New Delhi: India’s Reliance Jio is in discussion with Elon Musk’s Tesla to build out a captive private network for the electric vehicle (EV) company, Financial Express reported, citing unnamed industry sources.
The sources, however, said that the discussions are currently preliminary and may progress further only if Tesla “firms up” its plans for setting up a manufacturing unit in India, as per the report.
The captive private network is said to manage all critical operations at faster speeds, while also handling connected car solutions, automating production processes, and more, the report added.
A Jio executive on the condition of anonymity told the publication that “5G is about enterprise connectivity” and the telco is reaching out to companies in the automobile, healthcare, manufacturing, and other industries with possible use cases, while offering to build and manage their networks.
To recall, Airtel in December 2022 partnered with IT services firm Tech Mahindra to deploy a captive private 5G network at Mahindra & Mahindra’s Chakan manufacturing facility, which became India’s India’s first 5G-enabled auto manufacturing unit.
While Jio is deploying a 5G standalone (SA) network, Airtel is rolling out a 5G non-standalone (NSA) network. Private networks are said to be among the top use cases of the fifth-generation technology but any significant use cases are expected to emerge after a few months only.
Under private networks, corporates can set up their own Wi-Fi and data network instead of taking the services from a telecom service provider as is the norm now.
The issue of direct allocation of spectrum to enterprises for setting up captive private 5G networks has been a contentious one, pitching technology firms against telecom operators.
Since June 2022, when the cabinet approved the proposal of direct allocation of spectrum to enterprises, telcos have been opposing the move, alleging that it would distort the level-playing field and give technology players a backdoor entry to provide 5G services to enterprises.
ET reported last year that Infosys, Capgemini, GMR, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Communications, Tata Power and Tejas Networks are among more than 20 companies that have applied for direct allocation of 5G spectrum to set up private communication networks, following a demand study launched by the department of telecommunications (DoT).
