As head of government affairs for India and South Asia, and head of spectrum and regulatory policy for Asia-Pacific at Qualcomm, Jitender Singh plays a key role in shaping telecom policy, spectrum strategy and next-generation wireless technologies.
Singh began his professional journey with the Indian Army in 1986, where he spent more than two decades working in communications and spectrum management. In 2009, he joined Qualcomm to lead government affairs for India and South Asia while also taking responsibility for spectrum strategy and policy across Asia-Pacific.
What excites him most about his role is the opportunity to contribute to India’s growing influence in global technology development. He states, “India’s voice in 5G Advanced, 6G research, spectrum governance and AI policy commands genuine global respect today.” Singh believes commercial 6G will fundamentally transform communications by integrating connectivity, sensing and computing into an AI-native architecture. He sees distributed and on-device AI as the next major shift, enabling lower costs, reduced latency and stronger privacy protections. He also highlights satellite-terrestrial convergence, direct-to-device connectivity and C-V2X technologies as developments that could significantly influence India’s digital future.
He identifies several challenges. These include ensuring timely decisions on 6G spectrum, incorporating edge and on-device AI into India’s AI policy framework and accelerating deployment of intelligent transportation systems.
He holds key leadership roles across national and global organisations, serving as vice president of the ITU-APT Foundation of India, India head of the GSA, and board/council member of the ITS India Forum and BIF. Globally, he chairs an ITU-R WP5D working group on IMT applications, co-chairs its national working party on societal and industry aspects, and leads an ITU-R committee on 5G use case adoption.
Singh describes his management philosophy as one built on deep technical expertise, collaborative stakeholder engagement and long-term strategic thinking.
He holds a degree in electronics and telecommunications engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru University, a postgraduate qualification in business administration from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management and an advanced computing certification from CDAC, India.
Outside work, Singh enjoys photography, exploring new technologies and gadgets, reading about geopolitics and military history, and maintaining a disciplined fitness routine. His family comprises his wife and son.
