Google to invest up to USD 1 bn in Airtel to boost India’s digital ecosystem

Bharti Airtel and Google has entered into a strategic partnership with Google to boost India’s digital ecosystem. AS part of the deal, the internet giant will invest upto USD 1 billion- USD 700 mn to acquire 1.28 per cent ownership in the telecom operator and upto USD 300 mn towards potential multi-year commercial agreements. Bharti Airtel will issue 71.2 million shares of the company to Google on a preferential basis at Rs. 734 apiece. This deal will be subject to necessary regulatory approvals.




“As a part of its first commercial agreement, Airtel and Google will work together to build on Airtel’s extensive offerings that covers a range of Android-enabled devices to consumers via innovative affordability programs,” Bharti Airtel said in a statement.

The partnership also aims at enabling affordable access to smartphones in the country. Two companies will work with device manufacturers to bring down the barriers of owning a smartphone across a range of price points, according to the release.

The telecom giant said that it will also be scaling up the deployment of Google’s network virtualization solutions and potentially co-create India-specific network domain use-cases for 5G network.

“With our future ready network, digital platforms, last mile distribution and payments ecosystem, we look forward to working closely with Google to increase the depth and breadth of India’s digital ecosystem,” said Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Airtel.

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“Airtel is a leading pioneer shaping India’s digital future, and we are proud to partner on a shared vision for expanding connectivity and ensuring equitable access to the Internet for more Indians,” said Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Google and Alphabet, in a statement.

“Our commercial and equity investment in Airtel is a continuation of our Google for India Digitisation Fund’s efforts to increase access to smartphones, enhance connectivity to support new business models, and help companies on their digital transformation journey.”