India’s top telcos have said there is no justification whatsoever for direct allocation of 5G spectrum via administrative route to corporate enterprises for private captive networks, saying such a move would give a backdoor entry to private companies, truncate the revenues of licensed telcos, rob the government of valuable revenues and create a non-level playing field.
There is no need to alienate spectrum directly to companies for captive private networks….the licensed access service providers are fully capable of providing all customized solutions, including M2M / Industrial 4.0 services in the most competitive and economical manner, and are providing such network configurations to private and public sector entities, said the Cellular Operators Association of India COAT, in a media statement Wednesday.
The telcos’ stand directly in conflict with the position of the biggest tech companies like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tata Communications who want the government to directly allocate 5G spectrum to private enterprises, as recommended by the sector regulator. In fact, the no-holds barred face-off between telcos and tech companies over direct spectrum allocations for private 5G networks is believed to have held in abeyance the final Cabinet approval on 5G spectrum pricing for the much awaited auction.
The COAT added that “any move, such as setting aside/ allocation of 5G spectrum (via licensed/ administrative basis) for catering to the connectivity needs of Industry 4.0 / M2M communication services by way of industry-led private captive networks, would create a non-level playing field, leading to arbitrariness in basic policies, discouraging investment in networks and leading to disorderly growth of the sector by back-door entry with undue advantage to private commercial entities at the cost of the government exchequer”.
Earlier, India’s top telcos had slammed Train’s recommendation that 5G spectrum for private enterprise networks be assigned administratively on demand through a publicized online portal-based process, and called on the regulator to scrap the move. They had warned that such a proposal, if accepted by the government, could potentially rob telcos of their future 5G enterprise business revenues – estimated at around 40% of overall 5G business revenues – and destroy the 5G business case in India.
Subsequently, in its response this week to Dot’s back-reference, Train had suggested that private enterprises have the option to lease spectrum from the telcos.
Xiaomi India on Wednesday disputed before the Karnataka High Court the Enforcement Directorate's order seizing its bank assets under powers of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), saying the amount of Rs 5,551.27 crore is equivalent to the royalty payments made to Qualcomm and its parent group, over the years of its operations in the country, and not in the capacity of Xiaomi holding the money outside India
Therefore, Xiaomi lawyers argued, the ED order does not satisfy the tenets of the FEMA, which is applicable only against individuals and companies parking their own money outside the country, and not for payments made to another company. The company also said that the ED never asked for a show cause before passing the attachment order, which goes against the provisions of the Act. Justice SG Pandit posted the matter for June 15. The high court was hearing the writ petition filed by Xiaomi against the ED for passing an order seizing its bank assets worth over Rs 5,500 crore for allegedly making illegal payments to third parties situated outside India, under the guise of royalties.
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