The Indian authorities are facing increasing international pressure to ensure that future 5G services can operate on the 6GHz frequency band, which was identified as an additional 5G frequency band at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) conference in December last year.
The GSM Association (GSMA) has written a letter to the Ministry of Telecommunications (DoT) of India, urging them to include frequencies from 6.425GHz to 7.125GHz as the 5G frequency band in the National Frequency Allocation Plan (NFAP).
According to media reports, Jeanette Whyte, Director of Public Policy for GSMA Asia Pacific, stated in a letter to India’s DoT that “mobile connectivity plays a crucial role in India’s’ Bharat 6G vision ‘, and the enhanced mobile connectivity and capacity in the 6GHz frequency band will lay the foundation for the inclusive and technology driven progress envisioned by the Indian Prime Minister under the new government leadership from 2025 to 2030.”
GSMA represents over 1000 telecommunications companies worldwide, including Reliance Jiao, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea from India. The company believes that as the demand for 5G in India grows, operators will need additional spectrum to ensure performance.
According to the recently released 2024 Nokia Mobile Broadband Index report, Jie and Airtel launched 5G services in October 2022, and India currently has approximately 131 million 5G users. So far, the high cost of smartphones and the lack of specific 5G services are considered the reasons for relatively low penetration rates.
India recently announced that 5G spectrum auctions will begin in May this year. However, the 6GHz spectrum is not included in the upcoming auction.
GSMA has received support from the Indian Association of Mobile Operators (COAI), which has also urged the Indian Ministry of Transport to allocate 6GHz spectrum for mobile services.
Reliance Jiu, the largest operator in India, has added its own voice to these calls.
In response to a consulting document released by Indian regulatory authorities, the company stated, “Intensive 5G implementation will require a significant amount of spectrum. In addition to all auctioned frequency bands and planned auctions of E-band and V-band spectra, authorities should also plan auctions of 6GHz, all C-band, and 28GHz frequency bands (based on flexible usage). We believe that all IMT identification and IMT target spectra should be provided to telecommunications service providers.”
Last year, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) identified the 6GHz spectrum as an additional frequency band for mobile services at the World Radio Conference (WRC-23) held in Dubai.