Indian telecom sector eyes AI-led revenue boom

Indian telecom and network service providers are increasingly viewing artificial intelligence (AI) as more than a technology upgrade, with many expecting AI-driven services to emerge as a significant source of revenue in the coming years, according to a survey conducted by network technology company Ciena.

The survey found that 67% of Indian service providers strongly believe AI-driven network services will become a major contributor to revenue growth over the next three to five years. Another 27% of respondents somewhat agreed with the outlook.

Conducted by Censuswide for Ciena, the survey covered 1,200 telecom providers, wholesale fibre operators and regional service providers across 12 markets, including 100 respondents from India.

One of the key opportunities for telecom companies will come from connecting the rapidly expanding network of AI data centres and computing clusters. As businesses deploy AI infrastructure across multiple locations, they will require high-speed, reliable connectivity capable of handling large volumes of data.

AI workloads are also expected to drive greater movement of data between different cloud platforms, creating opportunities for telecom providers to offer cloud connectivity and bandwidth as services.

According to the survey, 58% of Indian respondents expect to generate revenue by managing multi-cloud connectivity, while another 58% see consumption-based bandwidth services as a potential revenue stream.

This points to a shift in the traditional telecom business model from simply selling network connectivity to offering multiple layers of connectivity, computing and performance tailored to an enterprise’s AI requirements.

The findings suggest that India’s telecom sector could increasingly position itself as an infrastructure partner for the AI economy, monetising connectivity, computing and network performance alongside traditional telecom services.