India’s top telcos, including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi) have asked the government and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to earmark the entire 1200 units in 6 GHz band for exclusive use of licensed mobile (IMT) services which will boost deployment as well as quality of 5G services while getting ready for 6G technology. “In access spectrum services, the 6 GHz band (consisting of 6425-7125 MHz) is important as it can provide contiguous registers for urban capacity and subsequently low latency industrial use cases along with seamless deployment of mobile telecommunication catering to next-generation applications,” DoT added.
Telecom Giants’ Request for 6 GHz Spectrum Allocation
- Reliance Jio, Airtel, and Vi have suggested that the entire 1200 MHz band in the 6 GHz frequency range be sold off at auction only for International Mobile
- Telecommunications (IMT) use, with a preference for licensed mobile operators over other users like internet service providers (ISPs).
- They said that the 6 GHz band is an important mid-band spectrum that has a good mix of wide coverage and high capacity, which is needed for quickly and cheaply setting up 5G networks and getting ready for 6G technologies that are coming soon.
- Reliance Jio stressed how important it is to auction off 400 MHz of spectrum in certain sub-ranges (6425–6725 MHz and 7025–7125 MHz) as part of the upcoming spectrum auction.
- The operators didn’t want to share the 6 GHz spectrum with unlicensed users; they wanted it to be only for licensed telecom service providers.
Industry and Regulatory Context
- The GSMA, a global telecom industry association, supports awarding large contiguous blocks of the 6 GHz band to mobile operators to address India’s population density and rising data demands.
- The telecom companies say that not giving out or giving out this mid-band spectrum too carefully could cause a “radio wave crunch” that would hurt the growth and economics of 5G services.
- Mobile operators and industry experts stress that once prime mid-band spectrum like 6 GHz runs out, operators will have to move to higher frequency bands that cover less area and cost more to set up.
- The telecom sector sees optimal allocation of the 6 GHz band as crucial to realizing India’s national digital economy goals and preparing the country for future 6G deployments.
Spectrum Policy Implications
- The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) wants to auction off only the top 700 MHz part of the 6 GHz band for mobile use. The telcos, on the other hand, want the full 1200 MHz.
- Telecom companies are against delicate licensing because it could lead to interference and undervaluing. There is a debate about delicate licensing versus exclusive licensed allocation.
- The Indian government has already made some spectrum in the 5 GHz band available for unlicensed use, but operators say that a lot of it is still not being used.
- These talks are part of India’s larger efforts to create a strong 5G ecosystem and get ready for 6G in the next ten years.
In short, India’s big telecom companies have come together to ask regulators to set aside the whole 6 GHz spectrum band for licensed 5G and beyond mobile services. They emphasize that this spectrum is crucial for meeting the country’s growing data needs, reducing deployment costs, and facilitating the transition to 6G technology.