Telecom Diary: Satcom, telecom players spar over mmWave band as 5G auction nears

The coveted mmWave band (24.5-28.5 GHz) has become a sour point between satcom and telecom industry.

While telecom regulator Trai recommended the mmWave band be put to auction, the Digital Communications Commission is of the view that that mmWave band of 27.5 GHz to 28.5 GHz band – which was sought by satellite companies for broadband-from-space services – should be kept out of the 5G spectrum auction. DCC has sent a reference back to Trai, asking views on not to auction 28GHz range for now. Trai is expected to revert next week.

However, this development has not gone well with many and it has become a issue of Satcom versus telecom industry.

The UK-based Global mobile Suppliers Association or GSA has asked the Indian government to put all frequency bands including mmWave (24.5 - 28.5 GHz) range up for auction, and said that the terrestrial networks and satellite systems can co-exist in the band as suggested by the telecom regulator.

5G mmWave deployment will not cause interference to the (Earth-to-Space) FSS satellite space station due to the virtue of 5G and inherent technology components like power control, link adaptation and enhanced beamforming operation.GSA president Joe Barrett

Trai had also said the mmWave band (27.5-28.5 GHz) can be used for both 5G and satellite communications services on a "coexistence basis".

GSA cited a study on co-existence between mobile carriers and satellite communications providers which said there was no interference issue for the satellite services from the 5G systems in this (24.25-29.5 GHz) band.

Satcom Industry Association (SIA) India says the government should discourage allocation of radiowaves to mobile carriers in the 27.5 - 28.5 GHz band. India should align with Europe and the other 120 countries that have assigned International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) 5G and ESIM (earth satellite in motion), GSO (geostationary satellite orbit) and non-GSO in separate bands.

The Indian Space Providers Association (Ispa) too believes that allowing the entire band up for sale would be an oversupply of spectrum to terrestrial network operators at the cost of the satcom industry, and said that the 24.25-27.5 GHz range along with 3.3-3.67 GHz band would be sufficient for telecom operators launching commercial 5G services.

This demand has been strongly contested by the telecom industry. Many foreign players plan to launch space broadband services in India including Bharti backed OneWeb, Elon Musk’s Starlink, Amazon’s Project Kuiper and the Tata-Telesat combine who all are vying for a pie of the new segment.

In a separate development on Satcom, Trai stuck to its recommendations on creating a licensing framework for satellite-based connectivity for low bit rate applications like ATM, internet of things devices and traffic management. The regulator had in August 2021 recommended to the government to replace the existing formula-based mechanism and levy spectrum usage charges of 1 percent of AGR (adjusted gross revenue) for using satellite frequencies under the NLD (national long distance) service licence. Trai has suggested excluding the revenue from the licensed services other than satellite-based services from AGR while computing the charges.

While India is gearing up to launch 5G later this year, 5G networks have been deployed and went live in 1,947 cities across 72 countries. Most of these mobile networks are being operated in non-standalone (NSA) mode.

Despite the pandemic, 5G cities came online at a rate of nearly two per day, with the addition of 635 new 5G cities in 2021. By the end of January 2022, 72 countries had 5G networks in place.Viavi

Despite the pandemic, 5G cities came online at a rate of nearly two per day, with the addition of 635 new 5G cities in 2021. By the end of January 2022, 72 countries had 5G networks in place, with the newest crop of 5G countries comprising Argentina, Bhutan, Kenya, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Malta and Mauritius, which all came online in the second half of 2021.

Interestingly, Europe, the Middle East & Africa (EMEA) has overtaken the Asia Pacific including Greater China (APAC) to become the region with the most 5G cities at 839. APAC has 689 5G cities and the Americas has 419. The United States and China are the countries with the most cities connected with 5G at 296 and 356, respectively. The Philippines remained in the third spot globally with a total of 98 5G cities.

Lastly, Finnish telecom gear maker Nokia is betting on India to help it drive global standardisation for 5G advanced and 6G technologies.

The competence in India is severely underestimated in terms of what they can deliver to us. Nokia is increasing peer resources, including for global standardization to drive a lot of 5G advanced standards and 6G standards coming out of India competence, according to Nokia’s chief technology and strategy officer Nishant Batra. While standards won’t be written out of India but Nokia is finding “competence and people” who can help it build global standards.