HISTORY:
Bharti Tele-Ventures was incorporated on July 7, 1995 as a company
with limited liability under the Companies Act, for promoting
telecommunications services. Bharti Tele-Ventures receive certificate
for commencement of business on January 18, 1996. The Company was
initially formed as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bharti Telecom
Limited. The chronology of events since Bharti Tele-Ventures was
incorporated in 1995 is as follows:
Calendar year & Events
1995
- Bharti Cellular launched cellular services'AirTel'in Delhi
1996
- STET International Netherlands NV, or STET, a company promoted by
Telecom Italia, Italy acquired a 20% equity interest in Bharti
Tele-Ventures
- Bharti Telenet launched cellular services in Himachal Pradesh
1997
- British Telecom acquired a 21.05% equity interest in Bharti
Cellular
- Bharti Telenet obtained a license for providing fixed-line
services
in Madhya Pradesh circle
- Bharti Telecom and British Telecom formed a 51% : 49% joint
venture,
Bharti BT, for providing VSAT services
1998
- Bharti Telecom and British Telecom formed a 51% : 49% joint
venture,
Bharti BT Internet for providing Internet services
- First Indian private fixed-line services launched in Indore in the
Madhya Pradesh circle on June 4, 1998 by Bharti Telenet thereby
ending
fixed-line services monopoly of DoT (now BSNL)
1999
- Warburg Pincus (through its investment company Brentwood
Investment
Holdings Limited) acquired a 19.05% equity interest in Bharti
Tele-Ventures
- Bharti Tele-Ventures (by acquiring a 63.45% equity interest in SC
Cellular Holdings) acquired an effective 32.36% equity interest in
Bharti Mobile (formerly JT Mobiles), the cellular services provider
in
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh circles
- New York Life Insurance Fund, or NYLIF, acquired a 3% equity
interest
in Bharti Cellular
2000
- Bharti Tele-Ventures acquired an effective equity interest of
40.5%
in Bharti Mobinet (formerly Skycell Communications), the cellular
services provider in Chennai
- Bharti Tele-Ventures acquired a 30.2% equity interest of Telecom
Italia in Bharti Telenet and 18.8% from Bharti Telecom thereby
making
Bharti Telenet a 100% subsidiary of Bharti Tele-Ventures
- SingTel (through its investment company Pastel Limited) acquired
STET's 15.3% equity interest in Bharti Tele-Ventures
- Bharti Tele-Ventures acquired an additional effective 41.64%
equity
interest in Bharti Mobile (by acquiring the remaining 36.55% equity
interest in SC Cellular) resulting in Bharti Tele-Ventures holding
an
effective 74% equity interest in Bharti Mobile.
2001
- Bharti Tele-Ventures acquired NYLIF's 3% equity interest in Bharti
Cellular
- Bharti Telesonic entered into a joint venture, Bharti Aquanet,
with
SingTel for establishing a submarine cable landing station at
Chennai
- Bharti Tele-Ventures issued additional equity for approximately
US$
481.30 million to SingTel, Warburg Pincus, AIF group, IFC, NYLIF,
and
Seejay Cellular and Bharti Telecom
- Bharti Cellular acquired a 100% equity interest in Bharti Mobitel
(formerly Spice Cell ), the cellular services provider in Kolkata
- Bharti Tele-Ventures acquired 85% and 15% in Bharti Telespatial
from
Bharti Telecom and Intel, respectively
- Bharti Tele-Ventures acquired a 44% equity interest in Bharti
Cellular from British Telecom, thereby making Bharti Cellular its
100%
subsidiary
- Bharti Tele-Ventures acquired an additional 49% equity interest in
Bharti Mobinet from Millicom International and BellSouth
International,
thereby owning 89.5% equity interest in Bharti Mobinet, which was
further increased to 95.3% following an issuance of additional
equity
shares by way of rights issue
- Punjab license restored to Bharti Mobile by the DoT and migration
to
NTP - 1999 accepted
- Bharti Cellular entered into license agreements to provide
cellular
services in eight new circles following the fourth operator cellular
license bidding process
- Bharti Telenet entered into license agreements to provide
fixed-line
services in the Haryana, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka circles
- Bharti Telesonic entered into a license agreement with the DoT to
provide national long distance services across India
- Bharti Aquanet, Bharti Telesonic and Bharti Cellular entered into
license agreements with the DoT to provide ISP services in India
- Bharti Telesonic launched national long distance services under
the
brand name of IndiaOne
- Bharti Telenet launched fixed line services in Haryana under the
brand name of TouchTel.
2002
- Comes out with issue of 18.53 crore equity shares through book
building route with a floor price of Rs 45 per share, received bid
for 18.55 crore shares. Through the issue, it becomes the first
company in India to come out with 100% book building issue
-Issue price fixed at Rs 45 per share, floor price fixed by the
company. Raises Rs 834 crore
-Shares listed on BSE, NSE and DSE, opens at 11% premium to its
issue price of Rs 45
-Enters into a 5-year agreement with Escotel and ETL of the Escorts
group to contract leased line connectivity for its cellular
operations
-Mr. Ravi Akhoury ceases to be Director of Bharti Tele
-DoT grants ILD Telephony License to Bharti Telesonic, subsidiary of
the company
-Signs MoU with Telia AB to buy out their 26% stake in Bharti Mobile
-Ties up with SSC (Secondary School Certification) Board, Hyderabad,
where Bharti will announce SSC results to its customers on their
mobile phones
-ICICI Bank ties up with Bharti for pre-paid mobile cards via ATMs
-Bharti forays into Mumbai with offers
-Alpine International Ltd. and ELM International Ltd. acquire shares
of Bharti Tele-Ventures
-Sunil Mittal, Chairman & Managing Director of the company, bags
Businessman of the year award by Business India
2003
-Airtel breaks interconnectivity with Tata Teleservices in Andhra
Pradesh Circle
-Company accorded its approval for amalgamation of its subsidiary
companies viz: Bharti Telenet Ltd, Bharti Telesonic Ltd, Bharti
Broadband Networks Ltd and Bharti Comtel Ltd through scheme of
Amalgamation. The merged entity would be renamed as Bharti Infotel
Ltd
-Air Tel launches Local direct dialling facility in Chennai circle
-Mobilises 5 m long term foreign currency borrowings for expansion
of cellular operations
-Bharti Cellular unveils CareTouch service
-Bharti Group's cellular brand Airtel has unveiled free multimedia
messaging services (MMS) for its customers. The company has also
rolled out pan-India GPRS (General Packet Radio Services) for its
corporate subscribers
-Launches its `IndiaOne MeetXpress' audio-conferencing service
-Punjab, Haryana get free incoming calls from Airtel
-AirTel provides SMS facilities to hearing impaired in Chennai
-Goa, Maharashtra gets 'voice portal' services by Bharti Cellular
-Launches free additional connection to its new subscribers in New
Delhi
-Mr Sin Hang Boon and Mr Wong Hung Khim have resigned from the Board
of Directors of Bharti Tele Ventures Ltd with effect from February
27, 2003.
-Airtel provides SMS cricket updates
-Bharti Mobinet Ltd, the Bharti group company that provides the
AirTel mobile service in Chennai, today launched its GPRS (General
Packet Radio Service) network and an MMS (multi-media messaging) on
the GPRS platform
-AirTel unveils new ring tones for karnataka cellular market
-AirTel Subscribers exceed 3 million mark
-AirTel unveils RAD system
-Mr P M Sinha resigns from the Board of Directors of the Company with
effect from March 31, 2003.
-Bharti TeleVentures announces the completion of merger with Bharti
Mobitel
-Bharti Mobitel Ltd. merged with Bharti Cellular Ltd.
-AirTel reintroduces 'Mobile 2 Mobile' offer for Karnataka customers
-AirTel, Touchtel jointly offer freeTouchtel land line for post-paid
Airtel connection
-AirTel rolls out voice mail service for pre-paid customers
-AirTel unveils new scheme for pre-paid customers giving away free
talk time worth Rs 10 crore
-Airtel surpasses 4 lakh subscriber base in Karnataka
-Bharti announces new tariff plan AirTel 012
-Offers 0-1-2, a new cellular package for the customers, which means
zero charges on incoming calls, Re 1 on mobile-to-mobile outgoing
calls, Rs 2 on mobile-to-mobile STD calls
-Rolls out Airtel messenger service
-AirTel offers bundled handset, connection package for Rs 5715
-Airtel slashes SMS rates to 60 paise; excludes Delhi and Mumbai
-Bharti cellular, wholly owned subsidiary of Bharti Tele-Ventures,
increases its stake to 100% in Bharti Mobile
-Iinks distribution pact with Hathway Cable. With this alliance,
Bharti is said to be the first telecom firm to step into television
distribution services
-Six cell operators move over from Bharti to VSNL
-Airtel augments cellular coverage in TN by including Arcot &
Walajapet in its network
-Airtel ties up with Coke in Chennai to sell its Magic prepaid cards
-AirTel embarks on network expansion in Hyderabad
-Airtel unveils IndiaOne Long Distance Calling Card
-AirTel introduces unified tariff package in TN, Chennai
-Airtel becomes front runner in Karnataka's mobile services market
-Bharti Tele launches 'Always on' service to its subscribers
-SBI, AirTel announce EMI offer at Rs 299
-Bharti and MTV join hands to launch new SIM card
-AirTel unveils new post-paid scheme at zero rental
-AirTel launches `Happy Plan' in AP
-Airtel emerges as the highest selling pre-paid card
-Airtel join hands with Alcatel & Videocon to launch new scheme
-AirTel service provider touches 5 lakh customers in Punjab
-Airtel offers 5 new services for its customers in Mumbai
-Bharti launches first dual band network in Delhi
-Gets 14th place among top 25 Cos in India
-Bharti Mobile crosses 4 lakh mobile subscribers in AP
-Airtel holds top position in terms of dealer penetration
-Prof. V S Raju has been inducted on the Board of Directors of the
Company.
-Touchtel launches SMS service in fixed line phones in Karnal,
Panipat
-AitTel unveils special offers in Kerala
-AirTel launches InnoWest for the western region
-Bharti Tele-Ventures enters into an agreement with Telesystem
(Mauritius) Pvt. Ltd
-Airtel slashes out going sms price to 30ps
- AirTel on December 16, 2003 announced the launch of expense tracker
service, which provides customers the option of tracking their
day-to-day expenses on a daily or monthly basis. To avail of this
service, the customer should register himself by sending EXP REG Your
mail ID{gt} to 3020. This service will allow a user to track expenses,
while on the move by sending an SMS. Each SMS sent to 3020 would cost
Rs 3.
-AirTel introduces MTV Club Card in Chennai
2004
-Bharti unveils new card for Mecca piligrims
-AirTel enrolls 50,000 customers in its mobile service in 60 days
-Launches WAP enabled portal Service in Kerala
- Bharti Cellular's AirTel has extended its mobile connectivity to
Karaikkal, Nagur, Mannargudi and Kovilpalayam in Tamil Nadu circle.
-Airtel customer base touches new high of 5 lakh mark in Andhra
Pradesh
- Mobile service provider AirTel is launching its first ever MMS
(Multi Media service) downloads in Tamil. The launch of this service
has been timed to coincide with Pongal.
-AirTel tie up with MAA TV
-Airtel launches Rs 50 pre-paids recharge
-AirTel launched a family pack for its post-paid customers in Chennai
on January 29. According to a press release, the family pack may have
a maximum of 10 members spread across the country. The combined basic
plan fixed charges/rental of all family members in the pack will have
to be equal to Rs 450 but less than Rs 1000 for the family 450 pack
and above Rs 1000 for the family 1000 pack. The offerings under
family pack 450 include 15 free mobile to mobile STD minutes within
the family, 50 free local calling minutes to each family member,
calls within the family in same circle at 50 paise per minute, 25
free local SMS and one subscription alert service free for 3 months.
-Bharti Tele-Ventures enters into a three year service agreement with
Ericsson
-Bharti Tele-Ventures (BTVL) has signed and received unified access
service licence to provide GSM services in five circles including
Uttar Pradesh (East), West Bengal & Andaman Nicobar, Orissa, Bihar
and Jammu & Kashmir. The licence has been granted to Bharti Cellular
Ltd (BCL), the cellular arm and subsidiary of BTVL.
-Airtel announces the signing of the first-ever bilateral roaming
agreement between an Indian mobile service provider and its
counterpart in Pakistan. This facility will be available to pre-paid
as well as post-paid customers. AirTel's roaming agreement is with
Mobilink, the only GSM cellular service provider in Pakistan
-Acquires switching systems from Tekelec that will give a
technological edge to the company
-Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd signed an information technology
outsourcing deal with infotech major IBM, estimated to be in the
range of 0-750 million for a ten-year period.
-Jayant Khosla, new chief executive officer, Mumbai
-Signs MoU to join the South East Asia - Middle East - Western Europe
4 (SEA-ME-WE-4) consortium along with 15 other global telecom
operators.
-Bharti Tele-Ventures has struck a deal with Shyam Telecom to buy out
the latter's 67.5 per cent stake in cellular services company Hexacom
for Rs 430 crore.
-Bharti Tele garners 0 m via FCCBs
- Samsung India Electronics Limited has tied up with cellular
operator Bharti for bundling its mobile handsets with a connection.
-The Bharti group finalised a Rs 500-crore deal to share its
national long-distance (STD) network with VSNL in a first-of-its-kind
accord between two top telecom service providers in a bid to optimise
capacities in the NLD segment.
- Internet gateway and services provider, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd.
(VSNL) has signed a Right to Use (RoU) agreement to deploy mobile
telephony major, Bharti Tele-Ventures' existing National Long
Distance (NLD) backbone.
-Airtel offers talktime transfer service
-Airtel has announced money-back guarantee offer in case of call drop
or poor network experience for its subscribers
-Bharti launches 2-in-1 card
-- Airtel launched two-way international roaming and GPRS for prepaid
customers in the Maharshtra and Goa circles
-India's leading cellular company Bharti Tele-Ventures has bagged the
Asian MobileNews operator of the year award in India and the
subcontinent
-Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd has awarded a million equipment
contract to Swedish telecoms company Ericsson
-Bharti Televentures announced formation of a new strategic business
unit to offer various telecom and IT services through a single
contact
-Bharti Televentures unveiled a mobile portal featuring sports,
entertainment and news among others
-Airtel ties up with Micro Tech to set up 'Mcops' vehicle security
system
-Bharti Tele-Venture on July 19 launched ring back tone service which
is a personalized mobile music service where the caller hears songs
and other sound clips instead of the traditional switchboard
ring-ring tone
-Airtel, a private telecom services provider, has commissioned its
first 24x7 customer service centre in Andhra Pradesh
-Airtel unveils Rs 199 pre paid card
-AirTel join hands with NMIMS to offer executive MBA programme
-AirTel introduces new scheme for hearing impaired in Maharashtra &
Goa
-AirTel inks pact with JP Mobile
- Rolls out Enhanced Data Rate for Global Evolution (EDGE) network in
Pune on September 9, 2004, Ties up with Nokia for sale of Nokia 6230,
an EDGE-enabled handset.
-AirTel unveils first virtual calling cards in India
-BTVL rolls out EDGE services in Bangalore
-Airtel rolls out Full Talktime Advantage card
-Airtel rolls out wi-fi services in Mumbai
-BTVL launches new 'Airtel Broadband Friendly Offer'
-Airtel launches GPRS services for pre-paid customers
-Airtel partners with ITPO to set up Wi-Fi network in Delhi
-Airtel launches EDGE services and a new pre-paid plan for Chennai
-Airtel introduces LAS in Karnataka
2005
-Airtel launches video services for its GPRS customers on February
22, 2005
-Airtel unveils new TV ad featuring Sachin, Sharukh
-Bharti Tele-Ventures launches telecom network in Andaman & Nicobar
-BTVL unveil fixed line, broadband services
-Bharti inks 5-m deal with Nokia for rural network expansion
-Bharti Tele Ventures Ltd has announced that Airtel, ICICI Bank &
VISA have joined hands to launch mChq - a revolutionary new service -
a credit card on the mobile phone
-Bharti Tele Ventures - Airtel introduces BlackBerry Connect in
India
-Bharti Tele Ventures announces agreement with Vodafone
-Airtel unveils 'free flight' offer
-Airtel unveils starter pack
-Bharti Tele-Ventures launches under sea cable system
2006
-Airtel unveils Re 1 STD plans
-Airtel launches NetXpert.
-Airtel launches Post2Pre recharging service on April 04,2006.
-Airtel sets up customer centre
-Mobile service provider Airtel today announced the launch of `Save
My Phone Contact' service for its pre-paid and post-paid customers in
Delhi
-Bharti Tele Ventures bags 'Wireless Service Provider of the Year' &
'Competitive Service Provider of the Year' awards
-Sunil Mittal bags CEO of the Year award
-Cellebrum join hands with Airtel
-Airtel Mega unveiled in Coimbatore
-Airtel joins hand with Microsoft
-Bharti Airtel Ltd has informed that Microsoft and the Company
announced a strategic partnership that will offer a range of software
and services for small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India.
-Bharti Airtel Ltd on Nov 8, announced a first-of-its-kind alliance
with the Adani Group for establishing an end-to-end modern
telecommunication network infrastructure for the latter's
multi-sector special economic zone (SEZ), located near Mundra Port in
Kutch district of Gujarat.
2007
-Bharti Airtel, telecom major, has come out with a slew of
initiatives including buying out SingTel's 50 per cent stake in joint
venture under sea cable company Network i2i for 0 million.
-Bharti Airtel on Feb 11, has been awarded QCI-DL Shah National Award
on Economics of Quality.
-Bharti Airtel Ltd has announced the following changes in the
operational leadership structure and roles in the Company effective
April 01, 2007.
-Bharti Airtel Ltd on April 01, 2007, has announced the reduction in
International Long Distance Tariffs (ISD) for all its mobile
customers in India.
-Airtel signs agreement with HTC for touch screen mobile
2008
- Nokia Siemens Networks on Jan 3 declared that it has been awarded a multi million euro contract from Bharti Airtel Ltd for deployment of a single interactive voice response (IVR) platform across 23 circles. The three-year turnkey contract comprises designing, planning, systems integration and optimisation services to raise overall customer experience. The new IVR solution will enable Airtel to deliver services such as voice SMS, televoting, call management services, caller ring back tone and voice portal on a faster time-to-market basis and, therefore, reduce OPEX costs.
- Bharti Airtel Ltd on February 13, 2008 has announced that it has achieved the 60 million customer mark. This landmark has catapulted Bharti Airtel into the club of top mobile operators in the world in terms of subscriber base. The 60 million customer base covers mobile as well as fixed line and broadband customers.
- Bharti Airtel tied up with US-based Apple Inc to bring the popular GSM-based iPhone in the country.
- Bharti Airtel Ltd has forged a technology alliance with Infosys Technologies Ltd to launch its Direct-to-Home (DTH) television services. Infosys, through its digital convergence platform, will offer a suite of products including devices, application servers and interactive applications for Airtel's DTH services.
2009
- Bharti Airtel HAS signed a five-year managed services deal valued at $500 million with Alcatel Lucent for its fixed-line and broadband operations.
- Bharti Airtel launched the 'Airtel Advantage' initiative. The initiative is aimed at offering the added advantage to Airtel customers to be in touch with each other at an affordable rate of 50 paise per minute, be it a national long distance call (STD) or a local call. - In order to create products and services for the small, medium and large enterprises, Bharti Airtel and Cisco announced a strategic business alliance. The alliance would combine the strengths of Airtel's network service and Cisco' Internet Protocol (IP) technologies
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