INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
"The partnership will focus on enabling affordable access to smartphones," Airtel said.New Delhi: Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Friday
announced that internet giant Google plans to invest up to $1 billion in a multi-year agreement to push India's digital ecosystem
Airtel, in a regulatory filing, said, "As part of this partnership, Google intends to invest up to $1 billion (around Rs 7,400 crore) over
the next five years.""This pact will comprise a $700 million equity investment in Airtel at a price per share of Rs 734 and up to $300
million for implementing commercial agreements," Airtel stated."The partnership will focus on enabling affordable access to smartphones
across price ranges, and will continue to explore building on their existing partnerships to potentially co-create India-specific network
domain use cases for 5G and other standards, and help accelerate the cloud ecosystem for businesses across India," the telecom company
mentioned.Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Airtel, said, "Airtel and Google share the vision to grow India's digital dividend
through innovative products
With our future-ready network, digital platforms, last-mile distribution and payments ecosystem, we look forward to working closely with
Digitization Fund's efforts to increase access to smartphones, enhance connectivity to support new business models, and help companies on
their digital transformation journey."Both companies will also focus on shaping and growing the cloud ecosystem in India to accelerate their
digital transformation journeys, the regulatory filing further read.
