Broadcasters such as Sony, Zee, Viacom, Disney Star, Sun TV, among others, have opposed the government’s fresh proposal on allocating 100 MHz of their spectrum in the 3,700-3,800 MHz band for 5G services. They say this band currently supports over 100 television channels, which would be severely affected by any spectrum reallocation.
Besides, any allocation of spectrum to 5G services in the entire 3,700-4,200 MHz band will affect the satellite signals needed for TV channels to provide end-user services due to interference, people in the know said.
“Given the essential nature of the C-band for broadcasting services and the significant interference issues posed by reallocating 100 MHz for 5G IMT services, it is clear that the proposed plan is not feasible. The disruption caused to the satellite TV industry and the millions of consumers relying on these services would be substantial,” the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF) said in a recent letter to the ministry of information & broadcasting (I&B).
IBDF, which represents major broadcasters, was responding to I&B’s letter dated July 15, wherein it was asked to provide inputs on the feasibility and cost implications to the broadcasting industry if 100 MHz of the said spectrum is to be surrendered.
Officials in the know said that the ministry was only looking at studying the feasibility of allocating additional spectrum for 5G. Any decision will come only after proper consultation and study, an official said.
Currently, the 3,300-3,670 band is used for 5G services by telecom operators. The department of telecommunications (DoT) had also held communication with I&B and broadcasters earlier to reallocate the spectrum from the latter so that additional capacity can be created for telecom operators.
According to broadcasters, if the government allocates 100 MHz for 5G in the 3,700-3,800 MHz band, the same will also make the adjacent additional 100 MHz (3,800-3,900 MHz) unusable due to interference.
In fact, the recommended band pass filters will not be useful to avoid interference between telecom networks and satellite communication as 50% of the band (3,300-4,200 MHz) will be occupied by high power LTE/5G. Besides broadcasting, the band is also used by the departments of space, defence and civil aviation.
Further, in case of allocation to 5G, the TV channels will have to be accommodated between 3,900-4,200 MHz. “There will not be adequate capacity for all channels to be accommodated between 3,900-4,200 MHz nor adequate satellites,” IBDF said.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had, in 2018, recommended auctioning the C-band spectrum between 3,300-3,600 MHz band for 5G services, which was later increased to 3,300-3,670 MHz by DoT.
Later, through various communications to the government, broadcasters voiced concern over the disruption of satellite services due to dual use.
In June last year, broadcasters opposed the government’s proposal to shift the broadcasting industry and the TV channels from the 3,700-4,200 MHz band to 4,000-4,200 MHz band, as the same could potentially kill the complete industry owing to technical issues and problems with the satellite.
With the reduced bandwidth for broadcast, the impact will be highest for headends — equipment to receive communication signals — located in interior markets and rural areas, IBDF said.
This is because of the quality of hardware currently deployed (Antennae, other equipment and wiring), operator scale and the non-feasibility of filters (challenges of cost and immediate availability) needed for such a sharp cut off of the band.
“The impact will be felt by millions of consumers in these markets, where the disruption will be immediate and significant. Most of the homes impacted will be in the middle or lower income groups, for whom TV is the only, and the most reasonable form of entertainment, information dissemination and education available,” IBDF said in the letter.