Telecom Minister Calls for India to Have Most Affordable Telecom Services in the World
According to Ashwini Vaishnaw, the union telecom minister, the government aims to ensure that India’s telecom service remains the most cost-effective globally.
According to the Cellular Operators Association of India, a telecom industry body, telecom operators have not been able to monetize 5G service since last year.
“From the government’s side, we are very clear. We want telecom service to continue to remain the cheapest in the world and today India’s telecom sector is the cheapest telecom sector among all major economies,” Vaishnaw told PTI in an interview. India Mobile Congress 2023.
According to analysts, telecom operators will need an average revenue per user (ARPU) of ₹270-300 over the next three years to realize their investment in building 5G networks.
Currently ARPU in India is between ₹140-200 compared to global average of ₹600-850 and China around ₹580.
Telecom operators have been demanding that 4-5 apps that generate high traffic on their network pay a share of their revenue based on the business they generate from India to offset network costs.
Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio are the only two of the four mobile service providers to have rolled out 5G services, with a combined investment of around ₹ 3,000,000 in the 5G network including spectrum costs.
Both companies have not yet started charging for the use of 5G data.
Debt-laden Vodafone Idea’s additional non-executive director Kumar Mangalam Birla announced at the event that the company will make significant investments to roll out the 5G network and expand 4G coverage in the coming quarters.
Vaishnaw said that BSNL will roll out 4G network which will be launched after Diwali and will be upgraded to 5G network later.
Responding to a question about India’s roadmap towards 6G, Vaishnaw said the prime minister has set a target for the Indian telecom sector to take the lead in 6G.
He said the Bharat 6G Vision has been formulated and approved by the International Telecommunication Union – the UN body that finalizes global telecommunication standards.
The minister said that Bharat 6G Alliance comprising industry, academia, students and government has been formed to work on 6G.
“We have divided the spectrum of issues into 5-6 large groups and each group – antenna group, waveform group, Equipment group work very sincerely and dedicatedly to develop new technology.
“The goal and vision given to us by the Prime Minister… India will become a leader in 6G technology,” Vaishnaw said.
The minister said that other telecommunication reforms have begun to focus on protecting users.
“We are seeing a series of reforms, one after the other, focused on protecting customers like Sanchaar Sathi. These are very strong initiatives that will ensure that the cyber world remains safe and secure,” Vaishnaw said.
In the first set of reforms approved by the government in September 2021, the government announced several measures to ease the financial burden on telecom companies and create liquidity in the industry.
The move helped telecom players mitigate the impact of the Supreme Court’s judgment on adjusted gross revenue charges, which has imposed a liability of Rs 1.53 lakh crore on legacy mobile operators like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, BSNL, MTNL etc.
