The divergent interests of telecom service providers (TSPs) and technology giants seeking private networks have delayed the 5G spectrum auction process.
Sources said that though spectrum allocation to private network users has been denied in the upcoming auction, these players have approached the government through their representative bodies. They argue that keeping them out could harm the process of digitization of the economy and the chances of making Indian products competitive in the global market.
The government is completely silent. When asked when the auction would be held for Cabinet approval, a senior official of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said, “We are yet to decide (on the details of spectrum auction).”
The Digital Communications Commission (DCC) had on May 17 approved 5G spectrum auction as per the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) (at base reserve prices). The proposals are likely to be placed before the cabinet in the week after May 17.
“We will immediately send the note to the cabinet…they may take a week to see it,” he said. As soon as the cabinet gets the nod, the time starts for us (for the auction), ”a senior official was quoted as saying. business Line those days.
However, the cabinet is yet to approve the proposals. From the date of Cabinet approval, it will take at least 45 days for the agency (auctioneer) to hire, formulate terms and conditions of auction, issue notice inviting applications (NIA) and holding meetings with stakeholders. This essentially means that the June-end deadline set by Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has already been exceeded.
competing interests
Sources said the delay can be partly attributed to various industry bodies and private captive players, who have approached the government to allot captive 5G networks. This is different from buying networks from telecom companies from them.
The Broadband India Forum (BIF) – whose members include Amazon, Cisco, Facebook, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Qualcomm from the global side and the tech arm of Indian giants such as Adani, Reliance and Mahindra & Mahindra – reportedly approached the government. has done. A request to “take into account the overall digitization aspirations and interests”.
BIF urged the government to provide these spectrum at certain nominal rates through the administered allotment route or give it free of cost. “We should think about the country, the consumer… It is the benefit of the consumer, the efficiency of the enterprise and finally the economy to improve. This (spectrum) is strictly for captive use to improve efficiency,” said BIF President TV Ramachandran said.
He said that captive network can be set up with not only 5G, but also 4G, which the industry body has been requesting the government to open. For example, airports, seaports, hotels and hospitals around the world use captive networks for communication on their campuses, and it also allows for faster response times.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in its recommendations had also said that non-telecom enterprises will be allotted 5G spectrum for building their private networks.
For captive networks, spectrum is allocated to enterprises, to be used within a limited geographic area. Therefore, it is also known as spectrum for localized or local use. For localized private captive networks, the specified spectrum is used in such a way that the signal is restricted to its geographic area and does not interfere with other external systems.
Published on
31 May 2022