Airtel Makes it to 40mn Elite Club

Airtel Makes it to 40mn Elite Club

Techtree News Staff, May 24, 2007 1313 hrs IST

Sanjay Kapoor, President of Mobile Services, Bharti Airtel, said the 40 million customer milestone is a great achievement not only for them, but also for India.

Bharti Airtel has announced that it has doubled its subscriber base to 40 million in about 13 months.

With this development, the company becomes the first Indian mobile service provider, and the tenth in the world to join an elite group of global telecom operators that have over 40 million customers in any single country.

Sanjay Kapoor, President of Mobile Services, Bharti Airtel, said the 40 million customer milestone is indeed a remarkable achievement not only for them, but also for the country, as it clearly underscores the coming of age of Indian companies in the international telecom arena.

According to Kapoor, the last 12 months have witnessed Bharti Airtel registering spectacular growth, both in terms of customers and revenues. Kapoor said this remarkable achievement is highlighted by the fact that it took the company 11 whole years to reach the 20 million subscriber landmark, while in just 13 more months, the company was able to add its next 20 million subscribers.

Reportedly, the Indian mobile subscriber base has also grown by about 67 percent to reach around 167 million. The government estimates that by 2010, the total subscriber base would reach nearly 500 million.

Kapoor says that wider network coverage and affordability are the two main factors that led to Airtel's phenomenal growth both within the company and the industry.

After Airtel, its reportedly Reliance Communications that figures on the list of leading mobile service providers, followed by state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).