The 6GHz band saga continues; resolution unlikely before 2027

The tussle over 6 GHz spectrum band between the telecom operators and technology firms, has led the department of telecommunications to delay its allocation to either. The band will continue to stay with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for satellite purposes till the time the government is not able to resolve the tiff between the telcos and technology players like Microsoft, Google, Amazon etc.

The 6 GHz band provides faster speed and is ideal for WiFi services. Telecom operators want that it be reserved for them for 5G services. However, technology firms want that it be used for only WiFi services. The telcos fear that if the band is provided to tech firms like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, or Qualcomm, they would cannabalise the services offered by the telecom operators.

The DoT plans to hold widespread discussions with the stakeholders before taking a final decision on the allocation of this band.

The 6 GHz band includes frequencies in the range of 5925-7125 MHz.

Sources said that Reliance Jio has proposed to carry on with informal discussions with all the stakeholders, which includes government representatives, telcos and tech firms. The DoT has formed three working groups for working on revised frequency allocation plan.

“We have not been able to arrive at a decision on allocation of the 6 GHz band. We are taking that up informally at the moment with all the stakeholders,” an official said, adding that any outcome of the same will only be part of the final report by the NFAP committee chairman, who is the wireless advisor to the government. The new revised frequency allocation plan is expected to come in six months, officials said.

Currently, the complete 6 GHz band is being used by ISRO for satellite operations, and there are possibilities that spectrum if given for mobile services might interfere with the satellites, whereas WiFi is not expected to interfere because of its low power, experts said.

The government will decide on whether to allocate a portion of the 6 GHz band (the upper part from 6425-7025 MHz), for telecom operators, only after conducting co-existence studies of the band with satellites.

Officials said ISRO has also opposed the allocation of the spectrum for telecom services.

“If the entire 6 GHz band is not delicensed then it could isolate India in global policy, hinder domestic manufacturing, and slow down digital economic growth,” said TV Ramachandran, president of Broadband India Forum (BIF), the association which represents tech firms.

According to Ramachandran, there is no trusted supplier of 6 GHz equipment for telecom and if the band is allocated for telecom services, then there will be an increase in imports from non-trusted sources which may threaten national security.

“If licence-exempt 6 GHz is introduced this year, we would have, on a conservative basis, a recurrent economic gain of over $60 billion (around Rs 5 lakh crore) per year from 2028 — a much larger gain than the one-time spectrum auction proceeds for IMT/5G,” Ramachandran said.

Countering Ramachandran, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has said that the allocation of spectrum in 6 GHz band without auction would result in a potential loss of over Rs 3 lakh crore to the national exchequer.

“In case adequate spectrum in the 6 GHz band is not allocated to IMT, the country would have to account for around 60% higher annual costs to achieve the performance expected from 5G services, and this would lead to delayed expansions and a significant increase in energy consumption and radio network cos,” SP Kochhar, director general of COAI had said in a statement.

According to Kochhar, 6 GHz is the only mid-band spectrum range where a contiguous bandwidth to the order of 300-400 MHz per telecom service provider is possible, to make it available for the rapidly evolving demands towards 2030.

Officials said, while the decision is yet to be taken, it will likely be 500 MHz in the lower 6 GHz frequency (from 5925-6425 MHz), for WiFi services, and the upper band for telecom.

At the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) in Dubai, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) along with member countries identified upper 6 GHz band ( 6425-7025 MHz ) for mobile services only in Region 1 (includes Europe, Middle East and Africa) with appropriate safety mask, which is a guard band to not interfere with satellites. On the other hand, India (part of Region 3) has decided not to open up the band till co-existence studies are carried out between IMT (international mobile telecommunications) and satellite. The government has time till 2027 to arrive at a decision after conducting studies. Financial Express