with Tier 1 ISPs in USA.
Domestically, Airtel Enterprise Services peers at the National Internet Exchange of India
(NIXI) at Delhi and Mumbai. To offer value to its customers, Airtel
Enterprise Services also has a limited peering with the other ISPs in India.

30
 Company Profile

Airtel is one of India's leading providers of telecommunication services with a

nationwide presence in all the 23 licensed jurisdictions (also known as Telecom Circles).
We served an aggregate of 88,270,194 customers as of December 31, 2008; of whom
85,650,733 subscribe to our GSM services and 2,619,461 use our Telemedia Services
either for voice and/or broadband access delivered through DSL. We are the largest
wireless service provider in the country, based on the number of subscribers as of
December 31, 2008. We also offer an integrated suite of telecom solutions to our
enterprise customers, in addition to providing long distance connectivity both nationally
and internationally. We have recently forayed into media by launching our DTH and
IPTV Services. All these services are rendered under a unified brand "Ariel".

The company also deploys, owns and manages passive infrastructure pertaining to
telecom operations under its subsidiary Bharti Infratel Limited. Bharti Infratel owns 42%
of Indus Towers Limited.

Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers are the two top providers of passive infrastructure
services in India

Company shares are listed on The Stock Exchange, Mumbai (BSE) and The National
Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE

31
 Partners

The company has a strategic alliance with SingTel. The investment made by SingTel is
one of the largest investments made in the world outside Singapore, in the company.

The company’s mobile network equipment partners include Ericsson and Nokia. In the
case of the broadband and telephone services and enterprise services (carriers),
equipment suppliers include Siemens, Nortel, Corning, among others. The Company also
has an information technology alliance with IBM for its group-wide information
technology requirements and with Nortel for call center technology requirements. The
call center operations for the mobile services have been outsourced to IBM Daksh,
Hinduja TMT, Teletech & Mphasis.

The company & apos;s unique strategic outsourcing model has been studied and
documented by Harvard Business School as a case study which is available for download
at:http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/.

• Fact sheet At-a-glance guide to Bharti Ariel

• Organization Structure Organization chart depicting the Senior Management positions

• Shareholding Structure Details on the latest shareholding structure and major

shareholders, as on June 30, 2008

• Awards & Recognitions Laurels recognizing Bharti's consistent efforts.

32
 Board of Directors

The board of directors of the Company has an optimum mix of executive and non-
executive directors, which consists of two executive and fourteen non-executive
directors. The Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, is an
Executive Director and the number of Independent Directors on the Board is 50% of
the total board strength. The independence of a director is determined on the basis
that such director does not have any material pecuniary relationship with the Company,
its promoters or its management, which may affect the independence of the judgment of a
Director. The board members possess requisite skills, experience and expertise
required to take decisions, which are in the best interest of the Company.

The composition of the Board is as under:

 Sunil Bharti Mittal

 Bashir Abdulla Currimjee
 Rajan Bharti mittal
 Ajay Lal
 Akhil Gupta
 Manoj Kohli
 Rakesh Bharti Mittal
 Arun Bharat Ram
 N. Kumar
 Nikesh Arora
 Kurt Hellstrom

33
 Investor Relations

Creating value for our customers, employees, investors, partners, vendors and the society
at large lies at the root of our fundamental business strategy. Our core principles of trust
and transparency have come a long way in helping us develop and nurture long-term
relationships with our key stakeholders. Our performance exudes from our belief in and
commitment to the telecom sector; and translates into creating innovative exciting
opportunities for one and all

Highlights
• Bharti Ariel announces apex level organisation changes
• Bharti Ariel withdraws ‘95’ dialing on its fixed line service
• A R Rahman to soon knock on Ariel digital TV customers’ door
• Bharti Ariel launches world’s first Windows-based Online Desktop on Ariel
broadband– powered by Microsoft and Nivio
• Ariel and mChek announce milestone of One Million users; introduce a broad
range of new mCommerce services

34
 Shares

The equity shares of Bharti Ariel are currently listed on National Stock Exchange of
India Limited (NSE) and The Stock Exchange, Mumbai, (BSE). Bharti Ariel offered
185,336,700 equity shares in the initial public offering (IPO) and raised Rs 8,340.15
million through this process. The shares were over subscribed 2.56 times.

With this IPO, Bharti Ariel established certain important landmarks in the history of the
Indian capital market. Together with being the first 100% book building process that this
country has seen, the listing was completed within a record time of ten working days. of
the close of the issue. Moreover the process of allotment and issue of shares was also
completed within one day of the last day of pay-in.

The book running lead managers for the IPO were JM Morgan Stanley and DSP Merrill
Lynch and the registrars to the issue was Karvy Consultants Limited.

The equity shares of Bharti Ariel are currently listed on National Stock Exchange of
India Limited (NSE) and the Stock Exchange, Mumbai (BSE)

35
 About Bharti Airtel Limited

Bharti Ariel Limited is one of India’s leading private sector providers of

telecommunications services with an aggregate of over 23.29 million customers as of end
of May ‘06, consisting of more than 21.86 million mobile customers. The Company was
the first private operator to provide mobile services in all the 23 circles in India. The
Company also provides telephone services and Internet access over DSL in 15 circles.
The Company complements its

mobile, broadband & telephone services with national and international long distance
services. The Company also has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which
connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore. The Company is a part
of the consortium, which jointly owns and has developed the next generation undersea
cable system SEA-ME-WE-4. The Company provides

reliable end-to-end data and enterprise services to the corporate customers by leveraging
its nationwide fiber optic backbone, last mile connectivity in fixed-line and mobile
circles, VSATs, ISP and international bandwidth access through the gateways and
landing station.

36
 VISION

This Bharti Airtel hope to achieve by:

• Understanding the needs of customers and offering them superior products and service.

• Leveraging technology to service customers quickly, efficiently and conveniently

• Developing a good image in the market as well in front of customers.

• Providing an enabling environment to foster growth and learning for our employees

• And above all, building transparency in all our dealings.

37
 About Bharti Foundation

“As a first step towards fulfilling the vision of the Government and the leadership of the country,
Bharti has kick-started it’s voluntary and affirmative action in making significant contribution to
provide education to the weaker sections of the society, so as to make them employable. We
need to ensure that our children and young people have access to quality education. Through
Bharti Foundation we are determined to make a substantial impact in this area.”

Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder, Chairman & Group CEO, Bharti Enterprises

“As a responsible corporate citizen, we have decided to substantially scale up our existing
programs in the area of education, in order to support the aspirations of under-privileged in the
country.”

Mr. Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprises while unveiling Bharti
Foundation’s roadmap ahead

Bharti Foundation was set up in the year 2000 with the vision, “To help underprivileged children
and young people of our country realize their potential“. In order to realize this vision, we have
been creating and supporting programs that bring about sustainable changes, predominantly in
the field of education.

We have adopted a two-pronged strategy to impact the quality of education in schools. On one
hand, we have initiated a School Improvement Program (SIP), where we work with government
schools, in order to create a positive impact on the quality of education being delivered to
underprivileged children. On the other hand, we are in the process of setting up pre-primary and
primary level schools under our Satya Bharti Schools program. This program launched last
year, supports our search for excellence and sets benchmarks for quality education.

38
Under the Satya Bharti Schools program, we aim, to set up 1000 pre-primary and primary
schools which will deliver high quality education to underprivileged children in the deepest rural
pockets of the country. By setting up a chain of Satya Bharti Schools across the country, we will
not only learn to operate at scale, in diverse cultures and languages but also deal with ground-
based issues.

The curriculum and teaching-learning processes in our schools stem from our belief that each
child is different and this diversity needs to be encouraged by creating classrooms that are truly
child-friendly. Our teachers, the school-curriculum as well as classroom transactions are geared
to bring out the best among first-generation learners.

Our School Improvement Program (SIP) will work towards strengthening the network of
government primary schools and have a deep and sustainable impact on the quality of education.
Partnering with various state governments and adopting existing schools for an extended period
of time will achieve this. The program will look at schools as composite units and provide
holistic support on need basis to ensure delivery of quality education. The adopted schools will
continue to follow the state-prescribed curriculum, supplemented by interesting teaching-
learning material and processes developed by the curriculum design team of Bharti Foundation

In addition to the above two flagship programs, we have also initiated and set up a number of
Bharti Computer Centers across the country in association with organizations like Pratham
InfoTech, Kalakar Trust and Adharshila. This initiative has made computers accessible to
underprivileged children studying in NGO based schools.

In January 2005, we also launched the Bharti Library and Activity Center (BLAC) program with
a goal to introduce underprivileged children to the world of books and help them upgrade their
reading skills.

In order to provide education and training opportunities to young people and develop future
leaders and entrepreneurs, we have partnered with premier institutes like the Indian Institute of
Technology, Delhi to set up Bharti School of Telecommunication Technology and Management,
IIT Delhi. We have also instituted a scholarship and mentorship program to encourage large
numbers of bright young people from underprivileged backgrounds

39
 Bharti Foundation wins Asian CSR Award for Support and
Improvement in Education, 2008

Bharti Foundation was awarded the Asian CSR Award, 2008 for Support and Improvement of
Education in Singapore on November 21, 2008. Presented by Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, Under-
Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of Economic and Social
Commission for Asia, the award recognizes the Satya Bharti School Program as Bharti
Foundation’s contribution and commitment to education of rural communities.

The Asian CSR Awards, co-presented this year by Asian Institute of Management, the Center for
Corporate Social Responsibility and Intel Corporation, is Asia's premier awards program on
corporate social responsibility. Awarded in five categories, the Awards recognize and honours
organizations for their outstanding, innovative and world class projects and programs. Bharti
Foundation was chosen as the winner of the Support and Improvement of Education category
from among 170 entries representing 120 companies from 15 countries.

Some of the factors that helped Bharti Foundation win the prestigious award for the Satya Bharti
School Program initiative are as follows:
· The program aims to ensure access to quality education for underprivileged children
across the deepest rural pockets of the country and has developed benchmarks for quality
education
· The program is a combined model of various building blocks of education like quality
teachers, comprehensive training modules, scientifically designed teaching learning
processes
· More than 50% of the curriculum followed at the Satya Bharti Schools are based on
projects and activities that help children learn through self-exploration and discovery
rather than rote learning
· More than 90% of parents of students have reported an overall personality

40
 improvement and English language speaking skills in their children

158 Satya Bharti Primary Schools are already operational across the states of Punjab,
Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh with nearly than 18,000 children and over 590
teachers. Bharti Foundation aims to reach out to more than 2,00,000 children through 500
Satya Bharti Primary Schools and 50 Satya Bharti Senior Secondary Schools across the
country. Apart from the regular curriculum, these 50 Satya Bharti Senior Secondary
Schools will train the students in professional skills to equip them for future employment
opportunities within their own villages and communities.

Golden Peacock Award for Corporate Social Responsibility

Bharti Foundation was awarded the prestigious Golden Peacock Award for Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) for the year 2006 in the NGO category. The winner for the award was
chosen by an eminent jury panel chaired by Justice P. N. Bhagwati, former Chief Justice of India
and Member, United Nations Human Rights Commission.

The Golden Peacock award has been instituted to encourage Corporate Social Responsibility
initiatives by the Centre for Social Responsibility supported by the Institute of Directors (IOD),
Centre for Corporate Governance (CFCG) and the World Council for Corporate Governance
(WCFCG), UK.

The award recognizes the initiatives undertaken by Bharti Foundation, primarily in the area of
education. The Satya Bharti School program which provides quality primary education to
underprivileged children; Bharti Computer Centres (BCC) and Bharti Library & Activity Centres
(BLAC) programs to improve the learning levels of children; Bharti Scholarships for higher
education and Bharti School of Telecommunication Technology and Management at IIT-Delhi
to develop young Telecom Leaders were some of the initiatives considered by the eminent jury.

41
 Bharti Scholarship Scheme

The Bharti Scholarship Scheme has been introduced in 30 premier institutions of higher
education across the country. The scholarship is given to students on merit-cum-means basis to
pursue higher education in management, engineering (electronics, telecom and software) and
agriculture. The purpose is to support students who are academically bright but with limited
financial means and assist them to become professionally and technically qualified.

Mentorship Program for Bharti Scholars

since most of the students supported under the Scholarship Scheme are possibly the first
members of their family who have performed well in their studies, they need constant guidance
in making the right decisions. To this end, a structured mentoring process has been introduced.
The assigned mentors help the scholars make the right choices, provide them with relevant
exposure and opportunities and guide them through this critical phase of their life, which will
help shape their personality and destiny. The responsibility of mentorship has been entrusted to
experienced and senior people in the Bharti Group of Companies. We believe that those mentors
will not only add tremendous value to the scholar’s life but also enrich their own lives with this
experience

42
 Mid-day Meal Program

Sukhiram, Student, Government Primary School,

Ramthal (Mathura District), Uttar Pradesh

Bharti Foundation joined hands with Akshay Patra Foundation, a non-profit organization to set
up a state-of-the-art kitchen in Vrindavan to provide mid-day meals to children studying in
government schools and anganwadis.

The project rolled out in August 2003, serving 1000 children across six schools. The project has
since then, made huge strides and as of March 31st 2007, the program reached out to around
70,000 children in 385 schools and another 4,080 children in 100 anganwadis. In the course of
2007-08, the program aims to reach 1,00,000 children in various schools, covering the entire
MathuradistrictinUttarPradesh.

The Akshaya Patra kitchen has been equipped with state-of-the-art equipment. A roti machine
has been installed that can churn out 10,000 rotis per hour. Other machines like mechanized atta
kneading machines and steam-heated cauldrons have also been introduced. The mechanization
has minimized human handling of food to ensure high standards of hygiene and reduce cost, time
and labour. The impact of the mid-day meal program in terms of enrollment, attendance and
attention span has been very positive and encouraging.

43
 Bharti Computer Centres

“Apart from attendance, students’ learning on various subjects has been improving. They
visit the computer lab, try to collect information and also practice keenly the various
computer related activities. They also very enthusiastically share whatever they have
learnt in their classrooms”

Bharti Computer Centres were initiated in 2004 to make computers accessible to

underprivileged children.The objective of the Bharti Computer Centres lies in using
computers as an aid to supplement the teaching-learning process in schools in order to
enhance and stimulate children’s interest in education.

Bharti Foundation joined hands with Pratham Infotech, Kalakar Trust and Adharshila to
initiate Bharti Computer Centres in 26 schools across the states of Delhi, Gujarat,
Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Children accessing Bharti Computer Centres have shown remarkable improvement in

their learning levels.Significant increase has been observed across classes in terms of
number recognition and simple mathematical functions.There has been an increased
community interest in schools having Bharti Computer Centres, which has also resulted
in increased enrollment in these schools.

44
 Bharti Library and Activity Centres (BLAC) Program

“I am especially happy for the women librarians. The BLAC program has in effect also
become a women empowerment program. It is amazing to observe the increase in
confidence levels that these women have achieved.”

Bharatdeep Singh, Program Coordinator, Bharti Libraries

The ability to read is one of the fundamentals on which children’s education depends.
The Bharti Library and Activity Centre (BLAC) program was initiated in January 2005.
The program has the following objectives:

 To introduce underprivileged children to the ‘world of books’;

 To create a conducive reading and learning environment;
 To develop and upgrade children’s basic reading skills;
 To improve learning levels and overall development of the children through games and
reading-based activities.

The BLAC program has been running in partnership with organizations such as Pratham,
Shanti Sadhna Ashram and Kalakar Trust in 104 centres across 11 states and has
managed to reach nearly 23,500 underprivileged children in a short span of two years.
The program has helped inculcate reading habits among underprivileged children in rural
and semi-urban areas and has led to a gradual increase in the learning .

Two types of libraries have been established under the BLAC program – school-based
and community-based. These libraries have been set up in order to reach out to the
maximum number of children, whether school-going or out-of-school and especially to
home-bound girls. School-based libraries are set up in government schools, government
recognized schools and NGO-based schools, whereas the community-based libraries are
set up in community centres or rented spaces within communities for the benefit of out-
of-school children, as well as children in nearby schools.

45
 Working with Bharti Foundation

Bharti Foundation, established in the year 2000, has been working predominantly in the
field of quality primary education with the vision of helping underprivileged children and
young people of our country realize their potential. Bharti foundation wishes to realize
this vision by creating and having a pool of talent willing to meet the present and the
future challenges of the education sector.
In order to achieve the said objective, Bharti Foundation is looking for talented and
energetic professionals looking for a meaningful opportunity in the area of their
expertise. We are looking for individuals from a range of fields including Social
Development, Engineering, Education, Training, Human Resources, Research and
Documentation.
Individuals who are driven by a strong sense of service rather than materialism, those
willing to overcome challenges, those having a deep interest in the issues pertaining to
education and candidates who are thrilled with the vision, mission and goals of Bharti
Foundation are invited to apply. The candidates will be required to:
o Take up the challenges of scaling up interventions at a mass scale.
o Eager to put in their expertise in making exemplary structures
o Have strong communication skills with a flair to write, edit, document and research.
o Travel extensively across field locations especially in remote rural villages.
o Possess tolerance towards social sector ambiguities.
Bharti foundation is creating a culture that blends the best of both social and corporate
sector in an environment offering the freedom to excel. Come, join us in our endeavor!!!

46
 CII-Bharti Woman Exemplar Award

The CII-Bharti Woman Exemplar Award was launched in 2005 by Bharti Foundation and
the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to promote women’s empowerment at the
grassroots. The Award recognizes extraordinary women at the community level, women
who have broken new ground in the field of Health, Education & Literacy, and Micro-
Finance & Enterprise respectively with determination, respect and self-motivation.
Despite constant struggle, they have left a footprint in the development process. The
award is called EXEMPLAR because the talented awardees set an example for others.
The award comprises a Medallion, Citation and a Cash award of Rupees One Lakh.

Smt. Shiela Dikshit presented this year’s CII-Bharti Woman Exemplar Awards on May
23, 2007, recognizing and acknowledging the efforts of grassroots women workers in the
fields of micro-finance and enterprise, health and education in the presence of Mr. Sunil
Bharti Mittal, Chairman & Group Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises.

Lalithabai (also known as ‘Volay Amma’) received the award in the category of Micro-
Finance and Enterprise, for her efforts in the construction of smokeless household stoves.
With an academic qualification of only 1st standard, this 45-year-old woman from
Karnataka travels across the state carrying out unassisted promotion campaigns and
building stoves which relieve women from the health hazards of indoor smoke and
enable faster cooking.

Vidya Thapa from Delhi, 45 years old, has been running a health program for women
since 1984, and was the winner in the Health category. She provides basic healthcare to
the poor with the objective of empowering women by educating them on family
management related issues and the inclusion of youth to build a future generation of
responsible men and women.

47
Norti Devi, a 55-year-old woman from Rajasthan was this year’s winner in the category
of Education. Once a ward member of the Harmada Panchayat Samiti, Norti Devi has no
formal education and is among the 3000 women working on a project to provide the
government, details about the water sources in the cluster of villages under the local
Panchayat Samiti. Today, she is able to work independently on the computer – typing out
lists and preparing data sheets and is busy sharing her knowledge with the village girls.

48
 News

Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, Hon’ble President of India inaugurates Satya Bharti School
in Lordi Dejgara village, Jodhpur
Bharti Foundation to set up 500 Satya Bharti Primary Schools and 50 Satya Bharti Senior
Secondary cum Vocational Training Schools in villages across India.

Bharti Foundation wins Asian CSR Award for Support and Improvement in Education,
2008
Bharti Foundation was presented the Asian CSR Award, 2008 for the Support and Improvement
of Education at the 7th Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility

Held in Singapore on November 21, 2008, the award ceremony was co-presented by the Asian
Institute of Management, the Center for Corporate Social Responsibility and Intel Corporation

Bharti Foundation was chosen the winner among 170 entries representing 120 companies from
15 countries.

The award was presented by Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, Under-Secretary-General of the United
Nations and Executive Secretary of Economic and Social Commission for Asia

Hon’ble Chief Minister of Punjab launches Satya Bharti School Program

100 Satya Bharti Schools (Primary) and 10 Senior Secondary cum Vocational Training Schools
for underprivileged children to be set up in Punjab

Bharti Foundation to provide completely free quality education to underprivileged...

49
Smt. Nagindra Khanna, mother of Mr. Arvind Khanna, Chairman, Umeed Foundation
lays foundation stone for Satya Bharti School in Sangrur
Mrs. Nagindra Khanna, mother of Mr. Arvind Khanna, Chairman, Umeed Foundation laid the
foundation stone for the Satya Bharti School in village Fatehgarh Channa, Sangrur, Punjab on
February 28, 2008. Speaking on the occasion, Mr....

Sardar Sukhbir Singh Badal,Hon’ble M.P. (Lok Sabha) and Ex- Union Cabinet Minister,
Govt. Of India Lays Foundation Stone for Satya Bharti School in Amritsar
Sardar Sukhbir Singh Badal, Hon’ble M.P. (Lok Sabha) and Ex Union Cabinet Minister, Govt.
of India. laid the foundation stone for the Satya Bharti School in Channanke village, Amritsar,
Punjab on January 25, 2008. Also present at...

Airtel Management Board visits Satya Bharti Schools

After gruelling sessions at work and long unending hours of meetings at office, it was time for
the Airtel Management Board to have a Bosses Day Out. And they did it with great élan,
spreading their arms and opening their hearts

The Haryana Chief Minister Visits Satya Bharti School

After the visit of the Punjab CM, it was the turn of Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Chief Minister of
Haryana, to spend a day with the kids at the Satya Bharti School in Ladhowal, Ludhiana. On a
visit to the Field Fresh farms in...

50
 PRODUCT & SERVICES

MOBILE:
Experience total cost control, no rentals and easy billing with our postpaid and prepaid services.
Explore the world with our roaming services and get absolutely cool offers with Airtel Live

HOME PHONE:
Airtel welcomes you to the world of telephony services for your home. Experience a world class
service and cutting edge technology with Airtel landline and our feature rich Wireless fixed line.
What’s more, calling is made more fun and convenient with services and entertainment on
Airtel.

BLACKBERY:
BlackBerry from Airtel is an 'always connected' wireless solution providing easy and secure
access to your email and data.

E-MAIL ON THE GO:

Want to access information on your mobile? Airtel brings you Email on the go. You can choose
from BlackBerry and Windows Mobile 5.0 depending upon the usage patterns, requirement and
suitability

51
 Governing Board

Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal

Founder, Chairman and Group CEO, Bharti Enterprises

Mr. Rakesh Bharti Mittal

Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises

Mr. Rajan Bharti Mittal

Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises

Mr. Analjit Singh

Chairman, Max Group of Companies

Mr. Anil Kumar

Director, McKinsey and Company Inc., USA

Mr. Anil Nayar

Managing Director, Prerna Centre for Learning and Development Pvt. Ltd

Mr. Badri Agarwal

President, Bharti Foundation

52
Mr. K.N. Memani
Chairman, KNM Advisory Pvt. Ltd. (Former Chairman and CEO Ernst and
Young, India)

Mrs. Manju Bharat Ram

Chairperson, The Shri Ram School

Mr. Niranjan Ajwani

Group Leader, Ajwani Group of Companies

Mr. Sunil Kant Munjal

Chairman, Hero Corporate Service Limited

Mrs. Syeda Imam

Executive Vice President - Creative, Contract Advertising (India) Pvt. Ltd

Prof. V. S. Raju
Former Director, IIT Delhi and Prof. IIT Madras

53
Mr. V. V. Ranganathan
Founder and Chairman, Pinnacle Opportunities (Formerly Senior
Partner, Country Head–Strategic Growth Markets, Ernst and
Young, India)

54
 Business Divisions

HOME:

Bharti Enterprises is one of India’s leading business groups with interests in telecom,
retail, manufacturing, agric business and financial services.

Bharti Ariel is Asia’s leading integrated telecom services provider with operations in
India and Sri Lanka. Bharti Ariel has been at the forefront
of the telecom revolution and has transformed the sector with its world-class services
built on leading edge technologies.

In financial services, Bharti is partnering with AXA of France to offer life insurance,
general insurance and asset management.

Bharti Retail, the 100% subsidiary of Bharti Enterprises operates multiple format
consumer friendly stores. Bharti Wal-Mart is a B2B JV with Wal-Mart
for wholesale cash-and-carry and back-end supply chain management operations.

The other businesses in the group are Beetle for communication and media devices and
Bharti Del Monte India, a JV with Del

Monte to offer fresh and

processed fruits & vegetables in India as well as international markets.

55
 NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Bharti Ariel Limited Q3FY 2009: Rural Coverage Crosses 4 Lac Villages; Revenues Exceed Rs 9,600cr

Bharti Ariel launches Triple Play with Ariel digital TV interactive – Telephone, Broadband and now TV on a single line
University of Cambridge announces the prestigious Man Mohan Singh Undergraduate Scholarship Programme

Bharti Del Monte India becomes India’s largest exporter of Fresh Baby Corn
“Hello Sri Lanka” says Ariel

Mobile services:

Bharti Ariel offers GSM mobile services in all the 23-telecom circles of India and is the
largest mobile service provider in the country, based on the number of customers.

Telemedia services:

The group offers high speed broadband internet with a best in class network. With
Landline services in 94 cities we help you stay in touch with your friends & family and
the world. Get world class entertainment with India’s best direct to home (DTH) service
digital TV in more than 150 cities

Enterprise Services:

Enterprise Services provides a broad portfolio of services to large Enterprise and Carrier
customers. This division comprises of the Carrier and Corporate business unit. Enterprise
Services is regarded as the trusted communications partner.

56
57
 Research Methodology

MEANING OF RESEARCH

Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. One can also define research as a
scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. In fact, research is
an art of scientific Investigation. The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English lays
down the meaning of research as “a careful investigation or inquiry specially through search for
new facts in any branch of knowledge.” Redman and Mory define research as a “systematized
effort to gain new knowledge”, Some people consider research as a movement, a movement
from the known to the unknown. It is actually voyage of discovery The inquisitiveness is the
mother of all knowledge and the method, which man employs for obtaining the knowledge of
whatever the unknown, can be termed as research.

In short, the search for knowledge through objective and systematic method of finding solution
to a problem is research.
Thus term ‘research’ refers to the systematic method consisting of enunciating the problem,
formulating a hypothesis, collecting the facts or data

58
OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH

The purpose of research is to discover answers to questions through the application of

scientific procedures. The main aim of research is to find out the truth which is hidden and which
has not been discovered as yet. The each research study has its own specific purpose, we may
think of research objectives as falling into a number of following broad groupings:

1. Exploratory studies or Formulative studies: To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or

to achieve new insights into it.
2. Descriptive studies To portray accurately the characteristics of particular individual
situation or a group.
3. Diagnostic studies: To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with
which it is associated with something else.
4. Hypothesis- testing studies: To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between
variables.

Importance of Motivation In Research

Why do people undertake research? This is a question of fundamental importance. The possible
motives for doing research may be either one or more of the following:

1) Desire to get a research degree along with its consequential benefits;

2) Desire to face the challenge in solving the unsolved problems. i.e., concern
over practical problems initiates research;
3) Desire to get intellectual joy of doing some creative work;
4) Desire to be of service to society;
5) Desire to get respectability.

However, this is not an exhaustive list of factors motivating people to undertake research

59
studies. Many more factors such as directives or government, employment conditions,
curiosity about new things, desire to understand causal relationships, social thinking and
awakening, and the like may as well motivate (or at times compel) people to perform
research operations.

Types of Research

1. Descriptive vs. Analytical: Descriptive research includes surveys and fact findings
enquiries of different kinds. The major purpose of descriptive research is description of
the state of affairs as it exists at term Ex post facto research for descriptive research
studies. The main characteristic of this method is that the researcher has no control over
the variables; he can only report what has happened or what is happening. Most ex post
facto research projects are used for descriptive studies in which the researcher seeks to
measure such items as, for example, frequency of shopping, preferences of people; or
similar data.

2. Applied vs. Fundamental: Research can either be applied (or action) research or
fundamental ( or basic or pure) research. Applied research aims at finding a solution for
an immediate problem facing a society or' an industrial/ business organization, whereas
fundamental research is mainly concerned with generalizations and with the formulation
of a theory. "Gathering knowledge for knowledge’s sake is termed 'Pure' or 'basic"
research." Research concerning some natural phenomenon or relating, to pure
mathematics are examples of fundamental research.

3. Quantitative vs. Qualitative: Quantitative research is based on measurement of quantity

or amount. It is applicable to phenomena that can be expressed in terms of quantity.
Qualitative research, on t other hand, is concerned with qualitative – phenomenon, i.e.,

60
 phenomena relating to or involving quality or kind. For instance, when we are interested
in investigating the reasons for human behaviour (i.e., why people think or do certain
things,), we quite often talk of 'Motivation Research', an important type of qualitative
research.

Some Other Types of Research: All other types of research are variations of one or more of the
above stated approaches, based on either the purpose of research, or the time required to
accomplish research, or the environment in which research is done, or on the basis of some other
similar factor. From the point of view of time, we can think of research either as one-time
research or longitudinal research. In the former case the research is confined to a single time-
period, whereas in the latter case the research is carried on over several time- periods. Research
can be field setting research or laboratory research or simulation research, depending upon the
environment in which it is to, be carried out. Research can as well be understood as clinical or
diagnostic research.

Research Approaches

The above description of the types of research brings to light the fact that there are two basic
approaches to research, viz., quantitative approach and the qualitative approach. The
former involves the generation of data quantitative form which can be subjected to rigorous
quantitative analysis a formal and rigid fashion. This, approach can be further sub-classified
into inferential, experimental and simulation approaches to research. The purpose of
inferential approach to research is to form a data base from which to infer characteristics or
relationships of population. This usually means survey research where a sample of
population is studied (questioned or observed) to determine its characteristics, and it is then
inferred that the population has the same characteristics. Experimental approach is
characterized by much greater control over the research environment and in this case some

61
 variable are manipulated to observe their effect on other variables. Simulation approach
involves the construction of an artificial environment within which relevant information and
data can be generated. This permits an observation of the dynamic behaviour of a system (or
its sub-system) under controlled conditions. The term 'simulation' in the context of business
and social sciences applications refers to "the operation of a numerical model that represents
the structure of a dynamic process. Given the value of initial conditions, parameters and
erogenous variables, a simulation is run to represent the behaviour of the process over time.”
Simulation approach can also be useful in building models for understanding future
conditions.

Significance of Research
"All progress is born of inquiry. Doubt is often better than overconfidence for it leads to
inquiry, and inquiry leads to invention” is a famous Hudson Maxim in context of which the
significance of research can well understood. Increased amounts of research make progress
possible. Research inculcates scientific and inductive thinking and it promotes the
development of logical habits of thinking and organization.

The role of research in several fields of applied economics, whether related to business or to the
economy as a whole, has greatly increased in, modern times. The increasingly complex nature of
business and government' has focused attention on the use of research in solving operational
problems. Research, as an aid to economic policy, has gained added importance, both for
government and business.

(4)Importance of Research for Social Scientists: Research is equally important for

social scientists in studying social relationships and in seeking answers to various social
problems. It provides the intellectual satisfaction of knowing a few things just for the sake of
knowledge and also has practical utility for the social scientist to know for the sake of being able
to do something better or in a more efficient manner. Research in social sciences is concerned
both with knowledge for its own sake and with knowledge for what it can contribute to practical

62
concerns.

Importance of Research for Intellectuals: Research may mean the generalisations of

new theories.
Importance of Research for students: Who are to write a master or Ph.D. thesis,
research may mean a careerism or a way to attain a high position in the social structure;
Importance of Research for professionals: For professionals in research methodology,
research may mean a source of livelihood;
Importance of Research for philosophers and thinkers: Research may mean the
outlet for new ideas and insights philosophers and thinkers
Importance of Research for literary men and women: Research may mean the
development of new styles and creative work;

The Scope of Research Methodology

The scope of research methodology is wider than that of research methods. Thus,
when we talk of research methodology we not only talk of the research methods but also
consider the logic behind the methods we use in the context of our research study and explain
why we are using a particular method or technique and why we are not using others so that
research results are capable of being evaluated either by the researcher himself or by others.
Why a research Study has been undertaken, how the research problem has been defined, in
what way and why the hypothesis has been formulated, what data have been collected and
what particular method has been adopted, why particular technique of analysing data has
been used and a lot of similar other questions are usually answered when we talk of research
methodology concerning a research problem or study.

63
 DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

As we can see in the graph airtel would be the preffered by more people
Which cellular Company a customer prefer?

As we can see in the graph that airtel is most used by the people than idea and vodafone
Airtel is the highest 50% marking in terms of preferable brand.

64
As we can see in the graph Most of the customer preffered
Airtel postpaid Plan

Which company postpaid plan customer prefer the most?

As we can see in the above graph that the plans of airtel is more preferred by the
customer where idea is 20% and vodaphone is 35% as compared to airtel45%
Which is highest.

65
 As we can see in the graph Advertisement of Airtel Attracts the customer most?
Advertisement of which company attracts the customer?

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Airtel Idea Vodafone

As we can see in the graph that advertisement of airtle is most preferred by the people than idea
and Vodafone.

66
 As we can see in the graph of Airtel Attracts the customer most?
which facilities attracts to you the most in Airtel cellular ltd.

As we can see in the above graph that the facilities provided by the airtel is much better than
vodaphone and idea.

67
 Advertisement of which company attract the customer most?

As we can see in the above graph that the advertisement of airtel is much better than the idea and
Vodafone.

68
 Conclusion

• After a detail study about performance of airtel in telecommunication

industry it is found that airtel is one of the leading most preferred company.

• It is found that With the entry of many other companies in this sector,
company is facing tough competition and so focus on their commence
advertising and promotion.

• As we can see in the above graph that airtel is the most preferable brand as
compared to Vodafone and idea.

• After prepared a questionnaire that filled by customers to maximum

information on the airtel services and then to highlight airtel postpaid
plan, services which in turn to help in modify the plans.

69
 SUGGESION & RECOMMENDATIONS

 Customers are required to be educated about the various services they can avail
through Airtel get them associated with.

 To meet the needs of all types of customers, more plans should be launched.

 Training process should be enhanced efficient Team Leader must be assigned to

the trainees who lead them in the right direction and motivate them to put in there
best.

 According to customer demand airtel launches new plans day by day

70
 LIMITATIONS

The study was undertaken for a period of two months, so there was a constraint of time as well
as efforts.
1 Sample size being too small is not a true representative of the whole universe.
2 Lack of cooperation by the respondent of the questionnaire.
3 Errors might have crept into the report during the typing and compilation
4 Area covered was confined to some regions only.
5 Due to the presence of B.S.N.L., people refused to say anything regarding the influence
of private telecom companies.
6 Lack of availability of actual data.

71
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

The material Embided in this project is true and fair.

The material is taken from:

Airtel Hand book Author: Tarun Bhel

Important notes by CEO Author: Sunil Mittal

The help of my Boss Mr. Ravi kant singh & staff members.
Website

1. www.airtel.in

2. www.goggle.com

3. www.yahoo.com

4. www.vodafone.in

72
 QUESTIONNAIRE

(The details collected in this questionnaire will be kept confidential.)

Q1 Which cellular company do you prefer?

1. IDEA 3.VODAFONE

2. AIRTEL 4.ANY OTHER

Q2.Which Plan do you like in Airtel cellular limited?

1. Plan 299 3.Plan 399

2. Plan 150 4.advanced rental

Q3.which Company postpaid plan customer prefer the most?

1. Idea 3. Vodafone

2. Airtel 4. any other

Q4. Advertise of Which company attracts the customer most?

1. IDEA 3. VODAFONE

2. AIRTEL

Q5 which facilities attracts to you the most in Airtel cellular ltd.

1. call rates 3.Rental

2. Service 4.Payment options

Q6. DO you satisfy with the GPRS facility provided in airtel ltd.

1.Yes 3. can’t say

2. No

73
Q7.Do you satisfy with charges, charged by airtel cellular limited?

1. Yes 3. Cant’say

2. No

74