Bharti Airtel, which enjoyed the No 1 position in the telecom space till recently, has said that it does not believe in the number game, as its focus is on brand building and how it serves its customers in the long run.

Speaking to BusinessLine , Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, said, “I don’t believe in being No 1, 2 or 3. What is important is how you are serving your customer, are you building your brand well? I think we continue to do well.”

The merged entity of Vodafone and Idea recently has pushed Airtel from the top spot in terms of both revenues and customer base. According to a recent report, Reliance Jio, which is catching up fast with its 4G game-plan, is expected to become No 1 telecom operator by 2021.

A recent report by Sanford C Bernstein & Co said: “Given the current rate of ongoing customer acquisition, we think Jio could reach the leading position on a revenue basis by 2021 and on a subscriber basis by 2022…We are now convinced Jio’s relentless subsidy on Jio phones will continue until this goal is realised.”

As of September 30, Vodafone-Idea had 435 million customers, Airtel 343 million and Jio 252 million subscribers.

However, for Mittal, more than the ranking, the key issue is that the market is still in stress. “...the industry still remains under stress and this year has been a stressful year,” he said. “Airtel has held out very well... We hope for the best next year. This is an important industry and vital for digital growth. I hope it makes a turnaround next year,” he said.

The country’s mobile subscriber base increased 0.21 per cent to 116.92 crore in September from 116.69 crore in August. Reliance Jio was the only telecom operator to gain subscribers while all other operators showed a decline, as per TRAI’s latest report on monthly subscriber base.

The Mukesh Ambani-led firm added over 1.3 crore mobile subscribers taking its total customer base to 25.2 crore. Vodafone Idea was biggest loser in September. The company lost over 80 lakh customers. Airtel lost 23 lakh mobile customers.

Fund-raising plan

Asked about the recent announcement on raising funds to strengthen company’s balance-sheet, Mittal said that “money is a fungible... so it can go anywhere…to clear debt, for capex, etc.”

According to reports, Airtel plans to raise around $2 billion (₹15,000 crore) in the coming months. Its board last week constituted a committee to explore options. Airtel recently raised $1.25 billion from six global investors — Warburg Pincus, Temasek, Singtel, SoftBank Group and others — through a primary equity issuance in Airtel Africa.

Asked about the Africa IPO, Mittal said: “It is getting finalised, bankers are doing roadshows and all...work is going on.”

Bharti Airtel’s Africa arm had last month announced the appointment of eight global banks, including J P Morgan, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, to work on its IPO intended for next year.

Shares of Airtel closed at ₹309 on the BSE on Monday, up 0.49 per cent from the previous close.

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