5G: COAI emphasizes fair competition for captive networks yet again

“If the independent entities set up private captive networks with direct 5G spectrum allotment by DoT, it will diminish the revenue so much that there will be no viable business case left for the TSPs, and there will not remain any need for 5G Networks rollout by TSPs."

The necessity of fair competition when it comes comes to procuring 5G spectrum for captive networks has been emphasised yet again by the Cellular Operators Association of India.(COAI).

The 5G spectrum auctions are coming up in the next few days. The bidders have already been identified , with the Adani Group's participation in the auction emerging as a nonplus.

However, there is still the question of spectrum being administratively provided straight to the IT companies, which will lead to unfair competition for the telecoms. The COAI has been quite vociferous about the issue even in the past. COAI is the representing industry organisation for private telecoms.

In a statement released on Twitter on Thursday, COAI expressed its appreciation for the applications for open bidding of the 5G spectrum submitted by various companies interested in obtaining spectrum. Dr SP Kochhar, Director General, COAI through a tweet said,“We are happy to note that companies wanting to use 5G spectrum have made applications for open bidding of the spectrum through a transparent auction process, which ensures that level playing field is maintained and all interested parties bid for the spectrum required by them. India’s structured licensing framework has helped orderly growth of India’s digital connectivity landscape; the opening up of access to spectrum to enterprises directly disturbs the level playing field. The spectrum should not be provided on administrative basis as it leads to no business case for the rollout of 5G networks in the country.”

The claim alludes to Adani Data Network's bid to take part in the auction. Besides the three Indian telecoms, Adani group as the fourth applicant stated that it plans to use the spectrum purchased through the auction to offer private network solutions and improved cyber security at airports, ports, and logistics facilities, as well as power generation, distribution, and manufacturing operations.

“If the independent entities set up private captive networks with direct 5G spectrum allotment by DoT, it will diminish the revenue so much that there will be no viable business case left for the TSPs, and there will not remain any need for 5G Networks rollout by TSPs. It is important to understand that licensed access service providers are fully capable of providing these services most competitively and economically compared to private companies," read the statement.

The telcos are concerned about tech firms using administrative means to obtain 5G spectrum from the DoT in order to enter the telecom industry through the backdoor. COAI emphasized its claim that administrative spectrum allocation is improper because there is no business case for the national rollout of 5G networks.

“Any consideration of administrative allocation of spectrum for such networks is fundamentally against principles of level playing field and effectively provides a backdoor entry to big technology players to provide 5G services and solutions to enterprises in India without equivalent regulatory compliance and payment of levies that TSPs are subjected to,” Kochhar further added.