Bharti ties up with Japan firm for mobile internet

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Bharti Enterprises, parent company of India's telecom giant Airtel, Thursday said it has entered into a joint venture with Japan-based internet company Softbank Corp to focus on mobile internet services.

The two partners will have equal stakes in the joint venture, called Bharti Softbank Holdings Pte Ltd (BSB), which will invest in three key areas: social media, gaming and e-commerce.

"India, which has emerged as the second largest mobile market in the world, stands at the cusp of another revolution -- mobile internet," said Kavin Bharti Mittal, head of strategy and new product development, BSB.

"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," he added.

According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, mobile subscribers till August stood at 865.7 million.