Alongside Reliance Jio’s AI and pre-6G demonstrations, three other telecom operators made announcements at India Mobile Congress 2026, which was held at Yashobhoomi in New Delhi from 7 to 10 October, according to Telecom Unpacked. The event’s theme was Scale Without Boundaries, and the government reported more than 2,000 use cases and more than 400 startups taking part.
Bharti Airtel focused on infrastructure for businesses and not on consumer devices. It emphasised sovereign cloud infrastructure, data centres that spread workloads across multiple availability zones, and an AI-powered Security Operations Centre, according to Telecom Unpacked. BusinessWorld’s coverage adds that Airtel’s presentation centred on cloud infrastructure, data centres and managed security. A sovereign cloud is one that keeps data under the control and the laws of a country, although the reports reviewed do not give Airtel’s own definition.
Vodafone Idea presented AI-based customer services and concepts for industrial connectivity. The company previewed Vinzy, described as an AI assistant that can handle calls in the preferred regional languages of customers, according to the report. The launch timing of Vinzy is not confirmed. Vodafone Idea also demonstrated private 5G for mining and connected-vehicle capabilities.
BSNL announced network security partnerships, a government messaging platform called Bharat Sandesh, and an expression of intent with Fujitsu to explore all-photonic optical networks, according to the same report. An expression of intent is a preliminary statement of interest and not a contract, and the reports reviewed do not give any value or timetable for the Fujitsu plan. The reports also do not describe how Bharat Sandesh will work or which government departments will use it.
Telecom Unpacked makes a point that applies to all four operators: many announcements remain prototypes or research projects. Its article separates services that are in use from those still being developed, and notes that demonstrations at a conference do not mean commercial availability. This is relevant to Starlink’s gateway infrastructure as well, which the article mentions, although the reports reviewed do not give details.
The wider theme of the event was artificial intelligence in the network. Business Standard’s headline says that 6G and AI-native networks were at the centre of India Mobile Congress 2026, and the programme covered 6G, satellite communications, semiconductors, quantum communications, cybersecurity, robotics and digital infrastructure, according to the coverage.
The business context for the operators is a market of 1.31 billion wireless subscribers, according to TRAI’s August 2026 data that IndiaX24 has reported. The reports reviewed do not give the subscriber numbers of the four operators, so the comparison between them is not quantified here.
The announcements by each company serve a different purpose. Airtel is positioning itself as an enterprise cloud and security provider, Vodafone Idea is trying to show AI features for customers, and BSNL is working on government and network infrastructure projects. Those are IndiaX24’s observations from the descriptions in the reports and not statements by the companies.
The reports reviewed do not give the number of visitors to the event or the value of any commercial agreements signed there, so the scale of business done at India Mobile Congress 2026 is not known.
IndiaX24 will report when Vodafone Idea sets a launch date for Vinzy or when BSNL gives details of Bharat Sandesh.
Image: Yashobhoomi, the venue of India Mobile Congress 2026 (file photo). Photo by Ayush Raj, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.