Bharti Airtel Lanka (Airtel), the Sri Lankan arm of the leading Indian mobile operator, this week said the service would be launched on January 12 – but keeping a secret, until then, all its mobile packages, Airtel officials said.
An official said Sanjay Kapoor, President Mobile Services – Airtel India along with some high officials from the Airtel India will be here for the launch. He said the company has 21 outlets across the country. Airtel will be the fifth mobile operator after Dialog, Mobitel, Tigo and Hutch. A press conference has been called for January 12.
Some analysts said that they expect Bharti to penetrate the market with a strategy of ‘penetration pricing’ (affordable and lower prices) with the use of effective cost restructuring. “Existing small players Celltel, Mobitel and Hutch are expected to strengthen their marketing strategies with the entrance of the new mobile phone giant,” one analyst said, adding that in contrast initial fixed costs of Airtel will limit the ability of the company to compete with the market leader Dialog, which has a competitive advantage of economies of scale. Sri Lanka has approximately five million mobile subscribers at present, which is a figure expected to double by the year end. Telecom growth in the country is now at 30 % while mobile telecom penetration is at 44 percent. TRC statistics predict that the Airtel entry will see a 50 % penetration in mobile telephony.
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