In order to record future growth Bharti Airtel will have to look for new acquisitions especially in the emerging markets says a new assessment from Strategy Analytics. The report says that Zain and Orascom who have presence in the Middle East and Africa can be likely opportunities for Bharti Airtel.

“Originally it competed with only four or five operators in each telecom circle,” says Rahul Gupta, Manager of Strategy Analytics Emerging Markets Communications Strategies (EMCS). “Now Bharti has twice that many in each circle, and the competition has driven service prices down to some of the lowest levels in the world.”

A reflection of the impact of competition can be seen in Bharti Airtel’s financial performance wherein it is witnessing declining revenue growth every quarter. In the latest quarter ended September 2009 the company could manage only 9 % growth in revenues.  

“Even if they are hugely successful in rural expansion and in rolling out 3G in the cities after next year’s auction, it is hard to see that a purely domestic Bharti will be particularly profitable,” says Tom Elliott, Director of EMCS. “They need to keep working on their international strategy.”

Bharti’s revenue growth is set to further squeeze as new subscribers are coming from rural areas which are generally considered to be low ARPU markets.