Mumbai: Google will invest upto $1 billion in Bharti Airtel through a mix of equity investment and commercial partnership in affordable devices, the companies announced on Friday.

This is the tech giant’s second investment in an Indian telecom service provider and reflects its growing focus on India. Google holds a 7.73 percent stake in Reliance Jio and the two have also partnered to make affordable smartphone JioPhone Next.

The $1 billion commitment includes an equity investment of $700 million (Rs 5,224 crore) worth shares of Airtel. The shares would be issued on a preferential basis at a price of Rs 734 per share and will give Google a 1.28 percent stake in the company.

Additionally, Google will invest upto $300 million to scale up Airtel’s offerings that cover a range of devices to consumers via innovative affordability programmes as well as other offerings aimed at accelerating access and digital inclusion, the companies announced today.ADVERTISING

Airtel and Google said they will work together to build on Airtel’s extensive offerings that cover a range of Android-enabled devices to consumers via innovative affordability programmes. Together, the companies will continue to explore further opportunities to bring down the barriers of owning a smartphone across a range of price points, in partnership with various device manufacturers, they said.

Under the larger strategic goals of the partnership, both companies will also potentially co-create India-specific network domain use cases for 5G and other standards. Both companies will also focus on shaping and growing the cloud ecosystem in India to accelerate their digital transformation journeys.

“Airtel and Google share the vision to grow India’s digital dividend through innovative products. With our future-ready network, digital platforms, last-mile distribution, and payments ecosystem, we look forward to working closely with Google to increase the depth and breadth of India’s digital ecosystem,” Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal said in a statement.

“Airtel is a leading pioneer shaping India’s digital future, and we are proud to partner on a shared vision for expanding connectivity and ensuring equitable access to the Internet for more Indians,” said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet. “Our commercial and equity investment in Airtel is a continuation of our Google for India Digitization Fund's efforts to increase access to smartphones, enhance connectivity to support new business models, and help companies on their digital transformation journey,” he added.