5G rollout in India: Panel advises early release of spectrum for R&D

(Representat

A steering committee on 5G deployment has suggested that the telecom department should release the 5G network as soon as possible for research and development (R&D) and set up labs to demonstrate its potential use to the industry.

According to a report by Mint, the panel will submit its report to the government in August. The fifth-generation or 5G network is expected to be significantly faster and more reliable than 4G. It will also support simultaneous connection with a lot more devices.

“In the past, India’s spectrum release has always been small, especially compared to the US. For 5G, our spectrum release will be more than many countries, which will bring long-term benefits. Making the spectrum available early will also enable the growth of manufacturing capability here,” said chairman of the committee A Paulraj.

A former professor at the Stanford University, Paulraj is also a member of the high-level forum that was set up in September last year to approve the roadmap to roll out 5G by 2020. The forum, chaired by telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan, has multiple steering committees under it.

The primary motive of the forum is to create a globally competitive product and target 50 percent of the Indian market and 10 percent of the global market in the next five to seven years.

The committee further suggested the government to announce the 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz, 24 GHz and 28 GHz bands as 5G bands and allow its use for research trials.

“The committee has suggested that the government release 405 MHz spectrum in the sub-1 GHz band, around 300 MHz spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band and 5.25 GHz spectrum in the higher frequency bands for 5G,” a DoT official told Mint.

The committee also proposed that the telecom department should identify 600 MHz, 1.4 GHz, 30 GHz, 31 GHz and 37 GHz as 5G bands.

“Operators need to deploy and it has to be profitable for them to deploy 5G. So, spectrum pricing must understand all these dimensions. Operators should be able to make a viable business out of it. Lower bands must be priced higher. Upper bands need more infrastructure and it is costlier to deploy so they must be priced lower,” Paulraj said.