NEW DELHI: India needs private 5G networks to accelerate digital transformation in the field of manufacturing, healthcare, education and agriculture, said Broadband India Forum on Friday. The forum, which represents many private enterprises including Cisco Hughes and Intel, in a letter to the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) also mentioned that Private 5G Networks will not impact the revenue of TSPs (Telecom Service Providers). It said the speculated loss in revenues for telcos via enterprise services is a misplaced one.
“It is also often misunderstood in certain quarters that Private 5G Networks would lead to revenue losses for the telcos. In actuality, the majority of the enterprise revenues of TSPs would be via external network services which comprise of voice and data communications,” reads the letter, which is with TNIE. Last week, the Trai (Telecom Regulatory of India) came up with its recommendations on 5G modalities. It suggested that the DoT should allow enterprises to build their private 5G networks.
However, the decision was not welcomed by telecom operators. They said it would impact their 30-40% revenue. But the private enterprises claim as India needs higher efficiencies in verticals like manufacturing, healthcare, education, agriculture, financial inclusion, this only can be achieved through use of Private 5G Networks.
The letter hinted Samsung manufacturing facility in Noida or a Nokia plant in Sriperumbudur can set up their own 5G Non-Public Networks (NPN) and digitalise their various verticals. “Since OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) set up the traditional telecom networks on behalf of the telcos presently, they could deploy and operate their own 5G Non-Public Networks (NPN). Siemens has done the same in Germany,” reads the letter.