India must urgently prioritise AI-ready networks, faster enterprise digitisation, stronger digital trust, and open interoperable global standards for 6G to convert its world-leading mobile connectivity base into sustained economic value, the GSMA said on 7 October 2026. The industry body's statement, issued from New Delhi, called on India to transform its digital scale into innovation and enterprise growth.

Scale Must Now Translate Into Outcomes

India currently commands approximately 1.2 billion active mobile connections and nearly 450 million 5G connections — a connectivity footprint that few nations can match. Yet the GSMA argued that sheer scale is no longer sufficient.

Vivek Badrinath, Director General of the GSMA, said: 'India has demonstrated that it can deliver digital scale. The opportunity now is to turn that scale into innovation, enterprise growth and trusted digital services.' Badrinath added that India's next decade will be defined not by how many people are connected, but by the outcomes that connectivity delivers.

AI Ambitions Demand Intelligent, Resilient Networks

The GSMA's statement emphasised that India's growing ambitions in artificial intelligence will require networks that are high-capacity, secure, resilient, and increasingly intelligent. According to the statement, AI can simultaneously improve network planning, energy efficiency, service assurance, cybersecurity, and fraud detection — making AI-network integration a two-way enabler rather than a one-directional demand.

This comes amid a broader global race in which governments and private operators are investing heavily to future-proof connectivity infrastructure ahead of the 6G rollout cycle expected later this decade.

Enterprise Digitisation and the Role of Private Networks

On enterprise digitisation, the chamber highlighted that technologies such as fixed wireless access, private networks, cloud connectivity, network APIs, and cybersecurity services can help businesses digitalise and unlock new growth channels. The GSMA noted that enterprise productivity gains — not consumer connectivity alone — will determine the long-term economic return on India's digital investment.

Notably, secure authentication, fraud prevention, and privacy-preserving network intelligence are expected to become increasingly critical as India's digital economy expands and more sensitive financial and personal data moves onto digital rails.

Digital Trust as Infrastructure, Not Just Safeguard

A recurring theme in the GSMA's assessment was the framing of digital trust not as a compliance requirement but as foundational infrastructure. Badrinath stressed that trust underpins every layer of the digital economy — from consumer adoption to cross-border data flows — and must be embedded into India's digital architecture from the outset.

The industry body called for a sustainable investment environment to support these transitions, signalling that regulatory clarity and spectrum economics will be as important as technology choices.

India and the Tokyo Accord for 6G

Looking ahead, mobile operators and industry partners across the Asia Pacific region — including the Bharat 6G Alliance — have signed the GSMA's Tokyo Accord, a formal commitment to building open, interoperable, and trusted digital ecosystems for the 6G era. India's participation positions it as a standard-setter rather than a standard-taker in the next generation of mobile technology.

With 5G adoption still accelerating and 6G policy frameworks taking shape globally, how India balances investment incentives, regulatory architecture, and AI integration in its networks over the next three to five years will be closely watched.