Unprecedented market disruption following the entry of new operator: Sunil Mittal

There is no doubt that, the telecom sector is in under stress due to increasing pressure after the entry Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio and a debt of about Rs. 4.6 lakh crore, now Bharti Airtel, Chairman Sunil Mittal has also blamed unprecedented market disruption following the entry of new operator.

Mittal said in Airtels's annual report of 2016- 17, "India witnessed unprecedented market disruption following the entry of an extremely well capitalized and aggressive new operator.Its prolonged free trial offers created massive pressure on industry revenues and margins."

Meanwhile, Gopal Vittal, Bharti Airtel's chief executive and managing director for India and South Asia also added that the entry of a new player in the industry triggered rapid consolidation while the industry witnessed a de-growth in revenues.

As such, many small operators seemed to have lost their bearings under the intense onslaught and consequently exited the market. All in all, the shake-up did trigger an industry-wide consolidation process, which Airtel truly believes could prove beneficial for the market in the long run.

However, while Jio has certainly created a huge disruption in the telecom sector, Mittal also stated, "Airtel on its part has navigated this extraordinary challenge with a well thought out strategic action plan and of course, sheer resilience. Amidst this massive industry shake-up, we managed to increase our revenue market share; to reach a lifetime high."

Further, the company has also pointed out that, the year witnessed considerable strengthening of its spectrum footprint both through buying at the latest round of auction and inorganic acquisitions. Besides, the company did managed to complete the acquisition of spectrum from Videocon and Aircel in fourteen circles.

Mittal has also confirmed that the company has already entered into definitive agreements to acquire Telenor India and Tikona Digital Networks. With these acquisitions, Airtel has become the only operator in the country to have a robust pan India 2G/3G/4G spectrum footprint.

Airtel pointed out that, the year witnessed considerable strengthening of our spectrum footprint both through buying at the latest round of auction and inorganic
acquisitions. Besides completing the acquisition of spectrum from Videocon and Aircel in fourteen circles.

Mittal says that "We also entered into definitive agreements to acquire Telenor India and Tikona Digital Networks. With these acquisitions, Airtel became the only operator in the country to have a robust pan India 2G/3G/4G spectrum footprint.

Airtel rolled out 180,000 mobile sites in the past two years, making it one of the largest network rollouts globally. The telco doubled its transmission capacity and increased mobile backhaul capacity by eight times.

Although it seems that the entry of Jio has not had a big impact on Airtel as the company has already rolled out 180,000 mobile sites in the past two years, making it one of the largest network rollouts globally. In fact, the telco doubled its transmission capacity and increased mobile backhaul capacity by eight times.

The company has further rolled out even a banking service and believes that the service will be a pre-eminent driver of financial inclusion and mobile banking in the country in the coming years.

In any case, as Airtel is usually one of the major and popular telecom service providers in the country. The entry of Jio seems to have had not so significant impact on the telco. While such is the case, one thing that we have noticed is the different offers and plans that Airtel as well as other service providers have come up wth or are offering currently. We can see the impact there. The price wars have been pretty rampant and fierce between the telecom service providers.