(1 October 2007 7:40 pm)

MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel has announced that it has crossed the 50 million customer mark.

The customer base covers mobile as well as broadband and telephone customers.

Commenting on this landmark, Bharti Airtel joint MD Akhil Gupta said, "We are delighted to have achieved this major landmark, which puts Bharti Airtel amongst the top telecom companies in the world. It underlines the strength of our unique business model and our vision to provide affordable services like lifetime prepaid to customers across the length and breadth of the country."

"This milestone highlights the emergence of India as one of the top telecom markets in the world and we are proud to have been at the forefront of this growth. Going forward, we believe this growth momentum will remain intact and we are gearing towards the 100 million customers mark," added Gupta.

To establish presence in all census towns and over 500,000 villages across India by 2010, the telecom major has plans to invest in network expansion. The company's focus will be on further strengthening the Airtel brand through better customer service, which is backed by wide national distribution.

In the Enterprise business, Bharti Airtel will invest substantially in the long distance business to achieve the scale of a global carrier within next 2-3 years.

In Broadband and Telephone SBU, Bharti Airtel will initiate large-scale deployments of broadband network infrastructure in 94 towns, with a focus on the home and SME segments. It is readying to offer triple play to its customers with the launch of its IPTV service. The company is also looking at commencing national DTH operations by the end of the current fiscal, stated an official release.

Bharti Airtel president and CEO Manoj Kohli added, "We are committed to create a world-class organization and benchmark it with the best in the world. As the market gets ready for the next wave of growth, we are committed to expanding our telecom networks wider and deeper across the country and partner India's growth story."