Telcos’ private 5G networks can meet enterprise connectivity requirements: COAI

There is no relevance of dedicated captive private networks in India as the extensive and dense availability of public fifth-generation or 5G telecom infrastructure can serve enterprises’ connectivity needs, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Thursday.

“With the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi’s vision and drive to enable 5G connectivity to all corners of the country, the private networks derived from the telecom operators can meet the SLAs (service level agreements) of the enterprises at operational costs only, via technically robust networks deployed and operated by them,” said SP Kochhar, director-general of COAI.

Delhi-based COAI represents telecom incumbents Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea (Vi).

Kochhar stated that telcos’ private networks will remove from the enterprises the burden of managing a complex network, that is outside of their domain of expertise.

“It must be noted that several companies that initially attempted to set up and maintain private networks have ultimately reverted to telecom operators for network management, recognizing the complexity and operational challenges involved,” he said.

COAI’s counter-statement comes close on the heels of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommending a separate authorisation framework for captive non-public network (CNPN) providers under Section 3 of the Telecommunications Act, 2023, with the scope of establishing, maintaining, operating and expanding the networks for enterprises.

Section 3 of the Act allows the government to assign spectrum administratively to entities in defence, law enforcement, broadcasting services, disaster management, navigation, telemetry, in-flight and maritime connectivity, as well as for safety and operations of mines, ports and oil exploration, among others.

According to industry experts, and the technology industry association Broadband India Forum (BIF), if the sector regulator’s recommendations are accepted by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), they will unleash private networks in the enterprise sector.

“Given India’s widespread telecom penetration, the need for enterprises to establish private networks is virtually non-existent,” Kochhar said.

He underscored that the TRAI, in its recent recommendations on the matter, has also noted that although the licensing framework for CNPN was put in place in June 2022, the CNPN services have not picked up.

According to COAI, Indian telcos are fully equipped to meet enterprise demand for 5G applications through advanced solutions such as spectrum leasing and network slicing within their existing public networks, to handle different types of traffic simultaneously.