How Airtel went premium to recharge itself

SELECT TARIFF HIKES BOOST ARPU

- JATIN GROVER

SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL'S bet on premiumisation has paid off. After ten years, Bharti Airtel's ARPU has one again crossed 200 with promise of more upside. By growing the base of data-users, converting pre-paid users to postpaid ones and nudging postpaid customers to sign on for Airtel Black, the company has enhanced the quality of its business.

It hasn't been easy. Bharti was initially jolted by the competitive intensity post the launch of R-Jio back in September 2016 which disrupted the Indian telecom sector altering the rules of the game. An imminent shift away from voice to data meant revenues-70% from voice-were under threat. The company did, in fact, see a sharp fall in the ARPU and revenues. But it saw the opportunity in data and chalked out a plan to cater for the surge in data demand. Mittal often recalls how the strong competition from Jio had led to a collapse in the industry's revenues. "I must say with great deal of satisfaction and pride that despite facing some very difficult times, we stayed on course. That means not taking any short cuts, but playing for the long term," Mittal said recently. The telco's comeback strategy has been a combination primarily of tariff hikes-two headline hikes-,accelerated investments in the network and a focus on premium subscribers. To execute the plan, Bharti made some smart spectrum acquisitions and timely fund-raises.