As the world moves towards realizing the power of 6G, Manoj Gurnani, CTO of Nokia, cautions not to let the hype surrounding this new technology decide the monetary expectations, as he shared his thoughts at Convergence India Expo, 2025 at Pragati Maidan, Bharat Mandapam. He says, “It must be understood that these things take time. In all fairness, Indian telcos are getting good monetary returns.” He calls monetization one of the biggest narratives running across these days in the telecom sector. 

Building on his previous statements, he adds, “ To decide about monetization, it's important to decide its definition. Whether it's about return on capital employed or an increase in profit or anything else?” He goes on to analyze the financials of Indian telcos, ranging from their evaluation to their Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) and their Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA).

Indian telcos are Making Good Profits. 

He says, ”All the Indian telcos have already crossed the 100 billion USD mark, their EBITDA is in the range of 50 percent, and their ARPU has been growing significantly as compared to the last 10 years.” He goes on to mention two areas that have received good monetary returns in India’s telecom sector, which are Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) and APRU. Fixed Wireless Access is a technology that delivers broadband internet connectivity wirelessly to homes and businesses using 4G or 5G radio signals. 

He says that the telcos have seen a significant increase in APRU owing to the significant transition of people from 4G technology to 5G technology, owing to the better speed of the internet connectivity with 5G. 

To read what C-DoT's RK Upadhyay said at CISCI 2025 about India's 6G plans, click here! 

The success of the Enterprise Segment 

Mr. Gurnani says, “The main issue where we lacked in the enterprise segment was the ecosystem,” as he discusses the lessons learned from 5G development and expansion. He says that the connectivity part, being the basic, is the least part of the same. The surrounding structure to make optimum use of the same has to be developed accordingly to allow for the deemed network expansion. 

Finally, he also hints at the problems arising out of the existing structure of guidelines under the Captive Non-Public Network (CNPN) License that have restrained the growth of enterprise networks in India.

Lessons for 6G 

Mr. Gurnani goes on to share the lessons to be followed as the world and India move towards 6G. He says, “ First, we need to align our expectations with reality; second, the transition from 5G to 6G must be made as simple and easy as possible to enable a seamless transition, thus expanding new network technology rapidly.” He even suggests that the industry expand target market segments to reach software developers who are still dormant as a telecom target market, as he addresses the audience at the Convergence India Expo, 2025.

Read about the recent success of India's telecom regulator at: As Telcos Release Coverage Maps, You Can Finally Gain Clarity and Control

Convergence India, 2025 

The 32nd Convergence India expo, held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, emerged as a pivotal platform for shaping India's tech-driven future. This event showcased a vast array of networking opportunities and hosted over 45 conference sessions featuring 220 speakers from both the public and private sectors. It brought together industry leaders, innovators, and government representatives to discuss emerging technologies and market trends.