Into The Future: How Airtel Is Building The Network For Tomorrow

Mobile revolution in India is not a new phenomenon anymore. It’s pretty much the status quo now, Smartphones have become ubiquitous. Internet is the mainstay of information and entertainment. Mobile connectivity is at its most affordable price point. This industry is now poised to pivot from fighting on tariffs to winning with differentiated value. And that’s exactly where some telecom companies are pushing forward to stay ahead of the curve.

Airtel for instance, has launched ‘Project Leap’, a massive network expansion programme, to invest aggressively not only on network expansion but largely on newer technologies. This could really help the company bring about a superior experience for its customers.

What’s interesting to look at is how this has impacted the customers. Airtel’s efforts to improve its network experience is clearly reflected by the stickiness that customers have developed for the brand.

Unrealistic, you think? All of this is driven and backed by a strong investment plan. Most businesses which are this capex intensive need a very sustained pipeline of investment commitment.

These facts should explain why Airtel has been able to drive this growth. Airtel’s cumulative investment in India operations stands at a whopping Rs. 2,50,000 crores as of today. The company now has 5,00,000 mobile sites across the country, a fifth of which has been added in the last year alone.

But what could be game-changer for Airtel are the higher order interventions of deploying superior technology. Airtel has rapidly digitized its network, which means now it can do real-time optimizations in the network. It has also successfully conducted India’s first 5G lab test, in preparations for future network deployment. For home internet users, it has been aggressively expanding its Fiber To The Home (FTTH) network across existing and new markets to bring high speed internet to homes.

Companies like Airtel are investing time, money and effort in ensuring that the customer’s experience is put right at the centre. – The Quint