Category: Editorial

The recent notification of comprehensive standards for cloud computing, data centres and artificial intelligence (AI) ethics marks a watershed moment in India’s journey towards becoming a $1 trillion digital economy. These...

The recent India AI Impact Summit held in Delhi had its share of hiccups, but it also accomplished many things. Policymakers articulated a vision for India’s AI future, and India received sundry AI-related pledges that could add...

A deal between Meta and Google suggests there could be a big change in the artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure supply chain. Google Cloud centres run on Google’s custom tensor processing units (TPUs). Meta has opted to...

A recent Supreme Court ruling has sparked hopes of a possible turnaround for the beleaguered Vodafone Idea (Vi). The court has permitted the Government of India to review and provide relief on the entire quantum of Vi’s...

Google’s decision to build a mega AI data hub in Visakhapatnam is transformatory for India’s data centre sector. The California-based tech giant has committed to investing $15 billion over five years in the facility, which will...

In August 2025, the Supreme Court (SC) confirmed a judgment by the Delhi High Court (HC) with significant implications for infrastructure in general, and telecom in particular. A two-member bench comprising Justice Pankaj Mithal...

In June, Starlink received the licence from In-SPACe to launch commercial satellite-based internet services. Starlink is the third such licence-holder, after Eutelsat’s OneWeb and Reliance Jio. A fourth applicant, Amazon’s...

On June 18, 2025, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) entered the fixed wireless access (FWA) market with a soft launch in Hyderabad. Branded as “Quantum 5G” (Q-5G), the service aims to provide 100 per cent secure, reliable...

The vision for the New Telecom Policy (NTP) is being disseminated even as the draft is being composed. The NTP aims to increase the information and communication technology (ICT) sector’s contribution to GDP from 7.8 per cent to...

Belying telco hopes, the Supreme Court has dismissed petitions by Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) and Bharti Airtel, seeking waivers on adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues relating to interest, penalty and interest on penalty. The...

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) reported a profit of Rs 2.62 billion in the third quarter of financial year 2025, marking its first return to profitability since 2007. The PSU is also charging ahead with its long-delayed 4G...

With this issue, we celebrate our 25th anniversary! When this magazine was launched 25 years ago, the telecom sector was still in poor shape, six years after the launch of the National Telecom Policy in 1994. Most of the goals...

It was a call from Writers’ Building in Calcutta to the telecom minister in New Delhi that marked India’s mobile service debut. That was on July 31, 1995. Commercial services rolled out soon thereafter, opening up a world of...

The telecom landscape has evolved dramatically in the past 25 years, shaping and reshaping how people interact, engage and experience the world. Big changes have occurred on the telecom technology and network fronts, with even...

The global internet is undergoing a rewiring, which will hugely enhance global data capacity. India will be a beneficiary alongside other nations. Competition should also lead to better quality standards and lower access...

A recent burst of activity could help BSNL cover some lost ground against its private sector rivals. The company may even reposition itself to become a key player in the Digital India landscape rather than focusing purely on...

India’s satellite broadband market will be opened up to stiff competition with the entry of Starlink, the global service provider owned by Elon Musk. After a sharp debate, the government has decided that satellite spectrum for...

Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN), a reworked version of the Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund, is focused on accelerating the provision of rural teleconnectivity. It has a broader scope than the USO Fund.  Improving...

Financial results from the first quarter (April-June 2024) indicate that the telecom services environment has indeed improved. The three major private operators are all generating operating profits with reasonable operating...

A speculative report by global brokerage Jefferies outlines the possibility of a spinoff, or an IPO, resulting in the listing of Jio (Reliance Jio Infocomm). This would unlock value from the telecom arm of Reliance Industries...

Spectrum auctions, which were earlier postponed due to elections, are now scheduled to take place on June 25. This time, it is likely to be a quick, low-key affair, compared to previous auctions, which fetched over Rs 1.5...