Adani Group to bid for 5G spectrum; may be the first step towards private captive network

The Adani Group is understood to have applied for participating in the upcoming 5G spectrum auction, catching industry observers by surprise. Friday was the last day for companies to put in their applications for participating in the auctions which commences from July 26. While the country’s three telecom operators – Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea – have submitted their applications, government as well as industry sources said that Adani Group is also one of the applicants.

Spectrum can be used for various services based on the licences companies go for. It is quite possible that as a first step Adani Group may use the airwaves to set up a private captive network for its data usage, something which has been allowed by the government. The government has so far allowed enterprises like Adani to build their captive data networks by either taking spectrum on lease from the telecom operators or giving them a turnkey contract to build the same. As far as direct allocation of spectrum to enterprises is concerned, while the government has given an in-principle approval, it has said that it would first assess the demand and then ask the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to frame rules in this regard.