India Mobile Congress 2018: Sunil Mittal Says Spectrum Must Be More Affordable 

Heads of the country's top telecom firms will share the dais during the India Mobile Congress from Oct. 25-27, where these companies are expected to discuss critical issues facing the industry.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. Chairman Mukesh Ambani, Bharti Airtel Ltd. Chairman Sunil Mittal, Vodafone Idea Ltd. Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla will all be part of the inaugural session today.

The second edition of the three-day India Mobile Congress will focus on BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) region telecom sector.

Cellular Operators Association of India Director General Rajan Mathews said that delegates from the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and the European Union have confirmed participation in the event.

(With inputs from PTI)

• 10:00 a.m.: Reliance Jio Chairman Mukesh Ambani and Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal (1000 hrs)
• 2:00 p.m.: Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha

The telecom sector continues to be highly-taxed just like tobacco industry, and the issue of high levy needs to be resolved, Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal said on Thursday.

Speaking at the inaugural session of India Mobile Congress 2018, Mittal said the National Digital Communications Policy, like the previous telecom policy, clearly acknowledges that revenue maximisation is not the objective.

"There is also one overarching objective of previous policy and also enshrined in NDCP that revenue maximisation is not the objective...Then why operators and Department of Telecom are under litigation for revenue maximisation," Mittal said.

Here are the other highlights from Sunil Mittal’s address:

• India needs to ensure that telecom manufacturing facilities are shifted here.
• Urge government to come up with consultations on making fiber a national asset.
• Spectrum needs to be more affordable.
• Delighted by the National Digital Communications Policy; it captures all the issues troubling the telecom sector.
• The industry must sit together and start implementing what the NDCP lays out.

Here are the other highlights from Mukesh Ambani's address:

• Personally excited about the promise of bringing digital revolution to India's villages.
• Jio committed to building deep fibre technology across the country.
• India can be among top three countries in the coming years in fixed mobile data consumption.
• India to be among largest digital markets in the world.
• Need to reinvent and nurture this market to the fullest.