NEW DELHI: Refuting the claims of telecom operators, Broadband India Forum (BIF), a group which has TCS, Cisco, Google and Amazon as members, on Friday said the allocation of direct spectrum to private enterprises does not offer a backdoor entry for them to get 5G spectrum.
The forum said the suggestion that captive private networks should bid for spectrum in auctions is irrational, given their objective is to enhance efficiencies and not use the spectrum to provide commercial public services.
“It is apparent that certain quarters and incumbents with vested interests are attempting to derail this development through irrational, misleading and misinformed claims for a level playing field between the vastly different service domains of public networks and captive non-public networks,” said the forum in a statement. This comes days after Adani Data Networks, a subsidiary of Adani Group, applied for the 5G auction.
The Department of Telecommunication (DoT), in its 5G modalities, recommended a certain amount of spectrum to be earmarked for private 5G networks. However, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents telcos like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea, requested the government not to reserve any spectrum for private enterprises.
“Direct assignment of spectrum to enterprises does not preclude the option/possibility that enterprises buying the spectrum directly from the government can have the Captive Private Network built by the telcos for them.”