The 5G spectrum auction was announced by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) last week. The auction date has been set for July 26 and it will be an e-auction. But there are a lot of things that are still unclear for the telecom operators. The telcos have sought clarification from the Department of Telecommunication on several matters including the private 5G. According to an ET Telecom report, during the pre-bid auctions, the telcos asked the DoT on which browser will the final e-auction take place? This is because the e-auction was supposed to take place on Microsoft Internet Explorer. However, that browser had officially retired on June 15, 2022. Apart from this, the telcos wanted to know the methodology in which the enterprises will be allotted 5G spectrum for captive private networks. Further, telcos wanted to know the price at which these airwaves would be allotted to the enterprises and the spectrum band that the government is planning to reserve for them.
Telcos Want Government to Ensure No Backdoor Entries to the Sector are There
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) had written to the government authorities asking to ensure that the third parties are not allowed to set up the captive private 5G networks for the enterprises. This is to see that there are no backdoor entries in the telecom services space. Further, the telcos stressed the fact that the government should only allow M2M applications with the spectrum allocated to the enterprises for private 5G. The companies should not be able to offer the services of the private network to their employees in their homes and more. The DoT will have to come up with a precise answer to all of these questions and address the issues that the telcos have. The pre-bid conference was organised by the telecom department to seek telcos’ concerns on the matters in NIA (Notice Inviting Application).
