Opening up high-band spectrum not enough for 5G, mid-band needed: Telcos

On Tuesday, TRAI recommended opening up key high-band spectrum for 5G

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The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai)'s decision to open up several 5G high-band or millimetre wave (mmWave) spectrum will not compensate for the lack of 5G spectrum in mid-bands (1-6 GHz), telco officials said.

 

The government needs to free up at least an additional 1200 MHz of spectrum to allocate a total of 2 GHz of radio waves across the mid-band, and especially in the 6 GHz band for mobile telephony, private sector telco officials told Business Standard.

 

On Tuesday, Trai recommended spectrum in the 37-37.5 GHz and 37.5-40 GHz frequency ranges should be auctioned, while it has recommended against auctions for the 42.5-43.5 GHz frequency range.

 

Mmwave or spectrum bands above 24 gigahertz (GHz) are a valuable resource when targeting densely populated urban areas. The high band offers an opportunity for service providers to offer unprecedented peak rates, low latency, and high capacity. But this isn't enough, telcos believe.

 

"High bands like the 37.5 GHz band have certain targeted use cases for 5G. But its limitations include not being able to travel as far as mid and low-band signals, and being more susceptible to interference. On a national level, access to the 6GHz band is required for large-scale 5G coverage," a private sector telco official said.

 

He pointed to a report by the global mobile industry body GSM Association (GSMA), arguing India can save as much as $10 billion annually in 5G network deployment through the use of 6 GHz spectrum.

 

An official at another telco echoed Jio's earlier submission to Trai that the entire 6 GHz band should be earmarked for telecom purposes, so that around 300-400 MHz are available to each of the telecom operators for the growth of 5G and the introduction of 6G services.

 

The 6 GHz band represents the largest block of unused spectrum and is being fought over by telcos and tech companies.

 

The Cellular Operators Association of India (Coai), which counts Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea among its members, has said only 720 MHz is available in the mid-band in India.

 

India needs an additional 2 GHz of mid-band spectrum to meet the international standard of 'IMT-2020' user experience to ensure data rates of 100 megabit per second (mbps) on downlink and 50 mbps on an uplink in densely-populated cities, it recently said.

 

Meanwhile, the Broadband India Forum (BIF), which represents tech majors like Google, Meta, and Microsoft and telecom equipment makers such as Ericsson, Cisco, and Huawei, have pushed for the 6GHz band to be delicensed, thereby opening it up for Wi-Fi in India.

 

Department of Telecommunication (DoT) officials, however, indicate no decision has been taken on opening up 6 GHz airwaves as yet.

 

In December 2023, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) set aside 6.425-7.125GHz for licensed, mobile operations. The decision was taken at the 10th World Radiocommunication Conference held every 3-4 years to review and revise international agreements on the use of radio spectrum.

 

Globally, the move by the United States to make the 6 GHz band available for unlicensed use has created a trend in many countries like Brazil and Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, China will use 1200 MHz in the 6 GHz band for 5G, while Europe has split the band, with the upper part considered for 5G and a new 500 MHz tranche available for Wi-Fi.

 

In 2023, Trai said the lower end of the 6 GHz spectrum band can be allocated for unlicensed use such as WiFi, while the upper end is licensed for IMT. It said this would be in line with global precedents. It noted that India has far less spectrum devoted to unlicensed use than other major economies.