Airtel has expanded its mobile operations in Africa through acquiring Zain's operations in 14 African countries in 2010. It now operates in 16 African countries. Airtel faces challenges in Africa including a diverse market unlike India, cultural differences, poor infrastructure, and complex regulatory environments across multiple countries. It has adopted strategies to overcome these challenges such as outsourcing key operations, restructuring into two business units focused on B2B and B2C customers, and standardizing operations while allowing for local adaptation. Airtel aims to leverage its expertise in low-cost operations from India and bring more affordable mobile services to African markets.

1. International Business Strategy
Airtel in Africa
Group 5
L Anand Rao 22KA
M Sai Surya Girish 23KA
Manish Yadav 24KA
Megha Sharma 25KA
Mohit H Deshmukh 26KA

2. Africa - Mobile Market
• One of the fastest growing economic zone in
the world
• 444 Million mobile subscribers in 2017 and
expected to grow to 634 Million by 2025.
• Mobile broadband connections to grow
from 38% in 2017 to 87% by 2025.
 Median age in Africa excepted to be 19.8 by
2020
Bharti Airtel Limited 2

3. Airtel in Africa
Key partners :
IBM, Ericsson, Nokia,
Siemens, Spanco, Tech
Mahindra
Resources
Customer base
Quality Management
Operations
Telecom
Insurance
Home-crisis
ARPU decrease, tariff cuts,3G
debt
Complexity
Underestimated level of
complexity & unrealistic
targets
Low Investment
Airtel had to carry the burden
of development .
No Centralization
16 countries, regulators,
languages, markets &
cultures
Value Proposition
• Mobile Commerce
• Broadband
• Wireless Networks
• Conferencing
• Digital TV
Customer Segments
• High value unlimited
plan -General
Populace
• Priority customer
services
Revenue Model
• Broadband & DTH expansion
• GTM reinve ntion, accelerate
SMEs
• Payments Bank, Music & TV
services
Cost Structure
• Infrastructure
• Maintenance
• Currency flux
• Lobbying

4. SWOT Analysis
OPPORTUNITIES
(+)
THREATS
(–)
STRENGTHS
(+)
WEAKNESSES
(–)
S W
O T
• Airtel’s operation strength
developed in India.
• Airtel’s experience in
outsourcing operations.
• Large user base throughout
Africa built by Zain.
• Experienced personnel from
India and former employees
from Zain.
• Extremely diverse market
unlike India.
• Cultural difference in the
employee behavior
• Difficulty in finding vendors
unlike India as a result Airtel
had to take vendors along.
• Poor infrastructure and
management practices under
Zain
• Large African market facing
huge technical issues in
telecom.
• New market for Airtel given
saturation of Indian market
• High existing call rates which
airtel can bring down.
• Kenyan government had been
talking about building a BPO
business.
• Poor and costly logistics in
land-locked countries.
• Airtel’s India operations facing
problems, putting more
pressure on Airtel Africa.
• Legislative hindrances in trades
leading to increased costs.
• Not a lot of competitors to
share infrastructure with as
they do in India.

5. Demand conditions
• Recurring problem of congested
network and call drops
• High issuance of time of new
SIM due to theft of handsets
• High ARPU’s because of high call
rates
Related & support industries
• Poor Vendor eco system
• High Congestion in Call Centers
• No established BPO business
• Landlocked nature of countries
increased the transportation
cost
Firm strategy
• Outsourced key operations
(Telecom network, IT & Call
centres)
• Channel partner program to deal
issue of retailer losses led by
discounting game of Wholesalers
Factor conditions
• Different African culture causing
complex problems
• Laidback Work culture as against
deadline driven
• Working Hours due to safety
concerns after 6:30 PM
Structure
• Decentralized structure owing
to 16 different countries,
markets, languages & culture
• Footprint of Telcos do not
overlap across countries
Rivalry
• At least a third of African
operators do not make money
Government
• Fragmented market with many
governments & rules
• Forex neutrality clause in place
(Imports cannot exceed exports)
• Not ease of Duty exemptions
• Cost and logistics implications due to
Double taxation
Porter’s extended diamond

6. SERVICE
• Rationalized tariff rates
in almost all its markets
in Africa
• Introduced e-recharge
• technical assistance for
any query
INBOUND LOGISTICS
• Procuring and storing
SIM cards from
production facility
• Software & technical
assistance
• Gadgets and capital
equipment
OPERATIONS
• Developing &
customising SIMs
• Customizing s/w
• Maintaining service
levels
• Maintaining operation
and network time to
time
MARKETING & SALES
• Distribution &
marketing networks
were being
overhauled
• Improving &
enhancing their
service
• Making good relations
with customers of
b2b & b2c
TECHNOLOGY
HUMAN
RESOURCES
PROCUREMENT
INFRASTRUCT
URE
• Long and enduring partnerships and tie ups with partner firms and agencies.
• Outsourcing the activities eventually helping in reduction of cost and improving services
• Solid production network for continuous supply of sims
• Security Unit to ensure security and privacy to network users
• Technological experts to keep transforming and enhancing the operations
• Hiring IT savvy workforce, telecom operators and technological experts
• Created positions for 40 new zonal managers who are like zone CEOs with profit and loss responsibilities
• Well-trained customer relationship managers to deal with direct customers
• B2B marketers to widen the network
• Network Tower set up, IT infrastructure, telecom gadgets and gears, networking offices and various IT/IS
installations to provide services
OUTBOUND LOGISTICS
• Distributing sim cards
from plant/firm to
various distributors and
retailers
• GSM and CDMA
services
Value chain analysis

7. YIP’s framework
Position of parent company Finances
Bharti Airtel Limited 10
Work force Operations
•Leading Telecom Company in India
•5th biggest mobile phone carrier by
subscribers
• Present in Sri Lanka & Bangladesh
• 16 African countries
•Running into debt due to spectrum
buying
• Falling profits in India
• Zain Africa acquisition costed $9 million
• Huge expenses incurred for
infrastructure setup
•Significant work force in India
• Restructuring didn’t affect many jobs
•3000 Ex-Zain staff moved to roles of
new partners
• Deadline driven work culture from
India can’t be replicated
•Spanned over 4 segments, i.e. mobile,
enterprise, digital, telemedia

8. YIP’s framework
Markets
• Increased competitive intensity in Indian market with 9
operators in each circle
• Request to share infrastructure with competitors in
Africa
Competitive
• Significant spectrum cost set by the Govt, leading to
increased debt
• Lobbying with Gov. of Africa is Required
Government
• ARPUs have been falling, dropped 12% in 4th Qtr 2011
• High Setup Costs
• Cost can be lowered by outsourcing as done in India
by Airtel (Vendor Costs)
Cost
Industry globalization drivers
• Growth peaking in India, specially in Tier1 Cities
• Requirement of low call drops by customers globally
• Lower Tariff are expected by all customers
Global Strategy livers
Global Market
participation
•Telecom services
•Value added services
Global
Products
•India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and 16 different African
countries
Global location
of activities
•Bringing in new technologies like 3G in Africa will provide
Airtel advantage over competitors
•The investment by Airtel has increased to $575m in Africa
Competitive
moves
Global
Marketing
• Pioneer in India
• Also present in Sri Lanka & Bangladesh
• Now entered in 16 different African countries
• Standardized marketing activities across countries

9. Business Divisions Impact of Restructuring
Before, four operational
segments in Africa:
 Mobile Services
 Airtel Telemedia
 Enterprise Services
 Media Services
Restructured
Airtel Africa
Two Customer
Business Units:
B2B : Emerging
businesses – M-
Health, M-Commerce
B2C : Mobile,
Telemedia, Digital
Services
B2c further split into
consumer business
and market operations
• The restructuring will
enable the company to
create synergies across
various business
segments
• Minimal impact on
employees
• Major employee
movement in
marketing and sales
segment of each BU
• B2C strategy and focus on
customer experience,
product and service
innovation (including
data, VAS, new
products/services) and
build an ecosystem
around the B2C services.
• The second segment of
B2C — market operations
group will lead the ‘go-to-
market’ strategy and
complement the
consumer business
segment.
• opportunity to improve its
own operation.
• The B2B business unit will
continue its focus on
serving large corporate
and carriers through
Bharti Airtel’s wide
portfolio of
telecommunication
solutions.
• Customers are at the core
of business
• proactively creating an
integrated customer
centric organization
Employee Impact
Strategy for Better Synergy
B2C
B2B

10. Global Business System
• Pioneer in Indian Mobile Telecom.
• Core Competencies: Outsourcing, Cost Efficiency,
Shared Infrastructure.
• Penetrated Indian Market by 97% to become Market
Leader
• Aim to Build an affordable Telecom Service for a group
of emerging countries
Global Organization
Enriching Lives through Transforming Communication
• Dead Line Driven Work Culture
• Speed- Time to Market
• Squeezing out Inefficiencies
Global Positioning
A viable low cost model targeting growth profitably.
• Choice Of Countries: Emerging Countries
• Value Proposition: Low-Cost Adaptive
Niche
Global
Ambition
To be globally admired as inclusive telecom
services that delight customers.
• Leveraging Innovation,
• Cost Efficiency
• Customer Servicing Focus
Global Strategy Framework - Airtel

11. Cost advantage
It involves cost reduction
 Airtel strategy includes reducing the tariff rates and increasing its
subscribers.
 This sustained tariff differential has led to shift in minute usage to Bharti in
multiple-SIM markets like Nigeria and Ghana
Differential Advantage
 launching customized packages in different markets, taking into account
the traffic patterns and network quality.
 Improvement in the marketing network by launching a new channel
partner program and also taking care of the distribution and the services
 Having a different business model for African countries
 Improving network quality
 Airtel created a Zonal structure
Product and Technology Innovation
 Lesotho and South Africa are the only African
countries where 5G is commercially available, but the
services are extremely limited.
 Airtel is about to launch its 5G network in Africa which will
be beneficial for the people as it is present in almost 15
African countries
 Artel Broadband has improved, it should find a way to
reach the poor people in Africa at a affordable cost
Local adaptation:
 In India Airtel is one of the popular networks so as to
do the same in Africa, cultural gaps has to be reduced
 Moving its headquarter to Kenya, making decision
process faster as there is presence of the stakeholders
in Kenya
 Job opportunities can be created
 Help through the Zain acquisition which occurred in
2010 and it was second largest player
Global Standardization
 Airtel has outsourced key operations like telecom
network, IT and call center's to IBM, Ericsson, Nokia,
Siemens, Spanco, Mahindra Tech and others
 Boost customer conversion through Sim-Swap Scheme
where the consumer can get new sim in an hour
 Upgrade to 4G using Airtel app
 Restructuring of business activities
 Following Reorganization in Africa as well
Competitive and Business Strategy

12. THANK YOU