News: Bharti unveils restructuring of India, South Asia operations

C-Suite

Bharti unveils restructuring of India, South Asia operations

Bharti Airtel, India’s leading mobile carrier with over 180 million customers has unveiled a major restructuring of its India and South Asia operations, combining various segments including mobile and digital TV into two separate business units to improve efficiency. The company, which has dominated India's mobile revolution for much of the last decade, has been of late struggling to repeat its performance of yesteryears. In fact, the company has reported a 28 percent fall in its first-quarter net profit, hit by losses in its African operations and investment in 3G networks in India. Net profit for the three months through June 2011 fell to Rs 1,215 crore, from Rs 1,682 crore in the same quarter last year.

Bharti Airtel, India’s leading mobile carrier with over 180 million customers has unveiled a major restructuring of its India and South Asia operations, combining various segments including mobile and digital TV into two separate business units to improve efficiency. The company, which has dominated India's mobile revolution for much of the last decade, has been of late struggling to repeat its performance of yesteryears. In fact, the company has reported a 28 percent fall in its first-quarter net profit, hit by losses in its African operations and investment in 3G networks in India. Net profit for the three months through June 2011 fell to Rs 1,215 crore, from Rs 1,682 crore in the same quarter last year.
The transformed organizational structure will have two distinct Customer Business Units (CBU) with clear focus on B2C (Business to Customer) and B2B (Business to Business) segments. The B2C business unit has been further segregated into Consumer Business and Market Operations divisions. In fact, Bharti Airtel's mobile, telemedia, digital TV and other emerging businesses such as M-commerce, M-health and M-advertising will come under the B2C (Business to Customer) division while the B2B (Business to Business) business unit will continue its focus on serving large corporate and data services through Bharti Airtel's wide portfolio of telecommunication solutions.
The restructuring ostensibly aims at cutting costs and boosting efficiency at the country's biggest telecom operator at a time of falling profits, is expected to lead to big job losses, with estimates putting the number at more than 2,000. It is expected that Bharti's move could provide the trigger for similar action at rivals, many of whom are battling identical issues - debt burden, slowing growth and high marketing spends amid cut-price tariffs. According to the company, the restructuring exercise will have minimal impact on jobs.
 

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Topics: C-Suite, #Updates

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