5G Download Speed To Reduce By 50 Per Cent If Less Spectrum Is Allocated To 6GHz: COAI

The COAI also mentioned that Wi-Fi services in India already have sufficient spectrum in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.

5G was launched in India in October 2022.

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According to the Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), India needs to allocate more mid-band spectrum, such as 6GHz, to provide seamless 5G mobile service across the country. Otherwise, if less spectrum is allocated in the 6GHz band, the 5G download speed would be reduced by 50 per cent when fully deployed. In a letter to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the COAI stated that mid-band spectrum like 6GHz provides a balance of wide coverage and capacity, which is critical to the rapid and cost-efficient deployment of 5G mobile networks in India. This would meet the exponentially increasing data demands, that too at affordable terms.

Lt Gen S.P. Kochhar, Director General, COAI, said that "shortage of 6GHz spectrum would compel telecom service providers (TSPs) to densify networks to meet IMT-2020 5G performance requirements, leading to 60 per cent higher annual costs. Without densification, 5G download speed would be reduced to 50 per cent if less spectrum is allocated in the 6GHz band." At present, only 720MHz is available in the mid-band in India.

Additionally, the Indian government is considering vacating the spectrum from broadcasters or satellite users in C band (3670-4000 Mhz) for 5G/6G use. However, this spectrum from C band will not be enough to reach the required 2GHz spectrum for international mobile telecommunications (IMT) in mid-band.

To obtain this critical 2GHz spectrum in mid-band, the COAI has urged the government to allocate the 1200 MHz available in 6GHz for mobile communications in India. India's significantly higher population density (464 persons/sq km), compared to 36 in the US and 25 in Brazil, necessitates spectrum loading happens to the tune of 96 per cent (compared to 40-50 per cent in the US or Brazil). The average population served by each antenna in India is roughly eight times that of these countries, putting a requirement of almost 4-5 MHz of spectrum/person.

The COAI also mentioned that Wi-Fi services in India already have sufficient spectrum in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands (totaling 688 MHz) to meet the demand for Wi-Fi access in the 2025-2030 period. Wi-Fi services have negligible data offload from IMT mobile to Wi-Fi because India is a mobile-first nation with more than 95 per cent of internet users accessing mobile broadband data.

The COAI recommended that the most optimal allocation for the country in the 6GHz band is to identify the entire 5925-7125 MHz (1200MHz spectrum for IMT applications) as this would maximise the economic and societal benefits for achieving the national target of a $1 trillion digital economy.