Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea (Vi), all the private telecom operators in India, have a request from the Government of India (GoI). The telcos have requested that the government should reserve the entire 1200 MHz bandwidth in the 6 GHz band for IMT (licensed mobile) services. According to the telcos, the 6th generation (6G) technology and 5G services both require the 6 GHz band. For the unaware, the 6 GHz band comprises 1200 MHz spectrum in the range of 6425 MHz - 7125 MHz.
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Reliance Jio said, "The authority (TRAI) should allocate the entire 1200 MHz of the 6 GHz band (5925–7125 MHz) for IMT and other licensed use." The telco believes that reserving 500 MHz bandwidth in the lower portion of 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi would be counterproductive. It could lead to long-term interference.
The DoT (Department of Telecommunications) said in the draft rules that it wants to keep 500 units of lower portion of the 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi use, while the other 700 MHz will be used for mobile. However, the telcos don't find it an appealing route. Bharti Airtel has said a similar thing.
Accordiing to Airtel, "Coexistence and interference mitigation issues with incumbent services, particularly satellite earth stations operating within or adjacent to this band, are yet to be comprehensively resolved."
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Vodafone Idea said, "The spectrum in the range from 6425 MHz to 7125 MHz is very important for the evolution of IMT services; therefore, it should only be provided to TSPs – Access authorisation holders and not to any other authorisation holders like ISPs."
All the telcos will eventually move from 5G to 6G. The telcos have said that the 6 GHz band is very crucial for them for operating not just 5G, but also 6G networks in the future. The 6 GHz band debate has been continuing for years, and still no solution has come yet, delaying its auctions.
