Bharti Airtel is a major telecommunications company headquartered in India that has expanded across several countries in Africa and South Asia. It operates mobile networks in 20 countries and has over 230 million subscribers worldwide. Airtel's strategy in Africa involves acquisitions to enter new markets, focusing on improving networks, customer service, and offering a range of products. While this strategy allows integration into existing businesses with local knowledge, it also presents challenges around integrating diverse cultural, economic and regulatory environments across countries.

2. INTRODUCTION
 Type Public company
 Traded as Bhrati Airtel
 Industry Telecommunications
 Founded 7 July 1995
 Founders Sunil Bharti Mittal
 Headquarters Bharti Crescent, 1, nelson
nilson mandela road, newDelhi
 Area served India & South Asia, Africa, and
the channel islands
 Key people Sunil Bharti Mittal
(Chairman and MD)

3. Airtel
• Bharti Airtel formely known as Bharti tele venture( BTVL)
• It the largest mobile operator in south Asia & 3rd largest in the
world
• It was foundedd on 7th july 1995 by Sunil Bharti Mittal
• It is the largest service provider in india, with more than 261
million subscriber across 20 countries as of august 2012
• Airtel has been voted as 2nd most trusted service provider of the
year 2008

4. AIRTEL IN
BANGLADESH
 Airtel formely known as a warid telecom.
 It was founded on 2nd December 2010
 Airtel Bangladesh has 7.97 million subscribers with 7.3% of market share.
 On December 21, 2011, Airtel Bangladesh launched "Airtel Circle of
Friends"

5. Subscriber base
Bharti Airtel has about 230.8 million subscriber Worldwide.
169.18 million in India
46 million in Africa
4million in Bangladesh
1.8 million in Srilanka.

6. Bangladesh Mobile Operators Market
Share
Operators Sep,2011 Sep,2012 Sep,2013 Sep,2014
Grameen Phone Ltd. (GP) 15.14 20.82 21.98 28.654
Telecommunication sector Axiata 6.70 7.63 10.56 11.707
Limited
Sheba Telecom Ltd. (Banglalink) 6.02 10.14 12.13 18.107
PBTL (Citycell) 1.32 1.74 1.97 1.907
Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd. (Teletalk) 0.68 0.9 1.07 1.183
Airtel Telecom International L.L.C 1.56 3.86 2.69 3.581
(Airtel)
Total 31.42 45.09 50.4 65.142

7. PEST in Bangladesh

9. Threats to substitute
LEVEL:
Positive
Negative
•Skype
•Google talk
•Wireless Internet
•VOIP

10. •Size and concentration of suppliers relative to products(low)
• Buyer’s switching cost (low)
•Buyer’s information (high)
“Ireallydon’tthinktheyareadverselyaffectingtheoperators’
performance…..doesn’thaveanysignificantimpactonthemarket.”
- RaihanIslam,FormerHeadofCustomerAcquisition,
AirtelBangladeshLimited
High
Low
LEVEL
Bargaining power of suppliers

11. Bargaining power of the buyers
LEVEL:
High
Low
•Similar products and services (High)
•Lower switching cost (low)
•Buyers information( High)

12. Rivalry among competitors
• Concentration market share
• Better value added services
• Intensity of competitors-High

13. Threat of New Entrants
•High Sim card Tax
•High License renewal fees
•Limited spectrum availability
• New entrants – by merging
with existing operators

14. AFRICA STRATEGY
INTELECOMMUNICATIONSINDUSTRY

15. WhyAfrica?
• Telecom Industry in developed markets has been saturated
• Africa market:
- Cellular and fixed-line telephone penetration rates are low, offering significant
customer and revenue growth potential.
- Wages are low; many workers speak English, French along with the enormous
number of the available workforce.
- Government policies attract FDI: improved environment, economic reform, private
sector encouragement and better FDI regulatory framework (allow profits to be
repatriated freely or offer tax incentives etc…)

16. Country Site Market status
Burkina
Faso
Airtel Burkina Faso 50% market share and dominant player with 1,433,000
customers .
Chad Airtel Chad No.1 operator with 69% share .
DR Congo Airtel DRC Market leader with 7million customers .
Gabon Airtel Gabon Market share 61%
Kenya Airtel Kenya 2nd largest operator with 7 million customers .
Niger Airtel Niger Market leader with 68% share .
Seychelles
Airtel Seychelles
Airtel is the leading comprehensive telecommunications
services providers with over 55% market share of mobile
market in Seychelles

17. Joint-
venture
Acquisition
Medium
($1,000-4,000)
Low
(<$1,000)
License
Per capita income
FDI
High
(>$4,000 )
Vodafone
Etisalat
Virgin
Vivendi
Orange
Airtel
AFRICA EXPANSION STRATEGY

19. STRATEGIES
 Operates in 16 African Countries.
 Mode of entry: Acquisition
 Focus: Rebranding, improved network coverage, excellent
customer care and range of products to chose from.
 CAPEX: Expand with lower capex and discussion with the
government for utilizing USO fund for network.
 Partners: Looking for strategic partners and setting up of base
in Nairobi.
 Telecom Population: Increase minutes of usage from 50-60
minutes to 250 minutes and increase the net density.

20. MACRO
ENVIRONMENT
OF AFRICA
Political factors:
 Many African countries are just out of the civil war.
 Corrupt previous governments have left behind
them disorderly regulatory regimes.
 Governments tend to intervene in the industry.
Technological factors:
 3G mobile services
 Expansion of GSM networks
 Upgrades in data transmissions due to rapid
growth of ADSL and wireless broadband services.
Socio-cultural factors:
 Women in sub-Saharan African
countries contribute over 40% of the
economic activity of most nations.
 The literacy of women is low.
 Increase in the use of mobile phones.
Environmental factors:
 Stress on saving energy due to high energy
consumption in the industry.
 New technologies for energy saving network
towers and grids.
Economic: factors:
 6% growth rate predicted in the sector for the year 2015-
2018 in Africa.
 Very fertile market, with a significant increase in
consumption of new technologies.
 Sensitive economical disparity depending on the regions
of the continent
 Tremendous investment in the sector since 2007.
Legal factors:
 Unified licensing introduced in 2006.
 Continuing liberalization of VOIP (Voice
Over Internet Protocol).
 Privatization of national
telecommunications services in the region is
continuing with significant premiums over
reserve prices being paid.

21. Telecommunications industry
Porter’s Five Forces Model
HIGH
HIGH
LOW /
MODERATE
LOW
LOW

22. is the telecommunications
industry attractive in Africa? Yes
Threat of new
entrants:
LOW
Can new entrants
get subsidies by the
Government? Yes.
Brand loyalty? Yes.
Facilities to access
to distribution
channels? No.
Capital
requirements?
Huge.
Bargaining power of
suppliers:
HIGH
Is the Industry a key
consumer group to
the suppliers? Yes.
Is strong their role
in the quality of the
service? Yes.
Are brand of the
suppliers strong?
Yes.
Few dominant
suppliers? Yes.
Threat of substitute
products or services:
LOW / MODERATE
Are buyers willing to
switch to them? No, at
the moment.
Are they cheaper? Yes.
Are they more
convenient? No.
Are the substitutes
better (quality)? No.
Bargaining power of
consumers:
LOW
Threat of backward
integration into the
industry? Absolutely
not.
Are buyers usually
tough? No.
Are products very
differentiated? No.
Market size? Huge
and increasing.
Competitive rivalry
within an Industry:
HIGH
Are high the
barriers to leaving
the Industry? Yes.
Can buyers switch
company easily?
Yes.
Has the Industry
high fixed cost?
Yes.
Equality size
competitors? No.

26. SummaryAfrica strategies
in telecom industry
• Target new emerging market
• Takeovers
• Direct marketing
• Nation wide network coverage
• Cheap pricing
• Limited services
• Colonial entry barriers
• Rural area vs major cities

27. Possible benefits and problems
of current strategy
• Integrate into an existing business that already knows the culture and how the country does business
• Able to use partners’ network to offer its customers a range of service, which utilize ‘home’ network
capabilities as well as extended coverage within Africa
• Enable to meet their needs for unified communications, centralized customer care and services using local
network.
• Lower cost of operation
• Benefiting from lower roaming charges
• Powerful brand association
BENEFITS
PROBLEMS
• Cultural, administrative, geographical and economical distances (CAGE framework)
• Increase in cost of integrating and management • Decreased corporate performance and services •
Potentially lowered industry innovation • Suppression of competing businesses • Decline in equity pricing
and investment value
• Conflict for control and decision-making between Parent company & subsidiary
• Governments’ support could decline (E.g: Vivendi and Morocan government)