The Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) have reiterated the importance of a level playing field when it comes to acquiring 5G spectrum for captive networks. The body has again argued that direct allocation of 5G airwaves to enterprises for captive networks will kill the 5G business case of operators. COAI further noted that the administrative allocation of spectrum for private 5G networks will be against tenets of level playing field and asked for ‘Fair Play’ to prevent back door entry to big tech for 5G.
The development comes after Adani group made an entry into the race to acquire telecom spectrum that will pitch it directly against Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel in the upcoming auction. Earlier, in June 2022, COAI had written to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) asking the government to ensure that a level-playing field is maintained between the incumbents and new entrants in terms of licence fees and meeting other regulatory conditions.
Meanwhile, COAI asserted that the prospect for administrative allocation of spectrum for captive network 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 telecom service providers (TSPs) are subjected to. While companies bidding in the auction process will have to pay a hefty amount of money to get their hands on 5G airwaves, those seeking it administratively need only pay a one-time application fee of Rs 50,000. Also, no entry fee or license fee will be levied in this case.
Reiterating the importance of level playing field, Lt. Gen. Dr. S.P. Kochhar, director general, COAI, 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. 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. 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.”
