In this episode of the Outlook Business Podcast, Parag Kar, a leading telecom expert, sits down with Deepsekhar Choudhury, Associate Editor, Outlook Business, to unpack some of the biggest questions shaping India’s telecom landscape today. <br /><br />The conversation explores how Indian operators are relying on partnerships with global satellite players instead of building a sovereign satcom infrastructure, and what the economic and security risks of this dependency could be. Parag also explains the complexities of developing indigenous capabilities and why it is such a difficult and costly endeavour. <br /><br />On the consumer side, the episode delves into the persistent challenge of 5G implementation in full force and monetisation in India, why telcos are struggling to translate network upgrades into revenue, and why users have not experienced a significant speed jump from 4G to 5G in their daily lives. Has consumer internet speed plateaued, or are there still leaps ahead waiting to be made? <br /><br />Finally, Parag reflects on how Indian telecom has effectively become a duopoly, what keeps new players from entering such a high-stakes market, and whether BSNL can have a meaningful role in the sector’s future. <br /><br />This is a deep, insightful conversation on the intersection of technology, business, and geopolitics in India’s telecom sector—one you don’t want to miss.
