Lt. Gen. Dr S.P. Kochhar, director general, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has commented on Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA)’s viewpoint on 6GHz spectrum band in India.
Kochhar mentioned, “COAI upholds the recent recommendation made by the GSMA to Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for including the 6 GHz spectrum band in India’s next spectrum auction. Ensuring adequate mid-band spectrum availability for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) services is crucial to achieving the government’s vision for Digital India and strengthening India’s position as a global leader in 5G and future telecom technologies.
COAI has consistently asked for the release of additional spectrum to enhance network capacity, improve service quality and meet the exponential growth in data demand. Allocating the 6 GHz band for IMT services will provide telecom operators with the necessary resources to drive innovation, expand rural connectivity and support emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), internet of thing (IoT) and cloud computing. As mentioned by GSMA, the 6.425-7.125 GHz range has been identified for IMT at World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 (WRC-23) by several countries and is going to be essential for 5G expansion and future development of mobile networks while further supporting India’s ambition to become a global hub for advanced telecom technologies. We are completely aligned with the GSMA’s viewpoint and want to reiterate that insufficient spectrum in mid-bands for the IMT services would imply extreme densification to meet the mobile broadband demand of the county.
This also aligns with the recent announcement made by Jyotiraditya M Scindia, Union Minister of Communications and Development of North Eastern Region, in January 2025 at the DIGICOM Summit 2025, that the Cabinet has approved the reallocation of 687 MHZ of spectrum for IMT. We are thankful to the minister for clearly mentioning that the Cabinet has already allocated the spectrum that takes our holding to 320 MHz in the first phase, thus leaving a deficit of around 400 MHz, which should be made up in the subsequent submissions by the Committee of Secretaries, to the cabinet. This will enable rollout and providing of better 5G services to the entire nation at large, which is the broad aim of the government and the industry.”
COAI has further urged DoT to take forward the recommendations made by GSMA and ensure a balanced spectrum policy that maximises economic growth while safeguarding the interests of all stakeholders.
