BWI: “Hello Sri Lanka” says Airtel

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: Bharti Airtel Limited
Monday, January 12, 2009 12:05 PM IST (06:35 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Business services, Information technology, Telecommunications; Technology
Release no: 18909
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"Hello Sri Lanka" says Airtel
Launches 2.5G and 3.5G Mobile Services, Ushers in a New Era of Affordability and Simplicity in Mobile Services in Sri Lanka

Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, January 12, 2009 -- (Business Wire India) -- -- Removes the barriers of peak and off peak call rates, within network and outside network call rates and offers customers freedom to speak

-- Offers unconditional free incoming calls to all customers

-- 50% lower rates while roaming to India

-- State-of-the-art HSPA technology backed by world-class customer care

-- Fastest mobile network roll-out by any operator in Sri Lanka

Bharti Airtel Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel - one of the leading integrated telecommunications service providers in Asia, today announced the launch of its mobile services in Sri Lanka under the Airtel brand. The services have been launched on a state-of-the-art 3.5G network.

Airtel has launched a suite of innovative services and redefined affordability by offering attractive call rates. What truly sets these tariff plans apart is the simplicity and ease of understanding for the customer, including features such as unconditional free incoming calls.

Airtel's simple tariffs liberate the customer from the concept of peak and off-peak call rates by offering standard tariffs throughout the day and allowing them to speak freely. For the first time, Sri Lankan mobile customers will not have to bother with within network and outside network concept as Airtel will offer uniform call charges to any network. The company will also offer unique and customer relevant Value Added Services.

On the occasion Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Airtel said, "We are extremely honoured to present Airtel to Sri Lanka. At Bharti, we have always believed in undertaking business projects that are transformational and have a positive impact on the society at large. Bharti Airtel has also set global benchmarks in telecom services, be it our unique business model based on outsourcing or innovative products and services."

"We are delighted at being given this opportunity to serve the people of Sri Lanka and contribute to the growth story of the country. It will be Airtel's sincere endeavour to drive affordability in the Sri Lankan market and empower more and more people to experience the benefits of mobile internet and telephony. We are confident that with our experience of serving around 88 million customers, we will make a positive impact on the telecom landscape of Sri Lanka."

Bharti Airtel plans to invest around USD 200 million in its Sri Lanka operations. In just over an year, the company has commissioned a sizeable state-of-the-art network. This is the fastest network roll-out of its scale by any mobile operator in Sri Lanka. This will enable Bharti Airtel to fulfill its promise of providing world-class mobile services at affordable rates to customers in Sri Lanka.

In line with the innovative business model based on outsourcing that it pioneered, Bharti Airtel has created an ecosystem of partners for its Sri Lanka operations. It has entered into a three-year managed network deal with Huawei, partnered with IBM to manage its comprehensive IT infrastructure and application requirements, and selected iSmart Timex as its customer care partner.

About Bharti Airtel Ltd.

Bharti Airtel Limited is one of Asia's leading integrated telecom services provider and has been voted as India's most innovative company, in a survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal.

Bharti Airtel is structured into three strategic business units - Mobile services, Telemedia services and Enterprise services. The mobile business provides mobile & fixed wireless services using GSM technology across 23 telecom circles. The Telemedia business provides broadband & telephone services in 95 cities, DTH services and is foraying into the IPTV segment. The Enterprise business provides end-to-end telecom solutions to corporate customers and national & international long distance services to carriers. All these services are provided under the Airtel brand. Airtel's high-speed optic fibre network currently spans over 83,000 kms covering all the major cities in the country. The company has two international landing stations in Chennai that connects two submarine cable systems - i2i to Singapore and SEA-ME-WE-4 to Europe. For more information, visit www.bhartiairtel.in.


CONTACT DETAILS
Raza Khan, Bharti Airtel Limited, +91 (0124) 4666000-7, raza.khan@bharti.in
Ashutosh Sharma, Bharti Airtel Limited , +91 (0124) 4666000-7, ashutosh.s@bharti.in
Kapil Sabharwal, Comma Consulting, +91 (011) 46003200, +91 9811559835, ksabharwal@comma.in
Siddharth Kumar, Comma Consulting, +91 (011) 46003200, +91 9810267907, skumar@comma.in

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, MARKETING, BUSINESS SERVICES, IT, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, TECHNOLOGY

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