Bharti outsources call centre ops to 4 firms

After outsourcing its network management and IT operations, the Sunil Mittal-promoted Bharti Tele-ventures has given contracts of its call centre opertions for mobile services to four firms in a deal valued cumulatively at Rs 1,000 crore in 4-5 years.

Bharti today announced strategic partnerships for outsourcing its call centre operations with Hinduja TMT, IBM Daksh, Mphasis and Teletech Services.

The four firms will set up contact centres in the national capital region, Chennai, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Pune and Bangalore.

"The move would benefit more than 12.5 million existing customers of Airtel and also millions of new subscribers who would be added in the coming years in these circles," Manoj Kohli, president (mobility) of Bharti Tele-ventures, said today.

He said the centres would start functioning within the next 2-3 months with an initial seat of 6,000. "For high-end users, Bharti will continue to have internal call centres with 1,500 seats," he added.

Akhil Gupta, joint MD of Bharti Tele-ventures, put the cumulative value of the deal at Rs 1,000 crore in 4-5 years, but exuded confidence that the contract would eventually exceed this value.

Meanwhile, Bharti also announced a technology outsourcing arrangement with Nortel, which will deliver technology and expert resources to the four call centre partners.