Airtel India

Airtel India
Public
Industry Telecommunications
Founded 7 July 1995[1]
Founder Sunil Bharti Mittal
Headquarters Bharti Crescent, 1, Nelson Mandela Road, New Delhi, India[1]
Area served
 India
Key people
 Sunil Bharti Mittal
(Chairman and MD)
Products Fixed line and mobile telephony, broadband and fixed-line internet services, digital television and IPTV
Members 260 million (as of February 2017) [2]
Parent Bharti Airtel
Website www.airtel.in

Airtel India is the second largest provider of mobile telephony and second largest provider of fixed telephony in India, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services. The brand is operated by several subsidiaries of Bharti Airtel, with Bharti Hexacom and Bharti Telemedia providing broadband fixed line services and Bharti Infratel providing telecom passive infrastructure service such as telecom equipment and telecom towers.[3][4] Bharti Airtel Limited is part of Bharti Enterprises and is headed by Sunil Bharti Mittal.

Airtel is the first Indian telecom service provider to achieve Cisco Gold Certification.[5] It also acts as a carrier for national and international long distance communication services. The company has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, with a connection to Singapore. As of September 2016, Airtel has 255.73 million subscribers[6] with a market share of 24.7% in the Indian telephony market.[7][8] Airtel was named India's second most valuable brand in the first ever Brandz ranking by Millward Brown and WPP plc.[9][10]

Mobile services

Airtel operates in all telecom circles of India. Airtel is the largest operator in rural India, with 256.80 million subscribers as of July 2016.[11]

3G

On 18 May 2010, the 3G spectrum auction was completed and Airtel paid the Government of India ₹122.95 billion (US$1.9 billion) for spectrum in 13 circles, the most amount spent by an operator in that auction. Airtel won 3G licences in 13 telecom circles of India: Delhi, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West), Rajasthan, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, North East, and Jammu & Kashmir.[12] Airtel also operates 3G services in Maharashtra & Goa and Kolkata circles through an agreement with Vodafone and in Gujarat and Punjab through an agreement with Idea. This gives Airtel a 3G presence in all 22 out of 22 circles in India. Airtel is fined by DoT 3.50 billion for not stopping offering 3G Services through Roaming Pacts outside its Licensed Zones in Seven Circles.

On 20 September 2010, Bharti Airtel said that it had given contracts to Ericsson India, Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) and Huawei Technologies to set up infrastructure for providing 3G services in the country. These vendors would plan, design, deploy and maintain 3G–HSPA (third-generation, high-speed packet access) networks in 13 telecom circles where the company had won 3G licences. While Airtel awarded network contracts for seven 3G circles to Ericsson India, NSN would manage networks in three circles. Chinese telecom equipment vendor Huawei Technologies was introduced as the third partner for three circles.[13]

Airtel launched 3G services in Bangalore on 24 January 2011.[14] On 27 January 2011, Airtel launched 3G in Chennai and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. On 27 July 2011, 3G services were launched in Kerala's 3 largest cities – Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram.[15]

Airtel 3G services are available in 200 cities through its network and in 500 cities through intra-circle roaming arrangements with other operators. Airtel had about 5.4 million 3G customers of which 4 million are 3G data customers as of September 2012. Airtel has 3G licence in all 22 circles.[16]

4G

On 19 May 2010, the broadband wireless access (BWA) or 4G spectrum auction in India ended. Airtel paid ₹33.1436 billion (US$520 million) for spectrum in 4 circles: Maharashtra and Goa, Karnataka, Punjab and Kolkata.[17] The company was allocated 20 MHz of BWA spectrum in 2.3 GHz frequency band. Airtel's TD-LTE network is built and operated by ZTE in Kolkata and Punjab, Huawei in Karnataka, and Nokia Siemens Networks in Maharashtra and Goa.[18] On 10 April 2012, Airtel launched 4G services through dongles and modems using TD-LTE technology in Kolkata, becoming the first company in India to offer 4G services. The Kolkata launch was followed by launches in Bangalore (7 May 2012),[19] Pune (18 October 2012),[20] and Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula (25 March 2013).[21] Airtel obtained 4G licences and spectrum in the telecom circles of Delhi, Haryana, Kerala and Mumbai after acquiring Wireless Business Services Private Limited, a joint venture founded by Qualcomm, which had won BWA spectrum in those circles in the 4G spectrum auction.[22]

Airtel launched 4G services on mobile from February 2014. The first city to get the service was Bangalore.[23][24] Airtel has started their 4G services in Karnal and Yamunanagar in Haryana on 16 June 2015.[25] Airtel 4G trials has been started in Delhi from 18 June 2015.[26] Airtel had 1,20,000 4G subscribers as of May 2014.[25]

As of March 2016, Airtel provides 4G coverage in 350 cities in 15 circles.[27] Airtel extended its 4G network to 15 km off India's coastline, following a request by the Indian Navy.[28]

VoLTE

On 3 November 2016, The Economic Times reported that Airtel had awarded a ₹402 crore (US$60 million) contract to Nokia to implement Voice over Long-Term Evolution (VoLTE) technology on the operator's network nationwide. Airtel had previously awarded a smaller contract to Nokia for trial of VoLTE technology in select circles in early 2016. Airtel subscribers will be able to place VoLTE calls in areas covered by LTE. If LTE is not available in the area, the call will fall back to 3G or 2G.[29] Airtel is expected to launch VoLTE services in early 2017.

Network

Radio frequency summary

Airtel India owns spectrum in 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz and 2300 MHz bands across the country.[30]

Telecom circle coverage E-GSM
900MHz
Band 8		 GSM / FD-LTE
1800MHz
Band 3		 UMTS
2100MHz
Band 1		 TD-LTE
2300MHz
Band 40
Andhra Pradesh & Telangana
Assam
Bihar & Jharkhand
Delhi
Uttar Pradesh (East)
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu and Kashmir
Karnataka
Kerala
Kolkata
Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
Maharashtra & Goa
Mumbai
North East
Odisha
Punjab
Rajasthan
Tamil Nadu
West Bengal
Uttar Pradesh (West)

Project Leap

On 30 November 2015, Airtel announced the launch of a network transformation programme called Project Leap. Under the programme, the company will invest ₹60,000 crores over the next 3 years to upgrade its network across India. Airtel will deploy over 160,000 base stations nationwide, and also expand its mobile broadband coverage to over 500,000 villages. Under Project Leap, Airtel will introduce several technologies such as small cells, carrier aggregation solutions, WiFi hotspots, and several different spectrum bands to improve network coverage in indoor areas. The company will also deploy more than 5,50,000 km of domestic and international fiber, and upgrade its legacy networks and base stations over the three-year period.

Airtel Broadband will also benefit from Project Leap. The ISP's maximum offered speed will rise from 16 Mbit/s in 2016 to 50 Mbit/s when after the programme is implemented.[31]

On 14 June 2016, Airtel launched the Open Network initiative under Project Leap. The Open Network service allows users to view Airtel's mobile network coverage and signal strength across India, in addition to network site deployment status. This was first launched on a trial basis in December 2015, before its official launch in June 2016.[32]

In February 2016, Airtel deployed LTE Advanced carrier aggregation technology in Kerala. Carrier aggregation combines the capacities of TD-LTE (2300 MHz spectrum band) and FD-LTE (1800) enabling better spectrum utilization and efficiency. The network achieved data speeds of up to 135 Mbit/s.[33]

Airtel Money

Airtel has started a new mCommerce platform called Airtel Money in collaboration with Infosys and SmartTrust (now Giesecke & Devrient). The platform was launched on 5 April 2012, at Infosys' headquarters in Bangalore. Using Airtel Money, users can transfer money, pay bills and perform other financial transactions directly on the mobile phone. It has an all-India presence.[34] Certain charges are levied per Airtel Money transaction.[35]

SmartDrive

SmartDrive is navigation app exclusive to Airtel customers. The app features voice-based turn by turn navigation, traffic updates, and approximate travel time based on current conditions.[36]

The app was launched on 12 September 2012.[37] At the time of launch, it was available only in Bangalore, Mumbai and NCR.[38] Services are currently available in Chennai.[39] Service was expanded to Pune and Hyderabad by December 2012.

iPhone

The iPhone 3G was rolled out in India in 2008 by Airtel. However, high prices and contract bonds discouraged consumers and it was not as successful as the iPhone is in other markets of the world. Airtel introduced the iPhone 4 on 27 May 2011 and the iPhone 5 on 2 November 2012.[40]

Subscriber base

The Airtel wireless subscriber base according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) as of July 2016 was:

Metros

"A" Circle

"B" Circle

"C" Circle

Airtel is the market leader in India with about 256.80 million wireless subscribers in India or about 24.83% market share at the end of July 2016. In 2016 version of The Brand Trust Report published by Trust Research Advisory, Airtel is placed as the most trusted mobile operator brand in India [41]

Airtel Broadband

V-Fiber

Airtel launched its V-Fiber service in October 2016. V-Fiber combines fiber technology and vectorization to deliver data speeds up to 100 Mbps through existing infrastructure.[42]

IPTV

Airtel Broadband launched its IPtV service in 2009. On 31 August 2016, the company shut down the service, and offered its 50,000 subrcibers a free upgrade to Airtel Digital TV. The company stated that the move was part of its strategy to focus on a single television service.[43]

Net Neutrality Debate

In April 2015, Airtel launched a marketing platform called Airtel Zero, which allows application providers to pay for the data used by the consumers, enabling consumers to access specific mobile apps at zero data cost.[44] Flipkart, a leading Indian e-commerce firm reportedly was to become the launch partner of "Airtel Zero". The issue triggered debate on net neutrality in India[45] and following protests Flipkart pulled out of Airtel Zero.[46][47][48]

See also

References

  1. 1 2
  2. ↑ "Press Release on Telecom Subscription Data as on 31st July, 2016" (PDF).
  3. ↑ "Bharti Hexacom Limited: Private Company Information". Bloomberg.
  4. ↑ "Profile: Bharti Infratel Ltd (BHRI.NS)". reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
  5. ↑ Agencies (22 August 2010). "Bharti Airtel gets Gold Certification". Express India. Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  6. ↑ "India's Mobile User Base Touches 103.5 Crore: Telecom Regulator". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  7. ↑ Reporter, B. S. (2016-09-13). "Top three telcos have 61% market share". Business Standard India. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  8. ↑ "Press Release on Telecom Subscription Data as on 31st July, 2016" (PDF).
  9. ↑ "HDFC Bank named India's most valuable brand in BrandZ ranking".
  10. ↑ "India's top 10 brands". business.rediff.com. Archived from the original on 28 October 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
  11. ↑ "Press Release on Telecom Subscription Data as on 31st July, 2016" (PDF).
  12. ↑ Pahwa, Nikhil. "Medianama.com". Medianama.com. Archived from the original on 25 August 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  13. ↑ "Ericsson, NSN and Huawei to build 3G networks for Airtel – The Economic Times". Economictimes.indiatimes.com. 20 September 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  14. ↑ "Airtel launches 3G in Karnataka". The Times of India. India. 24 January 2011. Archived from the original on 28 January 2011.
  15. ↑ "On 3 August 2011, Airtel launched 3G in Maharashtra & Goa". Teletechnology.in. 3 August 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  16. ↑ "Quarterly Report Q2 2012" (PDF). Airtel.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  17. ↑ http://www.medianama.com/2010/06/223-indias-broadband-wireless-auction-ends-operator-circlewise-results/
  18. ↑ http://telecomtalk.info/4g-india-3gs-way-in-depth-analysis/93871/#more-93871
  19. ↑ "Airtel 4G Services Launched in Bangalore". Telecomtalk.info. 7 May 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  20. ↑ "Airtel 4G LTE Services Launched in Pune". Telecomtalk.info. 18 October 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  21. ↑ Biswas, Rudradeep (20 March 2013). "Exclusive: Airtel to Launch 4G/LTE-TD Services in Chandigarh Today". Telecomtalk.info. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  22. ↑ "Bharti buys 49 per cent in Qualcomm BWA unit for $165 million". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 24 May 2012.
  23. ↑ "Airtel launches 4G on mobiles at same price as 3G – The Times of India". The Times Of India.
  24. ↑ "Bharti Airtel offers 4G services on mobiles in Bangalore". The Times Of India. 14 February 2014.
  25. 1 2 Airtel 4G launch in Karnal and Yamunanagar, News Exprezz, 16 June 2015.
  26. ↑ Airtel 4G launch in Delhi, News Exprezz, 16 June 2015.
  27. ↑ http://www.airtel.in/4g/
  28. ↑ http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/4g-lte-how-reliance-jio-airtel-vodafone-idea-cellular-aircel-stack-up/51357478
  29. ↑ "Airtel signs Rs 402-crore deal with Nokia on VoLTE calling tech - The Economic Times". The Economic Times. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  30. ↑ Pan India 2015 spectrum holding data sheet (updated), Telecom Talk, retrieved 30 November 2015
  31. ↑ "Airtel to invest Rs 60,000 crore in 'Project Leap'". The Hindu. 30 November 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  32. ↑ http://gadgets.ndtv.com/telecom/news/airtels-open-network-launched-on-app-to-show-coverage-quality-across-india-849280
  33. ↑ http://telecomtalk.info/airtel-4g-data-speeds-up-to-13mbps-in-bengaluru/156953/
  34. ↑ "airtel mcommerce-mobile money bill payments and recharge". Airtel.in. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  35. ↑ http://moneysaverindia.com/finance/ignore-both-airtel-money-and-m-pesa/
  36. ↑ Saxena, Anupam (12 September 2012). "Updated: Airtel Launches SmartDrive App To Offer Navigation & Live Traffic Info". MediaNama. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  37. ↑ "Airtel launches navigation app with traffic info – Business Today – Business News". Businesstoday.intoday.in. 13 September 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  38. ↑ "Bharti Airtel announces voice-based navigation service, SmartDrive Apps | Applications | ThinkDigit News". Thinkdigit.com. 13 September 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  39. ↑ suneel (19 September 2012). "Airtel Introduces Voice Based Navigation Service in Chennai". Telecomtalk.info. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  40. ↑ "Airtel begins pre-orders of 16GB iPhone 5 in India for Rs. 45,500 | NDTV Gadgets". Gadgets.ndtv.com. 29 October 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  41. ↑ http://www.trustadvisory.info/Categories/All%20India%20BTR2016.pdf
  42. ↑ "Bharti Airtel to Deliver V-Fiber Broadband Services in 10 More Cities". Telecom Talk. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  43. ↑ "Airtel to shut down IPTv service from 31st August, offers free migration to DTH platform". Telecomtalk.info. 18 August 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  44. ↑ "Airtel launches ‘Airtel Zero’". archive.org. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015. Archived from Bharti Airtel News Archived 15 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine.
  45. ↑ Mishra, Lalatendu (15 April 2015). "Net neutrality debate rages". Chennai, India: The Hindu. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  46. ↑ Mahim Prathap Singh; Pradeesh Chandran (14 April 2015). "Following consumer backlash, Flipkart pulls out of Airtel Zero". The Hindu. New Delhi. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  47. ↑ "Flipkart mobile app bears the brunt of the company’s reported plans to join ‘Airtel Zero’". BGR India. 9 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  48. ↑ "Consumers downvote Flipkart app after net neutrality controversy". India Today. 9 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
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