Airtel unveils its new logo

Telecom major Bharti Airtel unveiled its new logo on Thursday, November 18, and also announced that its subscriber base has crossed the 200 million mark, with nearly 150 million users in the domestic market alone. The company has 40 million users in Africa, while the rest are in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

World's fifth largest telco, Bharti Airtel unveiled its new 'global and youthful avatar'. Besides the logo, the company has also changed the signature Airtel tune, composed by Oscar winner A R Rehman.The re-designed logo would be for the Indian as well as overseas market to bring operational synergy across the company's business ventures.

"Today as we expand on the global stage, this new brand identity gives us the opportunity to present a single powerful and unified face to our customers, stakeholders and partners around the world," Bharti Airtel chairman and managing director Sunil Bharti Mittal said.

Although the company declined to share investment figures, it indicated that the branding exercise could cost hundreds of crores.

The brand launch in India will be followed by Africa, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Earlier this year, the company had acquired African operations of Kuwait's Zain Group in 15 countries at an enterprise value of $10.7 billion.

The brand launch in Africa will start from tomorrow and will be completed by November 24, 2010. In Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, it would be completed within a month, the company said.