Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (00:05):
We are in the capital city of Ireland, Dublin for Fuse 2025, the annual TIP event. I'm here with Kunal Bajaj. He's CEO and co-founder at CloudExtel. Kunal, great to meet you. Thanks so much for joining us here at Telecom TV today. Can you just tell us about CloudExtel? What does the company do?

Kunal Bajaj, CloudExtel (00:27):
Absolutely. Thank you so much, Ray, for having me here on telecom tv. It's a pleasure. So we're a neutral host digital infrastructure provider based in Mumbai. We have footprint all over India. And I think what's a little bit unique about CloudExtel vis-a-vis most are the neutral host providers around the world is we are focused both on the wireless and the wireline side. So while we are providing shared small cells infrastructure, and India's first and only fully shared grand network as well, but we also have 12,000 kilometers of shared fiber extending across about 50 cities, 50 of the top cities across India as well.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (01:00):
Okay. That's an interesting position to be in given what we're hearing now about AI infrastructure investments and developments in India, but we'll come to that in a moment, but we're here at the TIP event. What is CloudExtel's involvement in TIP?

Kunal Bajaj, CloudExtel (01:18):
Sure. So at CloudExtel, we've had the privilege of being a co-chair of the neutral host and infrastructure sharing project group for the last two and a half years. And that gives us the opportunity to really contribute globally to the entire neutral host movement and really try and set definitions and standards because I think people today are still very confused. What is a neutral host? What are the advantages that they bring to the table? And by being a co-chair on the group, we really get to take our experiences in emerging markets and contribute those to the global community.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (01:50):
So you mentioned the assets you have there, which is really interesting. So can you tell us a bit more about what role shared infrastructure is playing in the Indian market, which for many people it's Reliance Jio, it's Bharti Airtel, but what else more is it, so what kind of role is this infrastructure playing there and who does it serve?

Kunal Bajaj, CloudExtel (02:13):
Absolutely. So I'll try to break that up into two parts. So one on the wireless side, you're right, it is primarily only Reliance Jio and Airtel and there's Vodafone and at least Reliance Jio and Airtel have almost unlimited sources of capital. So one would think why do they need to hosts? I think what's unique about the Indian market is like 90% plus of all data traffic that's carried by end consumers is still carried over the mobile networks. And that's very different from other markets. So even if Jio and Airtel have access to unlimited capital, there are still many problems in the wireless space that they can't solve, which is why we are the second largest small cell host in the country. Because solving those dense, that problems to set up small cell sites where there's really tremendous amounts of outdoor traffic consumption that's taking place, it's still difficult for them to do those on their own. So we're able to provide that infrastructure. And on the fiber side, it's not just these two or three guys. You actually have a host of ISPs, data centers are mushrooming, AI investments are skyrocketing in India as well as they are in the rest of the world. And therefore whether it's enterprise connectivity, data center connectivity over in tower backhaul, the fiber infrastructure is becoming increasingly important. And there's a lot of advantage to being a neutral host in that space because unlike wireless where there's only two or three customers here, you can have 10 different customers.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (03:26):
Is it fair to say that all of the main cellular network operators in India are working with you? That you are providing some kind of service to them?

Kunal Bajaj, CloudExtel (03:35):
Yes, absolutely. Across either the wireless or the wireline side. We're working with almost everybody across the board.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (03:40):
And just in terms of where you see other shared infrastructure neutral host players around the world, is that kind of unique? Is that something that's happening in India but maybe not happening in other markets in terms of that level of interaction?

Kunal Bajaj, CloudExtel (03:55):
So I mean there are certain examples. There's companies that we follow in other more mature markets in US and Europe who are realizing that there is actually efficiencies that come to bear when you're doing, for example, IBS small cells and fiber because dense urban metro connectivity is very difficult to do and a lot of it is just about access and about executing on the ground. And similar levels of challenges can come whether you're doing an IBS deployment or you're doing a last mile fiber deployment. And so I think we are seeing emerging models where you do have commonalities in India that's not yet happening. We're the only one in India who's actually working across the spectrum in that regard.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (04:31):
So just in general, the neutral host model, how important is that to the communication service provider sector? What pain points is it addressing? And are these models, are these kind of infrastructures going to become more important in the future?

Kunal Bajaj, CloudExtel (04:53):
So as we have more urban construction and by urban it's not only limited to the top couple of cities you're talking about all the way down to the top 50 cities in India for example. And in other emerging markets, as you have increasing paces of urban construction taking place, the cost and difficulty of penetrating those on an in-building basis, connecting those, getting that deep dense urban and last mile connectivity done is just continuing to go up. And so is the complexity. And so while the major telecom providers, whether it's fixed line or wireless, can actually handle the coverage and handle the broad connectivity, but when you're actually trying to solve those pinpoint problems, a neutral host is able to come in and bring capabilities and expertise like an AWS does in the cloud. If you are a massive technology company, say an Uber, you're still going to go to an AWS or a Google or someone else to run your cloud. And likewise, in the telecom space, when you're trying to solve those specific high capacity problems, a neutral host is the best suited to solve the problem for the large telcos or for the large fiber providers.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (05:58):
And just from a wireless side, neutral hosts for many people means sports stadium, maybe underground subway train routes, but is it more than that?

Kunal Bajaj, CloudExtel (06:09):
Yeah. So those are great examples of where it's a must have. But I think increasingly as people are trying to build more green buildings, that means less signal inside because you're actually blocking out ray's light, but you're also blocking out the cellular signal. And as people are also realizing that you need higher capacity and bandwidth into offices and homes. And so increasingly the combination of the two, whether you're building new residential developments or you're building new commercial developments, you want to have a single source provider who's going to come in and ensure that digital infrastructure is available for everybody who's going to be utilizing those spaces. And you want to do it in the most cost efficient way. And so for that, it's beyond just like you said, the big public venues or the big government undertakings, but also into all the private developments as well.

Ray Le Maistre, TelecomTV (06:55):
Well, great to meet you. Thanks so much for joining us today, hearing a lot more already at this year's fuse about the importance of neutral host infrastructure. So look forward to the developments out of the group and in the broader market in the year ahead. Kunal, thank you.

Kunal Bajaj, CloudExtel (07:12):
Thank you so much, Ray. Really appreciate it. Thank you.