INDIA IS TALKING 6G.CAN IT TURN CONNECTIVITY INTO A GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS?

 

India Mobile Congress 2026: the strategic question is no longer only connectivity, but technology ownership.

INDIA IS TALKING 6G.
CAN IT TURN CONNECTIVITY INTO A GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS?

At India Mobile Congress 2026, the conversation is moving beyond faster phones. India now wants AI-native networks, satellites, semiconductors, trusted digital infrastructure and eventually 6G.

By Murthy ASR  |  Biz Masala  |  October 7, 2026

The biggest thing at IMC 2026 isn't 6G

Walk into Yashobhoomi in New Delhi this week and the language is unmistakably futuristic: 6G, artificial intelligence, AI-native networks, satellites, quantum communications, semiconductors, robotics and cybersecurity.

The 10th India Mobile Congress runs October 7–10 under the theme “Scale Without Boundaries”. Official preparations point to 150,000+ attendees, 500+ exhibitors and partners, 600+ startups, 2,000+ technology use cases and 700+ investor meetings.

The IMC 2026 opportunity is an ecosystem: connectivity, AI, satellites, semiconductors, cloud, cybersecurity and startups converging around scale.

The story underneath the event

But beneath the technology spectacle is a much bigger economic question: Can India move from being one of the world's largest users of telecom technology to becoming one of its important creators, owners and exporters?

That is the real IMC 2026 story.

From a billion users to a technology powerhouse

Editorial visual: a mobile tower as the physical foundation of India's transition from 5G scale to 6G intelligence.

India has already accomplished something extraordinary. TRAI's latest performance data put the country's internet subscriber base at 1.093 billion at the end of March 2026, up from 1.029 billion at the end of December 2025. Broadband subscribers reached 1.066 billion.

India's internet subscriber base, Dec 2025 to Mar 2026. Source: TRAI.

The 5G question India hasn't finished answering

India has been extraordinarily successful at rolling out 5G. The next question is: Can anybody make serious money from it?

IMC's agenda is increasingly about 5G monetisation, Network-as-a-Service, satellite communications, direct-to-device connectivity and enterprise use cases.

The industry is moving from “How quickly can we deploy 5G?” to “What can we actually sell on top of it?”

The real 6G bet

India's 6G ambition is much larger than 6G phones. The Bharat 6G Alliance had grown to 90 members by July 2026, bringing together telecom operators, equipment manufacturers, startups, R&D institutions and academia.

The potential technology value stack: the higher India climbs—from equipment and chips into software, applications, standards and IP—the greater the potential value capture.

And that is why AI may matter more than 6G

The conversation is increasingly 5G + AI → intelligent networks → 6G. AI can optimise networks, predict congestion, detect fraud and allocate computing resources, while telecom networks can provide the cloud, edge and low-latency infrastructure needed to distribute AI across the economy.

The next telecom business is an ecosystem rather than a single network product.

The satellite wildcard

Satellite connectivity could blur the traditional distinction between mobile, broadband and satellite networks. For India, use cases extend from remote connectivity and disaster response to aviation, maritime, industrial IoT and strategic communications.

Digital trust is becoming infrastructure

The more valuable the network becomes, the more valuable it becomes to attack. Cybersecurity, identity, fraud prevention, resilience and digital trust therefore become economic issues—not merely technical ones.

The startup test

IMC's startup programme is designed to connect hundreds of startups and investors. The opportunity is broad: telecom software, AI network management, chips, optical technologies, cybersecurity, satellite systems, industrial IoT, edge computing and network APIs.

The difficult journey is prototype → product → customer → scale → export → global brand.

India's biggest advantage—and biggest risk

India's advantage is scale: more than a billion internet users, a huge mobile market, rapid 5G adoption, a large software talent pool and growing semiconductor ambitions.

The risk is equally clear: India could become an enormous market for somebody else's technology.

That is the distinction between being a technology market and a technology power. The first buys. The second designs, owns and exports.

The Biz Masala verdict

India Mobile Congress 2026 arrives at an important moment. The country's telecom revolution has completed its first great mission: connect India.

The next mission is harder: monetise India. The mission after that is harder still: build technology for the world.

India doesn't need another billion connected people to prove its digital success. It needs the companies, intellectual property and products that can turn those billion connections into global economic power.

— Murthy ASR
Biz Masala

 

Biz Masala Scorecard

Measure

What India needs to prove

Intellectual property

More globally relevant telecom patents and standards contributions.

Products

Indian-designed telecom, semiconductor and network-software products.

Enterprise monetisation

Revenue beyond consumer data: industry, cloud, edge and network APIs.

Exports

Indian telecom technology sold at meaningful scale outside India.

Startups

More companies surviving the journey from prototype to global business.

Trust

Secure, resilient and fraud-resistant digital infrastructure.

Sources & editorial notes

• Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Communications — IMC 2026 final preparations and scale.

• TRAI — Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report, quarter ended March 2026.

• India Mobile Congress 2026 official website — programme, themes and scale.

• Business Standard — IMC 2026 focus on 6G, AI-native telecom, 5G monetisation, satellite communications and cybersecurity.

• Editorial graphics in this edition are original Biz Masala visuals created for the story.

Image note: The tower visual is an original Biz Masala editorial illustration created for this article; it is not a photograph of a specific telecom site.

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