Digital for all
Annual Report 2014-15
16
Digital for all
Mobile telephony is paving the way for an
unprecedented digital empowerment for
millions of people in India. The country now has
over 200 Mn internet users, of which close to
60% access the web through a mobile device.
2 Mn
First time data users
helped by Airtel One Touch
Internet to experience
internet
1 Lakh+
Active customers for
3G Wifi Dongle
One Touch Internet
As data networks expand and internet
enabled devices become affordable –
more and more Indians are accessing
the internet through their mobile
devices. However, our market research
has shown that there are millions of
customers across the country, who
own an internet-ready mobile device
and are keen on getting online, but
are apprehensive due to reasons like
lack of know-how and fear of incurring
heavy data charges. Airtel’s ‘One Touch
Internet’ will handhold first-time
internet users on their mobile devices.
Key USPs
Airtel’s ‘One Touch Internet’ is
a Wireless Application Protocol
(WAP) portal designed with a
simple, secure and intuitive
interface. It allows first-time users
to discover the internet easily and
helps them overcome common
perception barriers around the
mobile data experience.
In 2014, the country topped as the
world’s fastest growing smartphone
market. The availability of low-cost
smartphones, tablets and customer-
friendly data tariffs is driving internet
penetration across urban, semi-
urban and even rural areas. India’s
digital aspirations are altering the
dynamics of traditional media and
entertainment industry, as more
eyeballs are now shifting to online
channels.
The Government of India is now
focusing on preparing a complete
framework for transforming
India into a digital society. The
objective of the mega plan is to
help elevate the life of the common
citizen in multiple ways and in a
cost-effective manner. At Bharti
Airtel, we have the right assets
and the acumen to ensure that our
response to this transformation is
proactive and innovative.
Statutory ReportsCorporate Overview Financial Statements
Bharti Airtel Limited
17
5 Mn+
App downloads registered
on Wynk music in less than
six months
17 cities
4G roll out across India in
9,951 cities
Airtel 3G is available
across India in
Available in 10 languages and a
highly visual interface that helps
address the ‘literacy’ barrier to
internet adoption.
‘One Touch Internet’ works as a
single-point destination for the
‘uninitiated’ to see, try and buy a
host of popular services (including
social networking, videos, online
shopping and travel bookings) – all
with just one touch.
Driving Digital Inclusion
India has the world’s third largest
internet subscriber base. But the
country’s internet penetration stands
at about 19%, which is low compared
to internet penetration in other major
economies, such as the US and China.
We believe digital literacy is critical
to drive a knowledge-driven economy
in the twenty-first century. In line
with our belief, we organised ‘Each
One Teach One day’- an industry-first
initiative aimed at driving internet
literacy in India. Our network of 1.4
Mn retailers, 20,000 on-the-field
executives and 15,000 employees across
a total of around 1,800 towns pledged
their support towards the cause of
widespread internet awareness in India.
Wynk Music
With the proliferation of smartphones
in the country, mobile phones have
emerged as the most preferred
platform, when it comes to
experiencing music on the go and
accounts for almost 85-90% of total
digital consumption. We introduced
Wynk Music – a device agnostic
mobile application that is designed to
introduce music lovers to a library of
over 1.8 Mn songs (including Hindi,
regional and international hits) curated
by experts. With this launch, Airtel
has now become the first operator to
introduce an OTT (Over-the-Top) mobile
application in the Indian market. The
application is not restricted to any
specific mobile operator, enabling
customers to stream, download and
buy songs at reasonable prices and
experience an ad-free interface, while
on the move.
New Internet Products
3G Wifi Dongle: Airtel launched 3G Wifi
Dongle being the first 3G operator to
launch this device. The product can be
plugged anywhere like phone charger
USB, laptop USB, car charger to create
a wifi hotspot and up to five users can
connect and enjoy 3G.
Digital for all
Annual Report 2014-15
18
Digital for all
Yes, that’s the number of people in India, we
are touching everyday with our wide-range of
innovative and customised solutions. We are the
first Indian company to enable real integration
of almost all digital devices, enabling our
customers a seamless experience.
3 Lakhs+
Users in 90+ countries
are part of the Airtel talk
community, as on
March 31, 2015
Airtel Talk
High international call costs are a
deterrent towards customers freely
connecting with friends and family
when abroad. At the same time, factors
such as fast-expanding penetration
of smartphones and adoption of data
services have led to a new market
preference for integrated forms of
communication, such as video calling
and instant messaging, among others.
We introduced ‘airtel talk’ – an all-in-
one communication application that
facilitates easy and affordable solution
for Indians across the world to call back
home. It can work as an alternative
to expensive ISD voice-only calls, low
quality messenger calls and calling
cards, among others.
Voice Free for Broadba
nd
d
Customers
We are India’s first telecom services
provider to offer our broadband
customers free voice calls to any
network in the country 24X7. We have
launched two first-of-its-kind voice
calling packs for our broadband
customers, offering unlimited free
voice calls at unbeatable prices to any
number in India on any network, both
fixed line and mobile, round the clock.
Strengthening Enterpri
se
e
Services
We joined the AWS Partner Network
(APN), which will enable us to deliver
private network solutions for enterprise
customers using Amazon Web Services
(AWS) globally. This will help Airtel’s
enterprise customers across the globe
leverage the power of AWS Direct
Connect to establish a dedicated
network connection between customers’
premises and Amazon’s data centres.
It helps them reduce network costs,
Airtel myPlan - tailor-m
a
ad
e
p
pl
an
for the entire family
We introduced myPlan Family for our
post-paid segment, enabling customers
to not just tailor-make their postpaid
plan, but also share the benefits with
their family. Our customers can now
customise postpaid plans on the basis
of their family’s usage preferences
and requirements. They can share
the benefits of the plan with five of
their family members, thus ensuring
zero wastage or overspend that are
otherwise inherent in individual plans.
Airtel’s myPlan family combines the
features of infinite flexibility offered
by myPlan with the sharing feature to
offer affordability, convenience and zero
wastage.
Statutory ReportsCorporate Overview Financial Statements
Bharti Airtel Limited
19
460+
Channels & services
offered (58 channels added
during FY 2014-15)
10 Mn
Customer base achieved by
Airtel Digital TV in just 6
years of inception
increase bandwidth throughput and
experience a more consistent network
connectivity.
Airtel is committed to providing highly
reliable connectivity between the
customer location and their closest
AWS data centre - thus giving a
consistent user experience and secure
network configuration, while reducing
costs of IT infrastructure.
Enriching the TV Viewi
ng
g
Experience
Innovation and customer satisfaction is
core to our DNA. We strive to empower
our customers with superior television
viewing experience by offering
innovative and life enriching services,
supported by cutting-edge technology.
We are the first to introduce the
Universal Remote to the market, along
with value-added services, such as
Multi-lingual Electronic Programme
Guide (EPG). We are also the world’s
first USSD-based self-care facility on
mobile, making Airtel one of the fastest
growing Direct-To-Home (DTH) service
providers in the country.
We have a Self-Care Application for
television sets, a first-of-its kind by a
DTH service provider. The application
enables customers with an Airtel Digital
TV HD set-top-box to easily access their
Airtel Digital TV account details on a
real-time basis on their television sets.
They do not need to reach out to the
customer support centre.
We collaborated with Samsung to
launch the Integrated Digital TV and
introduce the Indian market to its next
phase of TV viewing experience with the
launch of Integrated Digital TV (iDTV).
As part of this innovation - Samsung’s
range of Smart Direct TVs will come
designed with an in-built Airtel digital
TV Smart Card. This will enable DTH
signal reception without the need for
customers to install an external set-
top-box (STB).
Among Many Firsts
Our subscribers only need to
connect a pen-drive to a set-top
box to enable Pause Live feature,
enabling customers to record their
favourite TV programmes and
watch them at leisure.
Our subscribers can also watch
television on phone or tablet by simply
downloading the app on the device.
Widening Spread
We are constantly innovating to
meet the expectations of our growing
fraternity of customers in India. In
the last 14 months, we have opened
over 100 Company-Owned-Company-
Operated Airtel stores across India.
These stores will offer end-to-end
service support for their Airtel mobile,
dongle and broadband connections.
Digital for all
Annual Report 2014-15
20
Digital for all
Elevating Customer Experience
Self-Care: Self-Care is a handset
driven self-service option that provided
customers with multiple channels
to get service anytime, anywhere.
Following the launch, its popularity
is steadily rising. In addition, service
though social media gained extensive
momentum.
Customer Engagement: We undertake
several initiatives throughout the year
to enhance customer engagement.
During the last FIFA World Cup, for
instance, 80 High Value Customers
were sent to Brazil, who were selected
through various promotions. Special
events were conducted for premier
customers. We also partnered with
hotels, airlines, airport lounges and
other well-known brands. It helped
improve customer experience, as well
as our revenues.
Airtel Specialised Customer Care
Service: Launched in 11 markets with
plans to extend across Gabon, DRC,
Congo B, Chad and Seychelles. We have
Airtel care active user base of over
70,000.
Africa is u
n
n
mistaka
b
l
l
y
y
risin
g
g
.
.
Home to more
than a bil
l
ion peopl
e
e
a
a
nd so
m
m
e of the fastest
growing e
c
c
onomies
o
o
f
f
t
t
he w
o
o
r
r
ld, the continent
is geared
t
t
o play a
m
m
o
o
r
r
e sig
n
n
i
fi
fi
cant role in
influencin
g
g
global e
c
c
o
o
n
n
omi
c
c
a
a
ffairs, than ever
before. Th
e
e
re are ch
a
a
l
l
l
enge
s
s
,
,
but the bright
spots are
c
c
learly vis
i
b
b
l
l
e.
Sub-Saharan Africa, for instance,
enjoyed robust economic growth of 5%
4G
Africa’s first such service
launched in the Seychelles
3G
Operational in all 17
locations in Africa where
we are present
in 2014, driven by strong investment
in mining and infrastructure and
by strong private consumption,
especially in low income countries.
Although there are headwinds, the
region will continue to be among
the fastest growing economies of
the world.
We have steadily escalated our
investments in Africa, as we see
a lot of untapped potential in
the communications sector. We
are now well positioned to derive
benefits of increasing tele-density
in countries, which are under-
penetrated.
Statutory ReportsCorporate Overview Financial Statements
Bharti Airtel Limited
21
Digital Drive
AppStore: AppStore, launched in five
markets, plans to extend across Nigeria,
Madagascar, Chad and Sierra Leone.
AppStore has 40,817 active users,
20,358 downloads and 89,651 visits
since its launch.
Micro Insurance: Micro insurance
offers Airtel customers free insurance
products, based on their monthly
spend. The product is further enhanced
by a paid-for model, where customers
can choose to extend their cover.
Intenet Discovery Portal: It is a new
data user on-boarding tool with a set of
content including news, education and
health, among others
eg: Internet.org was adjudged the Best
App at Africa GSMA 2014.
Wynk: We rolled out music app in eight
markets and further plan to extend it
across various other locations. We are
in the process of improving customer
experience and acquiring more
content,based on market research and
consumer behaviour.
Airtel Zone: Airtel Zone is a dynamic
tariffing solution that offers the Airtel
customer an optimal tariff, in the form
of a discount, at the time of initiating
the call. This discount is calculated,
based on the specific cell site, the
time of day and the current utilisation
characteristics. We have launched this
across 12 African markets and continue
to roll out in other operating locations.
Dynamic SIM Allocation (DSA): DSA
was launched in Nigeria and provides
Airtel the ability to supply the market
with blank SIM cards, therefore making
our SIM’s accessible to all. This is
possible as valuable network resources,
such as Mobile Numbers are not tied
up at the time of distribution, but only
allocated at the time of SIM activation.
The solution can also be expanded to
provide the customer with choices, such
as Mobile Number, Language and Tariff
Plan selection at the time of activation.
DSA is currently being expanded to
Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo
and Burkina Faso.
Video Entertainment Store (VES):
We have alrea
dy launched VES in Kenya,
Uganda, Malawi, with plans of further
expansion. VES enables customers to
watch videos at a low price and consume
data with no charges.
Home Wi-Fi Router: Implemented in
Tanzania, it provides connectivity to all
devices (including non-sim devices).
It has a screen with self-care app for
subscription and account management.
Airtel Red: We launched our first
customised 3G smartphone across 12
operating locations in Africa. Through
this launch, we are focusing on
migrating existing and new customers
from the traditional feature phones
to android smartphones; and take
advantage of Airtel’s 3G networks.
Product Innovation
UnlimiNET, first launched in Kenya,
offers talk time, SMS and data
packages to customers. It enables
customers continue browsing, even
after their bundles run out.
Yatosha, launched in Tanzania, is
a combo pack comprising bundled
minutes for voice, SMS and data.
The customers can either choose
an ‘All Networks’ pack or ‘Airtel to
Airtel’ pack.
Wiceceka, an unlimited voice
bundle, was launched in Rwanda
to boost voice revenue growth and
improve ‘Airtel to Airtel’ traffic
and revenues. This bundle has
been a huge success, with growing
customer base and revenues.
Talk ChawAnkasa rewards the
customers with five times bonus on
the attainment of some targets. It
can be spent on voice, SMS and data
before mid-night of the same day.
Smart Share allows customers to share
one data plan with family and friends.
