The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has successfully concluded its Annual General Body Meeting for the financial year 2024-25. The meeting served as a platform for COAI members to gather and discuss key developments, challenges and opportunities in the sector. The COAI Leadership for 2025-26 was also announced at the meeting.
Abhijit Kishore, chief operating officer, Vodafone Idea Limited will once again hold the position of Chairperson while Rahul Vatts, chief regulatory officer, Bharti Airtel, will be the vice chairperson.
Abhijit Kishore comes with a rich experience of over three decades with the Indian telecom industry across functions, organisations and geographies. Prior to taking on the role of COO, he was heading the enterprise business of Vi. As the chief enterprise business officer, he led the transformation for enterprise business from a telco to techco. Under his leadership, Vi Business introduced some of the smartest and newest technologies such as integrated IoT, managed services and security as a service to serve businesses in the digital era.
Meanwhile, Rahul Vatts is a telecom industry veteran with 29 years of experience and an expert on telecom and broadcasting licensing, economic regulations, spectrum management and regulatory litigation. As the chief regulatory officer of Airtel, Rahul heads the government relations, policy and regulatory interfaces across the company’s Business spanning mobility broadband, DTH, data centre, submarine cables, its international subsidiaries and all digital lines of business. He is chair of GSMA’s Spectrum Policy Working Group (SPWG) and a member of GSMA’s Global Policy Group as well as the Spectrum Strategy and Management Group (SSMG). Vatts is also a governing council member of various telecom standardisation bodies in India.
Further, Dr S.P. Kochhar, director general, COAI, expressed his appreciation for the unwavering support and exemplary leadership demonstrated by Abhijit Kishore and Rahul Vatts during the past year. As India advances with 5G and allied technologies, COAI is optimistic about the opportunities that lie ahead for the industry and trusts that the leadership will continue to be instrumental in driving the association and the sector’s efforts and growth forward.
