Jio Platforms is positioning itself for a new phase in the telecom industry, where artificial intelligence rather than basic connectivity will drive growth. Speaking at Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona, Group CEO Mathew Oommen said the technology landscape is undergoing a major transformation as AI becomes central to digital services.
Oommen said the telecom industry is moving beyond simply connecting people and devices. Instead, networks will increasingly function as intelligent digital infrastructure capable of powering AI applications across sectors. According to him, this shift represents a structural change in how technology platforms operate and generate value.
To prepare for this transition, Jio is working on what it describes as an “Intelligence Grid.” The idea is to combine connectivity, computing power and artificial intelligence into a single ecosystem that can support large-scale AI services. This infrastructure, the company believes, will help businesses, developers and consumers access AI capabilities more easily.
A key concept in Jio’s strategy is the use of “AI tokens.” These tokens represent the units used by AI systems to process data and generate responses. Oommen explained that in the emerging AI economy, tokens could function much like voice minutes and mobile data once did in telecom, as a way to measure and price usage.
Jio plans to make AI tokens significantly cheaper, following a strategy similar to the one it used when it disrupted India’s telecom market by drastically lowering the cost of mobile data. By reducing the cost of AI computing, the company hopes to accelerate adoption of AI technologies across industries.
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