As the government’s vision document on 6G includes recommendation for delicensing part of the 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has reiterated its demand to allocate the spectrum for mobile networks. The association, which represents major telecom operators, argues that the spectrum will help them provide better 5G services at reasonable costs.

“Mid-bands like 6 GHz provide a balance of wide coverage and capacity which is critical to the rapid and cost-efficient deployments of 5G mobile networks in India & also meets the exponentially increasing data demands that too at affordable terms,” SP Kochhar, director general of COAI, said in a letter dated April 7, to telecom secretary K Rajaraman.

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The association said the shortage of 6 GHz spectrum would compel the telecom operators to densify networks or increase network capacity to meet 5G performance requirements, thereby leading to 60% higher annual costs. Without densification, 5G download speeds would be reduced to 50% if less spectrum is allocated in 6 GHz band, the association said, adding that the the entire 6 GHz band which includes 59.25-71.25 GHz frequency should be allocated for mobile services.

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“Delicensed or license-exempt bands are key as a public good to enable innovation and gigabit public Wi-Fi. In line with this, the lower part of the 6 GHz band and at least 4.32 GHz in the V band should be delicensed,” the government’s 6G vision document said.

According to a survey by GSMA, India can save over $10 billion annually on network expenditures by utilizing mid-band spectrum for 5G services, such as the 6 GHz band.

However, some experts said the argument that 6 GHz spectrum is not crucial for Wi-Fi and therefore should be licensed to telcos, is misleading. Reasons cited by experts and some internet service providers to free 6 GHz spectrum include scope for improved Wi-Fi speeds with such spectrum and new Wi-Fi 6e technology, boost to government’s internet accessibility programme, affordability of internet services in far flung areas, business opportunities of local gear makers, and even easy co-existence with telcos’ mobile services, among others.