NEW DELHI: The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) have sought allocation of 6 GHz spectrum band as it would enhance quality of service and will have various economic benefits.
COAI, which represents all three telecom operators - Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea - said allocation would maximize economic and societal benefits for the country, while reducing the capital expenditure and driving affordable consumer broadband for achieving the national target of a $1 trillion digital economy. Currently, 6 GHz band is partly used for defence applications and satellite operations by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) in India.
“The industry firmly believes it is critical to identify the 6 GHz band for (International Mobile Telecommunications) IMT services as it will not only aid in long-term network planning but also because 6 GHz is the last mid-band opportunity offering a provision of minimum 2 GHz contiguous mid-band spectrum, which will become essential for mobile communications beyond 2025,” said Lt. Gen. Dr. SP Kochhar, Director General, COAI.
He added that mid-bands offer wide coverage and capacity and they are critical for rapid and cost-efficient deployments of 5G mobile networks. “This is established by the fact that out of the 176 global 5G networks rolled out, nearly 70% (120 networks) have harnessed mid-bands,” said Kochhar.
Citing a report of GSMA, which shows that in the absence of required additional mid-band spectrum, mobile networks would need to be substantially densified by increasing the number of base stations to deliver 5G data rate targets. If telcos don’t do so, 5G download speeds would be reduced to 50% if less spectrum is allocated in the 6 GHz band or 80% if only the 700 MHz band is allocated to IMT, compared to an assignment of 1.2 GHz.