E.P. What is the Vision of Airtel?

S. C. “At Bharti our Vision is that by 2010 Airtel will be the most admired brand in India: Loved by more customers; Targeted by top talent & Benchmarked by more businesses”. There is a point to be noted here, just by being at the top is not going to earn us love and respect. Our motto is quality first and then quantity. That is why out of the (approx) 5000 odd towers here, we own nearly 50% of them. With the increase in number of customers you need to increase the support, which many providers do not do in time. Our efforts are that wherever we are, we should provide the best network. The reason is simple - if we are respected, others even with their lucrative offers cannot dislodge our customer base. If we command social confidence then we definitely have the social acceptance also.

E.P. Staying at the top is harder then reaching the top. How long do you think Airtel is going to stay there? Also other telecom companies boast of having higher number of subscribers. What are your comments?

S. C. See, that is what. When our partners, the people have confidence in us then there is no room for doubt. We command the respect and the love. What could cement the ties more? When calculating who’s at the top we must find out the revenue generated by the providers. Airtel has 33% of the market share and the closest is almost 7% behind. This data should speak for itself! We are planning to enhance technologies and upgrade to a higher level of service orientation. The way now is only to go higher ….

E.P. In your opinion what is it that sets Airtel apart from other service providers in the North Eastern region?

S. C. Coming back to what I just said - respect is of utmost importance. We are not here just to do business. Yes business is an important part but we want the people to be a part of us. Without them we don’t even exist! You may be aware that Bharti Airtel has given Rs 3 crore for the Prime Ministers Relief Fund for providing relief to the affected in Assam & Bihar. Half of this money came from our employees who contributed one days’ salary and the company matched it with an equal amount. This is our commitment.

We do things in an innovative way.

Appreciating the fact that needs and aspirations of different user groups are always different and a blanket scheme may instead prove to be a hindrance in effective communication, Airtel launched for the first time in North East specific prepaid plans for different user groups like Defence Pack for military personnel, Student Pack for the benefit of the student community and Campus Plan exclusively for users of IIT Campus, Guwahati & NEHU campus, Shillong. All the plans have been a runaway success.

Airtel is providing world class service to the people of Assam & NE, such that the benefits of information revolution, reach the lowest strata of the society. Airtel gave a further fillip to telecom penetration in the North East region by starting PCO services in Assam. This move has also made a positive impact on the stagnant employment scenario of the region as many unemployed youths have come to avail of these services in Airtel PCOs. STD & ISD call rates have also been slashed drastically to enable more and more customers to establish long distance contact. To make life easier for its customers, Airtel has also introduced online billing enquiry facility for its postpaid customers starting April, 2006.

Virtual Calling Card service introduced in NESA wherein International calls can be made without ISD facility & Security deposit. This is applicable to both Prepaid & Postpaid Airtel customers in NE

E.P. Airtel is quality motivated. Also it is an international brand. Socially you are very active. So you have the platform and requisites to take the northeast to the national & international arena. What are you doing in this regard?

S. C. That is a very good question. Bharti Airtel can initiate but single handedly we cannot be the change. So why are we initiating? This is because we definitely want to bring change. Wherever possible we have even gone to great extents to make things happen. If you remember the Scorpions Concert held in Shillong last year we made sure that the regional talent got international exposure. We organized the Airtel Rocks Contest in various parts of the region. Then the best Rock Band was chosen to perform the Opening Act of that international show held in Shillong. The Arunachal Car Rally 2008 was another such effort of ours.

E.P. The North East is very diversified? The mentality, the emotions and the driving factor of the people differ from one place to other in the region? How do you bring them together?

S. C. Do you remember our campaign “Barriers Break When People Talk?” People may be residing in a remote corner of Arunachal Pradesh or Mokukchung District in Nagaland for example, but even at a distance when we start communicating with them, we start talking, then we are allowing a media of expression. I am sure that this will go a long way in bringing the people together. How many times have people thought about going to the remote areas of the region? Today we are going to these places, people are talking, they are trading and there is so much more exposure. All the telecom companies are facilitating this, breaking barriers.

E.P. How does Airtel view the coming of new operators like Vodafone in this region?

S. C. The more the merrier! I think from the customer’s point of view it augurs well. As far as Airtel is concerned we have always welcomed competition. Moreover, there is space for everyone. Let us leave the choice to the customers. We can promise we will continue to serve our customers as best we can.