Boost R&D or lag in 6G race, MoS Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani tells telcos as revenues surge

New Delhi: The minister of state for communications Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani urged Indian telecom operators to increase their research and development (R&D) spending to shape the future of next generation mobile networks.

Telco spending on R&D remains low despite the telecom sector revenue crossing ₹3.72 lakh crore in 2024-25, the minister said, adding that domestic players deploy only a fraction of their earnings on R&D unlike multinational companies such as Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm and Samsung.

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He was speaking at an event organised by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).

"Global equipment majors, Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung, invest 15% to 25% of revenues in R&D every year. That is how they write standards. That is how they own the patents," Pemmasani said.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti said the government is actively preparing for the future through the Bharat 6G Vision, which aims at integrating cutting-edge technologies such as terahertz spectrum, native networks and quantum communication.

To foster innovation, Trai has recommended creating a regulatory sandbox for testing new applications and allowing licence-exempt R&D testing in the 100-200 GHz terahertz range, Lahoti said.

Frameworks have also been established for machine-to-machine communications, critical Internet of Things services and captive private 5G networks geared toward industrial automation, he said.

Also read: Telcos test waters with smaller tariff hikes before big one

Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea chief executive Abhijit Kishore, speaking on the sidelines of the event, said the telecom operator is doing everything to improve the performance of the company, which was reflected in subscriber additions it saw in February and March.

Kishore said the telco will make minor changes in its tariff plans but has no plans for an across-the-board hike in tariffs.

Bharti Airtel's chief technology officer Randeep Sekhon highlighted the impact of supply chain disruption on telecom equipment procurement. He said the component shortage, especially of memory modules, has led to an increase in equipment costs from its vendors.

"There is a price increase because of memory which is impacting deployment wherever we use servers and memory," Sekhon said.