Telecom needs 'long overdue' support for 3+1 structure: Sunil Mittal

Airtel to scale up investments in data centres, Cloud services, cyber security

Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal on Tuesday said the telecom sector needs the “long overdue” government support to maintain its current 3+1 structure, hinting at a relief package for the beleaguered competitor Vodafone Idea.
 
The 3+1 structure refers to three private players — Jio, Airtel, VIL — and a public sector telco — BSNL.
 
Issues such as unsustainable pricing and low returns in a highly capital-intensive environment, coupled with legacy legal issues, have taken their toll, Mittal said in Airtel’s annual report for 2020-21.
 

India continues to be a “promising destination” for long-term investors, he pointed out. “We have the opportunity to transform India into a global leader in the digital economy. We must continue to evolve our policies to realise these opportunities while encouraging investments, entrepreneurship and innovation through collaboration,” Mittal said pledging that “Airtel is ready to play its part”. The telecom sector has been a chief catalyst in transforming the Indian economy over the last 25 years, and played a seminal role during the pandemic by keeping a nation of over one billion connected, Mittal said, terming it an “outstanding feat”.

 
Airtel continues to have a healthy balance sheet with “enough and more” headroom to continue investing strategically for growth, he said.
 
“As the Indian economy digitises further, there are large opportunities ahead in areas such as data centres, submarine cable deployment, Cloud services and cyber security. We will look to scale up our investments in these areas in the coming fiscal year,” Mittal said. A strong foundation is in place to make Airtel a “truly digital-first company”, he said, adding that the company has the ability to develop world-class platforms and digital solutions on the back of in-house engineering talent and strong partnerships with players, including Amazon, Google, Verizon, Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm, Intel, IBM, Cisco and Apollo Hospitals.