Game-Changing Accuracy for Critical Applications with Airtel-Skylark™: How Airtel’s AI-Powered Precise Positioning Is Elevating Customer Experience
Customer experience (CX) today hinges on precision and seamless service delivery. Whether it’s ensuring timely deliveries, enabling efficient fleet management, or transforming emergency response, businesses are striving to reduce friction points in the customer journey. Yet, one persistent challenge remains—accurate location data. Standard GPS technology often provides location accuracy within a range of meters, which can cause delays, inefficiencies, and frustration. But what if location accuracy could improve by 100 times?
Bharti Airtel’s newly launched AI-powered Airtel-Skylark™ Precise Positioning Service promises to do exactly that. By partnering with San Francisco-based Swift Navigation, Airtel is integrating AI/ML-driven cloud technology with its 4G and 5G networks to deliver revolutionary centimetre-level location accuracy. This leap in precision is poised to transform customer experience for enterprises across India, starting with a massive rollout in the National Capital Region (NCR) and expanding nationwide.
CX Challenges with Traditional Location Accuracy
In India’s chaotic urban tapestry—marked by narrow lanes, intricate by-lanes, and congested cityscapes—misplaced location data can have severe consequences. Delivery services struggle with last-mile logistics, while emergency responders can face costly delays due to inaccurate addresses or location ambiguity. Autonomous vehicles and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) require precise spatial awareness to operate safely, and industries like agriculture, railways, and utilities need pinpoint accuracy to optimize operations.
Standard GPS accuracy often falls short in such mission-critical contexts. It provides general location estimation within a few meters, insufficient for timely interventions or automated decisions. CX professionals in logistics and mobility services see this as a persistent bottleneck impacting customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and cost management.
Why Airtel-Skylark™ Is a Game-Changer
The Airtel-Skylark™ service integrates Swift Navigation’s Skylark platform with Airtel’s extensive 4G and 5G network infrastructure. This synergy delivers location precision up to 100 times better than conventional GPS, achieving centimetre-level accuracy through cloud-based AI and machine learning.
As Bharti Airtel’s Director and CEO of Airtel Business, Sharat Sinha, explains, “In a country like ours, every centimetre makes a difference in identifying precise location, especially for critical services like first responders. This breakthrough technology will revolutionize emergency responses and set new benchmarks for industrial applications.”
Holger Ippach, Executive Vice President of Product and Marketing at Swift Navigation, adds, “By leveraging Airtel’s IoT solutions and presence across India, we enable businesses and developers to seamlessly adopt precise positioning for automation and autonomy.”
Industry Applications Transforming CX and EX
The scope for precise positioning spans multiple sectors, each with unique CX and employee experience (EX) improvements:
- Automotive and Mobility: Enables advanced driver-assistance systems, safe navigation for autonomous vehicles, and real-time fleet management with accurate tracking.
- Logistics and Delivery: Achieves optimized route planning, precise estimated time of arrival (ETA) predictions, and real-time tracking updates to boost customer transparency and reduce delivery delays.
- Emergency Services: Allows swift response by providing emergency teams with pinpoint address data, potentially saving lives and enhancing first-responder efficiency.
- Agriculture: Facilitates precision farming through automation, such as GPS-guided tractors and optimized fertilizer application, increasing yields while reducing waste.
- Tolling and Railways: Streamlines toll collections via satellite-based systems and enhances track safety by monitoring vehicle positions accurately.
For customer experience professionals, this means dramatically reducing pain points associated with unreliable location data, boosting satisfaction, and creating more predictable service journeys. For employees in these sectors, the technology enhances work precision and safety—critical for frontline roles.
Real-World Impact: From Data to Delight
Take logistics as an example. GPS inaccuracies often result in delayed packages or failed delivery attempts, frustrating customers and inflating operational costs. With centimetre-level location precision, companies can provide customers with highly accurate delivery tracking and ETAs, turning uncertainty into trust. Transparent, reliable updates can increase customer loyalty while enabling service reps to handle exceptions proactively.
Similarly, emergency responders get exact location coordinates quickly, accelerating response times and improving outcomes. The precision also supports automation technologies in sectors like automotive, where human and machine collaboration improves fleet safety and efficiency.
Strategic Rollout: Scaling Nationwide
Airtel Business will first launch Airtel-Skylark™ across a 35,000 square kilometer area in the NCR this year. It further plans for nationwide expansion. This phased approach strategically targets India’s technology and population hub to showcase the benefits and build ecosystem partnerships.
This launch aligns with India’s broader digital transformation drive and smart city initiatives. This will allocate substantial investments to intelligent transportation and urban management. The service’s public unveiling at the India Mobile Congress 2025 will expose it to innovators across sectors.
Expert Insights for CX/EX Professionals
Implementing precise positioning technology brings multiple CX and EX opportunities:
- Enhance Predictability and Transparency: Accurate location data allows businesses to minimize customer anxiety through proactive, real-time communication.
- Optimize Resource Deployment: With reliable tracking, companies can streamline operations and improve employee safety by knowing exact asset locations.
- Drive Automation and Innovation: Enables advanced AI-driven automation for repetitive or high-stakes tasks, freeing employees to focus on higher-value work.
- Strengthen Crisis and Incident Management: Helps emergency teams reduce response times with precise geo-data, improving public trust and employee effectiveness.
As AI and next-gen connectivity evolve, CX leaders should view precise positioning as a foundational capability to incorporate into their digital transformation strategies.
Practical Takeaways for CX Leaders
- Assess Location Pain Points: Identify operations where inaccurate spatial data impacts customer satisfaction or employee productivity.
- Explore Strategic Partnerships: Collaborate with telecom providers and technology firms pioneering AI-powered location services.
- Pilot Use Cases: Start with high-impact areas such as last-mile logistics or emergency response units to demonstrate ROI.
- Leverage Real-Time Data: Integrate precise location data into customer communications and employee workflows for seamless experience.
- Invest in Training: Prepare teams to utilize new precision-driven tools effectively, ensuring maximum adoption.
Conclusion
Bharti Airtel’s AI-powered Airtel-Skylark™ service marks a leap forward in location technology, poised to unlock new dimensions of customer and employee experience. With unprecedented centimetre-level accuracy, CX professionals can now address long-standing challenges around delivery reliability, emergency response, and automation readiness. This game-changing innovation promises not only to enhance service precision but also to set the stage for a new era of customer-centric, data-driven enterprises across India.
Customer experience leaders aiming to stay competitive should explore how integrating such precise positioning technologies can elevate their service delivery, empower their workforce, and future-proof their operations in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
For more insights on integrating advanced technologies for superior CX, explore more resources at CXQuest.com. Stay ahead with expert knowledge, case studies, and practical strategies tailored for today’s CX leaders.
