Telecom services has evolved as the essential service

Lt. Gen. Dr. SP Kochhar, DG, COAI

“The COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated the critical importance of telecommunications in enabling a digital economy. Despite the challenges brought by the pandemic and the ongoing financial worries, the telecom industry in India managed to contribute during the COVID-19 lockdown. Telecom services has evolved as the essential service like water and electricity, today it is not a vertical industry anymore, but contributes horizontally to running and stimulate the growth of other industries as well.

The telecom network in India covers more than 5,00,000 villages. Though the ARPU is under pressure, TSPs in India have managed to reach among the top contributors in FDI over the last two decades. The industry contributes nearly INR 58,000 crores p.a. to the government exchequer. With a total of INR 11.24 Lakh crores investment till date, telecom has emerged as the second-largest sector in terms of private investment in infrastructure. Since 2010, the industry has spent INR 3,68,000 crores in spectrum auctions alone.

In this challenging time, the industry also faces major upcoming expenses on Infrastructure up-gradation like Spectrum Auction, 5G introduction, Network expansion and fiberization, which is very critical for providing future communication services for nation-building and rising aspirations of the country.