Airtel 2014 Annual Report Download - page 15

Statutory ReportsCorporate Overview Financial Statements
Bharti Airtel Limited
13
An unfavourable economic environment
in Africa, further complicated by
Ebola outbreak, adversely affected our
revenue growth in the region. Robust
growth in data traffic, however, proved
to be a strong counterweight against
weakening voice revenues. Our 3G
footprint now covers all 17 markets
in Africa. We also made our 4G debut
in the continent during the year with
launches in Rwanda and Seychelles.
With over 6.2 Mn Airtel Money
customers, we are well on course to
become a major mobile commerce
service provider in the continent.
During the year, Bharti Airtel undertook
several initiatives to meet its long-
term funding requirements through
a strategic mix of debt and equity.
The Company’s subsidiary Bharti
Airtel International (Netherlands) B.V.
successfully raised USD 1.75 Bn and
EUR 750 Mn through two issues of
Guaranteed Senior Notes on extremely
favourable terms. We also offloaded a
total of 140 Mn shares of Bharti Infratel
in two tranches for a total consideration
of ` 40,689 Mn, primarily to increase
free float and thereby better price
T
e
e
e
l
e
e
c
c
c
c
o
m
m
m
is cl
e
e
a
a
r
l
l
y
y
y
m
m
o
o
r
r
p
p
p
p
hi
n
n
n
g int
o
o
a
d
d
d
a
t
t
a
a
-
c
e
e
e
n
t
t
r
r
r
r
ic
f
f
f
ut
u
u
r
e
e
,
w
h
h
h
ic
h
h
h
i
s
s
d
e
e
s
s
s
ti
n
n
n
ed to
t
t
h
r
r
o
o
w
w
u
p
p
i
t
t
s
s
s
u
n
n
n
iq
u
u
e
s
s
s
et
o
o
f
o
p
p
p
p
o
o
o
o
rtuni
t
ie
s
s
a
a
n
d
d
c
h
h
h
a
l
l
l
l
l
l
en
g
g
g
e
s
s
.
Message from Chairman
discovery. Our African subsidiaries
also entered into several agreements
with international tower companies
for divestment of over 10,000 towers in
different markets.
The Company’s Board went through
multiple changes during the year. While
Tsun-yan Hsieh, Ajay Lal and Manoj
Kohli departed after long and extremely
productive stints, Shishir Priyadarshi,
Director, World Trade Organization
(WTO), entered the Board during
this period. I take this opportunity to
express my sincere gratitude to Tsun-
yan, Ajay and Manoj for their valuable
service to the Board during their
respective tenures.
Our philanthropic arm Bharti
Foundation through its school
programme is now reaching out to
nearly 52,000 rural school students
through 254 Satya Bharti Schools, 334
Learning Centres and other Quality
Support initiatives in India. The year
also witnessed the expansion of our
philanthropic portfolio with the launch
of Satya Bharti Abhiyan, a rural
sanitation initiative, involving a total
outlay of up to ` 1,000 Mn. In Africa,
in addition to the ‘Adopt a School’
Programme, which is now catering to
over 24,000 students, our subsidiaries
worked closely with Governments
and NGOs to help curb the spread
of the deadly Ebola virus in different
countries.
Internet is fast becoming an all-
pervasive element in our lives,
impacting every conceivable area
of activity – commerce, banking,
entertainment, education, health and
governance, among others. Rapid
proliferation of internet application
based business entities have been the
primary driving force of this change.
This new internet economy is going
to expand exponentially in the days to
come as millions of new smartphone
customers join the networks to
experience internet for the first time.
Telecom is clearly morphing into
a data-centric future, which is
destined to throw up its unique set of
opportunities and challenges. With
our proactive investments in spectrum
acquisition and network rollouts, which
is effectively complemented by our
customer centric approach, we are well
positioned for a dominant play in this
evolving marketplace.
Sunil Bharti Mittal
T
h
h
e
y
y
y
y
ea
r
r
r
w
i
i
tn
e
e
s
s
s
e
e
d
t
h
h
e
e
e
ex
x
p
a
a
a
n
s
s
io
n
n
o
f
f
o
u
u
u
r
p
p
p
p
hil
a
a
a
n
t
t
hr
o
o
o
pi
c
c
c
p
o
o
o
r
t
t
f
f
f
f
oli
o
o
o
w
w
it
h
h
th
e
e
e
l
a
a
u
n
n
c
c
c
h
o
o
o
f
S
S
at
y
y
y
a
B
B
B
h
a
a
a
rt
i
i
A
A
b
b
h
h
i
i
y
y
y
y
a
n
n
n
, a ru
r
r
r
a
l
s
a
a
a
n
i
i
t
t
t
t
ati
o
o
o
n
i
ni
t
t
t
ia
t
t
i
i
v
e
e
,
i
n
n
v
v
o
o
l
l
l
l
vi
n
n
g
a
a
t
o
o
t
t
al
o
u
u
u
t
l
l
a
a
a
a
y
o
o
o
f u
p
t
o
o
o
`
1
1
,
0
0
0
0
0
0
M
M
M
n
.
.