Ghana has launched a new 5G spectrum auction expected to raise over $200 million for the government 🇬🇭
The National Communications Authority is offering spectrum in the 700 MHz, 2.3 GHz, and 3 GHz bands, with reserve prices starting at $10 million.
This move marks a shift from Ghana's previous plan for an exclusive nationwide wholesale 5G network.
The government revoked the earlier exclusive agreement with NGIC, a consortium backed by Mukesh Ambani.
𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐒𝐍𝐋'𝐬 𝟓𝐆 𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬
BSNL's recent tender for its 5G rollout in Delhi has generated significant discussion in the telecom industry. Based on the tender document and industry feedback, below is my understanding of the tender and its issues.
𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫:
> Purpose: To build, own, and operate Indigenous 5G services in Delhi on a "Network as a Service" (PaaS) model.
> Structure: BSNL seeks two service providers, a primary and a secondary, to establish and manage 5G networks across specified zones.
> Revenue Model: Partners will bear CAPEX and OPEX costs while sharing revenue with BSNL. The tender specifies a 70-30 revenue-sharing model, favoring BSNL.
𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐬:
1. Restrictive Clauses Favoring Local Vendors
- The tender mandates using indigenous equipment, which aligns with the "Make in India" initiative.
- Global vendors like Ericsson and Nokia have raised concerns that these conditions restrict competition and compromise the quality of technology.
2. Revenue-Sharing Terms
- BSNL's revenue-sharing model heavily favors the company (70%), leaving a modest share (30%) for vendors.
- Vendors have criticized this structure as financially unviable, especially given the substantial upfront investments required.
3. Cost Burden on Vendors
- Vendors must cover all CAPEX and OPEX, including upgrades to BSNL’s existing infrastructure and the installation of new RAN sites.
- The tender also specifies that the bidders will bear incremental costs for structural tower upgrades and customer premise equipment (CPE), adding financial pressure.
𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
> Eligibility Criteria:
- Bidders must be Indian-registered entities with proven technical expertise in 5G Core or RAN.
- Consortium bids are allowed, but the lead bidder must be an OEM with headquarters in India.
> Scope of Work:
- Ensure compliance with TRAI benchmarks for performance and quality of service.
- Provide network slicing capabilities for eMBB and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) services.
> Penalties:
- Vendors face penalties for non-compliance with performance benchmarks.
Failure to maintain QoS for two consecutive quarters may lead to contract termination, with the network transferred to BSNL.
- Deployment Timeline: The 5G network must be fully operational within 6 months from the award of the contract.
𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐬' 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬:
Revised Revenue Model: Vendors propose a 50-50 revenue split to ensure financial viability.
Addressing these concerns through a more balanced revenue-sharing model and greater flexibility in equipment sourcing could enhance the tender's appeal and ensure a successful 5G rollout.
#5G#India#MakeInIndia
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory awarded Northrop Grumman a $54.7 million contract to develop satellite communications antennas for military aircraft, the Department of Defense announced Sept. 16.
The three-year contract falls under the Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) program, an effort to create military networks leveraging commercial space internet constellations like Starlink, OneWeb, SES’s O3b and others. Under the contract, Northrop Grumman will develop multi-band, high-throughput satellite communications antennas that can be integrated onto various military aircraft. A similar contract was awarded last month to Raytheon.
The DEUCSI program is part of a broader initiative to enhance the U.S. military’s ability to share information seamlessly across land, sea, and air forces. Several defense contractors, including L3Harris Technologies, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and BAE Systems, are developing antennas and supporting technologies to give military users access to commercial internet services in low, medium, and geostationary orbits using a common set of user terminal hardware.
#AFRL#DEUCSI#SATCOM
A B-2 bomber is refueled at Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory, Aug. 21, 2024. (U.S. Air National Guard)
The UK has signalled a major long-term investment in military tactical communications, publishing a pipeline notice for a new framework worth up to £8bn to support users over an eight-year period from 2026 to 2034.
The proposed framework, referenced RM6393 and published on 11 December, will cover specialised military-grade tactical communication and information systems for use in active battlefield environments. Scope includes hardware, software, system design, implementation and ongoing support, with a clear emphasis on integrated, resilient communications enabling real-time operational decision-making. The programme is expected to expand on Lot 1c of the existing Network Services 3 (RM6116) arrangement, shifting further towards lifecycle services and system integration rather than discrete equipment buys.
This represents one of the largest UK defence communications procurements currently in the forward pipeline, and a strong signal of demand for secure, deployable and software-defined communications architectures. Structuring the requirement as a multi-supplier framework suggests sustained competition and flexibility, with implications for primes, integrators and specialist SMEs positioning ahead of a planned tender release in January 2026.
#defence#tacticalcommunications#miltech#ukdefence#procurement
Telesat signed the largest contract in its 60 year history, C$2.3 billion from Canada's Defence Investment Agency for secure military connectivity across the Arctic for the Canadian Armed Forces & NORAD. The constellation goes from 156 to 225 satellites. Defence rises from 14% to 46% of projected Lightspeed revenue in 2032 and the 2032 forecast goes from US$3.2 billion to US$4.9 billion.
The Enhanced Satellite Communications Project, Polar, delivers secure military Ka-band connectivity between 65 & 90 degrees North, the geography sitting directly between NATO & Russia. Two 5 year options worth roughly C$214m and C$218m take the total to about C$2.7B. Service begins early 2028.
Before this contract, Lightspeed was a commercial broadband constellation with some government interest. After it, Lightspeed is a dual-use military-commercial architecture with the Canadian Armed Forces as anchor customer. Defence goes from a footnote to nearly half the projected revenue. One contract moved the business model, the constellation size, the revenue forecast and the financing case for the whole programme.
This is the pattern is clear. ICEYE reached €10 billion because 7 governments procure sovereign SAR systems from it, with commercial revenue as the foundation and defence demand as the accelerant.
I've spoken about The Exploration Company and whether European capital can retain ownership of Europe's best space companies. Telesat is the Canadian answer to the same question, arrived at by a different route. TEC is trying to keep its cap table European through sovereign investment funds. Canada is keeping Telesat Canadian through procurement, writing a contract large enough that private capital follows.
MDA Space picks up C$474 million for the additional satellites, built in Montreal. Add that to the quarter MDA has already had with the Blue Canyon Technologies acquisition at US$620 million for a US defence manufacturing foothold and a firm offer for roughly 70% of CLS, the French EO analytics business. MDA is assembling a vertically integrated, multi-continent platform at a pace only Rocket Lab is matching, and doing it mostly through anchor government contracts rather than venture capital.
On the Arctic itself, GEO satellites cannot serve high-latitude polar regions effectively, LEO constellations can. That is why Lightspeed with military Ka-band is the capability Canada needs and why Starlink's global footprint does not satisfy the sovereign requirement. Canada wants connectivity it owns, controls and can classify.
The same geographic logic runs through EO. Arctic EO is one of the faster-growing demand segments, covering ice monitoring, shipping route tracking, resource mapping and military surveillance. As the Arctic opens commercially and militarily, operators with assets covering polar orbits capture disproportionate value.
For any space company, the commercial business plan gets you to the table and the sovereign defence contract funds the build.