Highlighting Airtel’s transformational journey into one of India’s largest telecom companies, Sunil Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Airtel said that Airtel has changed a lot and moved from the old, typical telecom ways to a better consumer-centric company.
“Airtel no longer thinks like a telecom company. In an interview with Economic Times, Sunil Mittal said, telcos are still not in the business of new native digital companies like Amazon or others in terms of customer delivery.
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He also said that in order to survive the tsunami of 2016, which was largely led by Reliance Jio, “Airtel has really transformed itself into an extraordinary institution.”
Stressing on the possibility of what the Indian telecom sector would have looked like if 2016 had not happened, he said that some players are still present in this sector. “It is likely that without the 2016 event, India will have five or six operators,” he said.
Highlighting the struggle of Bharti Airtel in 2003 when it faced stiff competition from other telecom companies, and in 2020 when the Supreme Court gave its verdict on AGR, Sunil Mittal said that the company faced a lot of difficulty in 2003. Had to face tough competition.
“Airtel was young then. We came out of there very strong. At that time we had transformative deals with IBM, Nokia and Ericsson. Hence, we were recognized as a pioneer in telecom,” he told ET.
Read also: Bharti Airtel shares long-term ‘buy’, analysts point bullish ahead of Q4
The founder of Bharti Airtel believes that the tough phase of 2008-9-10 in the telecom sector was the result of government policy. “10-12 new licenses were given thoughtlessly, recklessly, given existing spectrum pools that were held by companies and completely undermining the expectations of existing telcos,” he said.
Sunil Mittal Says We Will Take Full Control Of Indus Towers If Need Be
Sunil Mittal told ET that Indus Towers is a vital part of the telecom infrastructure and the company cannot afford to lose it. He said that his company has already increased its stake in the company to 48 per cent. ET quoted Sunil Mittal as saying, “If required, we will take full control of the company as it is essential for us.”
Read also: Airtel, Jio to give 11 lakh CUG connections to Indian Railways employees
Public Listing of Airtel Payments Bank
On the public listing of Airtel Payments Bank, Sunil Mittal said, “Airtel Payments Bank now has over 56 million customers. In FY23-24, it will start shining.”
The company will enter its eighth year of operations in FY24-25, and the companies are expected to get listed within ten years for shareholding adjustment, he added. Sunil Mittal cited the importance of separation in the company’s operations for the listing of Airtel Payments Bank.
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