Airtel to be sole Bharti brand

To invest Rs 600 cr in six new circles.

Telecom service provider Bharti group today announced its plans to bring all its services under its flagship Airtel brand. It would also invest around Rs 600 crore to launch cellular services in six new circles by March.

"A unified brand approach would mean common identity, scale and size for Bharti. The aim is to provide the entire gamut of services, be it mobile, land-line or broadband, under one roof," said Rajan Bharti Mittal, joint managing director, Bharti Tele-Ventures.

Mittal said with unification, Airtel would be among the biggest brands across all segments, including consumer durables, FMCG or services.

Following the launch in new circles, Bharti will have its footprint in all 23 cellular circles in the country.

"We will launch GSM mobile services in West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir by the end of this month. By October-November, services will be rolled out in Bihar and Orissa and before 2004-05 ends, we will launch services in Assam and North-East," Mittal said.

While the group offers cellular service under the Airtel brand, its fixed-line service is called Touchtel and IndiaOne is the long distance carrier.

Mittal said under the new brand architecture, Bharti's telecom services would be clubbed under four major heads "" mobile services, telephone and broadband, long distance and enterprise service.

He said apart from providing a single window for consumers, a unified brand would help in stronger differentiation, higher cost efficiency and also help in providing unique bundling offers to customers.

The power of one

UNIFIED POLICY A single brand approach means common identity, scale and size for Bharti. The entire range of services, be it mobile, land-line or broadband will be under one roof now

EASIER LOGISTICS Bharti does not see any advantage in continuing with niche brands like Touchtel and IndiaOne; bringing them under a single brand helps in distribution and retail