The 5G committee of the Telecom Ministry has said that about 6,000 Mhz of spectrum can be made available without delay for the next generation mobile service.
If accepted, the panel’s recommendation, which has been submitted to the government, can lead to India’s largest-ever spectrum allocation for a service.
An expert member of the panel, Arogyaswami Paulraj, said that initially the service would enhance mobile data speed in India by up to 50% compared with the current levels. Mr. Paulraj is professor emeritus, Stanford University and a pioneer of MIMO wireless communications, a technology break through that enables improved wireless performance. MIMO, is now incorporated into all new wireless systems, as per Stanford site. The Department of Telecom (DoT) is taking a strong initiative to make spectrum available for the new service, he said.
As much as 2,354.55 megahertz (MHz) of frequencies valued at about ₹5.63 lakh crore were put up for grabs in country’s largest-ever auction held in 2016. At present, mobile phone signals in the country are transmitted in 800 Mhz to 2,600 Mhz band.
Eleven bands
Now, the panel has spotted spectrum for 5G service across 11 bands of which four bands — premium 700 Mhz band, 3.5 gigahertz (Ghz), 24 Ghz and 28 Ghz band — can be made immediately available for the service.
The panel estimates that 5,250 megahertz of spectrum can be made available for 5G services in higher frequency bands