GSMA Reports: India’s Next Digital Chapter Must Turn Scale into Economic Growth and Trust

India must transform its world leading mobile connectivity footprint into greater economic value while making trust a foundation of its digital economy, the GSMA said today as it launched three reports at India Mobile Congress 2026.

With around 1.2 billion active mobile connections and almost 450 million 5G connections, India has delivered connectivity at an unprecedented global scale. The GSMA’s new research identifies the next priorities needed to achieve India’s digital advancement: AI ready networks, faster enterprise digitisation, greater trust in digital services and open, interoperable global standards for 6G.

“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,” said Vivek Badrinath, Director General of the GSMA, during his keynote speech at IMC. “India’s next decade will be defined not simply by how many people are connected, but by what they can achieve through that connectivity. Digital trust is not simply a safeguard. It is infrastructure for growth.”

Turning digital scale into economic value

The GSMA’s India Ecosystem Insight Report: From Mobile Connectivity to Digital Infrastructure calls for India’s connectivity reach to be translated into AI ready infrastructure, stronger enterprise productivity and trusted digital services, supported by a sustainable investment environment.

The report identifies three priorities to get there:

• AI ready networks: India’s AI ambitions will require high capacity, secure, resilient and increasingly intelligent networks. AI can also improve network planning, energy efficiency, service assurance, cybersecurity and fraud detection.

• Enterprise digitisation: Fixed wireless access, private networks, cloud connectivity, network APIs and cybersecurity services can help businesses digitalise and create new opportunities for growth.

• Digital trust: Secure authentication, fraud prevention and privacy preserving network intelligence will become increasingly important as India’s digital economy expands.

Digital trust as a foundation for growth

The GSMA’s Digital Nations 2026: Building Trusted Digital Ecosystems in Asia Pacific assessed 22 countries across infrastructure, innovation, data governance, security and people. It identifies four foundations for digital trust: verifiable identities, authentic communications, resilient networks and the responsible sharing of trusted information.

India has made significant progress in digital infrastructure and security. The next opportunity is to build on this foundation to drive enterprise adoption, innovation and wider use of mobile internet services. This will require coordination across government, regulators, mobile operators, financial institutions and digital platforms. Mobile operators can contribute through identity verification, network security, fraud prevention, authentication and trusted intelligence sharing.

Turning trust into stronger consumer protection

The India Consumer Scam Report 2026: Permission Granted, Cases Still Open shows why delivering better outcomes for consumers matters.

In the survey, 12% of respondents reported being scammed during the previous year, while 72% said the growing risk of scams had changed their behaviour. Although 86% of victims reported their case to an organisation, 33% of reported cases remained unresolved and 67% of victims who lost money recovered none of it.

Trust was higher when institutions delivered results. Among respondents whose cases were resolved, 88% were comfortable with government using their data, compared with 64% of those whose cases remained unresolved.

The report calls for faster case resolution, better recovery and closer coordination between public authorities, banks, mobile operators and digital platforms.

Network APIs can provide an additional layer of protection. Indian operators including Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea (VI) support GSMA Open Gateway, which provides common technical frameworks for capabilities such as number verification and SIM swap signals.

Further work on trusted data sharing, network API signals and Open Verifiable Communications is progressing through the GSMA’s United Against Scams programme and the GSMA led Asia Pacific Cross Sector Anti Scam Taskforce (ACAST) which incorporates 39 organisations in 17 countries, including Airtel, Reliance Jio and VI.

India’s opportunity to shape global 6G

The reports also outline that India has an opportunity to play a leading role in the development of 6G technologies and global standards.

Mobile operators and industry partners across Asia Pacific, including the Bharat 6G Alliance, have signed the GSMA’s Tokyo Accord, a commitment to open, interoperable and trusted digital ecosystems for the 6G era.

“India’s global leadership can be manifested through innovation in building 6G, which is to be a truly global standard,” said Badrinath. “Open, interoperable and trusted global standards allow innovation to travel, so people and businesses everywhere can benefit”.

GSMA at India Mobile Congress 2026

The GSMA Pavilion in Hall 2, D30 will showcase work on digital trust, cross sector action against scams and network APIs through GSMA Open Gateway.

GSMA Fusion will bring together enterprises, operators and channel partners to explore the commercial potential of network APIs. Vivek Badrinath will deliver an opening keynote at 10.00 on 7 October, followed by a keynote from John Giusti, Chief Regulatory Officer of the GSMA, at 14.00 on 8 October.

About the GSMA

The GSMA is a global organisation unifying the mobile ecosystem to discover, develop and deliver innovation foundational to positive business environments and societal change. Its vision is to unlock the full potential of connectivity so that people, industry and society thrive. The GSMA represents mobile operators and organisations across the broader mobile ecosystem. Its work includes advancing policy, addressing societal challenges, supporting the technology and interoperability that make mobile services possible, and convening the industry through the MWC and M360 series of events.

Media contact

GSMA Press Office
pressoffice@gsma.com