Telecom industry body GSMA today urged India to allocate four spectrum frequency ranges — Sub-700MHz UHF (470–694/8MHz), L-Band (1300–1518MHz), 2.7–2.9GHz and C-Band (3.4–4.2GHz) for mobile purposes in coming years.
In an interaction with TelecomLead.com, GSMA senior director Hermen Schepers and senior spectrum advisor Veena Rawat said India needs to start working on these bands in order to achieve the country’s Digital India vision set by Prime Minister Modi. India targets 250 million mobile broadband users by 2020.
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GSMA says several countries are getting ready to accept its proposal and at the World Radiocommunication Conference in November 2015 (WRC-15), administrations from around the world will agree on changes to international spectrum allocations and associated regulatory provisions.
“The outcome will be the single most important factor determining the future availability of affordable, ubiquitous, high-speed mobile broadband services,” said GSMA officials.
The support from India’s telecom and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will be extremely beneficial for the mobile service industry which is looking for additional spectrum to improve quality of service. Though the defense department is ready to release a small part of spectrum for auction in January-February 2015, there is no official communication yet.
Sub-700MHz UHF (470–694/8MHz)
Sub-700MHz UHF (470–694/8MHz) can deliver wide area coverage for mobile broadband services including in rural areas and deep inside buildings. Broadcasting services could be maintained in a smaller amount of spectrum using the latest broadcast technology and coding solutions.
L-Band (1300–1518MHz)
L-Band (1300–1518MHz) can deliver additional capacity and coverage over relatively large areas, including inside buildings. A portion is already allocated to the mobile service worldwide and another is reserved for digital radio broadcasting, but is largely unused, creating an ideal basis for a wider mobile allocation. Radar and aeronautical telemetry can continue to operate in this spectrum although they may be able to use their assets more efficiently in future.
2.7–2.9GHz
2.7–2.9GHz would provide extra mobile capacity, and deployments would be cost-effective because existing cell sites could be used. It is primarily used for civilian and military aircraft navigation and radar-based location as part of air traffic control systems. The band is under-utilized creating the potential to allow the mobile service to operate in a portion. The financial benefits of using part of the band for mobile services amount to over 10 times the costs of relocating existing users into a smaller amount of spectrum.
C-Band (3.4–4.2GHz)
C-Band (3.4–4.2GHz) provides, due to the size of the band, a unique opportunity to deliver very fast mobile broadband services in small hotspots where mobile networks are under pressure from rapidly growing data usage. It is largely used for satellite services, especially in the tropics where rainfall has hindered the use of other bands. Alternative satellite spectrum can deliver improved performance and better value services in all areas, including the tropics.
Baburajan K
editor@telecomlead.com