Airtel Business, the B2B arm of Bharti Airtel, this year has been at the forefront of innovation, delivering solutions across industries with technologies such as 5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud, CPaaS, and more, aligned with the Digital India vision of the government. In terms of numbers, Airtel Business has seen a revenue growth of 10.7 percent YoY. The domestic business, according to Airtel, is showing strong traction with growth coming from both connectivity and emerging segments. The global business has also seen an improvement in customer discussions on upcoming business, but this has yet to translate into firm orders, Gopal Vittal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Bharti Airtel Limited, said during Q2FY25.
There's much more in the B2B space from Airtel in 2024. Here's a year-end review of the advancements from Airtel Business in this article.
Also Read: Airtel Business to Power 20 Million Smart Meters for Adani Energy Solutions
1. Airtel IoT
Airtel has a dedicated solution/platform for IoT called Airtel IoT Hub, which caters to the requirements of businesses. We have previously discussed the solution and its capabilities. However, Airtel started 2024 with a major announcement in January that it will power over 20 million smart meters for Adani Energy Solutions Limited (AESL). These smart solutions are powered by NB-IoT, 4G, and 2G of Airtel.
2. GNSS-Based Tolling System
Airtel IoT can be integrated with GNSS-based tolling systems to simplify the way tolls are collected, enhancing the overall highway experience in India, according to Airtel Business. This solution will use Airtel IoT connectivity to calculate distances travelled in real-time and transmit this data through Airtel's 5G, 4G, and 2G networks.
Payments will then be processed via Airtel Payments Bank, and Nxtra by Airtel's data centers will ensure uninterrupted, scalable service every step of the way. The entire system, integrated with critical service agencies, enables seamless troubleshooting via Airtel IQ's communication platform.
The Airtel IoT solution discussed above is integrated into this system. Airtel has partnered with SkyToll to integrate its IoT capabilities with SkyToll's GNSS-based tolling system.
Also Read: Nxtra by Airtel Deploys AI to Enhance Data Centre Operations
3. AI in Data Centers
Airtel leverages AI to build smarter, more efficient, and resilient future-ready data centers. With this announcement in November, Nxtra by Airtel became India's first data center to integrate AI for enhanced operational efficiency. With Ecolibrium's AI-powered SmartSense platform, Nxtra has achieved milestones like improved predictive maintenance, a 15 percent boost in equipment performance, and a 25 percent productivity gain across all DC operations.
This marks a significant step in revolutionising data center management in India. Nxtra by Airtel is also driving sustainability efforts, which we recently talked about. More about this development can be read in the story linked.
4. Enhanced Global Connectivity
To boost global connectivity offerings, Airtel Business signed an agreement with Italy's Sparkle for Blue-Raman Submarine Cable Systems capacity between India and Italy. With this, Airtel Business has acquired additional capacity on a diversified low-latency route while further diversifying its global network across multiple international submarine cable systems to serve the demand for data services in India and neighbouring countries. More about this development can be read from the story linked.
Also Read: Airtel Business Secures Additional Capacity with Sparkle on Blue-Raman Cable
5. Smart EV Solutions
Airtel IoT is transforming the EV ecosystem with advanced solutions for battery health and performance. Highlights in 2024 include Kia India's adoption of Airtel's technology to power the Kia Connect 2.0 platform, integrating real-time diagnostics and IoT features to create next-gen connected vehicles, both for electric vehicles (EVs) and internal combustion engine (ICE) models.
According to Airtel Business, the company's IoT Hub offers customised solutions for the unique IoT requirements of enterprises across 5G, 4G, NB-IoT, 2G, and satellite.
Also Read: Kia India Partners with Airtel Business to Enhance Connected Car Experience
During the Q2FY25 earnings call, Airtel's CEO highlighted that on the digital businesses front, the company's "efforts are channeled through improving and driving growth in CPaaS, Financial Services, IoT, Security, and Cloud."
In the B2B segment, Airtel sees that the growth opportunity is large, with 90 percent of incremental growth coming from adjacencies. The company has three focus areas: "First, continue to strengthen our go-to-market approach and build sales capabilities," the CEO said.
"Second, to build products and tailor solutions for industry-specific needs with accelerated investments in CPaaS, IoT, Cloud and Security. This will help us lock customers for long and enable us to win higher share of wallet," he added.
According to the CEO, the third area of focus is on creating future-ready infrastructure that delivers a good customer experience.
Also Read: Airtel Business Launches Zero Trust Architecture-Based Security Solution with Zscaler
6. Airtel Secure Internet Solutions
To cater to India's evolving security market and transformation, Airtel has fortified its digital defences in the face of evolving threats by partnering with cybersecurity companies. In October, Airtel Business announced partnerships with Fortinet and Zscaler.
Airtel Secure Internet: Airtel Business, in partnership with Fortinet, launched Airtel Secure Internet, an internet security solution designed specifically to enhance security over Internet Lease Line (ILL) circuits, combining Airtel's internet connectivity with Fortinet's firewall.
Airtel Secure Digital Internet: The same month, Airtel Business announced a partnership with Zscaler to launch what the company calls India's first fully-managed Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA)-based solution designed to protect enterprises from a wide range of cyber threats. More about these solutions can be read in the links above.
Also Read: Airtel Business Launches Secure Internet Solution in Partnership with Fortinet
"We have now tied up with Zscaler to make sure that we have a very strong security proposition for our customers. We are also partnering with other managed services offers, so managed services become a very important area of focus. We are monitoring recovery services; this encompasses one stock with complete cyber defence and recovery services using NextGen analytics and breach assessment platforms. Our customer base in both these services has doubled with strong revenue growth in last year and expected to sustain the momentum going forward," Airtel's CEO said.
7. AI-Enabled Sovereign Cloud Solution
Airtel and Google Cloud in May announced a long-term collaboration to deliver cloud solutions to Indian businesses. In addition, Airtel will provide a suite of cloud-managed services to its customer base of more than 2,000 large enterprises and one million emerging businesses.
At the time of the announcement, Airtel said it would leverage Google Cloud's Gen AI capabilities to transform customer experiences and interactions across its mobile, broadband, and digital TV offerings, and streamline its internal processes and operations.
Also Read: Airtel, Google Cloud Partner to Accelerate Cloud Adoption, Deploy Generative AI Solutions
Airtel Business' partnership with Google Cloud is paving the way for India's first AI-enabled sovereign cloud solution. According to Airtel Business, this partnership combines hyper-scale capabilities with robust compliance, advanced technologies like AI, and data sovereignty—all tailored specifically to handle mission-critical data for government organisations.
"We have made an investment to develop our own Cloud. We are one of the largest Cloud players for our own private needs. We have now signed off an investment, which is underway, which we will take to market in the next few months where we will be able to solve the problems of workloads that may not need such elastic requirements as the public Cloud offers but to do it in a way that is more economical, so I think we will have a full proposition around Cloud," Vittal said during the Q2FY25 earnings call.
Also Read: Airtel Business Launches Unified Communications Application, Airtel IQ Business Connect
8. Airtel SD-Branch
In September, Airtel Business announced a partnership with Cisco to launch Airtel Software-Defined (SD) Branch—a cloud-based, end-to-end-managed network solution for enterprises. Powered by the Cisco Meraki, Airtel SD-Branch will enable the unified management of networks across LAN, WAN, security, and connectivity over multiple branch locations, helping enterprises simplify their network management. More about this solution can be read in the link.
Also Read: Airtel Business Launches Cloud-Based SD-Branch Solution for Enterprises
Conclusion
With a diverse range of technologies and solutions, Airtel Business is catering to a variety of businesses with its B2B offerings. These are the highlights from Airtel Business, the B2B arm of Bharti Airtel in the year 2024. Let's look forward to more technical advancements from the company in 2025.
