Airtel, Google Cloud partner to boost cloud adoption, deploy Gen-AI solutions

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel and cloud computing services major Google Cloud on Monday entered into a strategic long-term collaboration to deliver cloud solutions to Indian businesses.

According to a regulatory filing, the partnership will provide Airtel's customers with advanced cloud solutions from Google Cloud to fast-track cloud adoption and modernisation.

The telecommunication company would also provide a suite of cloud-managed services to more than 2,000 large enterprises and around one million emerging businesses, the exchange filing said.

Through this collaboration, the two companies aim to target the large and growing Indian public cloud services market, which is projected to grow to $17.8 billion by 2027, according to International Data Corporation (IDC).

The two firms are utilising their strengths of connectivity and artificial intelligence technology (AI) to develop industry-leading AI and machine learning (ML) solutions that India's second largest telecom operator will train on its large data set, the release said.

"These unique solutions will drive greater value to Airtel's customers and will include geospatial analytics solutions with advanced location intelligence for trend-spotting, predictive capabilities, market assessment, site selection, risk management, and asset tracking; voice analytics solutions for superior conversational applications trained across languages; and marketing technology solutions to forecast consumer behaviour, perform tailored audience segmentations, and streamline content creation with high-precision contextual ads at reduced costs," it added.

Airtel has also developed an end-to-end Internet of Things (IoT) designed for the utility sector, combining connectivity, Google Cloud services, and application software under one offering to enable seamless and hassle-free deployment.

Furthermore, Airtel has set up a managed services centre in Pune to bolster its cloud-based solutions business. More than 300 experts are being extensively trained to specialise in Google Cloud services and develop world-class technological solutions.

The telco also intends to leverage the gen AI capabilities of Google Cloud to improve customer experience and interaction across its broadband, mobile, and digital TV offerings.