100 million African subscribers in next two years: Airtel

NEW DELHI - Telecom giant Bharti Airtel Tuesday said it is confident of reaching a subscriber base of 100 million in the African market in another two years.

“In two years, we expect 100 million customers mark from the current 40 million in Africa,” Bharti Group chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal told reporters on the sidelines of the India Economic Summit.

Mittal also noted that the call tariff in Africa is still high and there is scope for cutting tariffs. The firm plans to provide lower tariffs while generating higher revenue through high volume.

“I am confident the model of low tariffs and high volumes will work in Africa,” he added.

Mittal told the reporters that the company had also cut mobile phone tariffs in Kenya by about 40-45 percent after acquisition of Zain in order to bring down tariffs to generate high volumes.

Earlier this year, Bharti acquired the African assets of Kuwaits Zain under a $10.7-billion deal, making it the worlds fifth largest mobile phone services company.