Bharti Airtel might soon get an investment from Google. Both the companies are already in advanced stage discussions and negotiations since the last year. According to a TOI report, the investment from Google into Airtel can be quite large in amount. It is interesting to hear about this deal because the Jio and Google partnership might have come with a restriction for the latter to invest in any of its rival companies, including Airtel or Vodafone Idea. But nothing’s for sure until the time the announcement comes from the concerned companies themselves.
Bharti Airtel Can Make a Lot Out of Google Investment
Bharti Airtel is already looking to raise capital so that it can invest it on its 4G networks around the country to increase capacity. Jefferies believe that since there’s no urgent need of raising cash, the telco is likely assuming that it will need a larger capacity network to hold all the Vodafone Idea (Vi) customers that come its way. Thus a large investment from Google into the company can set a lot of things in order for Bharti Airtel. It will allow the telco to smoothly pay off its debt to the government and also keep investing in 4G and 5G networks. Bharti Airtel had to face a lot of cash crunch issues when Reliance Jio came to the market-disrupting the existing telecom revenues model. The burden increased when the Supreme Court (SC) didn’t rule in favour of the telcos in the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues issue. Since the telco can’t just go for tariff hikes up straight, it will have to raise capital if it needs extra cash sitting in the bank for investment purposes. The Airtel and Google deal would further solidify the image of Bharti Airtel in the Indian market, which will fall in line with its ‘premium’ reflection. The confirmation from the concerned companies is still awaited.
