COAI names VI's Abhijit Kishore as chairperson; Bharti Airtel's Rahul Vatts vice-chair

New Delhi: Telecom industry association COAI on Tuesday named Vodafone Idea's COO Abhijit Kishore as its chairperson and Bharti Airtel's Chief Regulatory Officer Rahul Vatts as the vice chairperson of the association, effective June 2024. The announcement comes after COAI (Cellular Operators Association of India) concluded its annual general body meeting for 2023-24.

Kishore brings to the board a wide-ranging experience of over three decades with the Indian telecom industry across functions, organisations and geographies. He takes over the charge from Pramod K Mittal, a president at Reliance Jio Infocomm. Vatts also comes in with 29 years of experience and expertise in telecom and broadcasting licensing, economic regulations, spectrum management and regulatory litigation. He is also a governing council member of various telecom standardisation bodies in India.

Kishore said: “On behalf of the industry, I would like to reiterate our commitment to support the government's efforts to bridge the digital divide in the country and further catalyse India's digital transformation. "I look forward to collaborating with all stakeholders to address the challenges ahead to achieve our collective vision of a digitally empowered society."

Earlier in the day, Jyotiraditya Scindia took charge as the telecom minister under the Modi 3.0 government and said both the telecom sector and the India post division have key roles to play on the global as well as local stage. "As India heads into the third innings of the Modi-led government, we hope that the Digital India programme and other progressive policies will further gather momentum and empower every citizen with access to digital resources and opportunities," SP Kochhar, Director General, COAI, said. The industry is awaiting the spectrum auctions scheduled for June 25, during which airwaves worth over Rs 96,000 crore will be up for grabs.