Bharti Airtel: Role Model

How often do you see companies praising their competitors in public? That sort of humble behavior is rare, but it happened at Light Reading India's Mobile Broadband Summit event in Mumbai recently.

Bharti Airtel Ltd. is reaping the fruits of aggressive investments made when no other operator was willing to bet on the country's telecom industry, said Himanshu Kapania, Managing Director at Idea Cellular Ltd. during his keynote address at the event.

Kapania praised his rival while outlining the key factors required for mobile broadband growth -- a greater focus on consumers' needs, more affordable smart devices and investments in backhaul connections.

Bharti Airtel was the first private operator to offer mobile services in India and has a number of 'firsts' to its name, including the launch of mobile finance (Airtel Money) and the launch of 4G services in the cities of Kolkata and Bengaluru. (See Bharti Launches 4G in Bengaluru and India Welcomes 4G Services.)

For other insights from the Mobile Broadband Summit, also held in Delhi, see:

• Idea Sets Sight On 3G Uptake
  
• Mobile Broadband To Surpass $10 Bn: Idea
  
• India’s 3G Uptake Is On Track: Telcos
  
• Delivering the 4G Promise
  
• COAI Laments TRAI 'Death Knell'
  
• India's Unique Moment

Rimit Singh, Correspondent, Light Reading India