Bharti Airtel may launch its own video conferencing service soon to capitalise on enterprise opportunity

After Reliance Jio, now Bharti Airtel is inching close to launch its own unified video conferencing tool for start-ups and enterprises to take on the likes of Zoom, Google Hangouts, and Microsoft Team.

"We are close to launching several enterprise-grade products including a unified video conferencing tool very shortly," a person close to Airtel's plan said. The source also added that initial plan is to launch the product for enterprises but the telco may look at offering it to regular customers after seeing the uptake.

The source further added that the product will be more differentiated from existing offerings like Zoom, MS Teams, and Google Hangout.

Bharti Airtel will emphasise on localization and security as the key differentiators for its latest video conferencing product. "Airtel is focusing on high levels of security as the USP of the product given the growing debate around cybersecurity as people work from home," the person said.

“A lot of customers do ask questions around what’s happening to our data and where am I being served from? One of the key benefits with Airtel will be data localization and security. This will also mean better video and voice quality for the customers," the person added.

The video conferencing tool will work across mobile and desktops and will use the latest AES 256 encryption and multiple layers of authentication.

This development comes at a time when Reliance Jio has launched its free video conferencing service JioMeet.

The Indian government is also pushing local start-ups and companies to develop local video conferencing apps and services. The Ministry of Electronics and IT, Government of India has already initiated a "Made in India" Video Conferencing Innovation Challenge, which is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ‘Local for Vocal’ call to become self-reliance in various sectors.

The Ministry, which received numerous applications for participation, has shortlisted 10 prototypes across India.

Airtel already bundles a range of video conferencing solutions along with 4G, MPLS, and FTTH connectivity. It already has partnerships with Zoom, Cisco WebEx, and Google Hangouts Meet under its "Work@Home" solutions for Enterprises.

The telco serves over 2500 large enterprises along with over 500,000 MSMEs in the country.