Expert View

October 30, 2002
Bharti Infotel committed to basic services

Kaushik Phukan

INDIA -- "Our commitment toward fixed line telephony is very strong," said Badri Aggarwal, president, Bharti Infotel. In fact, Bharti was the first company to launch and implement all basic telephony licenses. It is already offering fixed line telephony in MP, Chattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Bharti has already invested around Rs 1,000 crore in these five projects. Convergence Plus spoke to Badri Aggarwal to find out the company's plans for the future.

CP: How much emphasis are you putting on basic services?

Badri Aggarwal: Our commitment toward fixed line telephony is very strong. This is evident from the fact that we are the first private fixed line service provider in India. Not only are we first to launch services, we have already implemented all basic telephony licenses. We started our operations in fixed line telephony way back in 1998 in Madhya Pradesh. Today, we are offering fixed line telephony in MP and Chattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. We are constantly innovating and adding more value-added services to our existing bouquet of offerings. We have already invested approximately Rs 1,000 crore in the five projects.

CP: How many subscribers' do you currently have?

Badri Aggarwal: The total number of our subscribers exceeds 2,60,000 as at close of September 2002 and it is growing by over 21,000 per month.

CP: With everything going wireless, what do you think is the future of the fixed line telephony? Do you see WLL eating into the profits of basic service providers?

Badri Aggarwal: Fixed line services in the country are fast evolving into an enabler of comprehensive 'end-to-end' solutions to data transmission needs of its customers, large corporates and individual customers. With India emerging as the global hub for outsourcing software requirements and IT-enabled services -- such as call centers, customer relationship management, medical transcription, backoffice processing and data entry -- fixed line services will increasingly be catering to data requirements of the country -- in addition to being the day's most chosen mode of voice exchange.

CP: What are the problems that you are currently facing?

Badri Aggarwal: The most common problem is the right of way, which we have to seek for digging in order to lay cables. Similarly, owners of buildings sometimes delay subscriber access that requires wiring and placement of equipment in their premises. However, we increasingly see that progressive building owners view the provisioning of Touchtel lines as increasing the service values of their buildings. However, we face delays in providing service to subscribers when the incumbent delays interconnection access to us.

CP: Are you providing services in rural and remote places?

Badri Aggarwal: We are in the process of fulfilling our rollout obligations within the stipulated timeframes.

CP: What are your future plans regarding fixed line telephony?

Badri Aggarwal: We will continuously strive toward providing maximum value to our customers by offering the latest, state-of-the-art service and bringing in the best technology to be the preferred choice of subscribers. We would also like to bring in a complete revolution in the way the service industry has been traditionally functioning in India. By integrating varied platforms of technology, we want to be the single stop for all telecom solutions.

CP: What sort of changes in regulations and policies would you expect from the government?

Badri Aggarwal: We would like the government and the regulator to allow raising the ceiling on local call rates. The incumbents should look forward to infrastructure sharing with private operators, especially for rollout obligations. Interconnect regulations must also be set clearly through the reference interconnect offer (RIO) on a cost basis.

CP: Are you also asking for a raise in local call charges?

Badri Aggarwal: Historically, local calls and rentals have been subsidized by long distance. In the current competitive context, with long-distance charges coming closer to international parity, we need to re-look at local rentals and call charges to ensure that a sustainable business model is created and access providers are able to maintain and upgrade quality of services (QoS).

CP: In its recently released survey on QoS, the TRAI has said that none of the BSOs have lived up to the norms. Please comment.

Badri Aggarwal: According to the survey, we have been able to provide comparatively much better quality of service (QoS). Private players coming in will help enhance the overall QoS, as they would bring in state-of-the-art networks. Any initial teething issues with private players are also quickly overcome due to a very fast learning curve and the desire to stay competitively superior. QoS, even from the incumbent operators, would be enhanced as a result of this.