NEW DELHI: The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents all the three private telcos in the country, on Wednesday urged the government not to provide 5G spectrum directly to the private enterprises.
The industry body said establishing private networks, as demanded by few companies, would not only cause huge loss to the exchequer but also lead to sub-optimal utilisation of this scarce resource. The telecom service providers (TSPs) are fully capable of delivering all the customised solutions, including machine-to-machine (M2M)/Industrial 4.0 services, in the most economical and competitive manner.
“We urge the government not to reserve or de-licence any spectrum, which has been identified or likely to be identified for use of IMT/commercial services for private captive network,” said COAI in a statement.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in its recommendation to the telecommunication ministry on 5G spectrum modalities, suggested to provide 5G spectrum to the private enterprises.
However, this move is not liked by the telecom operator as they claimed it would hit their business. As the 5G spectrum is around the corner, COAI, which represents Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, took a hard stance.
“This (providing 5G network to private companies) will also create a non-level playing field, leading to arbitrariness in basic policies discouraging investment in the networks and leading to disorderly growth of the sector by back door entry with undue advantage to private commercial entities at the cost of the government exchequer,” said COAI.
The industry body is also of the view that in today’s scenario, there is no need for separate private captive networks and the same should be dispensed with given the availability of state-of-art telecommunication networks.