A Spectrum Of Challenges And Opportunities

India, as a key player in the geopolitical landscape, must align its spectrum policies with global standards, particularly in 5G and future 6G technologies, while promoting efficient use through spectrum re-farming, leasing, and sharing techniques

Spectrum is a perishable, scarce resource and loses its value if unutilised. We have to develop various institutional strategies to allot the spectrum and learn from global best practices. Spectrum is a fundamental resource for catering to the communication needs in education, agriculture, IOT, AI etc. The quantum of spectrum required is growing exponentially. Government is setting up 100 no s of 5G use case labs and 100 smart villages. We need good strategy policies for efficient use of spectrum. We need to have international collaborations and participate in deliberations in international forums regarding spectrum management. National Frequency Authorization Plan (NFAP) has identified 41 communication services like microwave communication, Satellite communication, Wi-Fi etc. in India. Monitoring the utilisation of frequency spectrum is very important. If the spectrum is not optimally utilised by the present user, it should be re-farmed. Utilisation of interband spectrum, leasing of spectrum by the allottee to others have to be pursued to achieve optimum utilisation of spectrum. National collaboration is required to achieve efficient use of spectrum.

Global spectrum management - trends and opportunities

We are in the new phase of capitalism, which is called Digital Capitalism. Digital Capitalism goes beyond the business world to touch every aspect of life. It represents a structural break from principles of classical capitalism. In Digital Capitalism valuation is decoupled from profit, it is investor centric and there is a significant financialisation of the economy. Some concepts like too big to fail have also started gaining currency now in Digital Capitalism. Digital Capitalism caused the market system to become pervasive across the globe. This market system is associated with efficiency but also with high levels of inequality. This phase has seen the rise of emerging economies through the power of communications and technology. This phase has also seen a tremendous enrichment of multinational corporations, reduction of tax rates, the growth of offshore tax havens as a result of which there has been a tremendous concentration of wealth. There is an entire ecosystem of Angel Investors, Venture Capital firms, private equity investors who are willing to give corporations, startups a long runway towards revenues. This phase has seen tremendous achievements including in the sphere of mobile communications. New technologies like AI, Blockchain, 3D printing, Biotechnology and 5G have emerged. We are in the midst of six transitions; political, geopolitical, economics, social, technological and ecological. Important point to note from the angle of global governance of spectrum is that almost all multilateral institutions including ITU are under tremendous stress. As far as technological transition is concerned, the focus now is geopolitical competition in a multipolar world.

For expansion of 5G services, 6GHz spectrum is very much essential. The 6 GHz spectrum has two parts: lower part from 5.925 to 6.425 GHz and the upper part from 6.425 to 7.125 GHz. These frequency bands are used by satellite operators, Fixed Microwave Communications and various government services. Apart from incumbent users, Cellular operators and tech giants like Google, Meta, Amazon (for providing Wi-Fi based services ) are claiming this band. Cellular operators are claiming that 2GHz of mid band spectrum is required for 5G services and 6GHz band is an ideal one to meet this requirement. Wi-Fi alliance is saying that Wi-Fi is the back of the most connectivity in homes, offices, schools and commercial spaces especially indoors. They say that TVs and displays, laptops, home IOT products, payment terminals and industrial automation systems are connected via Wi-Fi only and 5G connections can be ‘offloaded’ to Wi-Fi indoors. The alliance says that some Wi-Fi spaces suffer from congestion and interference and additional spectrum is required. They claim that unlicensed 6 GHz spectrum is central to new standard Wi-Fi 6E and the forthcoming WI-Fi 7. Not to be left behind, the Global Satellite Operators association has laid its claim for sharing the upper 6GHz band with Wi-Fi service.. Geopolitics is also playing its role in the debate. For example, prior to the start of WRC (World Radio Conference) 23, Director of Technology and Innovation Policy at the American Action Forum US, said that if 5G operations in 6GHz band is adopted in more regions, Chinese equipment will proliferate, setting back the efforts to make Wi-Fi 6 an international standard and also strengthening the Chinese presence in those regions through Huawei. These WRCs are convened every 4 years.

WRC 23 set aside the upper band of 6 GHz for licenced mobile operations including 5G. They didn't take any decision on the lower band. This decision was appreciated by all the stakeholders. But some countries such as the US, UK have completely unlicensed the whole 1200 MHz band. India did not take a definite stand at WRC 23.

We are now moving away from a phase of technology being used as an instrument of efficiency and solving human problems at a global scale to a phase of technological competition where countries use technology to compete. India is a very important player in new geopolitics. It is taking a multi aligned position which is equally distant from Russia, USA and China and attempting to further its own interests. Continued development of technology including 5G and 6G is going to be critical to India's geopolitical position. Beyond all the technical considerations that come into play in spectrum management and governance, spectrum management of today reflects tussle between new geopolitical powers and tussle between telecom companies, internet big tech giants and satellite operators.

Leveraging International Forums for spectrum policy advocacy

Altimeters in the aircrafts operate in the 4200-4400 MHz band. Aircrafts use the altimeters, in low visibility condition, to land. 5G mid band spectrum ranges from 3300- 4200 MHz. So there is a possibility of a 5G signal interfering with the Altimeter signal. So effective coordination is required between the airport authority and 5G operators in those countries which use 5G at 4200 MHz. In the US, they have banned the use of this band by 5G operators near airports. In India, NFAP allocation for 5G is from 3300 to 3800 MHz only (there is a guard band of 400MHz). We have also put restrictions on the maximum power emissions by 5G BTSs near airports and separation between airports and 5G BTSs so that the altimeters will not be interfered with out of band emissions from 5G BTSs.

Satellite broadband services, using the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellites, have picked up momentum world over. India is also contemplating to launch this service. This service uses Ka band spectrum (24-30 GHz). This band is also used for DTH service, provided by Satellite Television Companies. So frequency/ space coordination is required so that both these services can coexist.

600 MHz spectrum was put into auction in India in 2022. There was no bidder for this band. In the US, a lot of television companies use this band and they went through an incentive auction in 2014 inorder to release part of this band from terrestrial broadcasting services to mobile services. In India most of the TV viewers use DTH or cable and a bit of this 600 MHz band is used for providing terrestrial television service by Prasar Bharathi. So we are not using this band effectively. It is important to use 600 MHz for mobile communications in our country, as it is highly suitable to cover rural and remote areas. But this band is not common in mobile services world over and so the device ecosystem (mobile phones and BTSs) is very poor. As ‘India lives in its villages’, we have to encourage mobile services in 600 MHz. We have to do advocacy with the international forums, especially with the 3 GPP, to include this band and then the manufacturers will produce devices compatible to this band. Therefore it is important to find out what spectrum band is required for our country to meet our specific needs and use the international forums for advocating the use of that spectrum.

Apart from China, India and Australia are the two large countries in ITU Region 3 and so we have a say in how ITU advocates and manages spectrum in Region 3.

ITU aims to finalise the standardisation of 6G by 2030. An important aspect about 6G is the use of the THz spectrum (0.3 THz (10^12 Hz) to 3 THz), which is very good for short propagation, and has high bandwidth. China and the US have made good progress in the allocation of THz spectrum for 6G. The US has allotted the THz spectrum (95 GHz to 3 THz) for THz Test Beds. India has not decided yet. It is important for us to indicate in the NFAP, what THz spectrum will be used for 6G and coordinate with WRC to make sure that we get the right spectrum. TSDSI (Telecom Standard Development Society of India) represents India in international forums such as 3 GPP and ITU. They have been coordinating for the inclusion of our country’s specific requirements in 3GPP standards. DOT, manufacturers and academic institutions are working with TSDSI to synergize our activity and represent our needs in 3 GPP.

We have also been working on the India Australia partnership for development of telecom standards and spectrum assignment in the Indo Pacific region. ITU APT (Asia Pacific Telecommunity) Foundation of India has also been working very closely with the ITU inorder to promote spectrum allocation relevant to countries like India and Australia. India and Australia are part of Quad. Quad also aims to achieve cooperation in the India Pacific region.There is also India, Australia and Japan partnering coming up. We should use these forums to promote our needs with regards to spectrum management.

Way forward

If various countries do not align on the spectrum bands, then the device ecosystem is going to fail. The Government of India is pushing Indian Industry to develop an ecosystem for 600 MHz so that we become a global supplier.

To avoid cross border interference along with the neighbouring countries in the public mobile services, all the neighbouring countries should operate services in the same frequency band with the same channelling plan. We should have certain globally harmonised spectrum bands so that when a person goes to another country his mobile works. Similarly airline passengers should continue to get inflight WiFi service when the aircraft flies over various countries. These examples show the need for spectrum management at regional/global level.

DOT is studying how to explore spectrum sharing techniques (Dynamic Spectrum Access, Cognitive Radio) to maximise efficiency and to accommodate increasing demand for the spectrum. Use of the same spectrum by different users at different timings or at different geographical locations is also being thought of. It is also exploring the feasibility of spectrum re-farming to balance the needs of various stakeholders (Telecom Service Providers, broadcasters, governments etc.) while ensuring interference free operations.

(The author is Former Advisor, DOT, Government of India, Bangalore.)