Bharti Airtel is in advanced talks with US telecom major Verizon for a broad partnership around Internet of Things (IoT) as the Indian telecom market leader readies massive plans for its enterprise business ahead of Reliance Jio’s much-awaited commercial entry into the segment, reported ET Telecom.
A person privy to the matter told ET that the talks with Verizon have been on for a few months and an agreement is expected to be signed by the middle of June, with both companies looking at sharing their respective IoT platforms and leveraging their respective market expertise.
Under the partnership, Verizon’s global customers will be able to deploy solutions on Airtel’s IoT platforms as and when they have requirements in India. Similarly, Airtel customers will have access to Verizon’s IoT platforms, the person said. The partnership, when finalized, will also give Airtel access to Verizon’s large corporate customer base.
Airtel, which has already developed an in-house IoT platform, is also planning to use its upcoming innovation lab in Bengaluru, which also focuses data analytics, artificial intelligence and augmented reality and virtual reality. It has already started some IoT projects at its Manesar, Haryana center.
For the various projects, the company has already built large teams to execute several IoT-related projects. It already provides solutions like smart metering, asset tracking, equipment monitoring and traffic management solutions to enterprise customers.
