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Tag: Airtel India

  • Bharti Airtel prepays Rs 3,626 crores to clear 2016 spectrum liabilities

    Bharti Airtel prepays Rs 3,626 crores to clear 2016 spectrum liabilities

    MUMBAI: Imagine the weight of debt lifting off your shoulders-the sheer relief, the freedom, and the excitement of a stronger financial footing.

    Now, picture that feeling at a corporate scale.

    Bharti Airtel, India’s telecom giant, has just experienced that moment of exhilaration.

    Today, by prepaying Rs 3,626 crore to the Department of Telecom, settling its spectrum dues from 2016, Airtel has hit a major financial milestone. The move isn’t just about clearing debts—it’s a bold stride in optimising its fiscal health and saying goodbye to high-cost liabilities, all while strengthening its financial backbone.

    The company has prepaid a total of Rs 28,320 crores in spectrum liabilities during this calendar year, clearing dues that carried interest rates exceeding 8.65 per cent. The prepayment demonstrates Airtel’s commitment to improving its balance sheet and strengthening its financial flexibility.

    In June, the Sunil Mittal-promoted telecom operator prepaid all its deferred liabilities for spectrum acquired in the 2012 and 2015 auctions, where interest rates were higher at 9.75 per cent and 10 per cent. The prepayment for these auctions amounted to Rs 7,904 crore. Earlier in the year, Airtel had also prepaid Rs 8,325 crore to the government, clearing part of its deferred liabilities for the spectrum acquired in the 2015 auctions. In 2015, Airtel secured 111.6 MHz of spectrum for Rs 29,130.20 crore, with an upfront payment of Rs 7,832.58 crore, as per the auction rules at that time.

  • Airtel has perfected the LCO model for home broadband, says Gopal Vittal

    Airtel has perfected the LCO model for home broadband, says Gopal Vittal

    KOLKATA: Bharti Airtel (Airtel) is going head-to-head with archrival Jio in the home broadband segment by putting pedal to the metal on its expansion plans. While the company has seen record subscriber addition in September, it will keep focusing on LCO partnership model.

    In an earnings call after Q2 results, Bharti Airtel India and South Asia MD & CEO Gopal Vittal declared the company has “perfected” the LCO model. Vittal said that the model has done well after being tested for seven-eight months using several different approaches in a handful of different cities. Hence, the company is scaling up the model now and has rolled it out in 29 more towns in Q2.

    Under this model, the company has a standard toolkit where it is able to go out and actually work with the local cable operator in a particular town. Airtel gives them a revenue share for laying the last mile fibre and maintaining it. On the other hand, the router, the billing system, the plan and customer relationship is managed by Airtel.

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    Vittal has credited work from home, surge in streaming and online education for spurring growth in  the home broadband sector. He also mentioned that the price reduction in wired broadband sector would also help in overall growth. However, the impact of the price correction would be noticeable in the next quarter.

    In the quarter ended September 30, Airtel has added 129,000 new consumers along with a million homes passes, which is amongst the highest that it has seen in any quarter.

    Other than its core telecom business, Airtel has registered a gradual growth in the DTH business as well. “We are pleased with the progress that we have made on DTH – adding more than half a million customers. Primarily that is because we are able to synergise our distribution systems of mobility and DTH. Mobility has a distribution system that’s almost 25 times that of DTH. In places like Bihar, UP, Rajasthan, we are getting significant synergistic effort by eventually finding the right model to synergise but yet keeping enough focus on DTH business,” Vittal commented.

    Bharti Airtel India and South Asia chief financial officer Badal Bagri added that most of the acquisition in the DTH segment has come in the later part of July. While July, August are softer months in terms of recharges and addition, the company has seen the traction picking up in September. Bagri is optimistic that the trend will hold.

    A recent Crisil report stated that DTH broadcasting, which accounts for 37 per cent of total television (TV) subscribers in India, is set to buck the economic downturn and log a revenue growth of 400-600 basis points (bps) to Rs 22,000 crore this fiscal, because of healthy subscriber additions.

    Airtel has struck content partnerships with all major OTT platforms lately. Vittal acknowledged that content can be a differentiator for telecom players, while also mentioning that he has not seen any compelling evidence to suggest that general entertainment content is a strong differentiator. However, he added that topical events like sports work quite well.

  • Apple Watch Series 3 with built-in cellular arrives at Airtel- India’s fastest mobile network

    Apple Watch Series 3 with built-in cellular arrives at Airtel- India’s fastest mobile network

    MUMBAI: Bharti  Airtel  (“Airtel”),   India’s  largest  telecommunications   service provider, today announced that it has begun selling Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS +Cellular), which adds built-in cellular to the world’s number one watch. With cellular, customers can go with just their Apple Watch and stay connected to the people and information they care about.

    Airtel customers on MyPlan Postpaid or Infinity Postpaid plans will be able to enjoy cellular services on  Apple  Watch  Series  3 (GPS  + Cellular)  for  free.  With  Airtel’s   pan-India  high  speed  mobile broadband footprint, customers can always stay connected and access cellular services like voice calls, SMS, and apps on their Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS +Cellular) without worrying about carrying their smartphones with them at all times.

    Bharti Airtel, Chief Marketing Officer, Vani Venkatesh said, “At Airtel, we have always been a pioneer at innovations and offering exciting products to delight our customers. Today, we are happy to work once again with Apple to help our customers enjoy the Apple Watch Series 3 on India’s best smartphone network.”

    Apple Watch Series 3 adds built-in cellular to the world’s  number one watch. Whether users are out for a run, at the pool or just trying to be more active throughout their day, Apple Watch Series 3 with cellular allows them to stay connected, make calls, receive texts and more, even without iPhone nearby. The  third-generation   Apple  Watch  is  an  amazing  health  and  fitness companion  with  intelligent coaching   features,   water   resistance    50   meters   and   a   barometric    altimeter   that   measures relative elevation. Apple Watch Series 3 comes in two models, one with GPS and cellular, and one with GPS, both featuring a 70 percent faster dual-core processor and new wireless chip.

    To activate cellular service with Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS +Cellular), customers first need to update iOS 11.3 and watchOS 4.3, then tap Settings on iPhone > General > About and follow the prompt to update to the latest carrier settings.

    For more details on pricing and data plans, please visit www.airtel.in

    For more details on iPhone and Apple Watch please visit www.apple.com/in