The rising cost of cybersecurity and national security compliance is emerging as a significant burden for India’s telecom operators, as surging data consumption, increasingly sophisticated cyber threats and expanding law-enforcement requirements compel carriers to invest heavily in monitoring, storage and network-security infrastructure.
Industry estimates suggest telecom operators have collectively spent about Rs 2,500 crore over the past five years to meet obligations related to lawful interception systems, data retention, traffic monitoring, location-based services and other security mandates. The spending comes even as operators continue to invest aggressively in 5G rollouts, fibre expansion and broader digital infrastructure, industry executives said.
With digital traffic expanding rapidly and security requirements becoming more stringent, industry stakeholders argue that many of these obligations serve wider public policy and national security objectives. They have increasingly sought mechanisms through which at least a part of the compliance burden linked to law-enforcement and security requirements can be shared or compensated.
Processing Millions of Records
A significant portion of these costs stems from supporting requests from law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) and national security authorities. Industry estimates indicate that around 60 LEAs across the country generate roughly 3,000 lawful interception requests every month, covering about 20,000 unique targets. Operators also process nearly 500,000 requests for call detail records (CDRs) and internet protocol detail records (IPDRs) each month, resulting in the sharing of around 2.3 million records with enforcement agencies.
Maintaining the infrastructure required for law-enforcement access is itself becoming expensive. Industry estimates indicate that lawful interception systems cost operators around Rs 12 crore annually, while internet traffic tapping infrastructure accounts for a further Rs 75-100 crore a year, highlighting the scale of investment needed to support expanding security and compliance requirements.
20GB Surge
“The rising costs are being driven by a dramatic shift in how telecom networks are used. A decade ago, operators primarily handled voice calls, text messages and relatively modest amounts of data traffic. Today, a wide range of digital applications and use cases are driving significantly heavier traffic on telecom networks,” a telecom executive said.
Average monthly mobile data consumption has risen from around 62 MB per subscriber in 2014 to nearly 20 GB in 2024, while the subscriber base has expanded from about 933 million to nearly 1.2 billion users.
This surge in traffic has significant implications for security compliance. Operators are required to store and process vast quantities of call records, internet records and network logs for extended periods. Supporting these requirements requires dedicated lawful interception platforms, location-based service systems, traffic-monitoring infrastructure and large-scale storage capabilities. Expert estimates suggest operators have invested around Rs 150 crore in CDR/IPDR infrastructure alone over the past four years, in addition to recurring operating expenditure.
Industry executives said the growing complexity of cyber threats is adding another layer of expenditure at a time when telcos are also exploring new avenues for growth.