Bharti Airtel yesterday held a conference call on its Zain plans, following a a leadership conclave in Kampala and a 15 country tour by CEO (International) Manoj Kohli. Kohli said he returned with a stronger conviction about the Africa opportunity than before the trip. You can listen to our the call by calling one of the numbers here (ask for a replay). Or you can read our picks from the call below: - Focus Areas: Manoj Kohli, specified that three things need to be in place before rebranding: improved network coverage, excellent customer care, and products to go to market with. The strategy will be different for each country. The brand change is going to take place in October, but no date in October has been specified yet. Airtel will be investing heavily in improving its network. It appears that the network in Nigeria requires substantial investment, which explains the $600 million investment. - CAPEX: Airtel tentatively plans are to spent around $800 Million upto March 2011, for the initial rollout. A tower company will be formed in each country in Africa, and the company has initiated discussions on collaborating in fibre optics sharing at a country level, so that expansion will be at a lower CAPEX . They've also discussed with some governments for utilizing a USO Fund for network rollout. Network utiliziation in some parts is not high, but in areas where it is high, Kohli said that Airtel is addressing the issue. He emphasised that network optimization…
