Business

Unforgotten Brands: Airtel

Bharti Airtel, commonly known as Airtel, was founded by Sunil Bharti Mittal in 1995. The story began earlier, in 1984, when Sunil Mittal started assembling push-button phones in India, replacing traditional rotary models. Bharti Telecom Limited, his company, expanded into making other telecom equipment like fax machines and cordless phones during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

In 1992, Mittal won one of the first four mobile network licenses auctioned in India, partnering with Vivendi for technical support. In 1995, Bharti Cellular Limited launched its mobile services in Delhi under the brand name “Airtel,” sparking India’s mobile revolution.

How Did Airtel Start?

Airtel began as a single-city mobile service in Delhi and quickly grew, enabled by strategic international tie-ups and innovative infrastructure models.

Origin of the Name “Airtel” and Branding

The name “Airtel” was personally chosen by Sunil Bharti Mittal to evoke the concept of “Telephony over Airwaves.” Other names considered included Be One, Tango, Bee Tel, and BTel, but Mittal selected Airtel for its aspirational, lifestyle-centric positioning.

The current modern Airtel logo was introduced in 2010.

Growth and Expansion

Airtel has marked significant growth through several milestones:

Nationwide expansion and becoming India’s largest mobile operator by 2005.
First Indian company to cross 2 million subscribers, publicly listed in 2002.
Introduction of value-added services, broadband (2005), and DTH (2008).
International expansion to Sri Lanka in 2009, and acquisition of Zain’s Africa operations in 2010, making Airtel a pan-African telecom leader.
First to launch 3G services in 2010 and 4G in 2012.
Diversified into banking, digital wallet, enterprise services, and cloud.
By 2023, Airtel operated in 18 countries and served hundreds of millions of customers globally.

Key Milestones Table

Year	Event
1995	Founded, launched mobile services in Delhi
2002	Crossed 2 million subscribers, listed publicly
2005	Became India’s largest operator, nationwide coverage
2009	International expansion to Sri Lanka
2010	Acquisition of Zain Africa, new global logo
2012	First to launch 4G services in India (Kolkata)
2016	Launched Payments Bank—the first by a telecom company
2023	Over 490 million subscribers globally

Trivia & Interesting Facts

Second Largest Globally: Airtel is the second largest mobile network operator in India and the world, operating in 18 countries.
Innovative Outsourcing Model: Airtel revolutionized telecom operations by outsourcing everything but sales, marketing, and finance, pioneering a “minutes factory” model that’s now an industry standard.
Vendor Deal First: Airtel was the first to get Ericsson to accept payment based on ‘minutes used,’ enabling India’s lowest call rates.
Global Reach: Airtel serves over 500 million customers across Asia and Africa.
OTT Platform Leadership: Airtel Xstream crossed 2million paid OTT subscribers in 2023.
Early 5G Adoption: Airtel was an early adopter of 5G and was first to launch 4G in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Undersea Cable Leader: Airtel led major undersea cable projects, boosting India’s digital connectivity.
Record Subscriber Addition: In January 2025, Airtel added 1.6 million subscribers in one month.
SIM Delivery Innovation: In 2025, Airtel and Blinkit launched 10-minute SIM card delivery in 16 cities—a telecom industry first.
AI for Spam: Airtel launched AI-powered spam detection in 2024, flagging billions of calls and messages.
Award Winner: Airtel has won the Golden Peacock for sustainability, ESG excellence, and business leadership.
Diverse Services: Airtel offers mobile, broadband, DTH, cloud, IoT, Payments Bank, and more, making it one of the most diversified telecom groups globally.

Airtel Today

Airtel is a globally recognized brand, known for its market-leading innovation, technological leadership, and customer-centric approach. As one of the largest mobile operators in the world, Airtel continues to expand its reach in digital, banking, and enterprise services.

Airtel’s journey is marked by vision, bold steps, and technological firsts—taking Indian telecom from push-button phones to world-class connectivity for millions of people across continents.