Massive Unauthorized VAS Activation Fraud at Bharti Airtel
Lately, there have been increasing number of complaints against Bharti Airtel for unauthorized activation of value added services [Unlimited SMS, Caller Tunes, etc]. Well, I normally don’t resort to writing about pennies, but having had first hand experience myself and two other instances in front of my eyes, I am intrigued to write and expose the fraudulent business practices at Bharti Airtel.
I don’t remember the date [read within the past 30 days] but, I received a SMS [despite subscribing to NDNC -Offense -1] from Bharti Airtel saying that ISD Tariffs have been revised and I could check the revised tariffs by sending a SMS. I did that and bingo, they activated Unlimited SMS 99 pack on my number [Offense -2]. I then had to call their Paid Call Read more
Cash from Inclusive Growth for Global Ambitions – Bharti Airtel
If you have been tracking corporate India’s moves in the past 18 months [Tata Corus + Jaguar, Hindalco Novellis, etc] our businessmen are in a hurry to fulfill their global ambitions. Bharti Airtel‘s Mittal is also running on a similar track and this I believe is going to be really big – SingTel will be the silent beneficiary 
Bharti Airtel management hosted the first management call after they bid for the Zain’s African Operations. Here are the key takeaways from the call, Read more
Bharti Airtel – Zain Deal – Another Expensive Acquisition
Mr. Sunil Mittal is the most determined soul for Wireless African Safari After having paid a premium in acquiring Warid Telecom, Bangladesh, this time his company is paying similar hefty premium [even RoE, RoCE are all low and not comparable to Airtel] to acquire the Wireless operations of Zain in Africa with operations in 16 countries including Nigeria, Congo and Tanzania which account for 52-55% of subscribers and revenues.
Even before I could get to my spreadsheets, ready food is on my table and the consensus amongst Analysts is Bharti is paying upto 40% premium to Zain for acquiring Wireless Business in Africa. Read more
How Idea Managed to beat Bharti Airtel in Traffic Growth
First, my apologies that I couldn’t cover neither Idea Cellular nor Bharti Airtel Results & Analyst Call as I am stuck in Mumbai for some personal work. However, going through the data, I find it interesting to note that Idea Cellular has punched straight into the face of Bharti Airtel in tems of Traffic Growth for the quarter ending Dec-2009.
Idea’s minutes grew 15% QoQ much faster than Bharti (6.7%) even after adjusting for lower base and the impact of J&K ban on the latter. The reasons could be Read more
Abhu Dhabi Group Liquidating Warid Telecom Holding – Bharti Airtel bids
The Abu Dhabi group led by Sheikh Mabarak Al Nahayan is liquidating its holding in Warid Telecom to stabilize the new Epicenter of financial crisis, Dubai. Warid Telecom is a JV with SingTel and has services in Bangladesh and Pakistan as well. However, only the stake of Bangladesh operations is on the block.
SingTel the natural ally of Bharti Airtel is likely to let the deal through if all necessary clearance are obtained or the former may also raise its stake from the current 30%. Warid Telecom has mere 3 million subscribers compared to Airtel’s 116 mn.
How much is Warid Telecom Worthy of ? Bharti Airtel being the superior Wireless Carrier in India by all means Read more
Airtel Freedom Plus – 20% to 44% Expensive than Simple Reliance Tariffs
Yesterday at the Analyst call, Bharti Airtel executives denied to cut call tariffs. However, shortly after they announced Airtel Freedom Plan which is the Biggest Marketing Gimmick by Bharti Airtel.
Airtel is clearly worried about two competitors – Reliance Communications and Tata DoCoMo and hence the new tariff plan. Airtel Freedom Plan is based on the core themes of DoCoMo’s Per Second Billing and RCom’s Simple Tariffs which the customers are demanding. Airtel’s marketing team designed this Read more
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