Bharti to acquire stakes in ALMNS

Bharti will acquire entire stake of Alcatel Lucent India in Alcatel Lucent Managed Network Service India (ALMNS), a joint venture between Bharti and Alcatel Lucent India to manage and deploy the former's fixed line and broadband network in India.

ALMNS will manage 3.3 million fixed line and 1.4 million broadband/internet subscribers of Bharti Airtel spread across 87 cities across India.

The operations of the ALMNS will be strengthened by the transition of proven tools, processes and all manpower and skilled resources from the existing joint venture. It will operate independent of Bharti and going forward, will invite other operators to join in with equity participation and bring the management of their broadband and fixed line networks under its fold.

Under ALMNS, Bharti Airtel has introduced a new business model for managing fixed line and DSL broadband networks, on the lines of Indus Towers which will bring major cost benefits to operators.

This will help ALMNS to offer better control over networks and provide enhance customer satisfaction. It will also help in providing an integrated view of the Company's network in a non-linear data market

Sanjay Kapoor, CEO (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel said, "Bharti pioneered the outsourcing model that helped revolutionize the telecom industry and with this innovative model we are breaking new ground in an industry which is on the cusp of a massive data growth. This new model, along with our recently launched network experience centre, will provide us greater control over the delivery of a world-class data experience to customers across our portfolio of networks."

Munish Seth, president and managing Director, Alcatel-Lucent India said, "We are extremely proud that the joint venture was a catalyst in transforming Bharti's Telemedia business at an accelerated pace and setting the stage for the next stage of transformation."

The formation of this new model is a step in that direction and will leverage the core competencies that Alcatel Lucent Managed Network Service India has built over time added Seth.

The joint venture has appointed Shishir Kumar, CEO - Upper North, Bharti Airtel as the CEO of the entity.