COAI Says Delicensing of Spectrum in 6GHz Band Might Hamper 5G, 6G Rollout in India, Trigger Loss to Exchequer

Telecom trade physique COAI has cautioned the telecom division that delicensing spectrum within the 6 Ghz band will hamper roll out of 5G advance and 6G providers within the nation.

In a letter dated August 10 to Department of Telecom Secratory Apurva Chandra, the Cellular Operators Association of India — whose members embrace Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea, and so forth — has requested the Department of Telecom to incorporate the 6 gigahertz spectrum within the public sale and help its allocation for cell telecommunication on the world stage.

COAI mentioned that the 6 GHz band is the one extra contiguous spectrum accessible in mid-band for IMT (International Mobile Telecommunications), past what has already been put up in public sale.

“Hence, it is important for future growth of 5G and beyond technologies, including the roadmap for 6G introduction in India. This spectrum will be crucial as India firms up an action plan for Bharat 6G. Delicensing this important chunk of spectrum will seriously hamper the deployment of 5G+ and 6G In India,” COAI Director General SP Kochhar mentioned within the letter.

The trade physique has cautioned the division that heeding the demand of Wifi service suppliers to make the 6 GHz band freely accessible will result in income loss to the federal government.

“We understand that some industry body(ies) have approached your good office, demanding that this band be delicensed for promoting Wifi services in the country. We believe that this spectrum can be utilised far more efficiently for the benefit of the nation and our citizens by augmenting 5G services in India,” Kochhar mentioned.

The DoT had delicensed or made the 600 megahertz of spectrum freely accessible within the 5 GHz band in 2018.

COAI mentioned that delicensed 255 MHz within the 600 Mhz spectrum is totally unutilised within the absence of gadget ecosystem help.

“We believe that not using the available spectrum optimally and demanding more spectrum on top of that would lead to waste of such a scarce available valuable resource,” Kochhar mentioned.

According to the trade physique’s letter, the highest pace of Wifi will stay the identical in 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands at 9.6 gigabits per second, which is not going to result in any actual worth addition for end-consumers.

The COAI DG mentioned that any delicensing of 6 GHz or half thereof will cut back the spectrum for 5G and thereby restrict the expansion of 5G and 6G, which might be the principle drivers of broadband within the nation.

“For instance, the recent mid-band (C band) spectrum auctions of 2022 in India have derived a sale value of Rs 317 crore per MHz. This clearly indicates the huge potential implication of the decision on licensing or de-licensing the 1200 MHz spectrum (of 6 GHz band) to the government exchequer,” Kocchar mentioned.

COAI has requested the DoT and Wireless Planning and Coordination Wing (WPC) to proceed supporting the higher a part of the 6 GHz band, which is a frequency vary between 6425-7125 MHz for cell telecommunications within the Asia Pacific Telecommunity Conference Preparatory Group for World Radiocommunication Conference 2023.

The convention is organised by a UN physique International Telecommunications Union to determine on spectrum use in numerous bands.

The sixth assembly of the APG began on Monday and can proceed until August 19.

“DoT to kindly take further decision on inclusion of the lower part of the band, i.e. 5925-6425 MHz in IMT. The above decision will go a long way in creating certainty around critical spectrum required for 5G/IMT technologies and will clear the path for auction of this spectrum,” Kochhar mentioned.