The Ministry of Defence has urged the telecom ministry to consider using unlicensed spectrum for commercial cordless communications rather than the frequency airwaves allocated to it.
At present, the defence forces and the Department of Telecommunications equally share 300 MHz of spectrum between the 1700 MHz and 2000 MHz bands. The telecom department, acting on the suggestions made by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, had asked the defence ministry to vacate 20 MHz of spectrum in the 1880-1900 MHz band that is currently used by the defence forces for commercial cordless telephony.
However, the defence ministry is not willing to give up this spectrum as it is of the view that this would hamper the present and future communication needs of the defence forces. The ministry, has instead, suggested that telecom department use unlicensed spectrum such as that in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands for commercial cordless communications. However, electronic equipment and medical devices operate in these frequency bands, as a result of which they may interfere with the communication operations of telecom companies.
Meanwhile, the defence ministry has also suggested that an area of 50 km within the Indian borders be earmarked as Defence Interest Zone (DIZ) as the quantum of forces deployed in such places could increase manifold during potential hostilities actual operations”. Commercial telecom coverage in cities and towns within the DIZ is proposed to be allowed only after getting the defence ministry’s approval.
This comes after the telecom ministry had sought defence ministry’s views on a defence band and a DIZ, which are essentially frequency bands for exclusive use by the armed forces. The defence ministry also suggested that an additional 20 MHz allocation be considered for the defence forces, post-promulgation of the defence band and notification of the DIZ.
