Qualcomm sees India’s expanding highway network as a potential growth market for V2X technology, while regulatory decisions on spectrum could determine the pace of adoption.
Qualcomm is looking to expand its automotive business in India by enabling vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology across new highways and roadside infrastructure, as the chipmaker seeks growth opportunities beyond smartphones.
Nakul Duggal, Group General Manager for Automotive, Industrial & Embedded IoT at Qualcomm, said India’s ongoing road infrastructure development could provide an opportunity to integrate V2X capabilities into new highways. He noted that the additional cost could be relatively low as existing infrastructure such as streetlights and roadside equipment can support the connectivity required for V2X.
V2X enables vehicles to communicate with other vehicles, road infrastructure and nearby devices. Qualcomm is pursuing three applications — vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure and vehicle-to-smartphone communication.
The vehicle-to-smartphone application is designed to alert drivers about pedestrians and cyclists, particularly around intersections. Duggal said intersections and high-speed blind spots are among the areas where non-line-of-sight communication could improve road safety beyond what cameras and radar can provide.
However, wider adoption will depend on regulatory decisions around spectrum. V2X operates in the 5.9 GHz band, where discussions are ongoing over whether the spectrum should be dedicated to safety applications or made available through shared or unlicensed use.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has also proposed a framework for V2X deployment to prevent fragmented standards and ensure interoperability across vehicles, cities and networks.
For Qualcomm, the opportunity comes as it expands beyond its traditional smartphone business into automotive, industrial IoT and physical AI. Duggal pushed back against concerns over the company’s smartphone position, attributing recent market weakness primarily to higher memory costs.
He said rising memory prices are putting greater pressure on entry-level and mid-range smartphones, where memory accounts for a larger share of device costs. At the same time, the growing adoption of agentic AI could increase semiconductor content in smartphones as users increasingly interact with devices through conversational interfaces rather than conventional apps.
V2X could therefore give Qualcomm another avenue to leverage its connectivity expertise while strengthening its automotive growth strategy in India.
