When will 6G come to India and how will it benefit common mobile users? Bharti Enterprises Chairman Sunil Mittal has said a big thing about this. He has expressed hope that 6G will come in India by 2030. In a special conversation with Rahul Kanwal, Editor-in-Chief of NDTV Group in NDTV’s special program ‘Walk the Talk’, he also expressed his views on the future of the telecom sector, Airtel’s new business and satellite communication.
6G may come to India by 2030
According to Sunil Mittal, after the arrival of 6G, the network will not only be limited to calls and internet, but it will also develop as a sensing network. He said that the situation in terms of high-quality radio signals in India is better than Britain and America.
Exclusive | NDTV’s Editor-in-Chief @RahulKanwal speaks with Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, on whether AI investment is overheating and if a bubble is building as more than $730 billion is invested globally in AI infrastructure this year. @ParmeshwarBawa Watch Full Episode Tonight 9PM
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According to him, consumers are getting the benefits of digital connectivity and the prices of calls as well as data are still quite low. However, he said that in view of the increasing need for digital facilities, customers should be ready to pay more for it.
Time for Airtel to enter new business
Mittal said that Airtel’s balance sheet is strong and the company has good cash flow. In such a situation, now is the right time to step into new business. He told that every company comes to a time when it has to change its way of working. Airtel had also taken early steps towards becoming a fixed line operator from the first mobile operator.
Eye on financial services and data centers
Sunil Mittal expressed enthusiasm about Airtel’s financial services business. He told that Airtel Money has about 40 crore customers in Africa. At the same time, Airtel Payments Bank in India has been performing well for many years and is profitable. The revenue of the bank is around Rs 4,000 crore and deposits are also around Rs 4,000 crore. However, being a payments bank, it cannot give loans.
Airtel also sees a big opportunity in the data center business. Mittal said that the company is not yet at the forefront in its data center business, but its position is strong in terms of connectivity. Airtel also provides connectivity to other data centers. He expects that two to four big companies will emerge in the data center sector in India and Airtel will be included among them.
Dominance of two-three companies in telecom sector
Mittal said that in most countries of the world, the telecom sector is moving towards two to three operators. He also said that companies should have enough financial strength to invest when the next technology like 6G comes.
No worries about satellite phones
On satellite communication, Mittal said that he is not worried about satellite telephony in India. OneWeb has limited capacity for this service and is expected to generate very little revenue. On the delay in getting approval for Elon Musk’s Starlink, he said, “We have been waiting for approval longer than Musk.”
Source: ndtv.in
