The sectoral representative body of International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT) has asked the DoT to apply light touch regulation of E band which falls in the range of 71-75 gigahertz band.
Telecom operators and internet companies are at loggerheads over allotment of these spectrum bands.
Spectrum in E and V bands has many utilities as it can act both as a high capacity access spectrum for voice and data services as well as backhaul link spectrum.
As “access spectrum”, it has the ability to deliver data transfer rates of up to 7 gigabit per second Gbps. As a backhaul spectrum, it can be used as high capacity focused, point-to-point links allowing a much higher reuse of the same frequency in a given area at par with optical fibre cables.
ITU-APT Foundation of India President Bharat B Bhatia in a letter to telecom secretary Anshu Prakash said that the association is fully aware of the challenges faced in the rollout of broadband networks in rural areas due to a comparatively lower level of infrastructure, low population density, and the consequent lack of a viable business case for commercial operators.
“However, a fully delicensed V band and a hybrid E band (part delicensed and part light licensed) could help create the necessary innovation by our young engineers and scientists in these rural and remote area to overcome these challenges provided DoT helps in delicensing the needed spectrum,” Bhatia said.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had recommended the government to allocate E and V band on a first come first serve basis at nominal fixed annual charge which should be reviewed after five years.
Telecom operators want the spectrum in V-band (57-64GHz) should be allocated through auction while Broadband India Forum which has members like Google, Facebook, Appe, Amazon has asked the government to implement Trai’s recommendation.
Credit: economictimes.indiatimes.com
