Vittal de Bharti Airtel warns that the regulations are lagging behind rapid technological changes

Bharti Airtel’s managing director Gopal Vittal warned Tuesday that the regulations were struggling to keep up with the pace of rapid technological changes, while the telecommunications sector is faced with the growing pressure of the digital ecosystem in the broad sense.

Speaking during the India Mobile Congress, Vittal said that regulators are focused heavily on telecommunications, which represent only a small part of the challenges in terms of trust and security in the digital world.

“I think that the regulations must follow the pace of technological changes. And I think that the regulations do not follow the pace of technological changes because most regulators today in the world, and not only in India, focus on the telecommunications sector, which represents only a very small part of the problems created in terms of confidence and security,” he said.
Vittal stressed that if telecommunications regulations are strict, the digital ecosystem as a whole remains largely unregulated. “It is as if you had a small part of a field where there is a lot of action, but there is a very large field which is a West West. And I think that all these areas must be addressed,” he added.

Airtel’s chief also discussed the challenges of the Indian telecommunications market, highlighting the low average income per user (ARPU) and the demanding nature of Indian customers. “India is a very, very difficult country to exploit because the customer is more demanding than European customers. Just in terms of network quality, you operate with the lowest ARPUs and the lowest level by GigaCtet and yet you must earn money,” said Vittal.

He indicated that it was possible to adjust prices and urged telecommunications players to explore improvements in efficiency and new sources of income. “There is a margin for prices to increase in India. But that said, I think you just have to be more and more effective in the way you provide the service and at the same time start to look for alternative sources of income and new sources of income,” he said.