Bharti Airtel CEO Kapoor is new COAI chief

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the representative body of GSM-based mobile operators, has elected Bharti Airtel chief executive officer Sanjay Kapoor as its chairman for the year 2010-11. Kapoor succeeds Sunita Reddy of Aircel.

COAI also announced the appointment of Idea cellular managing director Sanjeev Aga as the vice chairman.

"The telecom industry in India today plays an important role in forming the socio-economic backbone of the country. The licensor and regulator need to create a regulatory environment, which is conducive and adopt policies which aid future growth and sustainability," Kapoor said in a statement from New Delhi.

He added that his immediate target is to resolve the issue of security clearance of telecom equipment/software and penetration of broadband services in the country.

The COAI annual general meeting was held on 6 July.