Can telcos become the new data powerhouses in India?

India’s digital economy has long been defined by platforms that sit visibly between brands and consumers. Search engines, social networks and retail marketplaces have built their dominance on behavioural signals, creating vast but often fragmented pools of user data. Yet beneath this visible layer lies a more foundational network that has remained largely under-analysed in marketing conversations. Telecom operators, once seen as mere carriers of connectivity, are now emerging as one of the most consequential holders of consumer intelligence in the country.

This shift is not accidental. As India transitions into a privacy-first regime under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, traditional methods of tracking users across apps and websites are being steadily constrained. Third-party cookies are fading, platform-level data is increasingly siloed and marketers are facing growing challenges in stitching together a unified view of the consumer. In this environment, the value of deterministic, verified and consented data is rising sharply.

It is here that telecom companies find themselves uniquely positioned. With SIM linked identity, real time location intelligence and visibility across digital behaviour that is not confined to a single app ecosystem, they are beginning to resemble a new kind of data backbone, one that could potentially rival established players like Google and Meta in shaping how marketing intelligence is built and deployed.

From connectivity to data infrastructure

The transformation of telecom operators into data-led businesses has been gradual but deliberate. Over the past decade, India’s telcos have expanded far beyond voice and data services into content platforms, payments, cloud infrastructure and enterprise solutions. These expansions have created integrated ecosystems where user activity can be observed across multiple touchpoints within a single network.

Jyoti Malladi, Managing Director-Research at Ipsos India, frames this shift as structural rather than incremental. “Telecom providers are transforming from being mere data providers to first-party data powerhouses. They are aggressively building adtech platforms to capture a slice of the digital advertising market. They are leveraging their massive ecosystems across different lines of business through a unified app providing a goldmine for targeting,” she says.

What makes telco data particularly valuable is its deterministic nature. Unlike probabilistic identifiers that rely on cookies or inferred behaviour, telecom data is anchored in KYC-verified identities. Malladi adds that in an era plagued by bot-heavy traffic, this offers a distinct advantage. “Telcos provide KYC-verified, SIM-linked identities that deliver deterministic data, effectively eliminating ad fraud for marketers.”

This is a critical distinction. As digital advertising faces growing concerns around invalid traffic and opaque measurement, the ability to tie interactions to verified users could significantly improve both targeting precision and campaign accountability.

The adtech ambition and OEM layer

The emergence of telco-led advertising platforms signals a deeper ambition. Operators are not merely looking to monetise data passively but are actively building capabilities that mirror elements of the adtech stack. This includes audience segmentation, campaign delivery and performance measurement, often integrated within their own digital ecosystems.

At the same time, partnerships with smartphone manufacturers are adding another layer of insight. These collaborations allow telcos to intersect network-level intelligence with device-level signals, creating a more holistic understanding of user behaviour.

While the full extent of this integration remains largely opaque, its implications are significant. By combining connectivity data with device-level interactions, telecom operators could potentially move closer to building unified consumer graphs that are not restricted by app-level silos.

Malladi also points to another dimension of this evolution. “Indian telecom giants are transitioning into cloud infrastructure providers. They act as the localized infrastructure hosts for global tech. Additionally they are positioning themselves as a sovereign cloud alternative, offering localized, high-speed, and cost-effective infrastructure for Indian enterprises.”

This convergence of connectivity, data and infrastructure positions telcos as multi-layer intermediaries in the digital economy. They are not just carriers of data but increasingly the environments where data is stored, processed and activated.

Regulation redraws the boundaries

However, this growing influence is unfolding alongside a tightening regulatory framework that fundamentally reshapes how data can be used. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 introduces clear principles around consent, purpose limitation and accountability, all of which have direct implications for telecom operators.

Tony Verghese, Partner at JSA Advocates and Solicitors, highlights the constraints this creates. “Telecom operators have a strong advantage in advertising because they hold verified, SIM-linked user data. However, under the DPDP Act, 2023, this data cannot be freely used for monetisation. They will need to obtain clear, specific consent from users before using their data for advertising, as data collected for KYC or service delivery cannot be reused for other purposes.”

He adds that rules around purpose limitation and data minimisation will restrict large-scale profiling and data sharing. “Most telcos are likely to face stricter compliance requirements as Significant Data Fiduciaries, increasing scrutiny on how they use data. In short, while telcos can still play a role in advertising, they will need to do so through transparent consent mechanisms and tightly controlled data use.”

This marks a decisive shift from earlier practices. For years, telecom data existed in a relatively under-regulated environment where consent mechanisms were often bundled and opaque. The new framework introduces both accountability and friction, forcing operators to rethink how data is collected, stored and monetised.

The consent economy takes shape

The implications of this shift extend beyond compliance into the very economics of data monetisation. Ankit Sahni, Partner at Ajay Sahni and Associates, notes that the intersection of telecom regulation and data protection law is inherently complex. “The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 imposes a clear discipline of purpose limitation and user consent, which effectively curtails any broad-based commercial use of subscriber data for advertising unless it is transparently disclosed and specifically consented to.”

He points to two key risks. One is the repurposing of data collected for licensed telecom functions into commercial profiling. The other is liability exposure as data fiduciaries, especially when third-party ecosystems are involved. “In practical terms, sustainable monetisation will depend not on the volume of data, but on the robustness of consent architecture, anonymisation protocols and the ability to ring-fence telecom infrastructure data from advertising ecosystems.”

This shift is echoed by Anshul Verma, Partner at SKV Law Offices, who sees the emergence of what could be described as a consent-driven data economy. “For nearly a decade, India’s telecom operators have quietly built one of the most powerful data businesses in the world, without most subscribers ever knowing it existed. Bundled consent, buried in activation terms and conditions, was the industry norm.”

That model, he argues, is no longer viable. “The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 changes that fundamental equation. Telcos will need layered, granular consent flows, creating real friction against seamless onboarding. Purpose limitation and specific consent requirements mean that data collected for connectivity can no longer silently fuel advertising engines.”

Verma suggests that the industry’s response will likely involve incentivised consent. “The structural response is likely to be a pivot towards consent-positive models, including loyalty programmes, tariff discounts and subscriber rewards offered in exchange for explicit opt-ins for data sharing. Consent stops being a legal formality and becomes a commercial exchange.”

Trust as the new competitive edge

As telecom operators navigate these constraints, the central question becomes whether they can translate their data advantage into sustained market influence. Arjit Benjamin, Associate Partner at Prosoll Law, frames this as a question of custodianship. “Telecom operators occupy a uniquely sensitive position in India’s data ecosystem because the data they hold is not merely personal data, but SIM-linked, KYC-verified identity data. This significantly elevates the compliance threshold.”

He notes that most operators are likely to be classified as Significant Data Fiduciaries, bringing heightened obligations around security and accountability. “Their ability to monetise such data will depend not on access, but on whether they can demonstrate strict adherence to consent, purpose limitation and privacy by design.”

Benjamin also points to a structural tension between telecom regulations and data protection principles. While telcos are required to retain certain data for security and compliance, data protection laws emphasise minimisation and purpose-specific use. “The real risk arises where data collected for SIM verification or service delivery is repurposed for commercial use. Even anonymisation offers limited protection, as telecom datasets are often capable of re identification.”

This places trust at the centre of the telco data narrative. In a market where consumers are becoming increasingly aware of how their data is used, operators that invest in transparent and robust privacy frameworks could gain a competitive edge that extends beyond advertising.

A new layer in the data economy

The evolution of telecom operators into data intermediaries signals a broader shift in how the digital economy is structured. Rather than competing directly with platforms, telcos may emerge as an underlying layer that enables data flow across ecosystems, acting as both gatekeepers and enablers.

For marketers, this introduces a new set of possibilities and trade-offs. On one hand, access to deterministic, verified data could significantly improve targeting and measurement. On the other, the constraints of consent and regulation may limit scale and require new approaches to data activation.

What is clear is that the balance of power in India’s data landscape is beginning to shift. The networks that once operated quietly in the background are stepping into a more visible and influential role. Whether telecom operators can fully capitalise on this opportunity will depend not just on their technological capabilities, but on their ability to align data monetisation with the evolving expectations of privacy, transparency and trust.

In that sense, the future of marketing data in India may not be decided solely by the platforms that capture attention, but increasingly by the networks that connect it.