Telecom companies have submitted comments in response to a consultation paper released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), titled “Digital Transformation through 5G Ecosystem.” The industry stakeholders have asked to encourage adoption of 5G and internet of things (IoT) devices, and the government needs to make approval processes leaner and give financial incentives to start-ups involved in the field.
The key hurdles to 5G deployment that stakeholders have highlighted included infrastructure limitations, spectrum availability and affordability, and regulatory hurdles while getting permissions and licences. All stakeholders called for easing the spectrum allocation process and approval processes related to installing small cells on available street furniture.
Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) has asked for heavy levies on operators and huge spectrum prices to be reconsidered. Meanwhile, BSNL recommended that the government should create an umbrella regulatory body that prepares a single set of policies and regulatory guidelines for the 5G ecosystem which includes cross-sectoral stakeholders. In addition, Reliance Jio called net neutrality and data charging rules restrictive and called for a more agile regulatory framework to deal with 5G.
Further, nasscom and Jio suggested a sunset date for 2G and 3G networks to lower operational costs and to develop new 5G cases. Vi said that the penetration of 5G phones and smartphones is low because of high costs. Vi also suggested 4G/5G infrastructure to be declared critical infrastructure under the new Telecom Act so that incidents of vandalism and theft of telecom equipment can be addressed. It also asked for guidelines on vandalism proof design, installations, and real time protection of infrastructure components.
Tata Communications has suggested the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to allow micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to set up a cellular private network for their own use without depending on any telecom service provider (TSP).
In addition, Broadband India Forum (BIF) recommended that to allow machine-to-machine (M2M) communication in private networks, which is a novel use case of 5G. The industry body also stated that there is a need to offer direct spectrum allocation of 5G to enterprises. To encourage adoption of IoT, BSNL, Tata Communication, Vi recommended policies and regulations for developers and start-ups working on IoT to be eased. BSNL noted that import duty on telecom equipment to be relaxed to encourage research and development (R&D) around 5G and IoT use cases.
BIF and Vi have suggested financial incentives for startups to focus on IoT. These incentives could include government grants, seed funding, long-term tax holidays, subsidies, subsidised loans, tax breaks, or discounted access to technology like analytics platforms, cloud services, etc. Meanwhile, Nokia suggested IoT devices to be subsidised for SMEs and agricultural applications. It asked the government to provide rebates or vouchers for IoT home devices to encourage consumer adoption.
Jio has also recommended that IoT and M2M applications that cover critical areas such as manufacturing, telemedicine, and healthcare, connected vehicles, home equipment, smart meters, should not be covered when the government orders internet shutdowns. Further, nasscom and Jio suggested that the government to review current restrictions on data connectivity for IoT and M2M uses. In addition, Jio called for standardisation and interoperability standards for M2M devices.
Furthermore, Jio and nasscom have asked the government to develop a uniform policy to integrate subscription manager secure routing (SM-SR) platform for all M2M devices imported to India. Jio has suggested TRAI to consult and enunciate a clear policy that will address both the requirements of global interoperability and national security.
