This week will be a cherished one for Indian telecom major, Bharti Airtel as its subscriber base crossed the 100 m mark. In fact, with this milestone, it has now become the world's third-largest single-country mobile operator and sixth-largest integrated telecom operator. As for the top spot, China Mobile and China Unicom are the world's largest and second-largest in-country mobile operators with 414 m and 170 mm subscribers respectively. Expecting India's teledensity to double within the next three years from the current level of 37%, Mr. Sunil Mittal, the company's chairman has given very optimistic views about the future. He believes that the company will be able to double its subscriber base within that period. Given the fact that the telecom players in India are adding mobile subscribers at a very robust pace and also that Bharti Airtel is the market leader (marketshare of about 25%), the task does not look very daunting. However, keeping in mind the intense competition within the industry and that it is bound to get more intense in the future, one may want to refrain from blindly going by the management's views
Look at government inefficiency, food prices have galloped at an alarming rate over the last few months. Some blame it on the poor monsoons. Some blame it on hoarding by greedy middlemen. In my opinion, the government unknowingly itself is a massive hoarder. As per a report in a financial daily, the stock of rice and wheat in government granaries is way above the minimum requirement. Sadly, much of this excess stock is stored in the open. It either rots or feeds pests. In my view, this is a national shame. We cannot get the basics right in such a crucial area when food prices are spiraling out of control and millions of Indians still go hungry. Such stocks should be stored properly and released in small lots to stabilise prices.
Comments