How expensive private 5G and satellite internet services can be for businesses?

The marketing strategy and price will be a barrier to ramping up networks as players like Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Hughes Communications India (together with ISRO), and Amazon scale up attempts to supply inexpensive internet services via LEO satellites, according to a new analysis.

There are a few players testing internet services currently, and customer gadgets with LEO access are about to follow.

The first high-throughput satellite (HTS) broadband service powered by ISRO was launched commercially last week, according to satellite internet operator Hughes Communications India.

The service intends to connect enterprise and governmental networks by providing high-speed internet across the entire nation, particularly in the most distant regions that are outside the range of terrestrial networks.

Amazon has increased its attempts to roll out its quick and inexpensive internet service called “Project Kuiper” in the nation as SpaceX dropped its cheapest internet project Starlink in India.

The paper stated that private 5G captive networks are a tested technology, with numerous participants currently benefiting from them.

When leveraging high-quality networks made possible by private 5G, other technologies, such as the internet of things (IoT) and automatic guided cars, perform significantly better.

The government has said that it will conduct market analyses for the straight allocation of spectrum to businesses with a net worth of more than Rs 100 crore who wish to establish their own captive 5G networks.

The Department of Telecommunication is inviting businesses that are willing to establish Captive Non-Public Networks (CNPN) by directly obtaining spectrum to take part in this initiative (DoT).

According to the guidelines, businesses looking to establish CNPN can lease spectrum from Telecom Service Providers or directly from DoT.