Bharti Airtel one of the Asia’s leading integrated telecom service provider was recognised as the Best telecom company in Gujarat at the 3rd edition of GESIA Annual awards, given away in Ahmedabad recently. Airtel was chosen for this award from among the leading telecom companies that currently operate in the state of Gujarat. Airtel is the only service provider in Gujarat to offer Mobile, Broadband, DTH services and VSAT based solutions to their customers in Gujarat and some of the major competitive differentiators that contributed to Airtel’s recognition as the best Telecom Company award are:
· The company has built up an extensive cellular network for providing world-class mobile service to the people of Gujarat, by putting up more than 5600 towers, by serving all census towns and more than 12100 villages and 248 towns.
· Airtel covers about 94% of Gujarat’s population with a customer base of 5.27mn in Gujarat.
· The Airtel e-Gram connectivity infrastructure project is the largest e-governance rural connectivity initiative at the village level. Under this project, Airtel partnered with the Government of Gujarat and set up telecom infrastructure which provides a comprehensive VSAT based solution, connecting panchayats and Common Service Centers (CSCs) across 13716 villages in the state.
· Airtel has a cumulative investment of Rs 2,490 crores in Gujarat as of January 2009.
· Airtel Telemedia provides all types of internet service, broadband service, fixed land line service, lease line service, bandwidth services and ISDN services at Ahmedabad and Surat. The total customer base at Ahmadabad and Surat is around 50 K with a turnover of 370 Mn. The company has employed around 80 employees to handle its telemedia affairs in Gujarat.
· The company offers Direct to Home (DTH) services covering all the districts and cities in the State. The company provides employments to 138 employees including indirect employees. In Gujarat, the company provides its DTH services to around 1.5 Lakh customers as on December, 2009.
Commenting on this achievement, Shivan Bhargava, COO, Bharti Airtel – Gujarat Circle said, “Airtel is dedicated to continually improving the service experience for our customers and receiving this award is a testament to our commitment and efforts. Our extensive services portfolio enables us to offer innovative and best-in-class propositions for our customers. We have a special focus on the youth and the rural segment and will continue to find newer ways to engage successfully with them.”
Bharti Airtel, has recently announced youth specific pack and activities in Gujarat. The ‘Youth Pack’ comes loaded with Tariff & VAS benefits. From Night calling to FM radio to SMS & GPRS offerings, the product has everything bundled together to the liking of today’s youth.
The fully loaded youth pack has Night Calling for which an Airtel customer can call Local Airtel to Airtel at just 1 Rs for 20 minutes, 200 SMS Free per day for 365 days, 200 MB surfing free for 7 days, Free Voice Blog where an Airtel customer can interact with celebrities like Lara Dutta, Mirchi Mobile – where an Airtel customer can listen to Radio Mirchi FM from any part of the country, Love Tips, 2 free action packed games, Friends Chat etc. All the services are activated within 24 Hrs. of activation for 30 days.
Airtel Campus Jung is an event much awaited by the colleges and students where they get a platform to showcase their talents like singing dance and participate for various activities like personality contests, Ad Mad Show etc. The whole event will be screened and judged by a panel of professionals.
Bharti Airtel, one of the Asia’s leading emerging Telecom operator, which has always been leader in launching VAS products, has recently announced new VAS products for Airtel customers in Gujarat. Bharti Airtel has witnessed a new trend of downloads of Bhojpuri films on rise in Gujarat. “The migrant population in Surat, Hazira, Jamnagar, Ankleshwar and other industrial areas has lots of employees from UP, Bihar and other eastern states. Under value added services (VAS), we have witnessed a tremendous rise of caller tunes, pictures, wallpapers, themes and other downloads from Bhojpuri films. The migrant population of state is big followers of Bhojpuri downloads,” said Shivan Bhargava, COO, Gujarat Circle, Bharti Airtel.
According to Bhargava, 50% of VAS download demand comes for Bollywood. “In remaining 50%, Bhojpuri is on top with more than 15% while Gujarati downloads could be equal or less. In Gujarat, the urban crowd is interested in Bollywood, while few are interested in Gujarati. Interestingly, Gujaratis are also spiritual and devotional. “Every Thursday, the number of downloads of Sai Baba is increasing manyfold. There are many such subscribers who are downloading either pictures or aarti of Sai Baba every Thursday,” said Bhargava.
Bharti Airtel, one of the Asia’s emerging telco announces reign in festive season offer with one paisa for 2 secs tariff plan for all new and old customers. This offering which starts this month enables Airtel prepaid customers to dial at nominal prices. On every new connection of prepaid, a customer will be able to dial at 1 paisa per 2 seconds. This tariff will be applicable to every new customer by default. The existing prepaid customers in order to avail the offer will have to recharge with Rs 27/- which has validity for 30 days.
Customers buying new post-paid connections till 31st December 2010 will get freebies like a trolley bag and Airtel Digital TV Connection for just Rs 999, which otherwise is available for Rs 1599 without any offer.
Speaking on the occasion Mr. Shivan Bhargava, COO, Bharti Airtel, Gujarat Circle said “We at Bharti Airtel, strongly identify with the spirit in which festivals are celebrated in the region. It is our privilege to be able to contribute in a small way towards the state celebrations through such offers. It is our way of thanking this vibrant state for their esteemed support.”
Bharti Airtel, one of the Asia’s emerging telco signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with India Post to speed up the ongoing process of document collection and verification mandated by department of Telecom (DoT). As a part of this initiative all Airtel prepaid customers in Gujarat circle will have the convenience of submitting their documents at any one of the 8971 post offices in Gujarat. Mr. Shivan Bhargava, COO, Bharti Airtel – Gujarat Circle said, “We are delighted to partner with India Post in this innovative and novel project to form a powerful network across Gujarat, supporting DoT’s initiative of streamlining the documentation process. This association will enable the Airtel Customers to submit their form and relevant documents at a convenient near-by location. Bharti Airtel is joining hands with India Post with a view to provide convenience to its customers.”
Bharti Airtel has started an ongoing collection drive across the state for the convenience of the customers. They have been notified via SMS’s to re- submit their documents and are expected to cooperate by visiting a well-located venue. This initiative by Cellular Association of India (COAI) is to create awareness and to address the unauthorised SIM issue.
