Airtel has become the first in India and the third worldwide behind China’s top players to cross 100 million subscribers. It has also become the sixth largest integrated operator in the world. And with around 300 million mobile subscribers in India, it also means Airtel now has a third of the market with it. In other words, if you sit with 3 random strangers in a bus stop in India, in all likelyhood one of them has an Airtel subscription (not applicable to bus stops in front of Vodafone stores).
“This is a great achievement for the company. A couple of years back, crossing even the 25 million subscriber base was a dream. At that time few companies like Telefonica, Orange, Deutsche Telecome had that many subscriber base,” says Sunil Mittal at the press meeting. And why not, Bharti has not only been a mobile success story but also an Indian entrepreneurial success story. And now with India well consolidated, it is looking at going Global.
The interesting point though is, what does this number mean to the mobile industry? How will it shape the decisions of Bharti itself, as well as the competition? With new entrants including international ones joining in the fray is getting more competitive with little basic value differentiator.
Here are some of the thoughts that cross my mind:
1. Airtel stands to gain a lot more subscribers, especially when MNP kicks in. Thsi is because they can bring in a lot of Airtel based services, for instance cheap Airtel to Airtel calls, Group packs etc. basically volume based games. And with one in every four phones using Airtel, a lot of users might be tempted to get into these group packs with their Airtel friends.
2. Tarrifs might reduce further. We are already seeing this to a large extent. Newer entrants just have two options, either create mindblowing VAS or sell cheap, when numbers begin to matter (ironic that this willhappen when for users numbers won’t matter – MNP), marketing initiatives will become louder.
3. Terrible Customer Service. I get the feeling that in the chase for numbers and the mighty volumes with the biggies, they will get more conniving to get subscribers which will lead to service problem later.
4. Probably lower international roaming rates. Most of the international players might tie up or get in solely into India, most of the Indian players including Airtel is looking to go international. While these might not be reasons enough, it does open gates for possible rate cuts on roaming.
5. Better VAS. Already MNP’s imminence and the cut throat competition is pushing service providers to adopt to VAS, and add to this that is where the moolah lies with tarrif’s almost becoming negligible. Expect to see a lot of Value innovation in the coming months.
That’s about it, do they strike a chord or are they seeming some blogger’s wild imagination?
