Bharti Airtel is ready to face Reliance Jio challenge: Sunil Bharti Mittal

Country's largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel is prepared to meet all the competition, its chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said on Monday, days ahead of the Reliance Jio Infocomm's proposed launch.

In an exclusive interview with The Economic Times, Mittal expressed hope that Reliance Jio's entry into the telecom market would be a prudent one.

Jio is all set to start its 4G services by December-end at alucrative prices and is expected to come out with cheap devices that can be sold with its content, posing a threat to market leaders such as Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular Services among others.

Sunil Mittal said Reliance Jio Infocomm's entry will lead to consolidation and intensify pricing pressure in the sector.

While telecom firm Vodafone is due to launch its 4G services this month, Idea Cellular will launch 4G in the first half of 2016.

Mittal's statement on facing Airtel's competitors comes days after the firm said it would invest Rs 60,000 crore over three years to upgrade its network to improve voice and data services in the world's second-biggest mobile phone market by number of customers.