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He is best described as the ‘principal architect' for Bharti's western India operations. During his 14-year stint with the company, Sanjay Kapoor took up different responsibilities and finally, reached the helm of affairs in March 2010.
After playing a vital role in new operations, he took up the responsibility of group director corporate strategy and planning in 2002, and joined Bharti airtel's mobile services as president in 2006.
During his tenure Sanjay created a strategic blueprint for the telecom group and managed its early deployment. He managed to add more than 70 mn customers to reach over 93 mn customers in March 2009, gaining an incremental market share of nearly 4%.
In March 2009, he was elevated from president mobile services to a newly created position of deputy CEO, and in 2010 he became the CEO (India and South Asia), Bharti airtel.
As the CEO, Sanjay launched airtel's new brand identity, integrated Sri Lanka and Bangladesh operations with rest of South Asia, and implemented shared services model, among others.
Recently VOICE&DATA felicitated Kapoor as the Telecom Person of the Year. In an interview with the magazine, he spoke about his achievements, mobile money plans, reverse mentoring program, LTE strategy, and regulatory challenges. Excerpts-
When you were elevated to be the CEO of India's largest telecom company, what were your thoughts and agenda for the company?
We were stepping into a structural change in the industry, moving into hyper competition and there were opportunities to be explored. We had done Sri Lanka and were acquiring Warid in Bangladesh and Zain in Africa. We were resetting our vision for 2010 and created a new vision with the leadership team as the most loved brand, enriching the lives of millions.
For the first time there was power in the vision and airtel as a brand was alive, inclusive and respectable. We had dovetailed our vision into the strategy and it was consumer and business facing ie, B2C and B2B. So from August 2011, we had more synergies since we had a common face to our consumer.
Change is significantly hitting the world and India. Data will explode in the country and change the social engine. In data, one has to focus on capabilities, eco-system, and partnership.
In this brief period, how successful have you been in fulfilling your goals?
We have gained unprecedented ground in the last 2 quarters. As far as the brand is concerned, it is appealing to an 18-year-old and we have executed brilliant brand campaigns like ‘har friend hai jaroori' and ‘joh tera hai woh mera hai.'
Programs like ‘Reverse Mentoring' and ‘Young Leaders Program' are changing the look and feel of the organization. We are pushing data and internet. In case of 3G, we are present in 13 circles and intra-circle roaming through operators. We were making networks future ready by back-hauling of networks, Ip-fication of microwave, and creating heterogeneous network.
We have around 40 mn data users and around 4 mn 3G users and the base is growing every month. We are the first operator to venture out for 4G. We have done fairly well on these things and no matter how large we become we have retained the spirit of a young company.
How would you rate your 14-year stint with Bharti Airtel?
I would probably rate it as the best years of my profession as this has been the most rewarding time. I have grown professionally and matured as a business leader. I have seen telecom going through ups and downs and have worked with visionaries like SBM (Sunil Bharti Mittal), an entrepreneur best in the world.
What are some of the unfinished agendas which you plan to complete?
The telecom industry redefines every 5 to 7 years. Data is an unfinished agenda and one will see a great upside on data. The telecom industry has not only reshaped, but it has reshaped other industries-financial, education, healthcare, entertainment, and advertisement. airtel Money is an unfinished agenda and that is a great business coming up. Even on voice, one will see consolidation. We have 50% penetration and 50% is still unserved and rural penetration is less than 35%.
Many of the industries are under-served, so the whole work of enriching lives is in progress. We have to nurture so many opportunities, so many challenges, and so much talent.
What have been some of your achievements in Bharti airtel?
Leaders can't take credit as it was all team work. We have the finest team in the telecom industry in terms of collective wisdom and hard work. What is important is we didn't have 100,000 customers long long ago. So, from one city we moved to a pan India operator. We took the customer base from 18-19 mn to 100 mn customers with increase in more than 8% revenue share. We diversified Bharti outside India and added DTH. We implemented the new vision and shaped the agenda for data.
Bharti airtel was the first to launch 4G services in the country by launching services in Kolkata, Bangalore, and Pune. How do you plan to scale it up as we are only seeing city based launches and not circle based launches?
Data play is pan India and we will roll out in other cities as and when it is ready. We will focus on 4 circles of Qualcomm. We have been shaping 4G and as the eco-system develops 4G proliferation will happen in smaller areas.
How is the Reverse Mentoring program helping Bharti airtel?
We have the reverse mentoring program and the young leader program running simultaneously. Around 120-130 leaders in Bharti airtel have opted for reverse mentoring. The top management benefits in terms of experience and sharing of ideas. It also helps the management in taking quick decisions as these young people are tomorrow's consumers. The Spark Plug program also gets people from different geographies, different divisions at one location which gives a lot of exposure and creates entrepreneur culture in the organization.
Bharti airtel is the only operator to launch mobile money pan India. How has been the response for this service?
We have been in the process of transformation and have launched semi closed wallet and also bank wallet. FIs, banks, and governments can improve financial inclusion through mobile money. Presently, electricity bills, cinema bills, toll, merchandise, home delivery, and cooperatives payments are made through airtel Money. It is an alternate for cash economy and there is a huge value by enriching lives of customers.
Bharti has done extremely well in the first phase of the Indian telecom revolution by being the number 1 voice operator. How are you planning to move in the second phase by becoming the number 1 operator in broadband?
We are agnostic to technology as data is about customer experience. The operator with the most robust customer experience will be the winner. We have enhanced and differentiated our customer experience. Success will depend on best customer experience and we have our eyes on content, application and technology.
Though the company is doing great overall including increase in revenue and subscriber base, net profit has been an issue for the last few quarters. What do you think are the causes and what are your strategic measures to tackle this?
It is an industry issue and it is difficult to cover up with optimization and cost-cutting. Many operators had 10-year tax holiday and the tax structure has been going up. In India more than 30% goes to the exchequer, which is highest in the world. This industry has the potential in terms of rural India and data infancy and one needs lots of spectrum for building digital India. The whole thing becomes a question mark if spectrum is available at this price. The uncertainty needs to die down and certainty needs to return. We need a lot more investment and sustainability of industry in terms of newer technology and digitization of virtual infrastructure.
Had you been the telecom minister, what regulatory changes would you have liked done?
I don't envy his job. On the regulatory policy, we need more certainty and more sustainability. The regulator should focus on protecting consumer interest and ensuring profitability of service provider.
As an industry leader, what do you think are the missing links in the Indian telecom ecosystem?
The government has announced its broadband initiative. A clear roadmap needs to be announced on how we will get the virtual infrastructure which will benefit consumer and economy. Broadband has a multiplier effect and we need to execute it well. We need lot of spectrum for the competitiveness of India Inc because in future they will compete in physical infrastructure.
On a personal note, what do you do when you are not thinking about airtel?
I seldom ‘don't think' about airtel...I spend my time with my family and listen to music.