Honour for Bharti chief

Bharti Enterprises Group Chairman and CEO Sunil Mittal has been awarded global telecom industry's highest honour "" GSM Association Chairman's Award 2008, for his contribution to the development of India's telecom sector.

The award coincides with Bharti Airtel achieving the 60- million subscriber mark, both in mobile as well as fixed line telecom services.

On receiving the award at a glittering function, Mittal said: "This is a tremendous honour and I would like to thank the GSM Association for considering me worthy of this award.

This award is a tribute to India's telecom growth story, Bharti's vision and the emergence of Indian telcos on the global stage. It has been a privilege for me personally and Bharti Airtel to have been a part of this telecom revolution that has delivered affordable telecom services for all and has transformed the lives of millions across India."

On the 60-million subscriber base, Mittal said from here the company would move towards the landmark of 100-million customers.

"This landmark has catapulted Bharti Airtel into the club of top mobile operators in the world in terms of subscriber base. To be among the top global telcos is a significant achievement not only for us but also for the Indian telecom industry. This landmark once again underlines the strength of India's telecom story and Airtel is proud to have played a pioneering role in the growth of India's telecom sector."