Rolling out fast-with some of the most exciting offers-Aircel is definitely a
player to watch out for in the Indian cellular space. Aircel has fast moved up
to the eighth rank in the VOICE&DATA's list of Top 10 service providers.
Aircel has become the seventh largest player in terms of mobile subscribers
and eighth biggest from the revenues perspective. According to Voice&Data
estimates, on the subscriberbase front during the FY 2009-10, Aircel registered
almost a 100% growth and closed the financial year with 36.86 mn subscribers on
its network. The operator recorded a 25.4% growth in the revenue from the
cellular services. Rs 3,425 crore in FY 2008-09 to Rs 4,700 crore in FY 2009-10.
With operations now in nineteen circles and over 40 mn customers in the country,
Aircel is a full-fledged national operator and is matching pace with some of the
leaders in the mobile services space.
On a roll out spree in 2009, Aircel signed a passive infrastructure sharing
agreement with BSNL, that would help it to get access to around 45,000 towers of
BSNL. Promoted by Malaysia's Maxis Communications, Aircel emerged as one of the
big winners in the recently concluded 3G and BWA spectrum auction. Following a
strategy to cover the southern and eastern corridors, the operator bought the 3G
spectrum for thirteen circles and BWA spectrum for eight circles. The company
has to pay Rs 3,438 crore for these eight circles. The operator is hopeful of
rolling out 3G and BWA services in next six to nine months.
Pushing to establish itself as a successful pan-India operator, the service
provider has survived all challenges to grab a larger share of the market. In an
attempt to succeed in its endeavors, it came up with aggressive and alluring
marketing plans.
|
AIRCEL - 8 |
Highlights
- Launched unlimited Internet plans
- Launched BlackBerry services
- Aims to take VAS contribution to 12% by 2012
- Plans to double the number of BTS this year
|
 |
The operator kept its focus sharp on the next big thing that is to happen in
India-data. The operator pulled the youth's attention with its unlimited
Internet data plans, something that a new user would prefer. Following which,
Tata DOCOMO launched five GPRS on-demand packs. Currently, data services
constitute 7% of Aircel's revenue and the company is targeting to take that to
11% by 2012. The last fiscal saw a bloody per second billing tariff war, and
Aircel participated in it with equal ferocity. It also collaborated with RIM to
launch BlackBerry services.
An offering that did not quite impress the industry experts was Aircel's
PEEK, a QWERTY mobile dedicated mainly for providing email services on-the-go.
The device can maintain maximum of three email accounts and supports Microsoft
Exchange and upload and download attachments of up to 10 MB based on the email
service provider and it works with a GPRS connection. It can accommodate a
maximum of 5,000 emails and 1,000 contacts.
| We will commercially launch our app store in July
COO, Aircel, Gurdeep Singh |
How has the last fiscal been for you?
I believe it has been transformational. We have emerged as the fastest
growing operator. In a competitive market like India where there are more
than twelve operators in the business of providing cellular services, we
have managed to make a special place for ourselves. At present we operate in
about nineteen circles; last fiscal we rolled out services in most of the
geographies.
What is going to be your 3G rollout strategy?
Our win of the 3G spectrum in thirteen circles re-endorses our faith in
the potential of data services, and what they can do to the operator
revenues. We are the only operator to have made significant wins in both the
3G and BWA space. We bid with a clear intention of strengthening our ground
in the southern and eastern corridors. Fortunately, we have managed to bag
spectrum for circles that are mid-ready and ready for 3G. In the next six to
nine months, we will being rolling out services for both 3G and BWA.
Can we expect to see some innovation on data pricing once you roll out
3G?
Consumer is always ready to pay for an enriching experience, whether it
be voice or data. 3G will definitely help the consumer access more
personalized services and content, which will ofcourse come at a price.
What is going to be the differentiating factor for your app store
offering?
Our association with Infosys to launch our app store has been cemented
with a very specific intention in mind. We understand that India is a very
different market and we require an India-specific application store. Flypp
will enable us to offer services in a way which is convenient to the
consumer-be it through voice, SMS or web. Our focus is on developing
applications that will excite individuals and SMEs as well. We will most
likely commercially launch our app store in July this year.
Does the impending scenario of 3G competition and mobile number
portability worry you? What do you think works in your favor?
No, it does not worry us, instead we are excited about MNP. I think it
will help us to pull some high
ARPU subscribers who some of the other
operators have been holding on to for so long. As a new entrant, we did
manage to attract the low ARPU customers. But with a service like 3G, an
operator needs to build the entire ecosystem with the right kind of
handsets, content and content delivery platform. Over the last one year, we
have been building it. We are set to be the telco of the next decade. |
Aircel INQ Mini 3G-has features such as Facebook, Twitter, Skype and Windows
Live Widgets and easy Internet access-was one of the operator's moves to
strengthen its data services. The operator can be credited to have taken the
social networking to a new level in the country. In a recent offer, Facebook
updates through SMS to its prepaid as well as postpaid customers were offered.
The smartphones are not widely available and thus a Facebook access provided
through a simple SMS is likely to be a hit. Aircel Comics and 'audiosodes' of
detective series 'Kriminal Kaun' by Ekta Kapoor are a few examples of innovative
VAS launched by the operator.
Aircel thought differently with the 'Save our Tigers' campaign. It is a slick
campaign, utilizing the best of the marketing tools-celebrities, new media, PR,
etc. They also came up with the campaign on gifting unused handsets to old
people. The operator has ambitious plans and 3G services will improve revenues
in the current fiscal.
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