Business Case Study - Airtel Vs Jio's Vs Tata
The Epic Telecom Clash: Airtel's Ascent, Jio's Dominance, and Tata's Resurgence
The Indian telecom industry has been a warzone of the giants of the industry who all wish to own the supremacy of the telecom sector, which is competitive as well as quick-paced. From the monopoly to the time of the current competitive market, the story has unfolded, new players came in and old giants changed their strategies.
What is noticeable in the telecom saga is Reliance Jio which at the speed of light became a disruptor that irreversibly changed the thinking of the sector. With a bang, Jio, which appeared in 2016, dealt with several game-changing strategies such as providing free data and voice calls, aggressive pricing, and bundled offerings to stay competitive. Its flash increase in users and the spreading trend made former top companies Bharti Airtel and Vodafone accelerate their efforts.
Fresh of the battle, there was a new norm – a duopoly between Jio and Airtel, with Vodafone trying to rebound to retake its strong foothold in the market. These big telecom names, individuals with their unique strategies, are today engaged in a very serious battle competing for the attention of the Indian population. Whether it is the aftermath of this clash or collateral damage, the impacts will be not only restricted to the industry but will go beyond it to consumers, businesses, and the national digital environment.
Jio's Rise to Dominance
The emergence of Reliance Jio in the Indian telecom market in 2016 was nothing other than a massive disruption. Being financed by the deep pockets and foresight of the Ambanis, Jio launched with a bang. Leading Jio's revolutionary strategy was its free data and voice service, which rocked the industry with such a hit. Subscribers joined Jio in massive quantities, lured by the offer of the highest-quality connectivity at zero cost.
The size of the market was merely a stepping stone for Jio, while its objective was to take the country's telecommunication to the grassroots level. Perceiving the vast resources of India's feature-phone users and rural populations, Jio came out with Jio-Phone, a cost-effective and feature-rich device that demystified the digital divide in society. Along with its cheap data schemes, this tactic was able to penetrate India's region, and it started getting strong ground in the outback of Indian country.
On the other hand, the leadership of Jio was not just caused through the price cutting but innovative offerings as well. Among the most important factors for the company's success has been its strategic partnerships with the top tech companies all over the world starting from Facebook through Google to Intel.
Jio's launching effect was shocking for the industry as a whole. The smaller players, who didn't have enough strength and power to compete with Jio's enormous resources and bullish tactics, were eliminated one after the other. And, sector consolidation began. Vodafone and Idea, two giants of the industry, merged to form a new company that currently is struggling to stay afloat. Jio and Airtel now are the dominant players in the marketplace.
Airtel's Resurgence: A Strategic Shift
The miraculous growth of Reliance Jio caught Bharti Airtel off-guard while it was still sailing the Indian telecom rule in its domain. Even with Jio's tactics that Jio disrupted and with Airtel's shrinking market share, Airtel was forced to rethink and adapt its strategy because of the changing dynamics of the telecommunication industry.
Originally Airtel faced numerous difficulties that were quite complicated. Jio's zero-charge data and voice deal was a deal breaker to a lot of users; as a result, Airtel started flowing the most significant amount of market share. Well, its misery was compounded by the crippling debt burden that was imminent to shatter its financial base. Nevertheless, Airtel’s resilience and talent for strategic thinking soon became visible, and the process of the bold transformation was initiated.
Airtel’s strategic direction started with an intentional customer cleansing of 49 million low-value subscribers in the year 2018. This move facilitated Airtel with all the operations clearance and maximum concentration of resources on that end which was the most profitable for them. However, in addition to this strategy, Airtel went further introducing minimum recharge plans that implied the effective rise of the entry barrier.
Airtel's customer-oriented strategy focuses on beyond the subscriber's lists. Through heavy investment in customer experience upgrades, AI and data analytics were applied to predict the customers' needs and expectations.
Airtel, however, aspired to explore further than the consumer market. The firm's business-to-business (B2B) segment, developed into a strong market player, holding a market share of 33.67%. Airtel provided services to global enterprises and small-to-medium enterprises; fetching a well-established revenue and a trusted partner in the digitization of India Inc.
Tata Telecom's Resurgence: A Surprising Contender
The mighty two, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have always dominated the Indian telecom industry. However, a surprising contender has emerged, determined to reclaim its rightful place in the market: TataTelcom. Tata Group had a presence in the telecom sector for a few decades, during which its participation was from mobile to fixed-line services. Even though, at one time the Tata name was close to telecom excellence, the company suffered as it was fighting for survival through the industry disturbance and rising competition.
Nonetheless, Tata Group's resilience and forward-thinking are the leading industrial house of the country in the telecom area. Tata's strategic alliances and acquisitions have been a significant contributor to its revival, in which the company procured a paramount Canadian joint venture with Telesat, to explore the highly potential satellite broadband growth sector.
The partnership between Tata and Telesat has brought Tata Group to the top of the satellite communication (satcom) industry, which is one of the domains with great opportunities for India’s communication infrastructure development. Through utilizing Telesat's conventions and Tata's deep pockets, the partnership intends to provide high-speed and dependable broadband services to the area's rural and remote regions that were unserved.
Tata Group has not only shown leadership in the satcom domain but also in 5G network deployment, as well as infrastructure investments. While Jio and Airtel concentrate more on the consumer segment, Tata carries a very selective approach, namely, these niche and underserved markets. Through the vast ecosystem of the Tata conglomerate, the company is in a good position to counter the threats posed by the telecom giants, by providing innovative and customized solutions both to consumers and businesses.
In the heat of the high-profile Jio-Airtel tussle to gain market prominence, the emerging Tata Telecom is set to reshape the scene and generate its share of the telecom pie. Tata's turnaround in the telecom sector with its strategic outlook, technological flair, and deep pockets forms a novel twist in the ongoing saga giving the industry watchers and consumers something to ponder about.
The Satcom Battlefront: Airtel, Jio, and the Race for the Sky
While the local telecom beasts Airtel and Jio clash in an endless fight for supremacy in India, a new battlefield arises – the sky for dominance of their companies. The satellite communication field has to itemize in all the new battlegrounds in which industry giants are struggling to secure landing possible in the disruptive technology.
Satcom, famous for giving heaven-based broadband, is just a dream. This has huge promises to alter the Indian telecom scenario. Utilizing a group of satellites, internet service providers are increasingly able to extend internet services to even the most dispersed and disadvantaged locations, thus taking care of the digital divide for good and paving the way to innovation.
Nonetheless, the supremacy of satcom is not without its problems which are the contentious matter about the spectrum auction among Airtel, Jio, and other parties. The question as to whether they will be auctioned or whether they will be given out administratively is raised. This highly contested issue has now emerged as the main diversion, with either side presenting strong argumentation to dig the regulators and the government towards one or the other side of the spectrum.
Airtel is standing out with its partnership with the English satellite association OneWeb in the way it is progressively widening the area it covers by satellite and presents itself as the main player leading critical mass development. Airtel seeks to achieve greater connectivity in the rural and remote areas of India through the utilization of its satcom capabilities, generating more coherence for its terrestrial network and by extension securing its position as a complete telecom provider.
In contrast, Jio has also created its road, establishing a joint venture with a company called SES that is based in Luxembourg to improve its satellite broadband aims. The philosophy underlying, Jio's satcom initiative has the ubiquitous connectivity plan at its core, where the aim is to proliferate its affordable and available integrations into the most remote corners of the nation.
Being the center of the satcom war, the licensing regulations and the government's stand on the spectrum allocation are key issues. The two telecommunication giants are facing off, one lobbying for his preferred way of spectrum allocation—the result of which will determine the future of the affected industry.
The fight for the skies has a brand new aspect to it, which is the telecom war, as Airtel and Jio are mobilizing all their assets and knowledge to gain a head start. The finality of the sitcom debate and subsequent rollout of such world-class technologies will indisputably influence the telematics landscape in the country over the years with an opportunity to revise how connectivity is perceived.
The Battle for 5G and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA)
The telecom giants clashing in the satcom arena have another confrontation line – the race to be the first to go live with the 5G technology and seize the FWA market. Both Airtel and Jio have been competing to launch their 5G networks, each endeavoring to be first in the queue to provide incredible speed to the masses. Airtel has been accelerating its 5G deployment pace immensely all through the country, and on the other hand, Jio has also been strengthening its 5G deployment to maintain its outstanding position in the market. Both Airtel and Jio have entered a fierce bidding war through the government which is auctioning off the valuable airwaves and they have been competing to secure the frequencies required to run them efficiently.
An important factor powering the 5G race is the promise of FWA (fixed wireless access) services. AWT, which is equivalent to wired broadband in the speed aspect, has become the very contender between Airtel and Jio. The FWA technology gives operators the capacity to offer fiber-like speeds without laying out miles of fiber optic cables. Therefore, FWA enables the development of new revenue streams and boosts the telecom giant's profitability.
With Jio often being the disruptor, they have taken the bold move by arguing that the administratively allocated satcom spectrum should not be used for commercial FWA services since these are considered as a use case of 5G. Jio has proposed auctioning the spectrum and conducting the auction on fair terms so that the sanctity of the auction process is maintained.
Airtel along with its partner, Eutelsat OneWeb, has also said that satellite-based FWA is not the same as the 5G-based FWA with different business models. They argue that the administratively allocated satcom spectrum for this purpose should also be allowed for commercial FWA offerings because it caters to the special requirements of the country's rural and remote areas.
As the fight for 5G and FWA supremacy reaches a fever pitch, the telecom giants face a strategic struggle, with the outcome expected to significantly affect the industry, the consumers, and the whole digitization of this country. The capacity to roll out the fastest, widest coverage networks will not only dictate who wins and who loses in this struggle but also form the future digital reputation of India in the global arena of technology.
The Battle for Customer Loyalty and Retention
A. The High-Value Customers Focus of Airtel.
1. Subscriber Cleanup and ARPU-Centric Approach: Airtel by dropping 49 million users with low value in 2018 focused and simplified operations to concentrate on a specific customer base which was more profitable.
2. Airtel Finance and Prepaid-to-Postpaid Conversion: AI-powered credit scoring will help Airtel determine creditworthy prepaid users to get a raise to higher postpaid plans.
B. Jio via Mass Market Strategy was a great success.
1. Affordable Plans and Bundled Offerings: Besides cheap mobile plans, Jio comes up with a bundle of services.
2. Jio Phones and Feature Phone User Penetration: Jio's strategy with feature phone users, laptops, and smartphones as well as bundled services has helped it to tap such markets that have not been reached before.
C. Customer Experience as a Distinctive Competence.
1. Airtel's AI-Driven Customer Service Improvements: Airtel allocates money for AI solutions that will help provide customers with enhanced services and solve problems with more efficiency.
2. Jio's Brand Positioning and Customer Engagement: The business Jio strives to develop a strong brand identity and keep customers intrigued with innovative marketing strategy.
The Tata Telecom Factor: A Wild Card in the Game
1. Tata-Telesat Partnership and Satellite Broadband Ambitions: Tata's alliance with Telesat makes it the first instance in the satellite communication revolution with the primary purpose of delivering high-speed internet in rural and remote places.
2. Tata's 5G Network Rollout and Enterprise Solutions: Tata Telecom continues to do well with the 5G rollout and the services provided including enterprise connectivity and digital transformation for businesses.
B. Tata's Targeted Approach
1. Focusing on Niche and Underserved Markets: Tata Telecoms concentrates on rural, semi-urban, and enterprise segments, and thus differs from Air-tel and Jio which focus on the consumer market.
2. Leveraging Tata's Conglomerate Ecosystem: Tata Telecom works with many other groups of companies to provide customers with breakthrough and idiosyncratic solutions.
C. Tata's future effect on the individual existing dominance of Airtel and Jio.
1. Challenging the Status Quo with Innovative Offerings: Being positioned uniquely and having the leading technological potential, Tata Telecom may undermine the established market structure.
2. Disrupting the Market Dynamics: Tatas’ launch could shake the status quo to which both Airtel and Jio have to adjust.