About the Event

Opening & Welcome: Shri Bharat Bhatia, President & CEO, IAFI & Vice Chairman, WWRF

Topics:

• India's vision for spectrum management
• Spectrum as a strategic national resource
• India's role in shaping global and regional spectrum policy
• Priorities for WRC-27

Chief Guest & Guests of Honour Remarks:

• H.E. Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Member, NITI Aayog, Govt. of India
• Shri Anil Kumar Lahoti, Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
• Shri Manish Sinha, Member Finance, Department of Telecommunications, Govt. of India
• Shri N K Bhola, Wireless Adviser, Department of Telecommunications, Govt. of India
• Mr. Charles Cooper, Associate Administrator, Office of Spectrum Management, NTIA, US
• Mr. Chris Hofer, Head, International Spectrum Management and Strategy, Amazon Leo
• Mr. Stuart Cooke, Senior Director of Future Spectrum, GSMA
• Shri Jitendra Singh, Vice-Chairman, IAFI and Head Govt. Affairs, Qualcomm India

A keynote perspective on India's spectrum priorities and its approach to balancing the requirements of mobile broadband, satellite, Wi-Fi, public safety, defence, broadcasting and other users.

• Dr. Revathi Mannepalli, Joint Wireless Adviser, DoT, Government of India and India’s candidate for Director, BR-ITU

A high-level discussion on the evolution of global spectrum policy and the issues likely to shape WRC-27.

Topics:

• Emerging global spectrum requirements for terrestrial services
• Key WRC-27 terrestrial agenda items
• Areas of convergence and divergence
• Global, regional and national perspectives
• Expectations from the WRC-27 preparatory process for 6G spectrum

Session Chair: Shri Gulab Chand, Joint Wireless Adviser, Department of Telecommunications, Govt. of India

Speakers:

• Mr. Luigi Ardito, Chairman Spectrum Group, Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA)
• Shri Ashish Garg, Director, Policy and Spectrum Strategy, GSMA
• Mr. Ulrich Dropmann, Head of Standardization and Industry Environment, Nokia
• Mr. David Kershaw, Co-Founder & Partner, Purpose Partners
• Dr. Punit Rathod, Lead Technical Standards, Qualcomm, India
• Dr. Sendil Kumar Devar, Sr. Director, Standards and Spectrum, Ericsson, India
• Shri Akhilesh Trivedi, Adviser, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

This session will explore how spectrum policies can enable satellite-based solutions for social good, including disaster management, emergency communications, telemedicine and bridging the digital divide. It will examine how forward-looking spectrum allocation and regulatory frameworks can expand affordable connectivity, support humanitarian needs and ensure that space technology delivers meaningful societal benefits.

Session Chair: Shri Amit Gulati, Sr. Deputy Wireless Advisor, WPC Wing, Department of Telecommunications, Govt. of India

Speakers:

• Shri Gautam Sharma, Managing Director, Viasat India
• Dr. P K Jain, Director, PMAD, IN-SPACe, Department of Space, Govt. of India
• Shri Prabhat Dikshit, DDG Satellite, Department of Telecommunications, Govt. of India

A focused discussion on selected WRC-27 satellite agenda items of particular importance to India and the Asia-Pacific region.

Topics:

• Emerging global spectrum requirements for satellite services
• Key WRC-27 Satellite agenda items
• Areas of convergence and divergence
• Global, regional and national perspectives
• Expectations from the WRC-27 preparatory process for satellite spectrum issues

Session Chair: Shri M K Pattanaik, Joint Wireless Adviser, WPC, Department of Telecommunications, Govt. of India

Speakers:

• Mr. Peng Zhao, Vice-President of Policy & Regulatory, GSOA
• Lt. General Anil Kumar Bhatt (Retd), Founding Director General, Indian Space Association (ISpA) Chairman of the Board of Governor - IIIT Kota and IIIT Ranchi
• Mr. Cristian Gomez, Vice President, Government & Regulatory, Asia Pacific, Viasat Inc.
• Mr. Jose (Pepe) Feu Vidal, APAC Lead for ITU WRC Strategy, Amazon Leo
• Ms. J Sofi, Associate Director (Frequency Management), Satellite Communication Programme Office ISRO HQ, India
• Mr. Carlos Riopedre, Managing Director, Sateliot
• Ms. Lourdes Montenegro, Head of Regulatory Affairs – Europe, AST Space Mobile

A Keynote Presentation on ITU’S Preparations for WRC-2027

• Mr. Ben Ba, Head Terrestrial Publication and Registration Division, Radiocommunication Bureau, International Telecommunication Union

Topics:

• Why the 6G Golden Band matters for India
• The opportunity for India to shape the global 6G spectrum agenda
• Building an Asia-Pacific consensus ahead of WRC-27
• The case for early Indian leadership

Speakers:

• Dr. Ravi Gandhi, President, Chief Public Policy & Regulatory Officer, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited
• Shri Rajesh Kumar Pathak, Director General, Bharat 6G Alliance, India
• Mr. Stuart Cooke, Senior Director of Future Spectrum, GSMA
• Shri Ashwani Kumar, Head of Standards & Spectrum Engagements, Nokia Solutions & Networks
• Dr. Sendil Kumar Devar, Sr. Director, Standards and Spectrum, Ericsson
• Shri Arun Agarwal, Principal Adviser (NSL), Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
• Shri Vikram Tiwathia, Senior Advisor, COAI

Opening & Welcome: Shri Bharat Bhatia, President & CEO, IAFI & Vice Chairman, WWRF

Topics:

• India's vision for a Connected and Intelligent Digital Future
• Integrated terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks and Direct-to-device connectivity
• Regulatory and Policy Framework for Industries and Consumers : Private 5G, Wi-Fi, NR-U and License-Exempt Spectrum
• India’s Road map for 6G and LEO Satellites

Guest of Honour Remarks:

• Shri Anil Kumar Gupta, Director General Telecom, Department of Telecommunications, Govt. of India
• Shri Syed Tausif Abbas, Sr. DDG and Head, Telecom Engineering Center, DOT, India
• Shri Ritu Ranjan Mittar, Member, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
• Dr. P K Jain, Director, PMAD, IN-SPACe, Department of Space
• Dr. R K Upadhyay, CEO & Chairman of the Board, C-DOT
• Shri Shyam Prabhakar Mardikar, President and Group CTO, Mobility, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited
• Dr. Manish Saxena, Director of the Satellite Navigation Programme Office, ISRO Headquarters

Topics:

• Importance of Spectrum for Captive Private LTE and 5G
• Economic and social value of license-exempt spectrum
• Wi-Fi 6E / Wi-Fi 7 and future generations
• Programme Making & Special Events (PMSE)
• Spectrum for Car Connectivity issues
• Lower 6 GHz policy approaches

Session Chair: Shri Bhagirath Singh, Joint Wireless Adviser, Department of Telecommunications, Govt. of India

Speakers:

• Dr. Xin Tang, Wireless Policy Lead, APAC, HPE
• Mr. Mitesh Dave, Director, Wireless Ecosystem Engineering, Meta, USA
• Ms. Nada Abdelhafez, Head of Spectrum & Regulatory Affairs, MEA, India, Shure Inc.
• Mr. Rajesh Tuli, Managing Director, Coral Telecom Ltd.
• Ms. Alka Selot Asthana, Global Head, Regulatory, Tata Communications Limited
• Ms. Martha Suarez, President, Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA)

• Drafting of Draft India contributions for APG 27-4