Reliance Jio has proposed to build and operate a common 4G/5G network for safety and security applications of railways and for public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) related services, using the 700 MHz band assigned by the government to railways.
In its submission to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Jio has noted that the spectrum in the band should not be restricted only to railways but there should be a common network infrastructure which can be used by railways and disaster relief agencies to deliver a seamless first response to any calamity or event. The model proposed by Jio is similar to FirstNet authority and AT&T public-private partnership in the US that facilitates seamless communication between disaster relief and other key organisations in case of human-made or natural disasters. This is crucial when the public network becomes congested or fails.
Jio’s proposal has come after it earlier opposed the government’s decision to allocate additional 5 MHz spectrum worth over Rs 190 billion to Indian railways in the 700 MHz band. Railways has been given this spectrum to implement anti-collision technology KAVACH and meet its requirements of passenger safety, track-side communication, train and way-side telemetry, video surveillance, etc.
Besides seamless communication in case of emergency, the other reason given by Jio for CSP model was that the 700 MHz spectrum for railways will remain vacant all across the country barring the railway tracks, stations and limited area around the tracks. This will not lead to efficient utilisation of spectrum.
However, Ministry of Railways representatives were not convinced with Jio’s idea of CSP and said it is essential for railways to have its own captive network.
Further, according to Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi), the government should opt for spectrum sharing in the 700 MHz between railways and NCRTC through already assigned spectrum. Additionally, the Broadband India Forum (BIF) favored the government’s move of assigning spectrum to railways but said it must vacate the 900 MHz band and other crucial bands, which are crucial for mobile communications.
Furthermore, Bharti Airtel expressed concerns over Indian railways using the spectrum for commercial operations and urged the government to have this condition in the spectrum assigning document that the said spectrum will be not be used for commercial activities such as providing internet on the trains, stations, etc.
