The 4G spectrum harmonisation roadmap was discussed last week with all industry stakeholders at an internal DoT meeting chaired by the wireless advisor, two people who participated in the discussions told ET.
Kolkata: The telecom department (DoT), following a nudge from the finance ministry, is speeding up harmonisation of airwaves in the 1800 Mhz band, to free up an extra 10 MHz of pan-India 4G spectrum before the next auction likely in early-2016.
Harmonisation will makes airwaves contiguous or `continuous', which is absolutely critical for 4G services. The 1800 Mhz band is the most popular one globally for 4G-LTE deployments but if such airwaves are non-contiguous the quality of 4G services will suffer. Long term evolution or `LTE ' is the technology standard for delivering high-speed broadband services, popularly known as 4G.
The 4G spectrum harmonisation roadmap was discussed last week with all industry stakeholders at an internal DoT meeting chaired by the wireless advisor, two people who participated in the discussions told ET.
The DoT meeting virtually coincided with telecom regulator's recently unveiled consultation paper that seeks to establish the reserve price of airwaves across multiple bands (800 Mhz, 900 Mhz, 1800 Mhz, 2100 Mhz, 2300 Mhz and 2500 Mhz) to be auctioned in early 2016.
At present a total 75 MHz of airwaves in the 1800 Mhz are distributed between the telecom industry (55 MHz) and the armed forces (20 MHz). However, these spectrum holdings are fragmented and scattered across the band, and hence not conducive for 4G. Distribution of airwaves in the 1800 Mhz band was formalised when the DoT and defence ministry entered a pact more than four years ago.
However, harmonising 1800 MHz spectrum is a complex issue since telecom companies are holding frequencies within the 20 MHz block meant for the defence ministry, which in turn, is holding spectrum within the 55 MHz block allocated for commercial telephony.
The DoT meeting explored ways to reconfigure these airwaves to ensure both telcos and the armed forces have contiguous blocks of spectrum within their designated quota. The telcos, it is learnt, have already submitted inputs sought by DoT for re-configuration of the 1800 Mhz band.
The stakes are big since reorganisation of these airwaves will generate an additional 10 MHz of contiguous 4G spectrum in all circles. So much so, such airwaves are likely to command a significantly higher valuation and potentially generate more revenue for the government once auctioned next year.
"Harmonisation of 1800 Mhz spectrum has been hanging fire for months, but DoT is keen to speed up matters and maximize the quantum of spectrum that can be put to auction as the finance ministry is also keen to conclude the airwaves sale this fiscal," said one of the persons cited above.
"The good news is that defence ministry is very keen to coordinate matters with DoT since it will also gain access to contiguous airwaves," said the second person cited.
But with the 1800 MHz band lately emerging as a core GSM band behind the premium 900 MHz, the demand for 1800 Mhz spectrum as increased amid an ever expanding GSM subscriber base coupled with the fact that such spectrum is also ideally suited for 4G mobile broadband services, further helped by a fast maturing devices ecosystem.
Kolkata: The telecom department (DoT), following a nudge from the finance ministry, is speeding up harmonisation of airwaves in the 1800 Mhz band, to free up an extra 10 MHz of pan-India 4G spectrum before the next auction likely in early-2016.Harmonisation will makes airwaves contiguous or `continuous', which is absolutely critical for 4G services. The 1800 Mhz band is the most popular one globally for 4G-LTE deployments but if such airwaves are non-contiguous the quality of 4G services will suffer. Long term evolution or `LTE ' is the technology standard for delivering high-speed broadband services, popularly known as 4G.
The 4G spectrum harmonisation roadmap was discussed last week with all industry stakeholders at an internal DoT meeting chaired by the wireless advisor, two people who participated in the discussions told ET.
The DoT meeting virtually coincided with telecom regulator's recently unveiled consultation paper that seeks to establish the reserve price of airwaves across multiple bands (800 Mhz, 900 Mhz, 1800 Mhz, 2100 Mhz, 2300 Mhz and 2500 Mhz) to be auctioned in early 2016.
At present a total 75 MHz of airwaves in the 1800 Mhz are distributed between the telecom industry (55 MHz) and the armed forces (20 MHz). However, these spectrum holdings are fragmented and scattered across the band, and hence not conducive for 4G. Distribution of airwaves in the 1800 Mhz band was formalised when the DoT and defence ministry entered a pact more than four years ago.
However, harmonising 1800 MHz spectrum is a complex issue since telecom companies are holding frequencies within the 20 MHz block meant for the defence ministry, which in turn, is holding spectrum within the 55 MHz block allocated for commercial telephony.
The DoT meeting explored ways to reconfigure these airwaves to ensure both telcos and the armed forces have contiguous blocks of spectrum within their designated quota. The telcos, it is learnt, have already submitted inputs sought by DoT for re-configuration of the 1800 Mhz band.
The stakes are big since reorganisation of these airwaves will generate an additional 10 MHz of contiguous 4G spectrum in all circles. So much so, such airwaves are likely to command a significantly higher valuation and potentially generate more revenue for the government once auctioned next year.
"Harmonisation of 1800 Mhz spectrum has been hanging fire for months, but DoT is keen to speed up matters and maximize the quantum of spectrum that can be put to auction as the finance ministry is also keen to conclude the airwaves sale this fiscal," said one of the persons cited above.
"The good news is that defence ministry is very keen to coordinate matters with DoT since it will also gain access to contiguous airwaves," said the second person cited.
But with the 1800 MHz band lately emerging as a core GSM band behind the premium 900 MHz, the demand for 1800 Mhz spectrum as increased amid an ever expanding GSM subscriber base coupled with the fact that such spectrum is also ideally suited for 4G mobile broadband services, further helped by a fast maturing devices ecosystem.
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