Holding industry holders by surprise, Adani Group is said to have applied for participating in 5G spectrum auction. Government and Industry sources, both reveal that Adani group is one of the applicants besides the country’s three other operators – Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea. The auction commences from July 26, Friday was the last day for companies to put in their applications.
5G Spectrum can be optimized for multiple services based on the licenses companies go for. It is speculated that Adani might use the airwaves to set up a private captive network for its data usage. This step is allowed by the government under two processes- either taking the spectrum on lease from telecom operators or providing them with a turnkey contract to build the same. Talking about the direct allocation of spectrum to enterprises, the government has declared that it would first supervise and gauge the demand, and then, ask Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to make the rules in this context.
Though, sources say that there is nothing in the law that refrains any enterprise from purchasing spectrum in the auctions and using it from private captive networks. It is the firm’s decision what kind of license it wishes to obtain to use the spectrum. Sources reveal that Adani can buy spectrum in auctions and use the license for building private captive networks, meanwhile it can also attain a unified license and initiate providing all kinds of services such as voice and data services to customers. The firm can also take a unified license and begin providing private networks for other enterprises.
Analysts of telecom stated that Adani could acquire spectrum through auctions and after taking a private network license, make its own private captive network. On the other hand, if it takes a unified license, it can start a business of building private networks for other enterprises. Sources believe that depending upon the market and its conditions, it might get into all forms of telecom services eventually.
