The GSM Association (GSMA) has elected Bharti Enter­prises’ founder and chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal as its chairman for a two-year period from January 2017 to December 2018. Mittal is the first Indian to be elected chairman of the global telecom industry board. In this role, Mittal will oversee the strategic direction of the organisation, which represents around 800 mobile operators across the world and more than 300 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem.