ITU decision on 26 GHZ can help India acheive NDCP targets: Rajan Mathews

New Delhi, Nov 24 (IANS) The International Telecom Union’s (ITU) decision to allocate high capacity spectrum like 26 Ghz for 5G mobile services while protecting Earth-exploration satellite service (EESS) as well as meteorological and other passive services in adjacent bands gives an opportunity to the Department of Telecom for fulfilling the targets of National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP) in many ways like giving connectivity at 50 Mbps to every citizen, 1 Gbps connectivity to all Gram Panchayats of India by 2020, mobile operators body COAI has said.

The ITU, a body under the umbrella of UN last week hammered out an agreement that will harmonise the allocation of millimetre-wave frequencies in the 26 Gigahertz (GHz), 40 GHz and 66 GHz ranges. “We reached a consensus on technical parameters that would allow robust 5G services and also fully protect the passive services in the adjacent bands, such as weather forecasting,” said Brett Tarnutzer, head of spectrum at the GSMA.

“The restriction of limit in 26 GHz band ratifies that IMT/mobile/5G can provide broadband to a larger population keeping all the requirements of space and satellite in consideration without interference. ITU has finally decided to accommodate both the segments as it will benefit the global subscribers at large and not only for a particular country. The Satellite & Terrestrial radiation work across the world and the ITU suitably took into account requirements of both and hence took this decision. This will enable protection for both Satellite as well as Terrestrial (IMT/5G). This provides an opportunity to Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to provide spectrum in the mm Wave band which are crucial for the government’s policy for Digital India and for fulfilling targets of NDCP 2018 like – provide connectivity at 50 Mbps to every citizen, 1 Gbps connectivity to all Gram Panchayats of India by 2020 and 10 Gbps by 2022, enable 100 Mbps broadband on demand to all key development institutions,” Rajan Mathews, DG of COAI told IANS.

“World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19) paves the way for new, more innovative ways to connect the world using both terrestrial and space-based communication technologies,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao.

WRC-19 identified additional globally harmonized (millimetre wave) frequency bands for 5G mobile, facilitating diverse usage scenarios for enhanced mobile broadband, massive machine-type communications and ultra-reliable and low-latency communications. This will unlock a host of applications facilitating Intelligent Transport Systems, creating smart cities and making communities more sustainable while allowing for effective climate action, improved health care, sustainable agricultural practices and greater energy efficiency in the 26 Gigahertz (GHz), 40 GHz and 66 GHz ranges.

At the same time, protections were accorded to the Earth-exploration satellite service (EESS) as well as meteorological and other passive services in adjacent bands, such as the space research service (SRS) to ensure that space-based monitoring of the earth and its atmosphere remain unhindered. Satellite services supporting meteorology and climatology that aim to safeguard human life and natural resources will be protected from harmful radio-frequency interference, as will systems used by radio astronomers for deep space exploration, an ITU statement said.

The decision of ITU comes as a great relief for the Indian telcos as DoT and ISRO were pushing for restricting transmission power of 5G mobile base stations on the 26 Ghz band warning that unless it is controlled, it might interfere with sensors used in weather and climate forecasting and other space related activities. But telcos were of the view if the power of 26 GHz are restricted then it might push up the cost of 5G networks deployment.

A normal 5G base station transmits at 60 dBM and ISRO was seeking through DoT to be cut to 37 dBm since the space agency needed certain portion on 26 Ghz band for satellite services with zero interference from 5G services. Telcos were opposing ISRO’s suggestion saying it would raise 5G deployment cost by several times as high as 20 times that can make 5G services expensive. Therefore telcos were demanding 26 Ghz band be put for auction for super fast broadband where as DoT has earmarked 3.3-3.6 GHz band for 5G services. And also India has a very large amount of 3250 units of this spectrum of 26 GHZ band as against just 175 units of 3.5 Ghz band.

ITU’s decision therefore paves the way for telecom operators to roll out 5G services in 26 GHz band without any restrictions up to 60dbm. In India, so far 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz have been identified as the possible frequency bands for 5G services.

The ITU’s decision now paves the way for mobile phone companies to deploy the coveted 26 GHz millimetre wave band for bringing in 5G services in India at an affordable cost besides more importantly it may urge the DoT to auction these premium airwaves for 5G services in the next sale as the government has sufficient quantum of this coveted spectrum.

There is now no need for any restriction on a 5G mobile base station operating on the 26 GHz band to transmit at the normal level of 60 dbm and rejects ISRO’s suggestion to the telecom department to cut the transmission power to 37 dbm. The DoT has earmarked spectrum in the 3.3-3.6 GHz band for 5G services but the industry is keen that the government auctions 26 GHz spectrum for the ultra-fast wireless broadband service. The Digital Communications Commission has yet to take a call on auction details.