Bharti

Sunil Bharti Mittal inducted into the prestigious ITU Telecom Board

• ● ITU Telecom Board provides strategic advice and guidance to the Secretary-General of this prestigious UN body
• ● India’s telecom success receives another major international endorsement

New Delhi, April 13, 2008: Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Group CEO, Bharti Enterprises has been inducted into the globally renowned and respected International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecom Board. Headquartered in Geneva, ITU is the leading United Nations Agency for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) within which governments and the private sector coordinate global ICT networks and services. Mr. Mittal will serve the Board for the next two years.

On his induction to this august body, Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal said “I am honoured to be a part of this prestigious global agency. Today, India has emerged as a major player in the global telecom arena and I am confident that India’s experience in providing affordable telecom services to millions of customers, especially in rural areas, will benefit the ITU. It will be my endeavour to work with the Board towards achieving the agency’s development goals and further bridging the global digital divide.”

The ITU Telecom Board of Directors provides strategic advice & guidance to the Secretary-General, oversees and acts as the steering committee of the ITU Telecom Board. A key component of ITU’s activities involves organisation of the ITU Telecom events, major global and regional tradeshows and conferences for the world ICT community. Through these international events, the ITU Telecom brings together the most influential representatives of government and the telecommunications industry to exchange ideas, knowledge and technology for the benefit of the global community, and in particular the developing world.

About ITU:

ITU is the leading United Nations agency for information and communication technologies. As the global focal point for governments and the private sector, ITU's role in helping the world communicate spans three core sectors: radio communication, standardization and development. ITU also organizes Telecom events and was the lead organizing agency of the World Summit on the Information Society. ITU is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and its membership includes 191 Member States and more than 700 Sector Members and Associates.

Bharti Enterprises:

Bharti Enterprises is one of India’s leading business groups with interests in telecom, agri business, insurance and retail. Bharti has been a pioneering force in the telecom sector with many firsts and innovations to its credit. Bharti Airtel Limited, a group company, is one of India’s leading private sector providers of telecommunications services with an aggregate of 61.91 million customers as of end of February 2008, spanning Mobile services, Telemedia services and Enterprise services. Bharti Airtel has been ranked amongst the best performing companies in the world in the BusinessWeek IT 100 list 2007. Bharti Teletech is the country’s largest manufacturer and exporter of telephone terminals. Bharti has a joint venture - FieldFresh Foods (P) Ltd – with Del Monte Foods India Pvt. Ltd., to offer fresh and processed fruits and vegetables in the domestic as well as international markets including Europe, USA and Middle East. Bharti has a joint venture - Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Ltd. - with AXA, world leader in financial protection and wealth management. Bharti also has a joint venture for an asset management company - Bharti AXA Investment Managers Private Ltd. - with AXA IM and AXA APH. Bharti has recently forayed into retail business under a company called Bharti Retail Pvt. Ltd. It also has a joint venture - Bharti Wal-Mart Private Ltd. - with Wal-Mart for wholesale cash-and-carry and back-end supply chain management operations in India.