Summit Bulletin (Issue 07 | Jan 23)

Dhananjay Joshi

MD & CEO

Dear Colleagues, With more experience and achievements under our belt, we are entering 2023 with more credibility. Summit Digitel’s success story continues this quarter as all of the team members, including operations, IT, HR, and sales, HSSE have contributed greatly to the company’s growth. In 2023, we will play a pivotal role in heralding the future of connectivity and 5G across the country.

In terms of overall growth and events, the past quarter has been one of the most memorable ever. An incredibly memorable highlight of our inaugural Summit Event was the gathering of all Summitians for the celebration of our annual event. In addition to showing the evolution of 1G to 5G, the event included active employee participation in making this event a huge success. Rewarding and recognising our employees from the previous year demonstrated our commitment to them and their accomplishments at Summit. Moreover, our participation in two major conferences, the Indian Mobile Conference and TowerXchange Asia Meetup 2022, speaks volumes about our strong industry presence and recognition. As part of Summit’s commitment to Environment, Sustainability and Governance, we are in the process of implementing a comprehensive ESG framework in partnership with Futurestation, an ESG advisory firm. By implementing the ESG framework, we will be able to build customer loyalty, improve financial performance, and make business operations more sustainable.

We also launched the HR team’s “One Hour Learning” virtual platform during this quarter, which provides employees with access to more than 200 soft skills courses. These are small, but crucial steps to keep employees motivated and up-to-date. Several HR policies were revised to keep up with the changing times, including our open-door policy, leave policy, and relocation policy.

Summit continues to grow, both in terms of partnerships and employees. A very significant development in this quarter has been the signing of a term sheet with VIL, which is one of the most significant events. Being partnered with the topmost mobile network operators in the country who take up 99% of the market, we are in an enviable position in the industry.

The company generated revenues of Rs. 29,098 million for the quarter ended 30 Sep 22. A further milestone for Summit is the issuance of non-convertible debt (NCD) and listing on the National Stock Exchange of Rs.12 billion. By optimizing interest costs, Summit will save a great deal of money. It is worth taking a closer look at each section and reading in detail about the accomplishments of each function in more detail. As I close, I wish all of you a very happy and prosperous new year.

Warm regards, Dhananjay Joshi (MD & CEO)

Sunil Panjwani

Chief Risk Officer

Dear Colleagues,

Having stepped into 2023 with constant growth and positive results showing quarter over quarter, I can safely say that we have embodied productivity.

We have demonstrated that all of our growth is the result of intelligent planning, focused effort, and a commitment to excellence. Commitment to continuous improvement will help us achieve superlative results and deliver effectively. Compliance and risk have become more critical than ever in the telecommunications sphere. There are multiple facets that telcos need to focus on, starting with customer needs, security, and trust, all the way up to improving workforce culture and managing sustainability agendas.

The focus today is on strategizing for a challenging operating environment. There is a growing need for quick and personalized solutions, with the requirement of delivering empathetic assistance and doing so quickly. It is time for us Summitians to be more resolute than ever in our service delivery and offerings.

We continue to maintain Summit as a company with a safe work environment where employee well-being is and always will be a top priority. This is reflected in our strict adherence to processes and guidelines to eliminate risk, stay vigilant and report any incident that could impact the security of people or infrastructure. We also ensure the safety of the ecosystem that we operate in.

One of the best examples of our commitment to safety is with Summit Digitel being honoured with “The OSH India Safety & Excellence Award 2022” under the services sector. The team was recognised for their stellar work on electrical hazards mitigation.

The award was a culmination of consistent hard work by the operations and HSSE team members, who work tirelessly to ensure that Summitians return home safely to their families each day. A special thanks to the COHs and the circle HSSE managers, who successfully oversaw different electrical safety projects. Our teams and management have also shown an increased interest in workforce diversity and inclusion, and sustainability practices. Respect is one of our strongest values, where we acknowledge and appreciate differences in gender, caste, creed, and ethnicity, regardless of the position one holds.

At Summit, the team is deeply committed to creating more visibility into risk processes, risk assessment, and reporting processes. We are also constantly aligning risk management to stakeholders’ expectations; this helps us to develop and define tolerances, escalation processes, and risk appetite.

As we move forward into India’s 5G era, the focus is to facilitate timely response monitoring and response management. In addition, we need to create early warning mechanisms that can be integrated into different functions.

The future looks more promising than ever, with the telecom sector playing a key role in India reaching $5 trillion in GDP. A key part of the growth journey will involve compliance and risk management. The team has built a robust risk culture through frequent training and institutionalizing regulatory and compliance tracking and reporting systems.

As we march forward, we hold our core values closer than ever. These include embracing diversity and accepting varied ideas and opinions, creating an inclusive and caring environment, and being ethical, compliant, and rulebound in our ways of working while upholding the dignity and interests of all stakeholders of the ecosystem. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for Summit Digitel and India as we propel further.

Warm regards, Sunil Panjwani (Chief Risk Officer)

Lack of awareness of safety causes many accidents and injuries each year. To increase your safety awareness, here are a few basic tips. Every day, safety must come first

We at Summit Digitel prioritize our employees’ safety and well-being and we make sure that our company complies with the latest safety specifications and standards, as well as compliance with regulatory requirements. As a company, we value safety in addition to ensuring that all Summit Digitel employees return home safely every day.

The first step to safety begins at home with our families. As part of our efforts to sustain safety practices, we launched the “Family Connect” program. This program was designed to raise awareness among the family members of our field personnel about the appropriate use of personal protective equipment and safe working practices. This includes road safety, height work, and electric safety. We demonstrated a commitment to safety to the families of our field personnel in concert with our partners. More than 76 families have been educated on how to prevent a range of home-based risks through our family outreach program this year. We will continue to reach out to more families in order to make safety a way of life for them.

We recently had a safety audit carried out by a team from Brookfield Asset Management, our parent company. For a relatively young organization, our Safety Culture Maturity Assessment practices were rated as Excelling (the highest rating possible), which reflects how far we have come in a short span of time. The Summit HSSE site visits have been a cornerstone of our safety program governance with our O&M service provider. These have been further enhanced by making them a KPI for all functions. Thus the number of site visits is on the rise, with multiple HSSE site inspections by CXOs and other non-HSSE function resources gaining momentum across all regions. When our service provider witnesses the Summit CXOs participate and engage in a wide range of HSSE projects and pay visits on a regular basis, it has a tangible effect on them to ensure that the highest level of safety is always maintained in their O&M activities.

As a direct consequence of all the efforts made by the HSSE team to drive best practices, Summit was awarded the prestigious OSH India Safety & Excellence Award in 2022, for the work done by the team in order to mitigate electrical hazards within the workplace. In addition to this recognition, Summit was nominated in 5 of the 11 categories as a finalist.

We recognize the importance of ESG in the growth and success of our company and consider its impact on modern business. To develop, integrate, and monitor a robust ESG framework as part of our strategy to move towards profitably sustaining and growing best practices in the area of Environmental, Social, and Governance, we have engaged Futurestation, a firm with deep expertise in ESG, to work as mentors. Rather than invest in traditional project-based consulting, we chose to implement the mentorship program, as we believe the ESG journey will be ongoing, and therefore, we chose to build this capability within Summit. Summit Digitel employees will be mentored by the Futurestation team at every step of this process and will be worked closely with throughout the process. To assist with the implementation of ESG initiatives, ESG champions were nominated by each department within the organization. They will be mentored and guided in implementing the entire ESG framework from the very beginning to the very end. They will guide us through the process of developing, implementing, and monitoring this framework in order for us to meet our goals and objectives.

At Summit Digitel, we have taken the initiative to create and establish a comprehensive Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) framework.

During the 3rd quarter of this year, the sales team was credited with a stellar sales performance

as we received 3878 New Site Sharing Requests and 2150 Service Orders from Airtel from Oct’22 to Dec’22. Our continued engagement with Airtel Corporate and across all their circles has resulted into a steep increase in business volumes as well as a significant rise in market share, especially in Uttar Pradesh-East & West, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh & Telangana, West Bengal, Bihar & Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Delhi, and Haryana.

During the month of November, we were privileged to invite and host Airtel Delhi team including their CEO and CTO for lunch and progressive business discussions. This culminated into Airtel issuing over 150 New Site Sharing Requests to Summit during the quarter in Delhi NCR.

A significant milestone of this quarter was the addition of Vodafone Idea as a partner. Our engagements with their teams at Corporate and circles are at the peak as we will kick start our site deliveries to VI during the next quarter.

Within the company, Mihir Nerurkar, the Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer for India, Brookfield Infrastructure Group, visited the Kolkata office to interact with employees and oversee the overall operation of the company. All of us benefited from his insights and perspectives, which served as motivation and encouragement.

Our corporate, regional, and circle offices celebrated Diwali, Christmas, and the New Year with great zest and fervour. Furthermore, this reinforced team camaraderie and morale.

Summit Digitel celebrated

biggest milestones

It is our strong belief that alignment with all stakeholders is crucial for the success of a company. This will allow us to create a consistent way to promote the brand across different channels be internal or external platforms, employees, leadership, the external audience, or the partners that we work with every day. In order to maximize the share of voice and strengthen the brand identity of the brand, it becomes imperative that we develop an integrated communications strategy and to that end we launched a few campaigns.

During this quarter, we participated in two major conferences:

The Indian Mobile Congress, one of the largest telecom conferences in the country.

TowerXchange Meetup Asia 2022, a two-day conference where our MD and CEO gave the keynote address.

its foundation day this quarter, one of our

This has enabled the brand to gain a greater level of visibility among industry leaders in these two events. A combination of social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, and a higher level of brand awareness on the ground are the means of doing this. Our team works closely with the business leaders, and the organizers to make sure that your brand gains more visibility.

A regular stream of campaigns that are being amplified on LinkedIn that cover the holistic view of the brand including safety, new hires, leadership positioning, tower presence across the country, and all relevant topical events have led to a community base of more than 8,000 followers. This is a significant milestone for sure, and we are confident that we will continue to expand our footprint in the coming months and years.

Summit Digitel celebrated its foundation day this quarter, one of our biggest milestones and achievements of the year. The #Summit2gether theme allowed us to capture not only the exemplary achievements, but also ensured that all brand collateral, such as invitations, backdrops, teasers, videos, and performances also had strong messaging across.

This resulted in everyone feeling as though they belonged together and were a part of a cohesive team. The event was full of on-point branding, video teasers, and breakthrough performances, followed by an awards ceremony honoring outstanding employees.

Another milestone in marketing and communication has been the launch of the first integrated annual report in the telecommunications industry. As one of our most effective communication tools, it allows us to engage and communicate with our stakeholders in an innovative and future-proof way. The user is more likely to engage with dynamic formats than static PDF formats or traditional print versions. Moreover, they allow the user to navigate content easily across a variety of devices with varying screen sizes. Users can navigate the

Furthermore, the Marcomm team continues to provide critical support to all departments within the company in addition to these activities. In order to make this possible, we create customized content that is tailored to the needs of HSSE, HR, Finance, and every other department that works with us.

The financial results for Summit looked promising,

with the quarter and half year ended Sept 30, 2022 being approved by the board, along with the limited review carried out by statutory auditors. The revenue for the quarter ended Sep 30, 22 was Rs. 29,098 million, while that for the half year ended Sep 30, 2022 stood at Rs. 56,520 million and EBITDA (operating profit) was INR 10,498 Mn (half year ended Sep 30, 2022 – INR 20,613 Mn) The financial results were also approved by the new Audit Committee in its first meeting scheduled post constitution, and were published not only on our website, but also in leading newspapers.

Summit Digitel is also delighted to mention that we have raised

Rs. 12 billion through the issuance of Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs)

in domestic markets and listed it on the National Stock Exchange. In addition, Summit has also tied up long-term debt facilities with a foreign institution to the tune of Rs. 24 billion. These are in line with our debt strategies and will help the company optimize interest costs.

A new HRMS system went live in December 2022, which will automate the existing staff claim submission process, bring in efficiencies in settlement of claims as per the HR policies.

Additionally, after the successful implementation of the first phase of SAP S4/HANA, the finance team in collaboration with our IT team and IBM worked on SAP Phase 2, which will be live in Jan 2023. Starting the new year with a bang, this development will allow Summit to have easier access, along with underlying documents, via the new SAP S4/HANA system. The new system will handle close to 1.5 million monthly transactions. This is certainly a major milestone in our SAP implementation journey, and will provide enhanced visibility, generate relevant data insights and management reporting leveraging the capabilities of world class SAP ERP system.

The operations team at Summit Digitel strives for overall operational excellence and ongoing performance enhancement

Being prepared for monsoons has given us the confidence to put our network with the least amount of disturbance, despite the significant stress of extreme monsoon floods. Our operations team frequently boosts network performance on a large scale, transforming a challenging setting into a routine activity for the crew through meticulous planning and rapid, suitable response.

We’re pleased to report that 155k sites are currently part of our diverse portfolio. We can say with confidence that there is a continual flow of service requests coming in, and our most recent milestone accomplishment is evidence of our assiduousness. With more than 6,000 billable RFIs and 7,000 total RFI milestones up to this quarter, the organization’s sharer business has significantly grown. We have achieved several things across the country, including the completion of SO and RFI automation in BOOST and a well-established Sharer capex approval procedure. It is equally amazing that we reached the magical 500 RFI threshold in 7 circles and that virtually every other circle has reached the century mark. . On the automation front, UP West Circle has created a custom Google Maps feature called “Summit Location Finder” that enables anyone travelling anywhere in India to discover a Summit site.

Highest uptime of 99.98% network performance is achieved this quarter and all circles have consistently performed beyond service level requirements. Summit has maintained consistent uptime for both Anchor and Sharer and are significantly above the service level deliveries.

90%

5G

success sites training programme

The Delhi and UP West circles, who were among the first to begin the remote energy measurements, have achieved 100% success in the DCEM pilot project’s remote monitoring of the site sharer energy readings.

Currently more than 90% sites have DCEM installed, and the communication and remote monitoring of energy is the priority.

In addition, Airtel and Jio M2M SIM mobile service providers have joined, and sims have been dispersed throughout cities. In addition to this, the Operations team has carried out a 5G training programme and tower feasibility as well as successfully launched a DCEM monitoring application.

In November 2022, the operations team conducted over 300 site audits and used the SMART mobile application to monitor quality. The Governance and Reporting of Operational Works (GROW) is a brand-new governance automated solution that has just finished its pilot testing and is about to become live.

Regulatory Updates:

Summit played a key role in pushing the

Telecom Regulatory Authority

of India (TRAI) to formally recommend new regulations in power-related issues. Some of the recommendations include utility / industrial tariff for the telecom sector, which will result in a cost reduction of Rs. 2 per unit power, with annual savings for the industry pegged at Rs. 16 billion. The second recommendation was a single application to be submitted for bulk locations. This will allow for ease in the application process and operations, and savings in operational costs. Additionally, DoT has been notified of the company’s change of name and address.

SMART

East region crosses 2500 RFAI mark

The East region became the first region to cross the 2500 RFAI mark, with 1600 RFAIs this year, marking a growth of 100% over the past year.

and became the first to cross the 1000+ mark, are the first circles to reach the 500 RFAI mark

Anubhuti, a field connect program to engage with people on field, was launched recently and has been met with good feedback.

The IT team has been constantly involved in new partnerships, new deployments, and ensuring that the digital transformation journey of the company is on course.

Private Cloud deployment, Managed Service and Security Partnership with TCL:

To enhance our private cloud deployment, managed service and cyber security posture, Summit entered into a partnership with Tata Communications Limited. This is a forward-looking strategic decision taken by Summit with the aim to implement the latest technologies with integrated service, high security, and compliance features. The benefits of the cloud deployment and managed services include having a one-stop-shop for all IT infrastructure requirements, increased efficiency, reduced risks, and reduction in cost and capital expenses. The IT team are also expected to have more flexibility, agility, and scalability with complete control to manage larger footprints.

The key features of the DC Cloud implementation and managed service are:

Network Management and Connectivity:

This will help in seamless management of the network infrastructures like routers, switches, Meraki WAN connectivity, leased line connectivity with security features like Firewall / UTM / VPN / WAF.

Managed Services:

To guarantee an effective service to end users, ITSM framework will be adopted, which will include centralised Incident Management System, Asset Management System, onsite & remote support and dashboard.

Cybersecurity for DC and End Points:

To ensure standard of security and compliance, infrastructure security features will be enabled including DDOS, HIDS/HIPS, PIM/PAM, SOC/SEIM, VAPT and others. End point security controls will also be deployed that includes web proxy, email security, MDM, AV, DLP etc.

DC Private Cloud to host all non-SAP systems:

This will be a central private cloud to host all Summit’s non-SAP applications including OpenText (extended content management system), Compliance Portal, DataMart etc. Active Directory, DHCP, DNS will be enabled along with end-to-end security.

The IT team ensured that the digital transformation journey of the company is on course.

Project kick-off meeting

Meanwhile, the network management and connectivity aspect will help in seamless management of network infrastructures, such as routers, switches, and leased line connectivity. The managed services will complement all of the above with a centralised incident management system, asset management system, onsite & remote support and dashboard.

SAP S/4 HANA

Stabilization

It is generally expected that such a large transformation i.e transitioning from Tally accounting to the latest SAP version (S/4 HANA 2020) - would be a huge shift not only in process, usage, and skills, but also in the work culture.

The first phase of SAP S/4 HANA implementation was successfully completed. SAP has led to many business benefits including a few as mentioned:

Increased efficiency in Customer Billing:

The customer billing is done successfully for the 4th consecutive month. Overall turned around time to complete the billing process, is significantly reduced.

Financial accounting and Management:

Users are experiencing seamless performance in executing financial transactions in SAP system. Month end and period closure activities are completed effectively.

Procurement:

Users are now well versed with PR & PO creation and approval processes as well as GRN and SES processes. They are comfortably able to perform their transactions as per business need.

Automatic Payment Posting:

With the help of server-to-server integration with banks, all payments are processed and automatically updated in business partner’s account in real time. This helps account and business team to have complete visibility on all payment transactions and updates.

A new HRMS Application called “Summit Connect” was implemented in collaboration with Stratemis HR Technology. “Summit Connect” is a People Management System encompassing all HR processes including employee selfservice, travel, expense claims, recruitment, onboarding, leave management, payroll, PMS (Performance Management System), and learning and development, along with SAP & SSO.

The system walk-through for Phase-1 modules was conducted for CXOs and managers to show them the processes and take their suggestions, while training on the system was conducted for pan-India employees.

Many manual processes have now been moved to the HRMS application. Some of the advantages of the platform include simplification of employee management, real time tracking and updates of travel requests and claims, and performance enhancement, along with improved security and compliance.

More and more functionalities and processes are intended to be launched in coming months through the new HRMS Application.

New HRMS application launched: Summit Connect

Application with Phase-1 deliverables (ESS & Travel Modules) is launched by Mr. Dhanajay Joshi (CEO & MD).

HR team carried off all the training, reskilling, and new launches smoothly

As always, the HR team at Summit has actively ensured that, despite several ongoing activities and milestones underway, training, reskilling, and new launches have been carried off smoothly, without any hitches.

There were multiple sessions conducted for employees on different topics to raise awareness.

To start off, the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) employee awareness & IC orientation session was conducted to explain the various nuances of the POSH policy and reporting guidelines. Employees are enrolled in the Brookfield Learning Management System to take an ABC General Awareness online training course. This course familiarizes them with bribery and corruption laws and how to recognize and mitigate the risks related to these offenses.

Additionally, a virtual L&D platform was launched, where employees can enhance their skills by undergoing various courses available. The platform contains over 200 courses, accessible via app or laptop.

Goal setting for FY 2022-2023 was completed as part of our ongoing efforts to build a high-performance culture across the organization. Additionally, certain HR policies have been revised to focus on a progressive approach that creates an environment to succeed. A few examples of policies are Open Door, Leave, Domestic, Relocation, and Communications Devices.

On the health front, the company has collaborated with Quantum, an annual Health Check-up partner to encourage employees to undergo annual health check-ups to identify potential health risks and take preventive measures in a timely manner. An employee orientation session was planned to gain hands-on experience with the online booking process. We have included family and friends in the discounted prices.

Among the special days celebrated during the year, Navratri and Diwali were the most celebrated. Navratri was a virtual affair where all participants were dressed in traditional attire and online activities were conducted.

For Diwali too, Summitians were present in their finest saris and kurtas, and all the employees were in attendance for a special Diwali lunch

Birthday

celebrations of employees were also celebrated with much vigor, and we had cake-cutting events to mark their special days, which created special memories and strengthened team relationships.

In terms of R&R, winners were announced under the Summit Appreciation Thank Card with the highest scorers in the silver and gold categories. Additionally, gift vouchers were handed out to Spot Awardees.