Investment

Indiaโ€™s mobile industry lobby is pushing for tariff corrections as network spending rises faster than service revenues. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) says operators face a growing mismatch between capital outlays and tariff-led returns. By its estimate, the cumulative gap up to 2024 was already around Rs 10,000 crore and is widening in 2025 as data consumption accelerates. COAI argues that a handful of large traffic generators (LTGs) are responsible for most network load without directly contributing to network build costs. Expect a mix of tariff rationalization, plan redesign, and targeted capex as operators chase sustainable returns.
India and the United Kingdom have launched the Indiaโ€“UK Connectivity and Innovation Centre to accelerate secure, AI-driven, and resilient telecom technologies over the next four years. The two governments committed an initial ยฃ24 millionโ€”roughly โ‚น250โ€“โ‚น282 crore depending on exchange ratesโ€”to fund applied research, joint testbeds, field trials, and standards contributions in emerging telecom domains. The investment concentrates on three pillars: AI in telecommunications, non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) for satellite and airborne connectivity, and telecoms cybersecurity with open, interoperable systems. The multi-year window aligns to the critical runway for 5Gโ€‘Advanced and early 6G experimentation.
India is poised to greenlight commercial satellite communication services once TRAI issues final pricing for satellite spectrum use and associated charges. The communications minister indicated the policy and licensing groundwork for satellite broadband is largely complete, with two GMPCS licenses issued and one additional letter of intent granted. The final trigger is the Telecom Regulatory Authority of Indiaโ€™s decision on spectrum pricing and usage fees for satcom bands. After that, operators can commence rolloutsโ€”initially for enterprise and backhaul, then for consumer broadband in selected markets. Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Reliance Jioโ€™s satellite unit are positioned to move early, with constellation capacity and gateways progressing.
Vodafone Idea (Vi) used India Mobile Congress 2025 to unveil Vi Protect, a network-integrated, AI-powered security suite aimed at stopping spam calls, fraudulent messages, and fast-moving cyber threats for both consumers and businesses. By moving detection into the network rather than relying on over-the-top apps, Vi is positioning security as a core service-level capability with lower latency, broader coverage, and tighter control. Unlike app-only caller ID and spam filtering, Vi Protect runs at the DNS, SMS, and voice gateway layers, combining AI models, web crawlers, and subscriber feedback loops. The operator says its systems have already intercepted more than 600 million scam and spam attempts.
The Department of Defense and the National Spectrum Consortium (NSC) are moving five industry-academia teams into field demonstrations to validate dynamic spectrum coexistence between defense systems and commercial networks. The focus is practical: prove that military radar, weapons systems, and electronic sensors can operate alongside commercial 5G/6G-class networks in the same bands without harmful interference. Experiments are slated to begin as early as November, with results feeding a follow-on study on dynamic spectrum operations mandated by the 2023 National Spectrum Strategy.
The AI value gap is wideningโ€”and itโ€™s now a strategy problem, not a tooling problem. Fresh research shows a small cohort of โ€œfuture-builtโ€ companies converting AI into material P&L impact while most firms lag despite sizable spend. BCGโ€™s 2025 assessment of 1,250 senior executives finds only 5% of companies have the capabilities to consistently generate outsized AI value, with 35% scaling and beginning to see benefits, and a full 60% reporting little to no financial impact to date.
AI is everywhere in telecom, yet most pilots never make it into production because the industryโ€™s data, tooling, and operating models are not ready for scaled automation. Recent industry research suggests that about 95% of AI pilots in telecom fail to scale beyond proofs of concept. Leaders are moving from pilots to platforms by embedding AI in the systems that run the business and anchoring every initiative to measurable outcomes. Telecom AI will not scale through pilots alone; it scales when embedded in the systems that run revenue, experience, and networks.
Two narratives are converging: Silicon Valleyโ€™s rush to add gigawatts of AI capacity and a quiet revival of bunkers, mines, and mountains as ultra-resilient data hubs. Recent headlines point to unprecedented AI infrastructure spending tied to OpenAI. The draw is physical security, thermal stability, data sovereignty, and a narrative of longevity in an era where outages and cyberโ€‘physical risks are rising. Geopolitics, regulation, and escalating outage impact are reshaping site selection and architectural choices. The AI buildโ€‘out collides with grid interconnection queues, water scarcity, and rising scrutiny of carbon and noise. Set hard thresholds on PUE and WUE; require realโ€‘time telemetry and thirdโ€‘party assurance.
In 2024, the U.S. cable sector generated $568.7 billion in total economic output and supported 1.3 million jobs across the country. This footprint spans broadband networks, video programming, construction, manufacturing, and a broad vendor ecosystem. It underscores why cable remains a central pillar of Americaโ€™s connectivity and media economy even as consumption shifts to IP and streaming. Cable broadband providersโ€”led by Comcast, Charter Communications (Spectrum), Cox, Altice USA (Optimum), Mediacom, Cable One (Sparklight), and WOW!โ€”accounted for $366 billion in total economic impact and nearly 888,000 jobs.
Telefรณnica reports โ‚ฌ77 billion invested over ten years to expand sustainable, resilient connectivity, with SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure) as the strategic anchor. The operator now serves nearly 350 million accesses, has passed 81.4 million premises with FTTH, and runs one of the largest ultra-broadband footprints globally, second in scale only to China. Spain is Telefรณnicaโ€™s showcase for fiber-led modernization. Dense FTTH has enabled a managed copper switch-off, which simplifies operations, cuts energy use, and improves service quality. The operator targets net zero by 2040 – ten years ahead of many international timelinesโ€”and reports a 52% reduction in CO2 emissions across the value chain from 2015 to 2024.
HUMAIN, a Saudi PIF-backed AI company, introduced Horizon Pro, an โ€œagentic AIโ€ PC built on Qualcommโ€™s Snapdragon X Elite, positioning it as a new class of Windows laptop where on-device AI drives workflows, decisions, and user interaction. At Qualcommโ€™s Snapdragon Summit in Maui, HUMAIN CEO Tareq Amin unveiled the Horizon Pro PC and the companyโ€™s agentic software layer, Humain One, which runs on top of Windows 11 and is slated for formal launch at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh.
Deutsche Telekom has launched 5G connectivity for the latest Apple Watch models using 3GPP RedCap over its 5G standalone network, marking a strategic first for Germanyโ€™s wearable market. This is one of the first mass-market RedCap launches tied to a high-volume consumer device, moving RedCap from trials and modules into mainstream adoption. It signals that 5G standalone is shifting from a technology milestone to a commercial differentiator, and that the wearables category is entering a new performance and battery-life phase beyond LTE-M and classic LTE. Expect accelerated RedCap adoption, intensified operator competition on SA coverage and certifications, and a new wave of enterprise-grade wearables built for 5G from the start.

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