India's top government officials, telecom regulators, and industry leaders converged at the COAI DigiCom Summit 2026 in New Delhi on Saturday, April 25, unanimously calling for a secure, resilient, and AI-driven digital ecosystem powered by next-generation telecom networks, including 5G and the emerging 6G framework. The high-profile summit underscored India's ambition to position itself as a global digital infrastructure powerhouse.

Government's Call for Digital Trust and Security

Manish Sinha, Member (Finance) at the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), addressed the critical issue of digital trust, warning that the rapid expansion of 5G and digital services brings heightened responsibilities around security and accountability. He stressed that safeguarding citizens in the digital age requires stronger regulatory frameworks and coordinated action across all stakeholders.

Sinha specifically flagged the growing menace of spam and digital fraud, calling for a unified, multi-stakeholder response. His remarks come at a time when India has witnessed an alarming surge in cyber fraud cases, with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) recording losses worth thousands of crores annually — a challenge that grows proportionally with digital adoption.

India's 6G Readiness and Spectrum Strategy

NK Bhola, Wireless Advisor, highlighted India's steady momentum towards a digitally empowered future, anchored by advancements in 4G and 5G infrastructure. He confirmed that the country is actively preparing for a 6G-ready ecosystem, signalling India's intent to not be a late mover in the next wave of global connectivity.

Bhola emphasised efficient spectrum management as a cornerstone of this vision, alongside the growing role of artificial intelligence in predictive maintenance and dynamic spectrum utilisation. Notably, India's 6G Technology Innovation Group under the DoT has already published a technology vision document, setting a target for 6G deployment by 2030.

Sajan Paul, General Manager at Hewlett Packard Enterprise Networking India, elaborated on how AI is fundamentally transforming network architecture and operations, with increasing focus on edge computing and the emergence of agentic AI — autonomous AI systems capable of making real-time decisions — to enable more intelligent and efficient telecom systems.

Intelligent Networks, IoT and Real-Time Applications

A dedicated panel discussion on building intelligent and scalable networks brought together senior leaders from India's major telecom companies. Participants stressed that future networks will be increasingly AI-led, demanding robust, energy-efficient infrastructure and deeper industry collaboration to support emerging use cases across Internet of Things (IoT) and real-time applications.

The consensus was clear: 5G Advanced and the evolution towards 6G will drive exponential demand for higher bandwidth and novel use cases, requiring proactive policy support and sustainable monetisation models to attract continued investments. This is particularly significant as India's telecom sector has seen consolidation down to three major private players — Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea — making network investment decisions critically consequential for the entire ecosystem.

Bridging the Digital Divide: Tier 2 and Tier 3 Cities in Focus

Dr. Devesh Tyagi, Chief Executive Officer of the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), highlighted a landmark milestone: India has surpassed 1 billion internet users, a figure that places the country among the most connected nations on earth. He noted that the next phase of digital growth will be driven by Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, where digital penetration still lags significantly behind metro centres.

Dr. Tyagi underlined the critical role of ISPs, peer-to-peer (P2P) providers, and content delivery networks (CDNs) in ensuring that citizens in smaller cities receive services at par with those in metropolitan areas. This focus on digital equity is central to the government's broader Digital India mission, which aims to bridge the urban-rural digital divide by 2026.

Building India's Digital Infrastructure Value Chain

Speakers at the summit also spotlighted the urgent need to strengthen India's digital infrastructure value chain — encompassing the expansion of fibre optic networks, strategic investments in submarine cables, and building domestic AI compute capacity to support emerging technologies. India currently relies heavily on foreign-owned submarine cable infrastructure, a strategic vulnerability that policymakers are now actively seeking to address.

The summit concluded with a broad consensus: India is well-positioned to emerge as a global digital infrastructure hub, backed by its unparalleled scale, deep talent pool, and supportive policy environment. However, sustained and structured collaboration between the government, industry, and global technology partners will be the decisive factor in realising this vision.

With the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) expected to release updated spectrum pricing recommendations and the DoT advancing its BharatNet Phase III rollout, the next 12–18 months will be pivotal in determining whether India's digital ambitions translate into ground-level infrastructure reality.