Google is spending up to $1 billion in Airtel, India’s second-largest mobile operator, after investing $4.5 billion in Jio, the country’s largest carrier. The partnership, which is part of Google’s anticipated $10 billion investment in the nation, would focus on “affordable access to smartphones” In a statement, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said, “Our commercial and equity investment in Airtel is a continuation of our Google for India Digitization Fund’s efforts to increase access to smartphones,”
A $700 million investment will be made to purchase a 1.28 percent stake in Airtel, with another $300 million set aside for possible commercial deals. Airtel and Google will collaborate on “innovative affordability programs.” to extend Airtel’s Android device selection. However, the corporations did not say what those initiatives would involve.
Airtel also stated that it and Google will discuss “larger strategic goals” such as 5G network standards, cloud ecosystems, and other topics. “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 Airtel.
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