The Hindu Business Line : Airtel targets 25 m customers

MOBILE phone operator Airtel hopes to achieve 25 million subscribers in the next couple of years, more than double its existing subscriber base, to join the league of world's largest cell phone companies.

"Only a few companies in the world will have such a subscriber base," said Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Enterprises, told mediapersons here today.

The company now has about 10 million subscribers, including cell phone and fixed phone users. Under the Airtel brand, it offers mobile services in 19 circles in India.

Mr Mittal said services would be rolled out soon in Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand. Plans are also on to launch operations in Norh East and Assam by March-April 2005, which will give Airtel a pan-Indian presence. Along with mobile phone services, the company is planning to extend its fixed phone business to 12-18 cities, including Kochi. Trials are on for broadband Internet services too.

On cell phone tariffs, Mr Mittal said there was hardly any room for further reduction since most of the companies were offering rock-bottom prices and operating on wafer-thin margins.

"The rates are so low now that even if you offer 15-20 per cent cut, it will lead to a reduction only in paise. The customer s not much concerned about tariffs and asks only for better quality of service," he said. He said any company lowering tariffs was doing so only to offset its lower quality of service.

Mr Mittal also inaugurated `Network of Wheels', a self-sufficient mobile network that can be installed temporarily at any location within hours.