<div>s the telecom sector is stepping up with the launch of 4G technology, India’s largest telecom service provider Bharti Airtel still holds its market leader status in terms of consumer base and in broadband services. </div><div> </div><div>A report by Credit Suisse says Bharti Airtel which has already launched 4G services in various circles, is best positioned to respond to the upcoming launch of services by Reliance Jio Infocomm. "Bharti clearly has the lead among incumbent operators on 4G deployments, and is probably best positioned to respond to the upcoming RJio launch," the report said.</div><div> </div><div>Bharti Airtel soft-launched 4G/LTE services in Mumbai and a few other cities recently. This comes more than three years after its 4G launch in Bangalore in 2012.</div><div> </div><div>The report, however, said given the scale of investments, network capacity size and differentiating investments (spectrum/fibre backhaul, etc.) made, it believes even Bharti's numbers could come under pressure in the next couple of years.</div><div> </div><div>The year was quite eventful for the country’s biggest telecom service provider Bharti Airtel. In the spectrum auctions conducted in March, the company successfully renewed 900 MHz spectrum in six circles. The company also won additional 900 MHz spectrum in key leadership circles, added to its existing 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz spectrum in 7 circles, and won 2100 MHz spectrum for 3G services in 6 new circles. This will enable the Company to provide world class voice and data services to its customers across 2G, 3G and 4G technologies.</div><div> </div><div>In the recent spectrum auction conducted by DoT spectrum worth Rs 109,875 crore was bought by seven telecom operators, with Airtel alone acquiring spectrum worth Rs 29,129 crores.Of this, Rs. 17,618 crores has been spent on the renewal of existing spectrum while the balance Rs 11,511 crore has been spent on procuring new spectrum. </div><div> </div><div>The company which has its operation in 20 countries continued to invest on up-gradation and expansion of network sites. By the end of the quarter, the company had 146,539 sites in the country. Out of the total number, 33.3 per cent are 3G sites. With 48,825 3G sites, Airtel has the largest 3G network in India.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Finances</strong><br> </div><div>For the year ended March 31, 2015, the consolidated total revenues for Bharti Airtel amounted Rs 92,039 crore, EBITDA at Rs 31,452 crore and Net Income ended at Rs 5,183 crore, up by 86.9 per cent from last year.</div><div> </div><div>Mobile Data revenue at Rs 2,324 crore registered a growth of 70.4 per cent Y-o-Y in India, uplifted by increase in usage per customer by 41.2 per cent and Data customer base by 30.3 per cent. </div><div> </div><div><strong>Advantage Airtel</strong><br> </div><div>As the sector is gearing up for the 4G battle Airtel has the advantage of having the largest consumer base. As of now total number of wireless broadband subscription stood 83.68 million. Bharti Airtel (20.58 million) leads in this segment too, followed by Vodafone (19.37 million) and Idea Cellular (14.52 million), Reliance Communications Group (7.83 million) ranks 5th below BSNL (8.92 million).The Company’s 3G services are now available in 9,951 towns and 4G in 17 towns, largest in the country.<br><br>(Arshad Khan)</div><div> </div><div>Its announcement of strategic collaboration with China Mobile under which the two companies will work towards the growth of the LTE ecosystem and evolving mobile technology standards to enable delivery of world-class affordable services to customers.</div>
