India is still at a very nascent stage when it comes to private 5G. The telecom operators in the country believe that they can best help the enterprises in getting access to private 5G networks. Meanwhile, the enterprises or businesses believe that it would be best for them if they got to set up their own private 5G network if they could get access to the spectrum. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) could soon administratively allocate spectrum to the enterprises for private 5G. This is not amusing for the telcos.
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Jio and Airtel have widespread 5G networks in India. Reliance Jio, in particular, has deployed 5G SA (standalone) countrywide. This enables Jio to create network slices and offer each slice for custom needs, including private 5G.
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), recently said that the private 5G networks are required in areas where network connectivity is very limited or non-existent. This is not an issue in India, believes the industry body which represents companies like Vodafone Idea (Vi), Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea.
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TRAI recently recommended that under the authorisation regime, the enterprises should be able to get access to spectrum in an administrative manner through which they can set up their 5G networks. COAI believes that the telecom service providers are well equipped to help the businesses and the companies in India to set up 5G networks.
The private 5G network market in India is still very small. Only a few companies have it and the ones that started out with the notion of setting it up themselves eventually caved and took the help of the telcos, said COAI. This is going to be one interesting battle to see between the telcos and the private entities.
