Bharti Airtel has announced a new corporate structure, wherein it has created a separate entity for telecom operations, while its digital business will be merged with the parent company. The telecom major would now be able to prioritize its digital assets take full advantage of India’s digital opportunity.
In an official statement, Bharti Airtel said the new structure envisages Airtel Digital Limited folding into the listed entity, Bharti Airtel. “This will now house all of the digital assets spanning Wynk Music, Airtel X stream, Airtel Thanks, Mitra Payments platform used by a million retailers, Airtel Ads, Airtel IQ, Airtel Secure, Airtel Cloud and all future digital products and services.”
The company, as such, intends to house all the telecom businesses in a newly created entity, Airtel Limited – a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Limited. Bharti Telemedia, the 100% arm operating DTH services will sit alongside Airtel Ltd. But it will eventually fold the DTH business into Airtel Limited to ensure converged services to customers.
The company, as per the statement, has moved the government to seek clarity on licensing policy given that carriage, that is, telecom and DTH is currently being regulated and managed under two separate ministries of Communications and I&B respectively.
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Moreover, Airtel Payments Bank will remain a separate entity under Bharti Airtel and work closely with the growing customer base to play a pivoted role in realizing the digital opportunity that payments and financial services provides. Furthermore, its infrastructure businesses such as Nxtra and Indus Towers will remain in separate entities as they currently are. The company’s international subsidiaries and affiliates, including Airtel Africa Plc and Bharti Airtel Lanka (Pvt) Ltd will also continue to operate as separate companies.
The proposed restructuring is subject to regulatory and statutory approvals.
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