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Abstract African country. Ours case study is about Bharti Airtel Ltd in
(BAL), the market leader in the Indian telecommunication industry and its globalization strategy. BAL's telecom model was considered as the new model for telecom and effective for emerging markets like India, according to experts. More and more players were eyeing the fast-growing Indian mobile market which was experiencing high growth, BAL put its sight on foreign shores. The acquisition of Zain Group's telecom business in fifteen African counties in 2010 gave it a footprint in the African continent. While concerns regarding whether BAL had overpaid for the deal remained, industry observers were keenly observing to see whether the company could replicate its successful telecom model in these developing and emerging markets. Africa posed an intriguing environment with different cultures, political forces and socioeconomic environment. After completing the deal, BAL was in the process of giving shape to its strategy for the African markets. Keyword: Airtel, Africa, India, Bharti, Telecom Market.

history
On 14, February 2010 a statement issued by Zain Ghana, said "the Board of Directors of Kuwait's Zain Group, after its meeting on February 14, 2010, issued a resolution to accept a proposal received from Bharti Airtel Limited (Bharti) to enter into exclusive discussions until 25 March 2010, regarding the sale of its African unit, Zain Africa BV." The offer was for $10.7 billion. The deal would provide Bharti access to 15 more countries in the region, adding around 40.1 million subscribers to its already 125 million-plus user base. The combined revenue of the two entities would be around $12 billion. The deal ran into hurdles after the government of Gabon had come out against the deal, but later approved the sale. The government of Congo Republic had also said Bharti-Zain deal broke law. There was also a dispute about minority ownership of Zain's operations in Nigeria, the biggest market in the deal. Minority shareholder Econet was seeking to overturn a 2006 deal by Zain - then called Celtel - in which it bought a majority stake in Nigerian mobile operator Vee Networks Ltd, now Zain Nigeria. On 8, June 2010, Bharti said the Nigeria ownership dispute had been settled.

overview
Bharti Airtel Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunication services in India, south Asia, and Africa. Its Mobile Services segment offers GSM mobile services; and post-paid, pre-paid, roaming, Internet, and value added services. The companys Enterprise Services segment provides data, voice, and managed and long distance telecommunication services for BFSI, IT, ITeS, manufacturing and distribution, media, education, telecom, government and PSUs, and retail industries. The company was formerly known as Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited and changed its name to Bharti Airtel Limited in April 2006. Bharti Airtel Limited was founded in 1995 and is based in New Delhi, India.

INTRODUCTION Airtel acquired control of Skycell Communications, in Chennai. In 2001, the company acquired control of Spice Cell in Calcutta. Bharti Enterprises went public in 2002, and the company was listed on Mumbai Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange of India. In 2003, the cellular phone operations were rebranded under the single Airtel brand. In 2004, Bharti acquired control of Hexacom and entered Rajasthan. In 2005, Bharti extended its network to Andaman and Nicobar. In 2009, Airtel launched its first international mobile network in Sri Lanka. In 2010, Airtel began operating in Bangladesh and 16 African countries. Today, Airtel is the largest cellular service provider in India and fifth largest in the world They are one of worlds leading providers of telecommunication services with presence in all the 22 licensed jurisdictions (also known as Telecom Circles) in India, and operations in Srilanka, Bangladesh and in Africa.

The rapid growth of the African telecom industry over the past few years, has remarkably transformed communication infrastructure on the continent. Just a decade ago, Africa telecom industry accounted for only 2% of the World phone lines. Fast forward to the 21st century and the continent is almost unrecognizable. Mobile phones are ubiquitous and if current trends are anything to go by, 2010 is the year in witch the continent s nascent but burgeoning mobile telecom industry receives a massive technological upgrade.

Telecom Market Spotlight : Africa

Like that of the Middle East, with witch it is often coupled by analysts, Africa telecom environment has become hugely active in recent years. This activity has been largely triggered by the rapid take up of mobile services in many African countries. A rapid growth in mobile subscribers has led to a flurry of interest in the acquisition of African mobile assets by various operators, both from within and without Africa, as they perceive the region to be one of last remaining big potential telecom markets.

Dependence on 2G
However, like the middle East, much of the current telecom interest still lies in 2G and 3G mobile. In terms of impact in developing mass-market telecom in the region, 2G has had more effect than any other technology. This market spotlight consequently concentrates on this current aspect of mobile. And it is important to understand how massively dominant mobile is in African markets typically, it accounts for about 70 percent to 80 percent-plus of telecom revenues.

Market Rankings
The apparently anomalous appearance of Nigeria of second place is due to the large number of subscribers there nearly 63 million. This is the largest in Africa, despite a relativity low penetration rate of 43 percent and it is the result of Nigeria having by far the largest population in Africa and having experienced a huge surge in the number of mobile subscribers recently.

Scenarios for African Market

This section of the report highlights the future scenarios and developments in the evolution of telecom sector in Africa. There are three main macroscopic trends in the telecom market : 1. A focus improving the reach and profitability of existing network in developed countries like south Africa, especially with the advent of inexpensive mobile data, and new methods of monetizing the network trough whosale option, value-added services and better segmentation;

2. Deployment of next-generation very highspeed broadband, and the building of business models and services to support this investment, typically involving video and/or state backing for nationalitycritical infrastructure projects; 3. Continued steady rollout of broadband in Africa, balancing theoretical gains in social and economic utility against the practical constraints of affordability, PC/device penetration and the need for substantial investment.

Maturing products and business models

The global telecom market is maturing fast. Baseline penetration rates will start to level off as saturation approaches. Coupled with price erosion and increasing capacity demands, this deceleration will pressure margins,especialy in the recession.

Convergence of fixed and mobile technology and product offerings

The impact of mobile broadband, either as a substitute or a complement to fixed broadband. This will go hand-in-hand with the advent of more powerful personal devices such as Smartphone and netbooks.

Greater state intervention in deploying and controlling broadband access

Increasing intervention of African government in areas, such as broadband roll-out and strategy, outside the scope of the regulatory authorities, will help the telecom companies. This will be conducted either through subsidy and stimulus programmes, or broader initiatives relating to national efforts on energy, health, education and the like.

Strategies for African Market

The split that emerged between the broadly more and less developed mobile markets presents operators with different issues and challenges. The more developed markets, such as south Africa, Botswana, and those of north Africa, are beginning to face a challenge common to mature or maturing markets everywhere. However as far as internal instability of the entire continent is concerned, these are the market best suited for Airtel to begin their operations with.

Conclusion India is the fastest growing telecom market in the world. The mobile subscriber base of Bharti Airtel in India is growing at a scorching pace of 3 million subscribers per month. The company also has the largest number of active customers (92%) among all mobile telecom operators. The expected broadband revolution is set to boost the revenues of the companys telemedia services arm, going further. Though Bhartis ARPUs have been declining, they are expected to stabilize at the present levels. The price to book value stands at 3.0. The stock is an attractive buy considering the growth prospects of the industry as well as the company.

references
"Airtel Africa Reports Revenue of $924 Million in FY11". http://www.telecomlead.com/inner-page-details.php?id=334&block=. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/airtel-crosses-50-mn-customer-mark-inafrica/207356-11.html PTI, Jun 8, 2010, 03.39pm IST (2010-06-08). "Indiatimes.com Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/biz/indiabusiness/Bharti-completes-acquisition-of-Zains-Africa-biz-for107bn/articleshow/6023848.cms. Retrieved 2010-08-23. "BhartiAirtel to change brand name of Zain Africa by Oct, says head - Sulekha Money". Money.sulekha.com. 2010-09-01. http://money.sulekha.com/bhartiairtel-to-change-brand-name-of-zain-africa-by-oct-says-head_news_12605. Retrieved 2010-11-21. "Bharti Airtel to buy Telecom Seychelles for Rs 288 crore" Economic Times. 11 August 2010. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-byindustry/telecom/Bharti-Airtel-to-buy-Telecom-Seychelles-for-Rs-288crore/articleshow/6291986.cms. Retrieved 11 August 2010. "Airtel to offer 2G, 3G services in Rwanda - The Times of India The Times Of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Airtel-to-offer2G-3G-services-in-Rwanda/articleshow/9916271.cms. http://hillpost.in/2011/11/30/airtel-touches-50-million-customers-mark-inafrica/36522/news-2/hp_news_network

Daily Independent Rwanda: Airtel appoints country manager USD10m plan for Airtel Seychelles; Bharti announces commitment to SEAS cable: CommsUpdate : TeleGeography Research MC certifies Airtel Sierra Leone Airtel Tanzania plans to expand network - Telecompaper http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id =50964:Airtel-Zambia-rolls-out-3.75G-data-network http://www.daily-mail.co.zm/index.php/business/2968-airtel-launches-3g-services Airtel launches 3G service in Congo Ombok, Eric (21 July 2011). "Bharti Airtel's Kenyan Unit to Start 3G Services in September, Daily Says" Bloomberg. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-21/bharti-airtel-s-kenyanunit-to-start-3g-services-in-september-daily-says.html Airtel net falls 31% on Africa operations, 3G payments - Home livemint.com Aim in Africa is affordability, not tariff war: Bharti One Network Countries | Africa Airtel Money launched in Kenya-->