Railways, DoT on different bandwidth over 700 Mhz spectrum allotment

The transporter wants premium spectrum for free; govt reluctant to lose revenue

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is reviewing allotting the premium 700 Mhz spectrum to the Indian Railways for signalling and WiFi services, but the Centre is not happy to give it for free. Instead, the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) wants to assign a higher quantum of 900 Mhz spectrum — that the Railways already uses — for seamless connectivity.

At present, the Railways has 2.5-3 Mhz of 900 Mhz spectrum. But, it is available only in some places, and so Railways cannot provide seamless WiFi connectivity, as it is not contiguous.

A telecom ministry official aware of the matter said, “We can double the quantum of the spectrum available with the Railways for signalling and WiFi services. All over the world, the 900 Mhz frequency is used for railway signalling and internet services.”

Sources said only Samsung had the technology to develop an eco-system for such services. It is lobbying with the Railways to give it the project. But, it did not answer emailed queries on this.

The telecom official also said, “The 700 Mhz should be sold for a premium in the coming auctions. If some of it remains unsold, it can be sold later. Why should the government lose out on revenue by giving it for free to the Railways?”

According to a set of estimates, if the same quantum of 700 Mhz is sold, it will give the exchequer about Rs 1 trillion. Spectrum usage charges and licence fees will also add to the exchequer at regular intervals.

Also, if the Railways were to shift to the 700 Mhz spectrum, it would mean a complete overhaul of the signalling system.

At present, the Global System for Mobile Communications-Railways (GSM-R) that it uses occupies the 900 Mhz frequency.

The railway ministry had first requested the DoT to reserve 15 Mhz of spectrum in the 700 Mhz band on February 27, and allocate 10 Mhz for free. The DoT referred the proposal to Trai.

A senior telecom ministry official said Railways had said it would surrender all the 900 Mhz spectrum it currently uses for the GSM-R — an international wireless communications standard for railways, offering a secure transmission of voice, data and applications.

Telecom players Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea had together opposed the idea of allocating 700 Mhz spectrum to the Railways for free. They said the spectrum had significant commercial value and could earn substantial revenue for the government.

The telecom industry, in response to a Trai consultation paper, said spectrum allotted to the Railways for captive use should be utilised for commercial services provided to passengers, as one needs a licence to do so.

In August 2018, Trai suggested sale of 8,644 Mhz spectrum across eight key bands, including 4G airwaves in the 700 Mhz, 800 Mhz, 900 Mhz, 1,800 Mhz, 2300 Mhz and 2,500 Mhz bands, and 5G spectrum in the 3.3-3.6 Ghz band.

It slashed the base price for 700 Mhz airwaves by 43 per cent to Rs 6,568 crore per unit, as the spectrum went unsold in 2016 auctions.

Besides GSM-R, other technologies are also used by railways in different countries.

For instance, South Korea offers the long-term evolution — railways or the LTE-R services. They feel the GSM-R has limited capacity.

In April 2017, Samsung partnered with SK Telecom, South Korea’s largest wireless operator) to offer a LTE-R wireless railway management system.

The system has been officially deployed on the 41-km-long Busan Metro Line 1 between Sinpyeong and Nopo.

It claims that the new technology would offer enhanced communication capabilities, where the train operator can, in case of an accident, transmit real-time video between him and the control centre, thanks to the LTE-R’s low latency.