To get a fix

IN COVERSATION

Indian fixed-line telephony has come through an excruciating era when even parallel phone connections were billed. Rakesh Bharti Mittal, vice-chairman, Bharti Enterprises, who has lived through a phase of decline (in early 2000), now foresees strong demand. He tells Business Standard about Bharti's plan to expand the fixed telephony market in India, spurred on by next generation telephone sets.

What are the focus areas for Bharti, today, to spur growth in the fixed-line phone market?

Our focus is clearly on feature-rich phones, and building retail outlets and trade channels. Beetel has over 48 per cent share in the retail market, 94 per cent in the PSP market, and 60 per cent in the tender market. We also export to over 30 countries across five continents.

With increasing demand for broadband services, Bharti Teletech has also leapfrogged into the ADSL modem market to cater to increasing demand for the same, and has sold over four lakh ADSL modems till now.

Where do you see the growth coming from in the fixed telephony sphere?

While on the whole, the total market for fixed line phones is rather stagnant, it has been the caller-ID and the cordless segments that are spearheading the growth.

Cordless sales, as seen by Beetel, are growing steadily, specially with the introduction of 2.4 GHz digital cordless phones that offer distinct advantages of voice clarity, better range and security of conversation. I see the cordless technology and value added services adding an impetus to fixed telephony's growth.

Another point that will benefit fixed telephony penetration would be the broadband services. Customers will opt for fixed line services that bundle broadband services along with a landline connection.

What is the market size of fixed line phones, and the market share of the company?

The open market for fixed line phones is estimated at 4.93 million units for 2006-07. The total market, including BSNL/MTNL and private service providers, is estimated at around 9.43 million units and is growing at around 5 per cent.

Bharti Teletech has launched over 45 models (till date) that include the basic phones at Rs 300 to feature-rich and cordless telephone categories (upto Rs 1,800-2,000), under the Beetel brand.

What will be Beetel's growth strategy in the Indian market now?

Bharti Teletech's latest innovation "" the SIM card reader enabled phone (that can read data from the card) is a great tool that can copy a phonebook from a mobile phone on to your landline.

We also provide built-in features like text and picture messaging to wired phones so as to attract customers (a service that's restricted only by telecom service providers)

We have been retailing products in overseas markets like Algeria, Bangladesh, Chile, Ethiopia, Iran, Jordan, Mauritius, Mexico, Nigeria, Romania, Sri Lanka, UAE and Vietnam. In the first half of the current financial year, we won a tender to supply 1,38,000 phones to Telefonica, a PTT operator in Peru.

In the same period, we have also won orders for 23,000 phones from Omantel, 15,000 phones from Mauritius Telecom and 5,000 phones from Tanzania Telecom. We have grown over 60 per cent in 2005-06 (exports) as compared to 2004-05. This year, we plan to export 1.5 million units.