With India reaching the 300 million-subscriber mark, the channel community has the task of constantly upgrading customer handsets and services. Further, there is a steady demand to provide customer care, recharging of connections, bill collections, etc.
Airtel believes that though it has entrenched itself well in the Indian space, there is still a huge opportunity in the waiting. With teledensity at just about 25 percent and Airtel garnering a 23.8 percent share of the current number of mobile customers, and an increasing number of new additions coming in from rural areas—there is a clear scope for us growing both deeper and wider, and the channel will surely play a vital role in this.
"Our approach has always been simple and we embarked on a strategy that we aptly call the ‘match-box approach’. This ensures Airtel’s availability wherever a match-box is available, even in the smallest and remotest corners of the country. We have underlined a strong focus on rural expansion. It becomes even more pertinent for managing a diversified channel base to reach out to our customers," explained the spokesperson from Airtel.
Service providers
Airtel
Airtel’s distribution reach has grown by over 70-75 percent YoY. Distribution expansion is key to helping drive availability for customers. Airtel categorizes its channel into four types—telecom, non-telecom (departmental stores, pan shops), emerging trade (petrol pumps, gifts and music/cyber cafes), electronic banking (ATM, websites, mChek). In all, the company has a total of 1,200 customer touch points, that includes Airtel Relationship Centres (ARCs) and other channels like direct selling agents (DSAs). Presently, the company has over 7,800 distributors and 8.5 lakh retail outlets that help make available Airtel products and services to customers.