Trai recommends issuing 5 Mhz spectrum more to railways in premium 700 Mhz band

In case of the spectrum of NCRTC, the regulator had recommended charging of the radiowaves based on auction-determined price.

Telecom regulator Trai on Friday recommended the allotment of the only chunk of 5 megahertz (MHz) spectrum left in the premium 700 MHz band frequency range to Indian Railways for passenger safety applications.

The price of per megahertz (MHz) spectrum in the 700 MHz band frequency was priced at Rs 3,927 crore for commercial use. "In addition to the already assigned 5 MHz (paired) frequency spectrum in the 700 MHz frequency band, an additional 5 MHz (paired) frequency spectrum in the 700 MHz frequency band should be assigned to Indian Railways for its safety and security applications along the railway tracks for captive use," Trai said in its recommendation on "Assignment of Additional Spectrum to Indian Railways for its Safety and Security Applications."

The DoT has already allocated 5 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band to Indian Railways in 2021. Telecom signals transmitted in the 700 MHz band can cover an area in the range of 6-10 km. The vast coverage provided in these frequency bands reduces the need for installing cell towers for network coverage. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has recommended that the spectrum will be for captive usage by Indian Railways, for which it will have to pay a small amount compared to charges paid for commercial usage.

"The authority recommends that spectrum charges for Indian Railways/NCRTC/other RRTS/Metro rail networks should be levied based on the formula for royalty charges and licence fees for captive use, as prescribed by DoT," the recommendation said.

The regulator has already issued recommendations on "Spectrum Requirements of National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) for Train Control System for RRTS Corridors" in December 2022. Trai had recommended that the 5 MHz spectrum in the 700 MHz band should be assigned to National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) for use in Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridors along the railway tracks. NCRTC is implementing RRTS in eight rail corridors in NCR. In the first phase, NCRTC is developing three rail corridors of an approximate length of 350 km along Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut, Delhi-Gurugram-Alwar, and Delhi-Panipat. In the second phase, NCRTC will develop five rail corridors along Delhi-Faridabad-Palwal, Ghaziabad-Khurja, Delhi-Bahadurgarh-Rohtak, Ghaziabad-Hapur, and Delhi-Shahdara-Baraut.

In case of the spectrum of NCRTC, the regulator had recommended charging of the radiowaves based on auction-determined price. Trai has suggested issuing a contiguous block of spectrum to Indian Railways while ensuring that minimum disturbance occurs to the running networks. The vacant spectrum band in the 700 MHz band is adjacent to the frequency band allocated to Reliance Jio in auctions held in 2022. Trai recommended taking back spectrum assigned to Indian Railways in other frequency bands, viz. 146-174 MHz, 400 MHz band, and 900 MHz band in a time-bound manner after it completes the implementation of a 4G-based network for safety and security applications in the 700 MHz frequency band.