4G seems to be Airtel's biggest focus area at this point. Please elaborate on the company's 4G strategy.
Our entire approach from day one has been to provide the customers a seamless experience in 4G and at an affordable price. So, we launched it at the same price as 3G services and have put in a huge effort in the backend to equip 4G for all customers who have 4G handsets. Easy SIM Swap for a 4G connections for instance was an effort in this direction. 4G requires a different kind of SIM.
Earlier it needed about 8 hours and even after that SMS used to be barred for 24hours. We changed and automated this process so that customers could do an instant swap and the change happens in less than 10 minutes without any disruption in service.
How many cities will Airtel's 4G be available by the end of this year?
We should be able to take the number up-to triple digits by the year-end. We launched 4G first in Kolkata in April 2012 making India one of the first countries in the world to commercially deploy the cutting-edge 4G technology. Today, Airtel is the only mobile operator in the country to offer 4G services in over 45 cities across the country providing customers the fastest wireless services with buffer less HD video streaming and multi-tasking capabilities. As the ecosystem continues to develop, we will continue to roll out 4G across the country.
What have your learnings been in this space so far?
The response to the beta launches has been fantastic. Every single feedback we get on the beta, through call centres, 'Airtel Asks' (our network experience app for 4G) or through social media, is acted upon. We have fine-tuned our network to get amazing speeds in all beta cities and also further improved some processes to constantly improve customer experience. We are striving towards building a world-class 4G network infrastructure across the country.
The devices ecosystem is still very small. Please share with us steps Airtel is taking to increase the device availability at price points which will permit mass adoption by subscribers.
Aimed at transitioning more and more customers to the superfast 4G experience, we have established alliances with a lot of companies including Flipkart and various OEMs like Samsung, Motorola, Xiaomi, and so on to introduce 4G devices at affordable prices to customers. We will continue to partner them actively with an aim to develop the device ecosystem. I think the device ecosystem is changing dramatically. A huge number of handsets support TDD (2300 Mhz band) in our country really well. Look at the number of devices supporting 4G. In the last three months, the numbers are increasing fast. We have built great partnerships with handset makers on GSMA list. We are now touching sub $100, and it will keep going down from here.
What are your real 4G speeds like in the cities you have launched?
4G speeds are way faster than 3G and enable customers to enjoy capabilities like high definition video streaming with zero buffering, downloading up to 10 movies in less than 30 minutes, uploading entire photo albums in less than five minutes (i.e. uploading two high resolution photos per second), and connecting multiple devices without compromising on the experience.
Other operators too are lining up their 4G launches. How will you differentiate your offerings?
We welcome all competition as it helps grow the entire market and ecosystem. At the same time, our focus is to improve our own business. Bringing 4G at 3G prices is a result of this. In addition, initiatives like the innovative IT technologies provide a smoother and enhanced customer experience to customers as they transition to 4G.
Till when can you continue offering 4G at 3G prices?
At this point 4G prices will remain the same as 3G.
Do you anticipate a tariff war over data services in near future?
Our endeavor is to constantly innovate and introduce newer capabilities enabling customers a fantastic and seamless experience on 4G.
As Airtel's CIO, what will you count as your three biggest achievements/transformations at Airtel in the last one and a half years?
It's has been a truly transformational journey as we prepared Airtel to launch a lot of new capabilities in the market, all on top of an old legacy platform. Amongst some of the most impactful have been the whole myPlan launch and now family myPlan as well, both of which were "Airtel firsts" in the market.
Second would be everything we have done for 4G, with MyChangePlan and the Flexpage which you get if you are on 4G allowing a customer to be in control of his data usage in real time and upgrade (or downgrade) his plan on the fly.
Third, is everything we have done to improve customer experience, including the launch of an internally developed product called Decision Tree that is used by every one of our call centre agents and it automatically guides the agent to the quickest path to resolve the customer issue. Another, would be our field app that automates the process of a customer request for SIM delivery at home, or request for a new connection etc.