As enterprising as it gets

IN CONVERSATION: David Nishball

David Nishball

For David Nishball, president, Airtel Enterprise Services, 2007 is going to be an action-packed year as he strives to expand AES's services umbrella and tap the Indian enterprise segment. Being part of Bharti Airtel, which boasts of 39 million customers as of end-March 2007 (37.14 million of these mobile customers), Nishball hopes to match numbers with his enterprise division. He speaks with PRIYANKA JOSHI about AES's agenda.

What is the outlook for AES for 2007 under your leadership?

At a time when telecommunications is rapidly growing with mobile voice, LAN, voice over IP, fixed DSL broadband, wireless Wi-Fi broadband and 3G mobile broadband, enterprises have a tough job striking a balance between focusing on their core competencies and deriving more value from their technology investments.

This is where Airtel Enterprise Services steps in with its solutions. One will also see AES reaching out pan-India with last mile connectivity solutions like extended connectivity through new fibre rollout. We will also offer VSAT and WiMax technologies to enterprises.

The priority, however, is to connect our customers in India with the world, add capacity for Internet and international private networks that will facilitate MNCs. We expect substantial growth in market share from our top accounts (clients) by delving deeper into these accounts, addressing a broader set of their communications needs, with a more comprehensive range of solutions.

Could you shed some light on the top initiatives planned and how this will boost your customer base?

AES contributes about one-fourth of Bharti Airtel's overall revenues, and we should be able to add numbers to this figure. Building a world-class B2B brand dimension for the Enterprise business, a 360 degree marketing programme is one of the top initiatives.

Besides, investments in new global cable systems and state-of-the-art technologies for providing scalable and future-proof solutions to our international customers should take definitive shape this year. We are also looking to launch international calling services in new countries and consolidate partnerships with international carriers.

On the domestic front, we are gunning for a dominant share of the incremental domestic data market and in wireless and fixed-line business.

What kind of investments is AES looking at in 2007-08?

We expect to invest as much in 2007-08 as we have in the last 3-4 years. This will include investment on major expansion of the domestic fibre infrastructure, new products and services, as well as international submarine cable facilities.

Airtel is also a participant in building the Asia-America Gateway "" the first submarine-cable system linking South-east Asia to the US, which will cost about $560 million.

While our existing i2i and SeMeWe4 cable systems lend connectivity across the globe, the AAG cable system should offer increased redundancy and resilient networks, while meeting the increasing demands of voice, private data and Internet traffic.

With all AES's investments in 2007, what is there for the Indian enterprises?

We will be in a better position to host and manage customer applications. A unified network operating centre, unified geographic information system and partnerships with other operators should improve customer network management.

Enterprise customers can avail services like vehicle-tracking systems and supply-chain management, as AES integrates mobility-enabled ERP solutions. We will also expand our conferencing solutions, with a special thrust on video conferencing, including both point-to-point and multi-point.