India’s global media reach strengthened through scale, AI-driven innovation, and next-gen high-speed networks.
India is central to the strategy of global managed media services provider Telstra Broadcast Services, combining unmatched scale with a fast-moving culture of innovation. Its media ecosystem spans 918 private television channels, 57 OTT platforms, and a digital audience of more than 500 million YouTube subscribers, making it one of the world’s most dynamic content markets.
The country is also at the forefront of technology adoption, with over half of TMT organisations now fully integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into their operations, and 89% of media companies actively exploring generative AI.
Telstra’s commitment to India is reflected in an expanding local presence, a strong workforce of over 3,000 people, and a further 8,000 through its partner ecosystem. Its five-year alliance with BT Media & Broadcast has expanded its global reach by more than 50%, enabling it to serve over 170 broadcast and media customers worldwide whilst transitioning major clients and connecting new sites across regions.
These milestones are underpinned by the company’s continued investment in network infrastructure, providing Indian broadcasters and OTT platforms access to one of the world’s largest purpose-built media networks and enabling flexible, high-quality live production and delivery.
As one of the winners of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting+ Awards 2025, Telstra shared its insights on the importance of its footprint in the Indian media ecosystem, as well as how its projects and solutions contribute to broadcast innovation in the region.
India’s enthusiasm for sports and live content is unmatched. How does this influence Telstra’s approach to media connectivity and production services?
India’s passion for live sport, news and entertainment continues to set the pace for media innovation. Telstra Broadcast Services is a specialist global managed media services provider and well-matched to meet India’s enthusiasm for sports and live content. From the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, Telstra has been supporting content transmission services into and out of India for the last 15 years.
Telstra has built a sizeable presence in Bengaluru and Pune. How has the India workforce contributed to your global media and network operations?
Our India workforce—more than 3,000 talented professionals across Bengaluru and Pune—is integral to Telstra’s global operations. They are instrumental in our network engineering, software development, service management, and cloud operations, ensuring the reliability and scalability of our networks worldwide. This depth of expertise enables us to innovate continuously and deliver world-class connectivity solutions for customers everywhere.
How has the five-year BT Media & Broadcast alliance reshaped Telstra’s global market reach and capabilities?
Our strategic alliance with BT Media & Broadcast has expanded our global media footprint by connecting over 40 new sites to our existing presence across EMEA, the Americas and APAC. This alliance strengthens our ability to deliver remote production, OTT services, and IP video standards, giving Indian broadcasters access to unprecedented global reach and flexibility.
How does Telstra differentiate its services—remote production, OTT services, satellite uplink, virtual advertising—in a competitive Indian market?
Telstra specialises in network and managed services for live sports, news and entertainment into and out of India — a focus that has been very well received by our customers. As a truly global provider, we enable Indian content to reach viewers and markets worldwide, whilst also bringing global sports, news and entertainment into India for domestic audiences.
We stand out by offering integrated connectivity that combines satellite, fibre, and internet for flexible and resilient media delivery. With our recently upgraded Global Media Network (GMN), customers gain access to one of the world’s largest dedicated media networks, trusted for major international events. With 24/7 broadcast operations support from multiple facilities worldwide, we also deliver unmatched service assurance.
How does the GMN upgrade support next-generation workflows such as cloud production, remote commentary, or distributed editing?
The upgrade of GMN to 100 Gbps is a transformative step for next-generation workflows. It gives broadcasters and content creators the bandwidth and reliability they need to embrace cloud production, remote commentary, and distributed editing at scale.
Our low-latency, high-bandwidth network provides a seamless on-ramp to cloud platforms, whilst hitless technology delivers the service assurance critical for remote production environments. This enables teams to collaborate in real time across geographies, deliver live content with minimal latency, and integrate advanced technologies without compromise. For us, it is about future-proofing media delivery and empowering customers to create immersive experiences from anywhere in the world.
What message would Telstra like to send to India’s media ecosystem about the future of collaboration and connectivity?
Our message to India’s media ecosystem is simple: “Connecting India to the World.” Telstra is committed to empowering this vibrant industry with global reach, advanced technology, and collaborative innovation. At Telstra, we are scaling our global capability and partnerships to meet the growing demand for connectivity and managed services into and out of India, and we are excited to support the growth and ambition of Indian content creators, rights holders, broadcasters and streamers.