Interview with Akhil Gupta: “Everybody has to adopt AI”

The Indian telecom sector stands at a critical juncture, with 5G monetisation, satcom operationalisation, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven efficiency and infrastructure sharing emerging as key priorities. In an interview with tele.net, Akhil Gupta, Vice-Chairman, Bharti Enterprises, discussed the commercial scaling of satcom, the path towards asset-light “netco” models and the integration of agentic AI into digital services. Edited excerpts…

Last year, you mentioned that an ARPU of Rs 300 is essential for the industry’s financial health. With tariff adjustments seen throughout 2025 and Airtel’s focus on premiumisation, how close are we to that threshold? Do you believe the sector has finally moved past being asset-heavy?

Well, to answer the first question, I think the average ARPU for the industry is still at Rs 215, and that is a far cry from the desired ARPU of Rs 300. I also feel that once you get to that Rs 300 figure, there should be a mechanism whereby for telecom the realisation or the ARPU keeps rising in line with inflation. On the second part, I think there is a problem in this industry of being asset heavy. The only meaningful step taken to this end has been the separation and sharing of passive infrastructure, which India pioneered, and the world followed. But unfortunately, things have not moved beyond that, not even to the sharing of optic fibre, leave alone active elements.

How do you think one gets to whatever the number is, whether it is Rs 300 or Rs 320?

Firstly, in order to give good service, our minimum plans need to rise a bit. Second, there is also considerable irrationality in terms of the volume that is being offered. It is not necessary to have unlimited plans at INR 300 as nobody is demanding them.

Are there new opportunities for generating ARPU?

To improve ARPUs, you can either increase the base price, or go for higher prices, or cap or rationalise volumes, with higher priced plans for higher volume/allowances.

If someone is already a subscriber, what other forms of revenue are you generating or feel can be generated?

Once you have a database, you can obviously offer some financial services, mutual funds, insurance or loans. But those are not mainstream. We have only just begun offering these services, and I hope they will become sizeable in the times to come. I think, with the richness of data that we have from the customer, we can offer a wide range of diverse services. Advertising revenues can be significant too over time.

What are the other revenue opportunities for telcos?

Well, there are some adjacent areas, but ultimately, connectivity remains at the core. On the broadband side, fixed wireless is a real opportunity. It is being offered now, but there is still a long way to go. In India, it is not possible to provide wireline services to everyone. The best way is fixed wireless on 5G, and that obviously helps the company because 5G’s utilisation is still low. This will push up capacity utilisation.

How do you see the sector moving forward? What will be the big changes and the big trends over the next two to five years?

In telecom, nothing changes big time; there is an evolution. This trend will continue. In the future, as 5G gets more and more consumed, there will be still bigger demand for data, leading to 6G. But first, we must fully utilise 5G.

What do you think our timelines are for 6G?

I would say it should be another four to five years. As of now, 5G penetration is increasing every day, along with its utilisation.

You have been a pioneer of the tower-sharing model. In 2025, we have seen increased dialogue around active network sharing. How close are we to seeing the birth of netcos (independent active infrastructure companies)?

Unfortunately, under the current circumstances, it does not look like we are close to achieving that. We should be, but we are not. I think it is an industry-wide issue, because you need more than one operator to be willing. But I firmly believe that the sharing of infrastructure, of whatever nature, is an absolute must for this industry.

Is Airtel increasingly being identified as a techco rather than a telco?

Telecom, by its very nature, is so technical that it is bound to happen. Again, my personal view on these matters is that these are all evolutionary things. For instance, when we say we now use AI, the fact is we have always used IT – it has simply evolved into AI. So, I would not really say that we are becoming a tech company; we have always been one. However, our bread and butter remains connectivity.

Do you think the deployment of AI is helping achieve the goal of providing connectivity?

It always does. Greater automation, improved predictability, and the ability to identify problems in advance are always helpful. Spam detection is a very good example, as it helps customers and that, in turn, helps us.

What is your view on data centres and AI?

AI is obviously the hottest topic in the world today, and rightly so. Everybody has to adopt AI. Now, if AI is a reality, you need data centres. What has really happened in the data centre segment is that earlier, a data centre company like Nxtra operated as a standalone, fully end-to-end service company. It would set up a data centre, offer co-location services to customers, and either they would get their servers or we could offer them servers and managed services. This next phase is very different, as it is mainly dominated by hyperscalers. Today, they are demanding a powered shell, with connectivity to power and water, while preferring to manage the rest on their own. Currently, what we are doing on the data centre front is the latter.

How are you acquiring capability in that area? Are you acquiring companies?

We continuously strive to improve our capabilities and wherever required collaborate with other companies. No acquisitions are envisaged at present.

With the deployment of agentic AI in 2025 for self-healing networks and customer experience, what is the next frontier for Airtel’s digital services arm?

As technology evolves, tools such as agentic AI and generative AI will be used depending on whatever becomes relevant to us and our customers. It is an ongoing journey. As a telco, I would like to see all this supporting our main task, which is providing better connectivity, more stable connections and better service to customers.

How do you view AI in terms of its impact on workforce requirements for a telco?

I think that is a real worry. With AI, a lot of jobs will be, or can be, affected. Typically, wherever there is repetitive processing required, AI can do a much better job. So, like elsewhere, some job reduction will happen. Fortunately, we are expanding at a very rapid pace, and we should be able to absorb this.

Airtel’s partnership with Eutelsat OneWeb reached operational scale in 2025. What role will satcom play in Bharti’s bottom line by 2027, especially in bridging the connectivity gap?

When it comes to satellite connectivity, let us talk about the big, global picture. Direct-to-device is one segment that can become a threat to terrestrial telecom services, where the per GB price is $3-$6 per GB. In the West, it is already becoming a threat. In India, however, where data costs less than 10 cents per GB, we are likely to be unaffected by that. Instead, it will help us provide connectivity to places where it is not feasible to offer terrestrial services.

What are your other investments outside of India? How is Africa doing?

Africa obviously has a lot of potential, everybody knows it. What had been ailing Africa was a very uncertain currency situation, mainly in Nigeria. However, for the past one year, that has been very stable. As a result, Africa is now beginning to flourish.

Having seen telecom evolve from a luxury industry to a utility industry over the past 26 years, what is the one legacy challenge you feel the industry is still struggling to shake off?

Of all the industries, telecom can be ranked among the top five most required industries globally. Nothing will work without telecom. Now, for an industry like that to be in such poor financial condition across the world, with very low multiples, is a shame. However, the reason is largely self-inflicted. The key reason why we have such poor multiples is that we are so asset heavy. This is one structural issue that, has to be addressed globally.

As you come to the end of this part of your career, what gives you the most satisfaction?

I think it has been a very satisfying journey, mainly because we have grown, from a very small operator – the smallest among the eight that initially received licences – into one of the top operators in the world. Building that up, brick by brick, step by step, has indeed been very satisfying, especially in very challenging circumstances.

What was the most challenging situation for you, the most difficult moment?

The times Reliance entered the market were the most challenging periods. To be able to come out of that, not only survive but thrive, is very satisfying. I believe the main reasons were our clear focus on maintaining a very strong balance sheet, which remained our priority even in the most difficult times on the one hand and a razor sharp focus on our customer needs on the other.

In terms of the number of operators, are we okay where we are right now?

Yes, I believe the three-plus-one structure works quite well.  Having fewer than three players on the private side is perhaps not ideal, as adequate competition is essential. At the same time, within this framework, players need to cooperate and collaborate, because that is when the industry does well.