Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel: Treat telecom as ‘essential service’, provide ubiquitous access to venues

NEW DELHI: The top executives of India’s leading private sector telecom operators, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, have called on the Centre to treat telecom as an “essential service” and sought affordable airwaves.

This followed after Department of Telecommunications Secretary Neeraj Mittal, at the second-edition of the ETTelecom 5G Innovation Summit 2025, said that the government awaited suggestions from the industry for next-generation reforms to unleash the potential of telecoms.