Jio, Airtel, Vi to get less profit from 5G! Is 6G launch sure to be delayed?
The launch of 6G technology may be delayed due to lack of revenue generation from 5G service and low return on investment (RoI) to telecom operators. Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) Director General SP Kochhar told in a press conference that recently there was an intense discussion on this topic in the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2025, where it came to light that telecom companies should take contribution from communication over the top (OTT) platforms to reduce the burden of investment on network infrastructure. Mr. Kochhar says that if solid use cases of 5G do not emerge in the next 2-3 years, then the launch of 6G service may slip after 2030.
According to Business Standard, Mr. Kochhar said in the press briefing, the average RoI of telecom companies in India is only 4%, making it difficult for them to make large-scale new investments. COAI represents private telecom companies like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi). The organization believes that due to the heavy data traffic generated by OTT services, telecom companies have to make large investments to maintain their networks. In such a situation, 4-5 large traffic generating OTT platforms should pay telecom companies in the form of ‘Fair Share Charge’ (FSC).
He further said that representatives of many countries at MWC agreed that 11 telecom operators have closed down due to lack of profit in recent years and this number may increase. He said that OTT platforms are not yet sharing revenue with telecom companies at the global level. Support for this demand is also increasing in Europe, America and Southeast Asia.
According to global mobile industry body GSMA, telecom companies have spent 85% of the total network investment (about $109 billion), which does not include end-user devices. Also, the increasing expenditure on technologies like GPU and AI and the lack of immediate monetization of 5G are also a matter of concern.
In his press brief, Mr. Kochhar further said that Indian telecom companies have placed orders for graphics processing units (GPUs) and will soon include them in their network infrastructure. GPUs are being used extensively for data analytics, network optimization and managing AI-driven services. According to him, the efficiency of telecom networks is increasing through AI and unnecessary expenses are also being reduced.
