Award Citation
tele.net is very pleased to present its first-ever award for outstanding contribution to infrastructure and telecom development to Mr Akhil Gupta, Vice-Chairman, Bharti Enterprises.
This award is in recognition of his co-stewardship of Bharti Airtel, his many pioneering initiatives, and for being the voice of reason in the industry.
He has played a pivotal role in the growth of Bharti to one of the top telecom companies in the world, with a market cap of almost USD 125 billion. He ensured that Bharti always had the financing it needed, bringing in private equity, sovereign wealth and international telecom operators as partners. His contributions extended well beyond finance. He oversaw Bharti’s entry into what was then called the fixed line business in India, and its foray into the mobile business in Africa. He also conceptualised and implemented game-changing and truly innovative initiatives like outsourcing of information technology and network management, separation of passive infrastructure, and formation of tower companies in partnership with other operators.
He is one of the most clear-eyed thinkers in the industry and has been a voice of sanity in turbulent times, encouraging reason to prevail. The industry is much the better for it.
Telecom, along with electricity, is infrastructure of infrastructure. The award, therefore, is for Mr Gupta’s outstanding contribution to infrastructure and telecom development.
