Airtel is stretching frontiers of competition with a three-pronged attack

The country's second largest mobile services operator is launching a three-pronged attack in the battle to provide cost-effective, high-speed internet connectivity

For Bharti Airtel, the country’s second-largest mobile service provider by market share, the battle with its chief rival Jio, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), has shifted to newer frontiers. The first is protecting and expanding its lucrative enterprise business, where Jio is making aggressive entry steps, with global tie-ups over the past two weeks. The second is a global investment in broadband satellite through UK-based OneWeb. The third is building proprietary 5G open radio access network (O-RAN) technology to compete with Jio’s plans to sell its next-gen technology to operators around the world.

The first step in ring-fencing