Vittal compensation slightly higher than Mittal’s
At Rs 16.4 crore, Vittal’s compensation was slightly higher than that of Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Rs 16.77 crore. This is partly since there has been no change in the Airtel chairman’s annual salary and allowances component at Rs 10.06 crore (compared to FY2022) while Vittal’s has increased almost 10.4% on-year to Rs 10.09 crore. Mittal’s Rs 16.77 crore annual remuneration in FY23, in turn, comprised salary & allowances (Rs 10.06 crore), a performance-linked incentive (Rs 4.5 crore) and perquisites (Rs 2.2 crore).
In FY2022, Mittal and Vittal’s gross annual remuneration stood at Rs 15.39 crore and Rs 15.25 crore respectively. Airtel’s annual report said that the change reflecting in Mittal’s gross remuneration in FY23 is due to a change in the perquisite value, which is within the limits approved by the shareholders. “During FY23, he has received a remuneration of GBP2.20 million from an overseas subsidiary of the company, Network i2i (UK) Ltd.”
Vittal bets big on NSA for 5G
In the latest annual report, Vittal said that Airtel’s bold choice to go with non-standalone technology (NSA) for 5G had helped it avoid the expensive 700 MHz spectrum, and is working well in terms of customer experience. Airtel was India’s first telco to launch 5G services last October.
“We are already present in 3,500+ cities and towns and are targeting to cover all urban areas and some key villages with 5G by March 2024….we are also working with our ecosystem partners to bring new 5G use cases to enterprise customers,” Vittal said in the telco’s latest annual report.
The NSA mode that Airtel opted for its 5G rollout is more evolved with over 90% of global 5G traffic running on such networks. By contrast, telecom market leader Jio has invested in 700 MHz airwaves and chosen the standalone (SA) mode for its ongoing countywide 5G rollout. The SA mode is seen as a superior version of 5G but its device ecosystem is yet to evolve fully.