As the world observes World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2026, NCN celebrates the transformative power of resilient connectivity, secure digital infrastructure, and next-generation telecom innovations shaping India’s connected future. Industry leaders share their insights on strengthening digital lifelines, fostering inclusive growth, and building a smarter, secure, and future-ready communication ecosystem.
Ms. Vibha Mehra, Country Manager, Nokia India
“India is emerging as one of the world’s most dynamic digital economies, driven by rapid advances in connectivity, AI and cloud. As networks evolve from simply connecting people to enabling intelligent digital ecosystems, the need for secure, resilient, and high-performance infrastructure becomes even more critical. At Nokia, our technology is an essential enabler of the AI supercycle, a transformation reshaping connectivity demand across industries and societies. In this digital era, our subsea network solutions power many of the world’s longest fiber optic cable systems, strengthening scalable and resilient connectivity across oceans and continents. As a trusted and reliable global provider of secure and advanced connectivity, Nokia remains committed to helping build the resilient digital infrastructure that will support the scale, speed, and reliability India’s connected future demands.”
Mr. Manpreet Singh, Co-Founder & Principal Consultant at 5Tattva
“As telecommunications networks evolve into the foundation of modern economies, governance, and daily life, protecting digital communication infrastructure has emerged as a national imperative. The swift growth of connected ecosystems, AI-powered technologies, and cloud-based communication platforms is reshaping global interactions, but it is simultaneously expanding the surface area for cyber threats.
Sustainable digital progress demands robust telecom infrastructure, forward-looking cybersecurity strategies, and ongoing partnership between technology vendors, businesses, and regulators. As communication systems grow more interconnected, organizations need to prioritize network defense against emerging threats while safeguarding uninterrupted access, user privacy, and public trust.
India’s digital trajectory hinges not just on broadening connectivity, but on cultivating secure and self-sufficient telecommunications ecosystems that can fuel innovation, drive economic growth, and enable inclusive digital transformation.”
Lt. Gen. Dr. S.P. Kochhar, Director General, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI)
“Telecom networks today are no longer just enabling communication, they have evolved into a value-added horizontal supporting every major sector of the economy. From UPI transactions and digital governance to healthcare, logistics, manufacturing and enterprise operations, India’s real-time digital economy now runs on resilient telecom infrastructure. As India moves towards AI-native networks, 6G and an increasingly platform-driven economy, digital resilience must become a national priority. India’s rapid 5G rollout, growing fiberisation, expanding digital public infrastructure and rising technology adoption collectively have provided a strong foundation for this next phase of digital growth. At the same time, the responsibility of building and sustaining robust digital infrastructure cannot rest only on telecom operators. As an increasingly integrated horizontal digital communications ecosystem influences all verticals, participants who gain significantly from this ecosystem, such as Large Traffic Generators whose platforms drive massive data consumption and monetization, must also contribute fairly to strengthening the underlying network ecosystem. India’s digital growth story will ultimately depend on sustained investments in the connectivity backbone powering it.”
Lt. Gen. AK Bhatt (Retd.), Director General, Indian Space Association (ISpA)
“As we commemorate the World Telecom Day, it is clear that resilient connectivity cannot rely on terrestrial networks alone. Satellite communications will complement terrestrial infrastructure by ensuring seamless connectivity in remote areas, disaster-hit regions, and during network disruptions. The convergence of satellite and terrestrial networks will create a more robust and secure communications ecosystem supporting critical sectors such as emergency response, aviation, maritime, governance and digital services, while strengthening India’s resilient digital future. At the same time, for India to fully realize the potential of satellite communications and ensure that the opportunity to emerge as a global leader in the satcom ecosystem is not lost, there is a need for faster regulatory clearances, streamlined licensing frameworks, and timely spectrum assignment mechanisms. Continued policy alignment and single-window coordination across stakeholders will be critical to accelerate deployment, encourage investments and strengthen India’s position in the evolving global satcom ecosystem.”
Mr. Agendra Kumar, Managing Director, Esri India
“The future of telecom depends not only on connectivity, but on the ability to create resilient, adaptive, and spatially intelligent digital infrastructure. In this transformation, GIS serves as the foundation for planning, optimizing, and managing next-generation networks through precise geospatial insights and digital infrastructure mapping. GeoAI can further strengthen these digital lifelines by enabling real-time spatial intelligence, predictive analytics, autonomous network operations, and faster response to disruptions and evolving connectivity demands. At Esri India, we view location intelligence as the essential blueprint for building digital lifelines that can withstand disruption and ensure seamless connectivity for all. Using technologies like GIS and GeoAI, India can build secure, inclusive, and intelligent communication ecosystems that leave no community behind.”
Mr. Rajesh Chandiramani, CEO, Comviva
“At a time when digital services are becoming deeply embedded in everyday life, the resilience of communications networks is no longer just about connectivity, but about ensuring continuity of critical digital experiences. Building resilient digital ecosystems will require closer integration of intelligent networks, cloud-native architectures, AI-led platforms, and secured infrastructures to ensure uninterrupted service delivery even during the periods of network stress or disruption. Strengthening this services layer will be critical to enabling trusted and inclusive digital economies globally. At Comviva, we are working closely with telecom operators globally to build agile and scalable agentic applications and Agentic digital platforms that enable secure, always-on rich customer experiences across their digital transformation journey.”
Mr. Amol Phadke, Chief Transformation Officer, Tech Mahindra
“Communications Service Providers are at a pivotal inflection point, where connectivity is no longer just an enabler but the foundation for unlocking a wider spectrum of possibilities across industries and societies. As networks evolve, value is shifting to the intersection of intelligence, experience, and ecosystems, reshaping how businesses and communities engage in a digital-first world. Amid rising demand for capacity and pressure on monetization and experience, the industry is transitioning from connectivity-led models to platform-driven, ecosystem-centric growth. AI, cloud-native architectures, open APIs, and edge are accelerating this shift. This year’s World Telecommunication and Information Society Day highlights the importance of secure, resilient, intelligent connectivity in an AI-driven era. At Tech Mahindra, we are enabling this shift through our Grow, Empower, and Transform approach, helping to build intelligent, future-ready networks that unlock the full spectrum of digital value.”
Mr. Gautam Sharma, Managing Director, Viasat India
“As economies, public services, and critical infrastructure are becoming increasingly dependent on uninterrupted connectivity, the importance of building resilient and always-available communication networks has never been greater. Satellite communications are emerging as a critical extension to terrestrial infrastructure, enabling reliable connectivity in geographically challenging regions, during natural disasters, and in situations where traditional networks may face disruptions. Viasat India has been a longstanding partner supporting India’s strategic and mission-critical communications requirements across defense, maritime, aviation and government networks, reinforcing the importance of integrated satellite-terrestrial architectures. We believe India should adopt a clear, technology-neutral framework for satellite services, including MSS-enabled mobility and direct-to-device applications, along with practical gateway and market-access rules that support secure deployment and investment.”
Mr. Pankaj Malik, CEO & Whole-time Director, Invenia-STL Networks
“With telecom, the focus is moving beyond connectivity to the quality and intelligence of networks. India has built a strong foundation through large-scale fibre rollouts and programmes like BharatNet. The next phase will be defined by deeper fiberization, resilient infrastructure, and low-latency networks that can support real-time, data-intensive applications. As digital adoption accelerates, fibre will remain central to enabling scalable and future-ready networks. For communication service providers (CSPs), the opportunity goes beyond bandwidth delivery to support enterprise transformation, AI-led workloads and emerging digital services. What will become critical is how core and edge architectures converge to deliver performance, security, and agility at scale. At Invenia-STL Networks, we see this as a pivotal shift. The opportunity now is to build infrastructure that not only bridges the digital divide, but also powers India’s next wave of innovation, unlocking value closer to where data is generated and consumed.”
Mr. Rahul Tandon, Senior Vice President, IDEMIA Secure Transaction
“On World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, we celebrate something far greater than technology: the power of trusted connectivity to drive inclusion, strengthen economies, and shape the digital societies of tomorrow. India stands at a defining moment in its digital journey. As the nation accelerates toward a hyper-connected future, technologies such as IoT, eSIM, and quantum-safe security are rapidly becoming foundational to building resilient, trusted, and future-ready digital ecosystems. At IDEMIA Secure Transactions, we believe the future of connectivity must be secure by design. Our investments in advanced eSIM solutions, IoT security, and next-generation quantum-safe cryptography reflect our commitment to helping enterprises and telecom operators prepare for emerging cyber threats before they become realities. From enabling seamless global IoT connectivity and smart infrastructure to securing digital transactions and connected mobility, our focus remains clear: delivering technologies where security, scalability, and simplicity work together to create trusted digital experiences at scale. As 5G expands, connected devices multiply, and AI reshapes industries, trust will become the defining currency of the digital economy. The networks of tomorrow will only be as strong as the security embedded into them today. IDEMIA Secure Transactions remains committed to partnering with enterprises and telecom operators to build digital networks that are not only faster and more connected, but also secure, sustainable, and resilient for the future.”
Mr. Avinash Gabriel, Senior Vice President – Carrier Business, Tata Teleservices Limited
“In today’s increasingly digital and distributed environment, connectivity has evolved into a critical business and economic enabler. Enterprises across sectors are relying on resilient telecom infrastructure not only to support communication, but also to power cloud ecosystems, enable real-time collaboration, and drive AI-led innovation and digital operations.
At Tata Teleservices, we are witnessing growing demand from businesses for integrated and secure connectivity frameworks that can support cloud adoption, distributed workforces, and data-intensive applications with greater agility and reliability. As organisations accelerate adoption of cloud platforms, intelligent applications, and hybrid work environments, the need for secure, high-capacity, and low-latency networks continues to grow rapidly.
Telecom networks today are central to ensuring operational continuity, seamless customer experiences, and faster decision-making across connected ecosystems. Building resilience in this environment requires more than just network availability, it calls for intelligent and secure digital infrastructure capable of supporting mission-critical workloads at scale. Technologies such as SD-WAN, edge connectivity, private networks, and cloud-integrated infrastructure are helping enterprises create adaptive digital environments that can respond effectively to evolving business demands in real time.
This year’s World Telecommunication and Information Society Day theme ‘Digital lifelines: Strengthening resilience in a connected world’ highlights the importance of collaborative and future-ready connectivity ecosystems in enabling sustainable digital growth. As India advances towards a more connected economy, stronger collaboration across telecom providers, cloud ecosystems, and technology partners will play a vital role in building inclusive, resilient, and secure digital infrastructure for businesses and communities alike.”
Mr. Ashish Kumar, Managing Director, OptiValue Tek
“Communication technologies today are shaping a smarter, safer, and more connected world by driving innovation across governance, infrastructure, enterprises, and everyday life. From AI-driven systems and secure digital networks to emerging technologies like drones and smart infrastructure, connectivity has become a key enabler of progress and inclusive growth.
At OptiValue Tek, we believe telecommunications is not just about connecting devices and systems, but about empowering communities, enabling opportunities, and creating meaningful impact through technology. As the digital ecosystem continues to evolve, the focus must remain on building secure, scalable, and future-ready solutions that strengthen trust, bridge digital divides, and support sustainable development for businesses, governments, and society alike.”
Covered By: NCN MAGAZINE / World Telecom Day
If you have an interesting Article / Report/case study to share, please get in touch with us at editors@roymediative.com , roy@roymediative.com, 9811346846/ 9625243429
