Bharti Enterprises, one of India’s leading business groups (“Bharti”), and SOFTBANK CORP., parent corporation for one of Japan’s leading internet company groups (“SoftBank”), are pleased to announce the formal launch of Bharti Softbank Holdings Pte. Ltd. (www.bsb.in) (“BSB”), a 50:50 controlled joint venture between Bharti and SoftBank established to focus on mobile internet.
BSB will actively participate in the mobile internet ecosystem’s growth in India, with an emphasis on three key areas: Social Media, Gaming and e-Commerce. BSB aims to further accelerate the pace of development of India’s mobile internet market, which, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, had over 850 million mobile subscribers as of July, 2011.
“India, which has emerged as the second largest mobile market in the world, stands at the cusp of another revolution – mobile internet,” said Mr. Kavin Bharti Mittal, BSB’s Head of Strategy & New Product Development. “With a fast growing economy, a large youth population and access to cheaper and faster data, there is a unique opportunity to build services ground up for mobile, especially in a country where the first screen for most is a mobile device. We are delighted to partner with SoftBank, whose vast experience in this area will help us build and invest in services for India.”