Companies may have to pay Rs 1,500 cr to start their own private network

The list of companies that want to establish their own private network includes names like Infosys, Tejas Networks, Capgemini, and Larsen & Toubro

The companies which want to buy spectrum to establish their private captive networks may have to pay around Rs 1,500 crore to the government. The allocation of the spectrum would be done at auction-determined prices, a report in Financial Express (FE) said. These companies include names like Infosys, Tejas Networks, Capgemini and Larsen & Toubro. 

However, the final decision will be taken after consultation with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). 

"The choice for enterprises is clear: Either take spectrum at the auction-determined price today and use it only for captive purposes or participate in the next round of auctions next year to buy it and be free from such restrictions," sources in the government told FE. 

For establishing private networks, a spectrum band of 24.25-28.5 GHz is required. In the auctions this year, the per MHz auction price was Rs 6.99 crore. The requirement of the spectrum varies based on the number of locations. However, 100-400 MHz is at least required.

"We have participated in the demand study (for private 5G) and to get started our requirement is for 100 MHz in the mid-band because of the much more evolved ecosystem and availability of equipment. Once the ecosystem is evolved, spectrum in the millimetre wave band will also be in demand," Sandeep Nag, director of 5G at Capgemini told FE. 

Under private networks, companies can set up their own Wi-Fi data network. They would not have to rely on another service provider for it. These may be highly beneficial for industries like healthcare and automobile.