Global tech giants, including Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Cisco, are reportedly open to considering legal course against the Indian government’s decision to auction the lower 6GHz spectrum band instead of delicensing it for WiFi use. The government recently approved the sale of the coveted airwaves for telecom services like 5G and 6G, rejecting the Broadband India Forum (BIF)’s appeal to reserve portions of the band for unlicensed use. The BIF, representing major tech firms, argues that this move contradicts global norms, as 85 countries have already delicensed 6GHz for WiFi-6E and WiFi-7, according to an ET report.
“We had previously urged the government to delicense the lower 500 MHz of the 6GHz band and an additional 160 MHz from the 300 MHz to be held back until 2030. But clearly our recommendations have fallen flat as per the latest decision,” Broadband India Forum (BIF) president TV Ramachandran was reportedly quoted as saying.
The BIF is an association of tech companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Google and Cisco.
The report quoted technology company executives separately as saying that there are sufficient grounds to challenge the decision in courts as it does not align with global practices. “However, no final decision has been made because the government still has a chance to rethink before assigning spectrum,” one person reportedly said.
Licensed spectrum needs to be auctioned while delicensed airwaves can be allotted administratively, or without auctions.
The Case for Delicensing the 6GHz Band
“The 6GHz spectrum is critical for growth of data-intensive applications such as AR/VR, gaming streaming and, most importantly, artificial intelligence…This could hurt India’s AI ambitions in areas like healthcare, finance and many other use-cases,” Ramachandran was quoted as saying in the report.
Nowhere in the world are these airwaves auctioned and, in fact, these have been delicensed in 85 countries, he reportedly said. In the US, non-telecom companies are allowed to operate in this band and offer services such as WiFi-6.
Ramachandran also reportedly added that the decision could raise security concerns because IMT (international mobile telecommunications) equipment for 6GHz is built by non-trusted sources which India has banned. “Meanwhile, modern WiFi devices powered by delicensed 6GHz are widely made by Indian manufacturers,” he said.
Currently, the 6GHz band is partially utilised for the Indian Space Research Organisation’s satellite operations. This band offers significant advantages, supporting internet speeds of up to 10 Gbps—comparable to 5G and up to 100 times faster than 4G.
Concerns Over Auctioning the 6GHz Band
According to the report, telecom companies argue that if the 6GHz spectrum were to be delicensed in India, as it has been in the US, tech companies could provide ultra-high-speed internet to potentially over a billion people without the licensing fees and costs that operators are required to pay. This would disrupt the level playing field and negatively impact their business models. Additionally, they claim that such a move would result in significant revenue loss for the government, as the spectrum holds substantial commercial potential and demand for mobile use.
However, according to the BIF, this isn’t a valid argument. “The government is missing the point: that the combined economic benefit of delicensing 6GHz and innovation thereof will be much higher than one-off revenue that an auction would fetch,” Ramachandran reportedly said.
The tech industry highlighted that several countries, with smaller requirements than India, have delicensed the entire 6GHz spectrum band to promote wider broadband access, thanks to the advantages of advanced and standardised WiFi technologies like WiFi 6E and WiFi 7 in the 6GHz band, the report said.
The BIF estimates that delicensing the 6GHz band could generate recurring economic benefits exceeding USD 60 billion annually starting in 2028, with a cumulative impact of USD 180 billion by 2030. Meanwhile, the GSMA, a global cellular organisation, projects that designating the lower 6GHz band for IMT could contribute USD 21 billion to global GDP between 2024 and 2034.
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