How Bharti Airtel plans to power smart factories, connected vehicles
What's the story
Bharti Airtel is doubling down on its enterprise technology initiatives by focusing on private 5G networks, artificial intelligence (AI), and a fully sovereign cloud platform. The move is aimed at powering smart factories, connected vehicles, and critical digital infrastructure in India. Sharat Sinha, CEO of Airtel Business, told Moneycontrol that the company is working closely with manufacturing firms to deploy these networks for real-time monitoring and automation.
Network benefits
Private 5G for real-time remote monitoring in emergencies
Sinha highlighted the potential of private 5G networks in enabling critical use cases like ambulance telemedicine, first-responder communications, and autonomous mobility. He said, "For instance, doctors can remotely monitor patients inside an ambulance en route to a hospital using a secure private 5G link." This capability could save crucial time in emergencies and transform sectors such as healthcare, education, and public safety.
Cloud services
Airtel Cloud takes on global hyperscalers
Airtel launched its sovereign cloud offering, Airtel Cloud, in August this year. The platform is aimed at taking on global hyperscalers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, and Google. Sinha said that Airtel Cloud has received a tremendous response and now manages more than 250 petabytes of data across more than 10,000 servers. He also highlighted the platform's ability to help enterprises cut total cost of ownership by 20-40% while ensuring reliability, scalability, and security.
Data security
Complete data sovereignty with Airtel Cloud
Sinha emphasized the platform's complete data and control-plane sovereignty, which ensures uninterrupted service even if international connectivity is disrupted. "This not only strengthens business continuity but also ensures compliance with local regulations," he said, adding, "Plus, it runs on our Nxtra data centers and Airtel's extensive connectivity backbone, giving customers end-to-end capability."
AI integration
AI-based analytics for enterprise operations optimization
Airtel is integrating AI-based analytics into its enterprise solutions to help clients optimize operations, improve energy efficiency, and also predict equipment failures. The firm has already onboarded several large enterprises for pilot deployments and is working with technology partners to build industry-specific solutions. Sectors such as automotive, healthcare, logistics, and utilities are seeing strong demand for private 5G networks with AI-driven insights.
Digital backbone
Airtel aims to be digital backbone for India's growth
Sinha believes that the growth of India's digital infrastructure is directly linked to economic expansion. "Every 10% increase in broadband penetration leads to measurable GDP growth and the same logic now applies to data infrastructure," he said. With enterprises digitizing at a fast pace and data volumes surging, Airtel aims to be a one-stop technology enabler across connectivity, cloud, and intelligence. "Our goal is to be the digital backbone for India's next decade of growth," Sinha concluded.