The recent recommendation from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) around providing an enabling framework for enterprises to build their own private networks is in line with other 5G markets, where governments are looking to drive the digitisation of key industries.

However, Indian operators see this as limiting their return on investment in the 5G spectrum, global speed test agency, Ookla said on Tuesday.

“Looking at the example of private networks across Europe, and Germany in particular, we believe that Indian telcos shouldn’t see TRAI’s proposal as a threat. Rather, they should use the buzz around the spectrum for verticals as a way to get enterprises interested in digitalisation,” it said.

Benefits galore

According to Ookla’s latest insights, while on the consumer side, the roll-out of 5G services will boost Indian mobile performance to a potential 10x increase in median download speeds (5G vs 4G LTE), it will also deliver socioeconomic benefits in India, on account of a number of 5G use cases that could enable new applications across all sectors.

The Ookla insights asserted that 5G and 5G standalone will offer the benefits related to enhanced mobile broadband , massive Internet of things (IoT) and critical IoT to Indian enterprises, allowing better control over their networks with an attractive benefit of the increased security offered by isolating their data from public networks. Among various sectors that stand to benefit from 5G are the manufacturing sector, representing 20 per cent of the total benefit, along with retail, ICT and agriculture, it said.

According to Ookla, operators can utilise various deployment models, from public dedicated networks through hybrid networks (network slicing, public/private campus, private RAN with public core) to private networks and leverage network slicing and edge computing to add the benefits of QoS, privacy, security, and other specific SLAs.

Business opportunities

Ookla insights further illustrated that building a partner’s ecosystem will be a key for telecom operators, allowing them to go beyond their core competencies and capture the business opportunities in the new markets.

"With a broad portfolio of vendors, telecom operators in India can address the changing needs of enterprise across verticals, technology, and coverage, and further stimulate the growth of the market," it added.

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