A top official said the Department of Telecom will identify spectrum bands for direct allocation to private 5G networks and then seek recommendations on pricing from the telecom regulator. technology companies.
After several studies, the DoT concluded that the demand was not very high. “Only five companies have applied…so the demand is very less,” said the official.
“We will identify the bands, following which we will seek recommendations from TRAI on pricing,” the official said. Major companies have sought licenses for multiple locations, taking the total number of applications to over a dozen and a half. Tata Power and Tejas Networks applied for direct allocation of airwaves to set up a captive non-public 5G network.
Technology companies backed by the Broadband India Forum, which counts Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Cisco, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Qualcomm and others as its key members, for private 5G administratively or at no charge are demanding spectrum. On the grounds that private 5G networks were exclusively for use by enterprises within their limited, defined geographic areas and not for public or commercial use. He further cited examples of some major global markets that have chosen to provide airwaves administratively to private networks.
The direct allocation from the department has been a bone of contention as telcos claim it will bring down telcos’ revenue from enterprise customers. Telecom operators have further demanded that companies seeking to set up 5G private networks should bid for the spectrum they wish to buy and hence participate in the auction.
The Broadband India Forum said that the auction route for private networks is illogical as such networks cannot be compared with public 5G networks.
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