Reliance Jio opposes Airtel and Vi over E band-5G spectrum bundling

Reliance Jio has opposed a move by Bharti Airtel and Vodafone-Idea (Vi) who are pushing for ‘mandatory’ bundling of the contentious E band with 5G spectrum in the upcoming auctions.

The E band spectrum (71-76 GHz and 81-87 GHZ) can be used by telcos for the backhaul of towers, replacing the microwave linkage, and is crucial to enable high speed data in large volumes. It can also be used as access spectrum.  

The differences came to light in an ‘open house’ of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Tuesday in which all key stakeholders from telcos and ISPs to telecom gear makers were invited to give their views.

Jio has opposed the move on various counts.  One, operators should be given the freedom to decide the quantum of E spectrum they want to buy, instead of being restricted by the regulator bundling a fixed quantity linked to how much mid band 5G spectrum they buy.

Two, depending on the requirement, some telcos might want to buy more or even less than the bundled quantity offered and therefore the choice should be left to them.

Three, there could also be operators who just want to get into the auction to buy the E wave spectrum and might not be interested in buying 5G at all. They should not be deprived of an opportunity.

In its submissions to the regulator, Bharti Airtel has said that it wants the E band to be mandatorily bundled with the mid band 5G spectrum which is being auctioned.

It has suggested a graded method: two channels of 250 MHz each for an operator who buys up to 40 MHz of spectrum in the mid band; three channels for an operator buying 60 MHz; and four channels for an operator buying 80Mhz.

Bharti Airtel points out that the E band is critical for 5G backhaul which in turn is key to offering 5G services to customers.

Vi has also stated that, as part of the Supreme Court order on the spectrum to be auctioned, the best way is to bundle it with 3300-3600 Mhz mid band access spectrum for purely backhaul purposes.

Rahul Vatts, chief regulatory officer, Bharti Airtel, points out that without this E band spectrum, India will not be able to enjoy 5G either in urban or rural areas. “The good news is that this E band spectrum is lying idle. It is critical therefore that the government bundle E band spectrum along with 5G access spectrum. This will enable 5G for all,” said Vatts.

Vi and Reliance did not comment.

However, there is consensus among the three players on one matter, namely that the E band spectrum needs to be auctioned and not given at an administered price.

In opposition, the Broadband India Forum which represents companies like Google and Facebook advocates the use of these bands for the proliferation of high speed wifi hotspots (which have been lagging behind across the country) by providing the spectrum at a nominal or administered price.

Reliance Jio has also made a strong pitch for more spectrum if high quality 5G services are to be enabled. It believes the country will eventually require much more spectrum than what has been earmarked in the upcoming auction owing to India’s high population density and data use proliferation.  

Telcos say the density of population per square kilometre in most countries is far lower than India’s figure  per square kilometre. For instance Jio has said , in China it is 51 per cent of India’s figure since although China has a bigger population, it is spread across a larger land mass.

Germany has 33 per cent of India’s population density, Brazil has 1.44 per cent and Australia has only 1.17 per cent. Taking care of high density and usage merely by increasing the number of towers is not a long term solution, say the telcos. What is required is more airwaves.    

Similarly, the dependence of mobile broadband traffic in relation to the total traffic is far higher in India than in other countries. In India, mobile broadband traffic accounts for 92 per cent of the total traffic.

In contrast, the figures are far lower in other countries. Mobile broadband traffic in China accounts for only 11 per cent of the total traffic. In Brazil it is 10 per cent, South Korea 8 per cent, Japan 15 per cent, and in Russia 27 per cent. This puts pressure on mobile networks and requires more spectrum.

Based on the bands identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, of which all countries and operators are members, for 5G only 10.6 per cent of the mid band and 33 per cent of the millimetre band have been put up for the upcoming auction in India.

Consequently, reducing even this amount of spectrum, as Bharti Airtel has proposed (on spectrum which has no interference or where other operators in defence and space are also using it), would result in very poor 5G services.