Department of Telecommunication (DoT) has reportedly decided that it will not directly allocate 5G spectrum to firms for setting up private networks.
According to an Economic Times (ET) report, companies like Infosys, Larsen and Toubro, Tata Power and GMR had demanded the allocation of spectrum without auctions.
The report cited officials saying DoT is against direct allocation of airwaves because it is of the view that the allocation for private networks is not feasible under the present legal framework. This comes after ET reported in March that Attorney General (AG) R Venkataramani has advised the department to prefer auctions for the spectrum.
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Officials told ET that the department will soon inform the Cabinet and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) about its decision.
However, the report stated that this goes against DoT’s initial guidelines on private networks that were released last year.
According to the guidelines, firms looking to set up their own captive networks can lease 5G spectrum from telecom companies or get it directly from DoT.
However, the report mentioned that this received opposition from telco companies, following which DoT consulted AG Venkataramani. He said that auctions are the preferred mode of allocating natural resources like spectrum.
One of the officials was quoted as saying by ET, “The AG has said this keeping in mind the principle that any community resource, in all circumstances, should be allocated in a manner that may fetch the best return possible and (so) the allocation of the resource through the auction process is found desirable.”
The AG reportedly also cited the 2G scam to avoid administrative allocation of 5G spectrum.
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