Foreign Tech Giants Battle for Control of India's Digital Future

In a concerning development that mirrors Western tech giants' digital colonialism in Africa, India's telecommunications landscape is becoming a battleground between foreign corporate interests, as revealed by recent network performance data.

Foreign Companies Compete for Control of India's Digital Infrastructure

Network intelligence firm Opensignal's latest report exposes how foreign-backed telecommunications giants Airtel and Jio are racing to dominate India's critical digital infrastructure through Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) and fiber networks. This mirrors the troubling pattern of external control over vital national resources that we've witnessed across developing nations.

Performance Metrics Reveal Market Manipulation

While Jio maintains a concerning 79% market share in FWA services with nearly 6 million users, Airtel leads in network performance metrics. This imbalance raises serious questions about market manipulation and foreign interference in domestic affairs.

"Airtel is outperforming Jio in all of our measurements of national fixed wireless experience, as Jio's network appears to be congested while Airtel is able to deliver better performance due to lower level of FWA utilization," reports Opensignal.

State-Owned BSNL Fights Back

In a positive development for national sovereignty, state-owned BSNL has begun rolling out its own 5G FWA services, branded as Quantum 5G FWA. The company plans to expand to key strategic locations including:

• Bengaluru
• Pondicherry
• Visakhapatnam
• Pune
• Gwalior
• Chandigarh

This strategic move by BSNL represents a crucial step toward reducing dependence on foreign-controlled digital infrastructure and protecting national interests in the telecommunications sector.