Bharti to enable SMS, e-mail on landline phones

Kumarkaushalam in New Delhi

The New Delhi-based Rs 140-crore Bharti Teletech Ltd, makers of the Beetel brand of telephone instruments, has decided to focus on providing new technological features like SMS (short message services) and e-mail in the landline telephone sets.

‘‘Landline operators are exploring to offer new services to their subscribers and we’re preparing for the new trend,’’ says Mr V J Prakash, CEO, Bharti Teletech Ltd. ‘‘We’re currently working on a couple of projects with chip-makers and also international design houses like Hong Kong-based Rockway Industry and Sun Corp, UK.’’

Bharti has allocated around Rs 5 crore towards product development this year. The expenditure is intended at offering novel, features-rich cordless and corded phones to consumers.

The new focus on product development is critical as Bharti eyes the growing retail segment. Bharti expects the contribution of the institutional segment, comprising BSNL and MTNL, to come down to around 55-60 per cent this year against 70 per cent last year.

Beetel is sold through a distribution network of over 150 distributors and 4,000 retail outlets and five service centres countrywide. The brand’s focus is not as much on service and repairs as ‘no questions asked replacement’ or swap strategy for instruments.

Bharti has set a target to post a turnover of Rs 170 crore in fiscal 2001-02 up from Rs 140 crore in 2000-01. In terms of volume, the company is aiming at selling 4.5 million Beetel phones up from 3.6 million last year.

‘‘We want to secure a turnover of Rs 300 crore in the year 2003-4,’’ says Mr Prakash. ‘‘The awareness to have an additional phone line at home and the need for features like speaker-phones, and caller line identification instruments are driving growth at the moment.’’

Mr Prakash adds that the company is consistently moving up the value chain: the contribution of phones in the sub-Rs 800 category has already come down to 65 per cent from 80 per cent in 2000-01 and 90 per cent in 1999-00.

Beetel is offered in 24 models in the price range of Rs 400-Rs 2,500. Mr Prakash says that the company will remain focussed on the mass segment, marked by analogous phones. ‘‘If the demand grows for digital products (these are imported currently, priced at Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000) we may consider production.’’

The company however believes that the biggest challenge to the company is not from domestic players but unscrupulous grey market operators, who push around 1.5 lakh instruments a month.

Bharti is currently finalising a new brand campaign for Beetel. The brand is being handled by creative agency Percept.