Key Points

Around 97 per cent of telecom companies are now adopting or assessing AI, with 49 per cent already embedding it into daily operations, the report from KPMG India said.

Agentic AI can revolutionise the telecom sector by enabling intelligent networks, predictive maintenance, hyper-personalised customer engagement, and real-time service orchestration, the report added.

Half of telecom companies have implemented their first GenAI use case and telecom operators must scale AI pilots into enterprise-wide deployments with AI-ready infrastructure and skilled teams.

Business leaders plan $25 million on new tech talent and $24 million on customer experience initiatives in the next 12 months.

The consultancy identified India as a natural testbed for large-scale adoption due to its massive scale, data richness (over 18 billion UPI transactions monthly), supportive policy reforms, and a thriving AI startup ecosystem.

The report further said that India leads the global telecom growth story with over 1.2 billion mobile subscribers and around 800 million broadband users.

Average mobile data consumption is nearly 32 GB per month, one of the highest globally. The sector's financial health is improving, with average revenue per user (ARPU) rising to about Rs 174.46 per month and wireless data revenues growing 15.5 per cent annually to Rs 2.15 trillion in FY24-25, the report said.

KPMG India called on startups, academia, and partners to unite and innovate for an inclusive and intelligent telecom ecosystem.

"Agentic AI is more than a technological advancement--it is a strategic paradigm shift that empowers telecom operators to move from reactive to autonomous systems. This transformation will unlock new levels of operational efficiency, customer personalisation, and revenue growth," said Akhilesh Tuteja, Partner and National Leader - Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT), KPMG in India.

India's unparalleled scale, data richness, and innovation ecosystem uniquely position it to lead the global telecom AI revolution, creating models that others will follow, he added.

Around 65 per cent of global telecom operators plan to increase AI spending in 2025, directing funds towards AI-ready infrastructure and workforce upskilling, the report noted.

- IANS