Bharti's Sunil Mittal: New kid on the BPO block

When you've got 3 million customers for your service, and inherent telecommunications strengths, it may not be all that bad an idea to venture into the go-go business process outsourcing business. That is exactly what Bharti Enterprises has done. "We will be among the top three BPO companies in this country in the next three years," announced Bharti ceo Sunil Mittal, at a press conference to announce the launch of the company's 50:50 joint venture with the US-based Tele Tech Holdings.

The joint venture, Tele Tech India, will build a 500 seat centre in Gurgaon at a cost of Rs 100 crore. The company, which will employ 5,000 agents by the end of its first year of operations proposes to offer the entire spectrum of BPO services: from back-office administration to credit and collection to account maintenance to asset management to infrastructure support services.

The in-house business will help. "We need to outsource for better customer service," explains Akhil Gupta, Joint Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises. "We will be leaving all our processes to Tele Tech". That could be one reason why the company expects to break even in its second full year of operation. However, that isn't all: communications costs account for between 20 per cent and 30 per cent of a BPO outfit's costs. Apart from being a logical step at forward integration, this could also help the company increase the efficiency with which it uses its network.

-Suveen K. Sinha

ONEUPMANSHIP
Who's Better, Who's Best?

S.M. Krishna: A step ahead

It is a quiet rivalry that exists between Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart. Both aren't averse to be known as CEOs of their respective states, are business- and investor-friendly, and want their respective state capitals to be considered the preferred destination for any technology company that wishes to invest in India. Naidu's Microsoft connection-Hyderabad is where the company's development centre is based-gave him the lead initially, but Krishna has since caught up. Bangalore boasts a Microsoft Lab apart from Intel and Cisco development centres. Now, the front-page photo-opp with IBM CEO Sam Palmisano should give the Karnataka chief minister the lead. Palmisano chose to give Hyderabad a go-by.

INDOPHILES
The Men Who Sell India Best

Fine, management guru C.K. Prahalad was the guest of honour at Confederation of Indian Industry's annual do, but have you wondered about the other men who sell India best. There's outgoing McKinsey Managing Director Rajat Gupta, an outspoken salesman for India. Then there's Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy, who has managed to acquire a following among politicos and businessmen in all parts of the world. Surprising, isn't it, considering that none of the trio has a background in sales? Even more surprising? They all have tough day jobs.

Ten Insights From IRS 2002
The tech magic begins to dim, making old economy happy.

Literacy no boon to print media
The country's literate population grew by 5.2 per cent, yet readership grew by a minuscule 0.3 per cent

Dailies better off than magazines
Readership of dailies grew 2 per cent, that of magazines fell 15.2 per cent

Yet, dailies face eroding readership
The ratio of average-issue readership to claimed readership is down 0.1 per cent

English dailies have come off worst
Seven of the top 10 English publications are magazines

C&S shone, and terrestrial waned
C&S channels gained close to 3.5 crore viewers, terrestrial television dropped close to 1 crore

Star gained the most; Zee lost the most
Zee's viewership in the general entertainment market dropped 51 per cent

Regional C&S channels face competition
The gap between #1 and #2 in many regional C&S markets narrowed

Clear winners exist in some categories
Aaj Tak (part of the India Today Group that publishes this magazine) boasts a 58 percentage point lead over #2 Zee News, and Tamil Channel Sun TV, a 65 per cent lead over Jaya TV

FM rules the roost
The number of FM listeners grew by 1280 per cent; listenership of non-FM stations dipped 1.5 per cent

The internet remains a niche media
Usage base almost trebled yet the medium's reach is a third that of FM radio's

-Shailesh Dobhal