NEW DELHI: Even before the bids are called, 5G auctions are fast turning out to be a turf battle between the well-heeled telecom operators such as Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea and the new-age Big Tech such as Google, Amazon, TCS and Cisco as the two sides fight over the issue of deploying high-speed private networks for enterprises.
The telecom companies, who traditionally buy spectrum in auctions and thereafter roll out the networks, are protesting the decision of regulator Trai to consider giving space to the new-age companies in the deployment of captive business networks such as those that will be used by smart factories, hospitals, educational institutes, agricultural players, ports, airports, and hotels.
