NEW DELHI: Homegrown system integrator (SI) firm Amantya Technologies is in discussions with Indian telecom operators for deploying private 5G networks for enterprises, according to its chief technology officer (CTO). Amantya, which was recently selected by BSNL to deploy 5G private network for enterprises, said that both companies have entered into talks with power and industrial automation companies along with some other verticals to deploy 5G private network for them.
“We are in discussions with them. We wanted to first pay off with BSNL. And then we would like to go with these larger players,” Sanjay Bisen, CTO of Amantya Technologies told ETTelecom in an interview.
“BSNL is an ideal player from a spectrum perspective because they have a large chunk of spectrum available. Amantya can help BSNL utilize its spectrum and penetrate the industry and an enterprise can use it,” he added.
The two companies, under the revenue–sharing pact, are studying the revenue that BSNL could earn by deploying private 5G for enterprises.
The executive, while citing industry reports, said the economic value of private 5G as a market is expected to reach $570 million by 2026 in India.
“How much percentage BSNL will gain, we need to explore it. But right now, a revenue-sharing model is there.”
The Gurugram-headquartered company is working on 5G use cases for verticals such as manufacturing, transport, logistics, power, and educational campuses, amongst others.
“I believe the system integrators will have a larger playing field because of the enormous cost and high customization benefits they could offer the enterprises,” Bisen said on the issue of spectrum for private networks.
Telcos had previously opposed any move to directly allocate spectrum to enterprises for setting up their private 5G network.
However, in November last year, Infosys, Capgemini, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Communications, among more than 20 companies applied for a direct allocation of 5G spectrum to set up private communication networks, following a demand study launched by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
ET, in its December 16 edition, reported that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has decided to allocate spectrum worth nearly Rs 62,000 crore to BSNL for rolling out its 5G services. As per officials privy to the matter, a DoT committee has approved a proposal to allocate 10MHz block in the coveted 700MHz band, along with 70MHz in the mid-band (3600MHz-3670MHz).
BSNL’s 4G roll out has been pushed to the second half of 2023, whereas its 5G services will be launched around August 2024, according to reports.
The Centre has given 10MHz of spectrum in the 600MHz band, 40MHz in the 3.5GHz band, and 400MHz in the mmWave band for 5G.
Elaborating on the bottlenecks around private 5G, Bisen said new affordable solutions need to come up, and device costs need to reduce too. Homegrown device manufacturers can step in to produce such modems, sensors, and others, locally which will help the overall ecosystem reduce the cost of 5G deployments in India, he said.
Amantya in India has a headcount of 535, besides, it is also present in the US and the UK which have a combined headcount of 20. The company is bootstrapped, with operations funded internally, and does not see the need for external funding in immediate future, Bisen told ETTelecom.
