Industry body COAI has warned that there will be no business case for roll-out of 5G networks, if telecom operators' concern on the critical issue of private captive networks is not addressed immediately.
In a letter to Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, COAI said if independent entities are allowed to set up private captive networks with direct 5G spectrum allotment by the telecom department, “the business case of TSPs (Telecom Service Providers) will get severely degraded”.
“This 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 roll-out by TSPs,” it said.
The comments of COAI -- whose members include Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea -- assumes significance as telecom operators and tech companies have locked horns over the hotly-contested issue of 5G spectrum allocation and captive private networks.
Private enterprises have asserted that giving spectrum directly for creation of captive networks, without any dependency on telcos, would accelerate the digital agenda -- a stance that telecom operators' have vehemently opposed.