Bharti Airtel, BSNL, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea (Vi), GSMA, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Nokia India, Ericsson India, MeitY, and Ministry of Communications executives and senior officials shared updates on telecom and technology in India while speaking at the eighth edition of the ETTelecom 5G Congress 2025 on Monday, March 24, 2025. Let's now explore the developments they discussed in the story ahead, according to multiple reports.
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Let's start with the DoT, under the Ministry of Communications, India.
1. India to Reach 1 Billion 5G Subscribers by 2030
India is expected to reach 100 crore (1 billion) 5G subscribers by 2030, which will represent about 74 percent of the mobile subscriptions in India, telecom secretary Neeraj Mittal reportedly said at the event.
"Over 99.6 percent of the Indian districts are covered, and 23 percent of the mobile subscribers are enabled. This is expected to reach about 1 billion by 2030 which will represent about 74 percent of the mobile subscriptions in India," Mittal reportedly said.
According to the report, Mittal said the fusion of 5G connectivity, artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) is not just accelerating innovation, it is reshaping industries, economies and everyday life, where 5G is the catalyst for ultra connectivity, providing lightning speeds, ultra-low latency and massive device connectivity, AI is the brain behind the operation, providing predictive analytics, automation and decision making and edge computing and IoT is the digital nervous system, in a way, providing pervasive sensing, data generation and connected ecosystem.
"Put together, these three converge into a trifecta, which is really powerful. It is a transformative leap in technology, enabling unprecedented opportunities for innovation across indigenous industries like healthcare, manufacturing, transport and telecommunications," Mittal was quoted as saying.
The Secretary reportedly stated that some telecom operators have already deployed proprietary solutions to prevent spam and fraud. "India has also developed within DoT SancharSaathi, which is based on AI, which is a citizen-focused telecom security platform to prevent fraud, track stolen devices and authenticate mobile connections," Mittal said, as per the report.
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2. MeitY and DoT Collaborate on Developing Indigenous Mobile Chip
The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) and the DoT are jointly developing an indigenous mobile chip to support India's self-reliance in the semiconductor sector.
"When we are talking about an India-based mobile phone OS being developed, the chip for the mobile phone will also be critical. We are jointly working with the Department of Telecommunications in this regard, and that is something the MeitY is supporting under the India Semiconductor Mission and the design-linked incentive scheme," S Krishnan, secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and IT(MeitY), was quoted as saying.
The initiative aligns with India's push for semiconductor manufacturing, which could also support AI-powered applications. "Many of these AI applications will utilise a lot of telecom-related infrastructure, and will bring together the data, and that is a seamless way which will bring everything together," Krishnan added, according to the report.
He reportedly downplayed concerns about AI-driven job losses, stating that India's employment landscape differs from Western economies. "The reason why we don't see it is much of a threat in India is possibly because we don't have as many white-collar jobs at stake, and we don't see as many office jobs at stake. Today's generative AI mostly replaces manual, repetitive work," the official was quoted as saying.
However, AI can significantly enhance workforce productivity in India, particularly in key sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, and the rural economy, where it seamlessly integrates with telecom networks, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, and smart devices, the report added.
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3. India's Telecom Sector Nears Rs 4 Lakh Crore Revenue Mark
The Indian telecom sector's gross revenues are expected to reach the Rs 4 lakh crore mark in 2025 or next year on the back of technology advancements like 5G which is bringing new subscribers and business as well as generating better returns, according to Manish Sinha, Member (Finance) at the DoT, as per the report.
He reportedly said, "For 30 years, the telecom sector has been a story of continuous technological innovation, development, continuous growth in terms of bringing new subscribers, bringing new business and generating better returns."
"There have been ups and downs in the last 30 years, but returns have come around in flying colours as I can say today that the industry is inching towards the Rs 4 lakh crore mark," Sinha was quoted as saying.
"But now there are question marks as to how to continue with that speed of capex, largely because all these investments also require a return. Capital is very fickle, it tends to come and go away depending on the return that you actually give to that money that is invested," Sinha reportedly remarked.
Regarding the monetisation of 5G, Sinha reportedly said that when the technology was introduced, it was understood that 4G was driven by video boom and the data boom, so some of it will continue into the 5G and I think a lot of it is still driving the 5G growth.
"But we were looking at significant growth in the enterprise business. And that is where probably this convergence of AI and IoT, in terms of making processes more productive…those are areas that need to be looked into and I hope in the very near future we will be able to make some kill, some new applications in these areas which will integrate AI and IoT into the existing service delivery ecosystem," he said, as per the report.
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4. 84 Percent of India's Population Now Has Access to 5G
"Today, 84 percent of our population can access 5G, an unparalleled achievement reached in a remarkably short time. We have developed an entirely indigenous 4G and 5G technology stack, provide near-ubiquitous coverage, and have made data affordable," said Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, minister of state for communications, as per the report.
The availability of affordable data has democratised the digital revolution, allowing millions of Indians to connect with each other, create, and contribute to the digital economy, he reportedly added.
"Moreover, we transformed spectrum allocation into a transparent and hassle-free process, culminating in India’s largest-ever spectrum auction—with record participation and minimal red tape. Industry confidence soared as spectrum worth Rs 1.34 lakh crore was purchased in the 5G auction," Pemmasani added, according to the report.
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5. 5G FWA Growth Needs Cost-Effective mmWave Solutions: Airtel CTO
Bharti Airtel's Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Randeep Sekhon, reportedly said that India leads the world as a technology user but still trails when it comes to building technology.
"India is on top when it comes to using technology, but when it comes to creating it, I'm hoping we'll be able to contribute to the patents in future, and to the new technologies getting built," Airtel's CTO told delegates at the event on Monday, according to the report.
Sekhon noted that global telecom operators admire India's rapid tech adoption and seek insights from Indian telcos. He reportedly urged global network vendors to ensure all new-generation network products deployed in India are energy-efficient and capable of supporting multiple technologies/frequencies.
According to Airtel's CTO, 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) has emerged as a key use case for 5G, accelerating the expansion of WiFi connectivity for home broadband users.
However, he reportedly cautioned that FWA could face capacity constraints over time due to its dependence on the 5G spectrum. To address this, the industry must develop a cost-effective solution, preferably leveraging mmWave (millimeter wave) airwaves, to expand capacity and support the next phase of nationwide broadband connectivity through FWA.
“mmWave-based solutions at optimal cost can create that capacity and drive the next wave of FWA growth,” Sekhon was quoted as saying, advocating for cost-effective mmWave solutions to sustain FWA growth.
"Currently available off-the-shelf mmWave-based solutions are still not good enough from a 'cost-to-serve' perspective, and would need to be re-engineered for powering the FWA use-case in markets like India," Sekhon reportedly added.
6. Reliance Jio's Data Usage, and Next Big Move: AI, FWA, and 6G
Data Usage:
Reliance Jio processed 50 crore GBs of data traffic in a single day during the ICC Cricket World Cup finals, surpassing the 42 crore GB peak handled by China Mobile, Jio's President and Group CTO (Mobility), Shyam P Mardikar, reportedly revealed at the event.
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Given Jio's over 50 percent market share, India's total data consumption on the day of the finals likely touched 100 crore GBs. "100 crore GBs of data consumption is unheard of…it reflects the extent of our affinity to digital and our connectivity with digital….be phones, other screens, home broadband or television," Mardikar was quoted as saying at the event on Monday.
Mardikar also stressed the need for ethical technology adoption and sustainable telecom growth, urging responsible use of big data and energy-efficient solutions as telecom infrastructure expands.
"Equally critical is optimising energy consumption, especially at a time when the telecom sector is investing in power-guzzling data-centres and network radios amongst others," he reportedly said, adding, "How we optimise them is vital, because if they are going to massify (production of these devices), power consumption too will automatically massify."
Looking ahead, the new DNA of the communications industry, he reportedly said, would be about devices with super levels of intelligence, higher compute power, applications that are autonomous, self-optimising, and all this running on telecom networks with infinite bandwidth to connect.
Jio: AI, FWA, and 6G
Reliance Jio is preparing for the next wave of telecom innovation powered by AI, fixed wireless access (FWA), and a clear path to 6G. Jio has already announced partnerships with Nokia, Cisco, and AMD at the recently concluded MWC 2025 to develop an open telecom AI platform.
"We are standing at the cusp of yet another revolution or rather two revolutions," Ayush Bhatnagar, Senior Vice President at Reliance Jio was quoted as saying, pointing to AI and the evolution from 5G to 5G Advanced and eventually 6G.
JioBrain, the enterprise suit offering AI-as-a-service, will embed AI agents directly into the network. "Gone will be the days when we will operate networks using scripts and complex algorithms. Everything will move to natural language processing… We will be able to converse with our network and drive operations with our speech alone," he reportedly said.
According to the report, Jio is now implementing 11 AI-driven initiatives through JioBrain to improve network efficiency, from predictive maintenance to energy optimisation. "AI taken together with Enterprise 5G provides a unique customer value proposition," Bhatnagar added.
"When we started deploying 5G in October of 2022, India was nowhere on the map of technology," Bhatnagar recalled, as per the report. "There were deployments in China and the US, but India was still trailing this technology."
Since then, Jio has built what it claims is the world's largest 5G network, lighting up a 5G cell "every 60 seconds" at the peak of its rollout. Bhatnagar reportedly emphasised that 5G must not be the domain of a few. "5G has to be available for all and it should not be a monopoly of a select few."
He highlighted the success of Jio's fixed wireless access (FWA) offering, which now serves nearly 5 million homes. "Very soon, at this rate, we will be the largest FWA provider anywhere in the world," he noted, as per the report.
With Jio now contributing to global 3GPP standards for 6G, he reportedly concluded, "Very soon, standards which we were following so far, we will be actually the creators of the standards in the years to come."
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7. Vodafone Idea Focuses on Quality, AI, and Execution in 5G Rollout
Vodafone Idea (Vi) is taking a phased approach to its 5G rollout, prioritising seamless user experience and leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) for network optimisation, according to Chief Technology Officer Jagbir Singh, as reported by ET Telecom.
"Yes, we've launched now, we are moving systematically in a phased-wise approach, based on penetration of 5G devices and service demand," Singh was quoted as saying.
Learning from early industry challenges such as battery drain and poor connectivity, Vi has ensured a smooth experience from day one. "When 5G first launched, there were complaints about battery drain, connectivity drops and poor handovers. We've addressed all those issues from day one. In Mumbai, we haven't received a single complaint about 5G performance," he added, as per the report.
Vi has integrated AI into its network operations and deployed most energy-efficient equipment to enhance service quality. "We've worked for over a year to optimise the network using AI. From day one our focus has been on ensuring a smooth customer experience", he reportedly noted.
"The technology is the same across operators. What matters is execution, and that’s where we are focused," Singh reportedly said, citing Vi's top performance in OpenSignal's December 4G network quality report.
While 5G is the future, Singh highlighted the continued importance of 4G. "4G will remain the backbone for years to come. Even today, we have 300 million 2G users. Bridging the digital divide means getting affordable devices into their hands," he reportedly noted.
Looking ahead, Singh sees 5G enabling innovations in AI, IoT, and blockchain. "AI will be everywhere, from water and energy management to automotive and healthcare. And 5G, with its low latency and high bandwidth, will support these use cases," he explained, as per the report.
However, he acknowledged that the industry still hasn't discovered a "killer app" to monetise 5G. "Nobody has the answer yet. But as long as the ecosystem, telcos, vendors, device makers, OTT players work together, significant revenue-generating applications will emerge over time," he reportedly said.
On satellite communication, Singh was cautiously optimistic. "Satellite will be useful for uncovered areas where terrestrial networks are hard or expensive to deploy. But affordability will be the key," he concluded, as per the report.
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8. India to Drive Telecom Innovation and Regulatory Reforms: GSMA
India has the potential to drive next-generation telecom innovations and modernise regulations, particularly in tackling spam and scam communications, said a senior GSMA executive.
Julian Gorman, Head of Asia Pacific at GSMA, highlighted India's growing leadership in the global connectivity ecosystem. "India has the talent and ambition not just to adopt but to invent the future of telecommunications, regulation modernisation, and global standards," he said at the ETTelecom 5G Congress 2025.
Gorman emphasised the need for India to champion an open, secure, and inclusive digital ecosystem while bridging the global digital divide. He also underscored India's role in setting ethical standards to address cybersecurity threats, surveillance concerns, and economic coercion.
Recognising India's low-cost, scalable digital public infrastructure, including UPI and Aadhaar, as a model for emerging markets, GSMA praised the country's initiative to share spam numbers between DoT and telecom operators. "Bharti Airtel's spam filter is a global model for combating fraud," Gorman noted, as per the report.
However, he stressed that more international collaboration is required to enhance consumer protection.
"Through initiatives such as GSMA's Open Gateway APIs and best practices, we can better protect consumers from fraud and financial loss," he reportedly added. "We can also save people from trafficking to conduct these frauds, from scam factories, many of them in Asia Pacific. The risk to digital trust cannot be underestimated."
With India projected to be the largest contributor to global mobile subscriber growth, GSMA reaffirmed its commitment to collaborating with DoT, MeitY, and industry partners to build a safe, sustainable, and inclusive digital future.
9. BSNL to Launch 5G in Select Cities: CMD
After Delhi, the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is considering deploying its 5G mobile network in select cities in the coming months, a senior official of the telco said on Monday, as reported by ETTelecom.
"We are rolling out its 5G network via network-as-a-service (NaaS) in Delhi, and now we are looking to fast-track it. We are also considering how we can select some cities and then roll out 5G as soon as possible in the next few months. That is going to be a target," Robert J Ravi, CMD, BSNL, was quoted as saying.
The telecom operator aims to roll out 5G services alongside its existing 4G network to retain subscribers and prevent migration to private carriers. Last year, BSNL conducted a pilot 5G trial in Delhi using a Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) model with domestic vendors.
According to the executive, the enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) aspect of 5G is gaining traction whereas massive-machine type communications (mMTC) and ultra-reliable low-latency communications (uRLLC) still "have a long way to go" in terms of application and use cases, the report said.
Also Read: 5G in India: 770 Million Users by 2028, Says Nokia; 5G-Advanced and AI-Driven 6G Roadmap
10. India's 5G Data Usage to Reach 50GB Per User Monthly by 2027: Nokia
The average monthly 5G data consumption per user in India is expected to rise to 50GB in the next two to three years from the current 40GB, driven by the adoption of 5G applications, according to Nokia India.
"5G data consumption is already at around 40 GB per subscriber per month. This will go up further, and we might have around 50 GB per subscriber per month in the next two to three years," Tarun Chhabra, Vice President and Country Head of Nokia India, was quoted as saying.
Highlighting the rapid network expansion, Chhabra noted that Indian telecom operators deployed 20,000-25,000 5G sites per month during peak rollouts—far exceeding the 1,000-2,000 sites deployed annually in mature markets.
"We have around 4.6 lakh base stations in this country. We put around 20,000 to 25,000 sites per month together in this country when the 5G was being rolled out, and we know many countries in the world that deploy around 1,000 to 2,000 sites a year. So this was an unprecedented effort by the Indian industry," he reportedly said.
Today, 99 percent of Indian districts, covering 82 percent of the population, have 5G access, with Jio and Airtel collectively boasting over 250 million 5G subscribers, according to the report.
Nokia is bullish on AI technology to manage and automate network nodes and stations as telcos install more 5G infrastructure and introduce software-driven features, the report further said.
"There are multiple nodes which are coming, and it is humanely impossible that we can manage these many nodes manually but it can be done with automation and AI. Nokia, for instance, is using AI," Chhabra reportedly said. "But networks are going to become more complex in the coming times, and then this is the responsibility of OEMs like us, which work with our customers, about how to manage these complex networks."
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11. Affordable Devices Key to 5G Success, Says Ericsson India MD
The availability of commercially affordable devices for both consumers and enterprises will be crucial for the success of 5G networks, said a senior executive of Ericsson India, according to the report.
"These affordable devices are not only restricted to consumers, they also need to be available for enterprises, and the Internet of Things (IoT). The shipments of such devices have increased in the last two years, which means the device ecosystem also understands the need for making them available," Nitin Bansal, managing director, Ericsson India and head of networks, South East Asia, Oceania and India, Ericsson, was quoted as saying, as per the report.
He reportedly stated that India has witnessed remarkable 5G growth, with its networks handling massive data volumes each month, surpassing countries that deployed 5G before 2022.
"India is doing well in consumer applications, such as fixed wireless access (FWA). In enterprises, we have seen some use cases being launched globally. But we have the potential to expand into new segments including private networks and mission-critical communications for railways and defence," he reportedly said.
He reportedly added that Ericsson has conducted proof-of-concepts with its telecom and technology partners in these enterprise segments, and will continue to focus on network optimisation while supporting its efforts with dynamic business models.
He also noted that 5G, combined with network application programming interfaces (APIs), enables the latest wireless network to optimise itself basis subscriber behaviours, which earlier was not possible with 4G.
"We have always looked at networks being uni-directional, so the network tells the users what to do. With 5G and the open APIs, we can make it bidirectional, so we can learn from the user behaviour and optimise the networks as needed," Bansal reportedly said. "Now, developers should come in to create APIs, and make them more effective."
Ericsson continues to invest in the country's 5G rollout, collaborating with academia for research and development, the executive reportedly concluded.
