IN THE BUSTLING industrial city of Ludhiana, in Indian Punjab, a teenage Sunil Bharti Mittal began his entrepreneurial journey making crankshafts for bicycles. Today, he stands at the helm of a global telecommunications empire that spans 18 countries across Asia and Africa and serves nearly 400 million customers.
The son of a Congress Party parliamentarian, Mittal demonstrated his business acumen early, starting his first venture in 1976 at just 18 years old. By 1980, he had moved to Mumbai, selling his bicycle parts and yarn factories to establish Bharti Overseas Trading Company with his brothers, Rakesh and Rajan.
But it was his prescient move into telecommunications that would transform him into one of India's most influential business leaders.
In 1984, when most Indian offices still featured clunky rotary phones, Mittal spotted an opportunity. He began assembling push-button landline phones through a technical partnership with Germany’s Siemens AG. This venture, however, was merely a prelude to his most significant gamble.
In 1992, when mobile phones were still a novelty, Mittal became one of the first Indian entrepreneurs to recognise the sector’s potential. He secured one of four coveted mobile network licences and launched services in Delhi under the brand name Airtel.
Through strategic acquisitions, he established dominance in key metropolitan markets, building Airtel into India’s telecommunications powerhouse.
Airtel’s acquisition of the African business of Zain Telecom for an enterprise value of $10.7 billion in 2010 was the largest ever acquisition by an Indian telecom firm. The deal gave Airtel its much-desired presence in Africa, while making it the world's fifth-largest telecom company by mobile subscriptions, a position it still maintains.
But Mittal’s journey hasn’t been without its challenges. In 2016, his company faced its greatest test when Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio entered the market with an aggressive strategy of free voice calls and 4G data for several months. While smaller players folded under the pressure, Airtel weathered the storm, maintaining its position as India’s second-largest telecom provider.
Now, Mittal is positioning himself at the forefront of another telecommunications revolution: satellite internet. While regulatory frameworks are still being debated, his company has already completed ground infrastructure in the Indian states of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, ready to launch services as soon as permissions are granted.
Airtel has already launched 635 satellites and is currently operating in various international markets.
The debate over spectrum allocation – auction versus administrative process – has pitted Airtel against global giants like Elon Musk’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper. Yet, Mittal remains undeterred, his sights set on the next frontier.
Airtel recently agreed to buy a 24.5 per cent stake in BT, the UK's second-largest telecom company, marking a significant reversal of the traditional flow of capital from the West to the East. The deal will make Airtel the largest shareholder of BT.
Airtel also held a 30 per cent stake in the UK-based satellite company OneWeb, which merged with European satellite operator Eutelsat in 2023.
