Collaboration, the secret sauce. Culture, the magical recipe!!

“In life, it’s not where you go, it’s who you travel with” – Charles Schulz

You must have heard this statement. I have heard it too often in different contexts. But this is the first time I am writing about it. I had to take a special permission, given this is confidential information, almost like a sacred, much-guarded secret. All of us agreed that now is the right, maybe the best time to talk about this.

The secret energizer that motivated 400+ committed team members to work in a frenzy for nearly two months to make Airtel’s big bang 5G launch at Asia’s largest technology forum – the India Mobile Congress 2022 (IMC), a roaring success. The 6th edition, jointly organized by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), was held from 1 - 4 October at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. It was a special moment for all of us because for the first time, the Congress was inaugurated by Shri Narendra Modi. "5G is a knock on the doors of a new era in the country. It is the beginning of an infinite sky of opportunities," said the Hon’ble Prime Minister. This time, IMC saw 10 Union Ministers including Shri Piyush Goyal and Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw; 17 State ministers including the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri. Yogi Adityanath and nearly 7000 Government representatives.

Airtel enabled school students in rural UP to learn about the solar system through a first of its kind VR enabled, immersive learning experience in the metaverse powered by 5G. One of the girl students appeared virtually through a LIVE hologram on the same dais as the hon'ble PM and shared her experience of VR education with him in real-time. The ‘phygital’ interaction where the PM was present "physically" and the life like avatar of the girl present ‘digitally’ in front of him, was a sight to behold.

The Airtel arena at IMC showcased 20+ use cases of 5G across sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, smart workforce, IoT, gaming and entertainment. These are just some of the solutions that Airtel shared with customers, partners and leaders to reimagine the countless possibilities of a 5G enabled technology ecosystem.

But all this couldn’t have been possible without the support, and the STRENGTH of the Airtel family, sitting in all parts of the country. The secret sauce to our ‘high energy’ team or how some would like to call it, the spirit of camaraderie. The reason why we work in such a perfect sync.

Many companies have a good culture, some great and then you have Airtel. An organization that has always prioritized the well-being of its people. Well, I have my own reasons for saying this, but I am sure that someone who joined Airtel just maybe a few days back will share this feeling of intrinsic connection with the company. The kind of belongingness and understanding, Airtel offers to its employees is what turns them into its biggest fans!

As an organization, we have some big plans. At 27, we may be India’s oldest telecom operator, but we are just not that. Airtel Business is India's largest B2B company, the #1 IoT player with 49.3% market share. Airtel Payments Bank is India’s first payments bank and was recently awarded the Economic Times Promising Brands 2022 recognition. Airtel Digital, the music and streaming video business has 189 million monthly active users; Airtel has one of the largest submarine cable networks in the world. And Nxtra by?Airtel?has the largest network of?interconnected data centers?in India with 12 large and 120 edge?data centers?across the country.

Our responsible business approach works towards creating long-term value for all our stakeholders. And we have a slew of awards already in this domain such as Championing Sustainable Initiatives - The Economic Times, Sustainable Organisations 2022; Green DC Initiatives - 11th Data Center Summit and Awards, UBS Forums; Developing Sustainable Strategies - World CSR Congress, Global CSR Excellence and Leadership Awards.

Last month, we achieved a feat of sorts when Airtel became one of the first companies to launch 5G services in the country. We plan to complete?rollout across India by mid-2024. Airtel 5G Plus will create a disruptive transformation in all aspects of our life. We have dreams that cannot and will not be contained.

And we are not alone in this journey. Airtel’s ‘customer first’ approach ensures that we are constantly improving the overall customer experience through an integrated and end to end digital experience. 5G will further improve customer experience. "Our obsession on customer experience is now embellished with a 5G solution that is kinder to the environment", said Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, Bharti Airtel. And we are especially excited about building new age business solutions as well as start-ups. The same was highlighted by our Chairman, Sunil Bharti Mittal at the India Mobile Congress when he said, “I believe that with 5G, hundreds of use cases will create thousands of entrepreneurs and dozens of new unicorns."

We have many milestones to reach. Many more firsts to add to our names. But we’ll continue to embody the spirit of ‘people first’ that Airtel has always believed in. Because what’s a beautiful journey for if you don’t have your favorite people to enjoy it with… right??

#IamAirtel