COAI disappointed on captive network decision, seeks level playing field

Disappointed at the government’s decision on captive private networks, industry body COAI has demanded a level-playing-field, arguing that solution providers should also pay license fee and GST at the rates applicable for telcos on the billed amount of revenue, and that such captive networks must remain “truly” private and isolated, and adhere to security norms.

In a letter to the Telecom Department, COAI argued that since a decision to enable the captive networks through direct spectrum assignment has been taken, the government must now restrict scope of such non-public networks to machine-to-machine communication inside the specific premise and plant automation only.