Your argument that mobile phones have to be a lot more than just talking devices is a powerful one (‘And now wallet-phones’, May 12), but the tone is alarmist. As long as Bharti is not selling below cost, and is able to amortise all costs, every extra minute sold is that much more profit for the company. This is the nature of all commodity businesses. Wal-Mart makes very small margins from each sale, but the sheer volumes make it the world’s largest company. Why should telecom be any different? It is true that customers in rural areas talk less than customers in urban areas. But rural costs are also a lot lower and, unlike their urban counterparts, rural customers are a lot more loyal. Your editorial should have been about finding the market at the bottom of the pyramid, but it turned out to be alarmist.
Sanjiv Kapoor, Gurgaon