Satcom, Vodafone Idea Survival, Online Frauds Keep Telecom Sector Abuzz in 2025

 Entry of new communications service providers in the form of satcom created a spark in the sector with Elon Musk-led Starlink getting permission to start services but pending security clearance and delay in decision over spectrum pricing have pushed its potential roll out to the next year.

Union telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told PTI that satcom services, which were earlier a figment of imagination, will be a reality soon.

"We have given out three licences. You are looking at, hopefully, very soon, the pricing norm coming out for administratively assigned spectrum and that satellite technology being also offered in our bouquet of offerings to the public," Scindia said.

Entry of Starlink is expected to add to the competition in the premium segment, which is dominated by telecom operators -- mainly Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.

The government has been making an effort to revive Vodafone Idea (VIL) and BSNL to check the market from getting into a duopoly and continue to keep the market competitive to protect the interest of consumers.

VIL in its petition before the Supreme Court had said liability based on adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of the company was ₹83,400 crore as of March 31, 2025 and it has to pay ₹18,000 crore annually starting from March 2026 for the next six years.

The company said due to the enormous AGR liability and no bank funding, its "very survival is under peril".

A CLSA report in December said the government will likely consider waiver of interest (at least in part) and penalties and interest on penalties that make up a bulk of AGR dues. Relief may also include the government expanding a moratorium on AGR payments.

While doing so, the government also needs to strike a balance between loss to the national exchequer, level-playing between telecom operators and interest of consumers.

In the meantime, the government's bet on BSNL and revival plan seems to have paid off.

The state-run telecommunications company posted two consecutive quarters of profit and has started gaining subscribers with the launch of 4G services.

The government spent on BSNL capex and rural broadband projects, providing a lifeline to telecom gear makers, especially indigenous players.

Industry body Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), Director General SP Kochhar said 2025 saw a sharper focus on resilience.

"Domestic manufacturing gained momentum under Make-in-India and PLI schemes, enabling nearly 60% import substitution in telecom products and turning India into an emerging exporter of 4G and 5G equipment. Moreover, telecom exports from India have increased by 72% in the last 5 years, increasing to ₹18,406 crore in FY25, from ₹10,000 crore in FY21," he said.

HFCL Managing Director Mahendra Nahata said the telecommunications infrastructure landscape has reached a critical threshold where capacity, density, and deployment speed determine competitive advantage.

"India installed over 5 lakh 5G base stations, achieving 85% population coverage, while total wireless data reached 65,009 petabytes in the second quarter of 2025 -- an unprecedented surge that makes fiberisation not optional but existential for network quality," he said.

HFCL has emerged as the first company in India to design, develop, and manufacture 5G fixed wireless access equipment for giga-speed wireless broadband connectivity.

GX Group CEO Paritosh Prajapati said demand resilience, policy continuity, and manufacturing scale met industry expectations in 2025.

"However, faster execution, especially in approvals and compliance would have accelerated localisation and capex deployment further. Stronger demand-side support for domestically manufactured products could also have helped deepen the ecosystem," he said.

Private telecom operators reduced the capex from the peak investment they made in 2024 for the rollout of 5G services as they failed to monetise the high speed data services while the data usage continued to grow.

During the year, private telecom operators discontinued the 1GB per day usage offer from entry level plans to push subscribers to pay higher for data services.

The recent investment of around $78 billion comprising $35 billion by Amazon, $17.5 billion by Microsoft, $15 billion by Google and USD 11 billion by Digital Connexion in mainly AI infrastructure are expected to boost telcos revenue in the enterprise segment.

Another potential revenue from 5G captive network couldn’t pick up the steam due to issues around spectrum pricing, access policy, and execution clarity.

Tidal Wave CEO Ankit Dixit said private 5G has seen limited but steady progress in 2025, mainly through pilots and early commercial deployments in airports, ports, manufacturing, and mining.

According to the Ericsson Mobility Report, average mobile data usage touched 36 GB per month in India and fixed wireless access services also grew steadily with subscribers rising to 13.18 million in October.

The growth in data connectivity during the year also saw cyber criminals riding on the network to dupe people using miscellaneous.

The Department of Telecom allocated significant resources in working out on technology stack to prevent online financial frauds.

However, its push for mandatory installation of apps to fight online frauds backfired with sections of society, Opposition leaders, etc, terming it as a move by the government to spy on citizens leading to withdrawal of the order.