Mukesh Ambani says India will be 5G-ready ahead of others; rivals rue high taxes, tariffs

The inaugural session of the India Mobile Congress 2018 on Thursday had the leaders of the telecom world presenting divergent narratives on the sector's health and future. Where Mukesh Ambani, who disrupted the industry with the launch of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, focussed on the opportunity and potential aspects, the leadership of the older telcos reportedly put the spotlight on high taxes and tariffs.

According to Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal, consolidation in the Indian telecom industry hasn't happened in an orderly way and had come at a heavy price with a whopping $50 billion (over Rs 3.66 lakh crore) being wiped off from the sector, The Economic Times reported.  The price wars unleashed by Reliance Jio not only eroded profitability but also forced smaller operators such as Aircel and Reliance Communications Ltd to shut down.

Meanwhile, Tata Teleservices and Telenor were acquired by Bharti Airtel Ltd, and Vodafone India and Idea Cellular recently merged to give India's telecom sector a new top cat after around 15 years. The Cellular Operators Association of India's (COAI) annual report for FY18 noted that the telecom operators are in "severe financial distress" with a cumulative debt of Rs 7.7-lakh crore and revenue under Rs 2.5 lakh crore.

Mittal added that the telecom sector was among "the most heavily taxed like the tobacco industry", and called for an early resolution both to this issue as well as to the spate of litigation between telcos and the government. Balesh Sharma who heads the country's largest telco, Vodafone Idea Ltd, reportedly took up a similar refrain and pointed out that the unaffordable tariffs meant that new services could not be launched.

On the other hand, Ambani was a lot more upbeat and said that India had witnessed the "fastest transition" from 2G/3G services to 4G anywhere in the world. He also pointed out that India has moved from the 155th rank in mobile broadband penetration to being the number one nation in mobile data consumption in the world in less than two years. "By 2020, I believe that India will be a fully-4G country and ready for 5G ahead of others," he added.

According to Mail Today, Ambani also spoke about Jio's new fibre-based broadband offering in his address, saying it will offer complete fixed-mobile convergence where Indians will travel seamlessly between mobile and fixed broadband networks 4G and 5G when on the move and Wi-Fi when indoors. He added that the move presents an opportunity to replicate India's success in mobile data consumption for fixed broadband as well. "I believe India will rise from a lowly 135th rank to be among the top three nations in fixed broadband at a pace that will surprise the world," the Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman said.

He, however, sounded a word of caution on data usage. "We have to be mindful that data is the most important resource in this new world. And India and Indians will generate a humongous amount of data. It is important that we utilise this rich resource for the benefit of India and Indians, with adequate safeguards," said Ambani.

Edited by Sushmita Choudhury Agarwal