Set up one single massive telecom network in the country: Sunil Mittal

Sunil Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel and of global telecom body GSMA, proposed the establishment of one single big telecom network that could serve everyone instead of telcos individually bidding for telecom spectrum. 

Mittal, who was delivering a keynote address at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, suggested the establishment of 'netcos' or network operating companies that could be operated by a third party, independent of the telecom companies. Mittal said all the spectrum should be pooled into that independent netco. He was quoted by The Economic Times in a report. 

The telecom sector spends about $50 billion on spectrum with telcos going beyond their means to to outpace competition to ensure that their network coverage and data capabilities are better than others. 

Mittal said "the density of expenses in terms of capex, spectrum is going up whereas revenue is tapering off, which is putting a massive amount of pressure on RoCE (return on capital employed) of this industry, which has lost its appeal to investors."

To get rid of the vicious cycle and improve return on capital employed, "establish network operating companies (netcos) that pool spectrum belonging to telcos and are run by third-party netcos that have a clear formula for charging, per MB per minute for instance," he was quoted as saying. 

“Netcos and mobile companies should separate themselves. You build one massive network from which everyone is served. (The) Benefit is that it is not just lower investment in capex but your spectrum efficiency also rises significantly. This will help telcos become truly digital, marketing companies. He said that some active sharing is on, but while “people have started talking about network sharing, using common spectrum using common spectrum, very little has happened," Mittal told ET.