India's 80% data traffic growth is from 2-3 LTGs: GSMA DG Mats Granryd

Says 49% of Indians don't use mobile internet despite being covered by mobile broadband

Despite data traffic rising 50 per cent annually in India, 80 per cent of it originates from two to three large traffic generators (LTGs), a trend which is not sustainable, Mats Granryd, Director General of global mobile industry body GSM Association (GSMA), tells Subhayan Chakraborty in an interview in New Delhi. Edited excerpts:

GSMA has said telcos are currently building networks for a few and not many. Why is it so?

India has a 50 per cent annual growth in data traffic. Of that, 80 per cent comes from two to three LTGs. This includes big content producers such as TikTok, Instagram, YouTube. So, we are really building networks for the few, not for the many. Globally, about 50 per cent of the data on telecom networks originates from LTGs. About $270 billion will be invested in mobile capex alone from now to 2030. That is money that we hope mobile operators will have. It would be horrible if we end up with a congested network, and users never get access to it.

What is the way forward, do you want government intervention?

We need to find a business model that works for everyone. One solution may be that LTGs come up with different compression techniques to push the same amount of data but compress it much more intelligently. I'm not sure they think even for a second now, about the volume of data they require. There are also huge instances of spam, whereby a video pops up without a user asking for it. There needs to be ways of restricting that, and developing content smarter. 

If all this fails, we need to come to a financial agreement. But that should be done on an individual basis, between operators, and LTGs in every country. The solution won't come from the government. We need to handle this ourselves. If the solution can be figured out in India and China, the rest of the world will be easy.

What is the usage gap?

Fifty per cent of the population here is connected to mobile internet through 2G, 4G and 5G, while the rest aren't. Of this, one per cent is not covered at all, for whom satellite spectrum is perfect. The remaining 49 per cent that live in a coverage area but are still not connected is the usage gap. They are not connecting, due to the unaffordability of the handsets, the lack of digital skills, the lack of relevant content and concerns over internet safety. The usage gap is broadly the same in Sub-Saharan Africa, and worse in Pakistan. But it is just 15 per cent in the UK and about 20 per cent in the US.

India is yet to delicense the 6GHz spectrum for mobile operations as outlined by the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2023. Have you asked the government to consider doing so?

We now want governments to come out with a roadmap on when and how it can be implemented. The next release of telecom activities will be on higher bands, which can pack more data. So, (delicensing) 6GHz is absolutely a must, if Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi wants to be, as he says, a world leader in telecom.