Hot race: With the 5G spectrum being a shared commodity, it seems likely that competition will intensify in the telecommunications industry. QUESTIONS are being raised on whether a government-led, single-entity rollout of the 5G network will put the private telecommunications companies (telcos) at a disadvantage. While the market is awaiting further details on how the recently announced government-owned special purpose vehicle (SPV) would deploy 5G, there are two sets of thoughts on the matter. On one hand, with the government being the sole owner of the 5G spectrum and infrastructure, telcos would not be burdened by the heavy upfront capital expenditure (capex) as compared to the 5G infrastructure being deployed individually.