Study of the Competition in Indian Telecom Industry: A 20-Year Period with Airtel as the Case Company

Abstract

Bharti Airtel Limited, one of the leading global telcos, has its presence in 17 Asian & African countries and operates in 50 countries and five continents. It has a global network running across 2, 50, 000 ROMs. India to have seen all the phases of digital and technological advancements in the field and has maintained its position in the market and involving with the Indian consumers by adapting to the changes that Indian telecom sector is going through a financial crisis, but Airtel has been able to survive the test of time and has managed to retain its hold in the telecom sector. In India, it is a converged player offering wireless & wire line broadband, m-commerce, DTH services, and enterprise services that include national and international long-distance services. Through this paper, we present the evolution of the Indian telecom sector and competitive landscape for a 20 year period through the study of Airtel as a case. Through this paper, we present the response of Airtel as an organization to scenarios of hyper-competition, technology up-gradation, and price-based penetration strategy adopted by competition.