According to Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), non-allocation of telecom spectrum in 6-Ghz band could lead to a radio wave crunch for high-speed 5G services. India needs an additional 2 giga hertz (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 uplink in densely-populated cities.
Lt General Dr S.P. Kochhar, director general, COAI stated that the government has de-licensed 605 MHz spectrum in the 5 GHz frequency band, but 255 MHz remains unutilised. He emphasised the need for wider mobile network coverage for the growth of the digital economy, which is crucial for job creation and global competitiveness.
Kochhar further stated that 6Ghz band has been made free for use only in the regions that already have an extensive optical fibre cable network in other countries, whereas India does not have such a density of optical fibre cable (OFC) to a large cross section of the population both in urban and rural areas. He emphasised that delicensing spectrum is an irreversible process, and any consideration for assigning any 5G spectrum, including the 6 GHz band, should be thoroughly examined and techno-economically analysed in India, as it is not a feasible option for many nations.
Furthermore, he highlighted that 6 GHz mid-band radio wave offers a balance of wide coverage and capacity, crucial for India’s rapid and cost-efficient deployment of 5G mobile networks. It also meets the exponentially increasing data demands at affordable terms, as the cost of public telecom services increases in higher frequency ranges.
