Wedoany.com Report-Oct. 16, India’s second-largest telecom operator, Bharti Airtel (BRTI.NS), announced on Wednesday a partnership with IBM (IBM.N) to provide the American tech company’s services through Airtel’s newly launched cloud platform, responding to growing demand for computing capacity across the country.

The IBM logo is seen during the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 12, 2025.

Indian companies are increasingly expanding cloud infrastructure as the adoption of artificial intelligence and local data storage requirements drive demand for reliable cloud services. Through this collaboration, Airtel Cloud customers will gain access to IBM’s offerings, including AI-ready servers designed for applications in regulated sectors such as banking, healthcare, government, and other critical industries.

This announcement follows closely on the heels of Google’s recent plan to invest $15 billion over five years to build an AI-focused data center in Andhra Pradesh. Airtel is also partnering with Google to jointly develop the data center in Visakhapatnam, further reinforcing India’s cloud infrastructure capabilities.

Bharti Airtel’s digital subsidiary, Xtelify, launched the Airtel Cloud service in August, marking a significant expansion of its enterprise digital offerings. In addition to providing cloud services, Airtel and IBM plan to establish two Multizone Regions (MZRs) in Mumbai and Chennai, according to Gopal Vittal, vice chairman and managing director of Bharti Airtel.

MZRs are cloud infrastructure zones spread across multiple physical locations to ensure data security and operational continuity. By distributing workloads across separate zones, these regions help prevent service interruptions in case of failures in any single location, providing resilience for mission-critical applications.

The partnership aims to support Indian businesses in meeting data residency requirements while maintaining uninterrupted access to essential workloads and applications. Airtel Cloud customers will be able to deploy IBM’s solutions to enhance AI capabilities, scale enterprise applications, and manage regulated workloads efficiently.

This collaboration reflects the broader trend of Indian telecom and technology firms integrating global cloud solutions to meet the rising needs of enterprise customers. By combining Airtel’s network reach with IBM’s cloud expertise, businesses gain access to advanced infrastructure and services designed to support innovation and digital transformation.

The expansion of Airtel Cloud and its partnership with IBM highlights India’s growing emphasis on strengthening domestic cloud capacity, particularly as AI adoption accelerates. The development also underscores the role of private and multinational collaborations in building secure, resilient, and high-performance cloud ecosystems for Indian enterprises.

Overall, the Airtel-IBM partnership is positioned to enhance India’s cloud infrastructure landscape, offering businesses reliable, AI-enabled, and geographically distributed solutions while supporting the country’s ongoing digital and industrial growth.