DoT issues LoI to Adani for telecom services in Gujarat

The Adani group has secured a letter of intent (LoI) from the Department of Telecom (DoT) to provide telecom services in the Gujarat circle. The unified licence will allow the group to provide long-distance call and internet facilities in the Gujarat circle.

Also, its subsidiary Adani Data Networks can also provide wireless internet services, besides wireline broadband. However, it will have to obtain separate licences to provide services in other circles.

The Adani group said, “We are participating in the 5G spectrum auction to provide private network solutions along with enhanced cyber security in the airport, ports & logistics, power generation, transmission, distribution and various manufacturing operations.”

Adani Data Networks, through which Adani Group will bid for 5G spectrum auctions later this month, has also been given LoIs for national long distance (NLD) and international long distance (ILD) services. These licences would be for the group’s data centre business, where data needs to be transferred within the country as well as outside. In the absence of NLD/ILD licences, Adani group uses the services of telecom operators to transfer data for which it has to pay carriage charges.

The licence fee for NLD and ILD licences is Rs 2.5 crore each. These services will be in addition to private network solutions. Once it acquires spectrum through auctions, it will have to apply for a captive network licence.

The information relating to the LoIs for ISP and NLD/ILD licences were disclosed by the DoT when it published the ownership details of the companies which are participating in the 5G auctions. As expected, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea are the other companies in the race.