5G captive networks are detrimental to national security, COAI chief says

Lt. Gen. Dr. S.P. Kochhar, Director General, COAI, interacted with The Hindu and shared his perspectives on private captive networks, challenges in 5G rollout, fiberisation, and 6G technology

Telecom service providers (TSPs) have started providing 5G services in the country from October 2022. 5G services have already been activated in 50 cities and towns across 13 states and one Union territory. Lt. Gen. Dr. S.P. Kochhar, Director General, COAI, interacted with The Hindu and shared his perspectives on private captive networks, challenges in 5G rollout, fiberisation, and 6G technology.

Edited excerpts:

S.P. Kochhar: The separate private 5G captive networks are a challenge to the telecom service providers (TSPs) and can be detrimental to national security. The spectrum allocated on an administrative basis will be exploited by aggregators who would resort to hoarding of spectrum and then offering services to enterprises through pan India networks, assuming a pseudo-TSP role. This would lead to no business case for the rollout of 5G networks in the country by the TSPs and will diminish their revenues.

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SPK: Currently, individual permissions are required to be taken from electricity, gas, sewerage, Railways, NHAI, forest authority, residential welfare bodies, among others, which causes unnecessary delays and economical inefficiencies. Installation of towers or small cells near educational institutes, hospitals, airports, defence establishments, religious places are restricted or require a special set of permits. There is no active support from the police department in enforcing the regulations to expedite installation process or to prevent disruption to the project. Pending approvals lead to coercive action like demolition and sealing, which further delay the installation process. There is a need to set aside special places for the deployment of 5G infra as densely populated areas like markets and metro stations leave no room for infrastructure deployment.

SPK: Investment is a major challenge in successful, pan-India deployment of 5G services. Investments in key components of the 5G network like spectrum, fibre, and towers on pan-India coverage are estimated to be about ₹1.3-₹2.3 lakh crore with around ₹90,000 crores required in the deployment of telecom sites. This will add to the immense financial stress already faced by the telecom sector. The latest 5G spectrum auction witnessed outflows from telcos to the tune of over ₹1.5 lakh crores. They may have to spend around $22 billion further in the next five years to strengthen and expand the 5G networks. Investments in network security for 5G will further necessitate an increase in investments up to 2.5 times from the present volumes, as per Futurex. State Electricity Regulatory commissions also need to provide EB connections to the telecom sites, both macro and micro sites, at utility rates. Availability of power at reduced utility rate is a crucial need for the sector.

SPK: Fiberisation and towerisation are two critical factors for creating a robust infrastructure for the success of 5G in India. The Government has introduced amended Right of Way (RoW) Guidelines to help facilitate faster deployment of telecom infrastructure across the states and establish an efficient 5G network. However, rollout of underground and overhead fibre continues to be hampered by difficulties in implementing state policies at local entities, municipal corporations, and wards. State and local bodies impose exorbitant charges for deploying telecom infrastructure on street furniture.