Reliance Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea ask govt for entire 6GHz band

Say it will help fulfil vision of taking global lead in 6G

Telecom operators Reliance Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, and the Cellular Operators Association of India have made a pitch to the government, demanding that the entire 6GHz band, with 1200MHz of spectrum, be allocated through auction for mobile communications, and not be divided with others for low-powered delicensed wifi use. 

This, they say, will help the government in fulfilling its vision of taking a global lead in 6G in terms of an early rollout of world-class networks and indigenous technology development. 

They are also pushing for doubling the period of validity of spectrum not only in the case of future auction but also for the spectrum they currently hold — from 20 years to up to 40 years — justifying the move on the basis of the capital-intensive nature of telecom infrastructure, the evolving technology landscape, and the long-term investment horizon required to develop and monetise the business. 

The three operators in the first week of November were responding to a consultation paper of the telecom regulator on auctioning radio-frequency bands identified for International Mobile Telecommunications. 

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had recommended that while the upper band in 6GHz — of 700MHz spectrum — be allocated to telcos, the rest in the lower band, of 500MHz, be delicensed for use by wifi operators. 

Telcos, however, have said this will jeopardise the launch and quality of 6G service because this band serves as the anchor mid-band for ubiquitous 5G and 6G coverage. 

A top executive at a telecom firm pointed out: “Each telco will require at least 400 MHz of spectrum if we want to lead in 6G service in the world. In terms of the DoT’s suggestion, it would mean only 175MHz each for four operators, which is woefully inadequate for a decent 6G service, considering a high level of population density in the country (and requiring more spectrum) and that India is a mobile-first nation. 

Telcos have said just 400 MHz will be available for auction while the rest will come in 2030, when satellite operators, which are the current users, vacate the spectrum. 

Telcos have suggested this be auctioned only when all spectrum is available. 

Attacking the justification that countries like the United States (US) have earmarked the entire 6 GHz band for delicensed use, telcos have said India cannot be compared to the US even though it (US) is rethinking its earlier decision. 

In its representation, Reliance Jio has said India’s high population density — of approximately 481 persons per square km — is more than three times that of China (150) and nearly 12 times that of the US (40). Consequently, Indian networks face a unique “demand-density” challenge, where a single cell site must serve exponentially more users. 

This, they say, makes large, contiguous spectrum blocks indispensable for maintaining service quality and network economics, which is available on 6 GHz. 

Even China does not face the same problem as India for a lot of spectrum despite its large population because of high fixed-broadband penetration vis-a-vis India. 

India’s fixed-broadband penetration stands at about 15 households per 100 compared to about 95 in China, 93 in the US, and 97 in South Korea.

 

China is expected to reach 600 million fibre-connected homes by 2030 (India, some say, will hit 100 million by then). India, by contrast, remains dependent on wireless connectivity to deliver broadband access. Hence, the spectrum allocated for mobile broadband must compensate for this fixed-line deficit.

 

Justifying the doubling of the validity of spectrum, Bharti Airtel has said that such a policy will strengthen regulatory certainty, foster innovation, support evolving technology deployment, and safeguard India’s digital infrastructure. 

Finding the right signal

• Telcos have asked govt not to divide any part of 6GHz band for delicensed use
• DoT had recommended that the lower band, of 500MHz, will be delicensed for use by wifi operators
• The firms are also pushing to double spectrum validity to 40 years
• Telcos seeking 400MHz of spectrum against DoT’s suggestion of 175MHz each for 4 operators