COAI Calls For Govt. To Include 26GHz Spectrum In India’s Forthcoming 5G Auction

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has called for India’s telecoms regulator to include mmWave spectrum in the 26GHz band at the country’s forthcoming 5G auction.

The COAI will formally make the request to the Telecoms Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) after asking the Department of Telecoms for an urgent referral.

“We request an early referral from DoT to TRAI to make a recommendation for including the 26 GHz band for the planned spectrum auction in conjunction with other bands as this is imperative and will have a significant bearing on realising the deployment of 5G in India,” the COAI told journalists from the Economic Times of India.

MmWave spectrum is used to deliver the hyperfast speeds of 1Gbps+ promised by 5G. However, it has lower propogation rates than mid or lower band spectrum, meaning that it requires more base stations in the network.

A recent study by the GSMA predicts that by 2034, 25 percent of all 5G services across the world will be delivered over mmWave spectrum.

The study also predicts that the impact of mmWave spectrum on global GDP levels could be as much as $565 billion.

India is expected to launch its first commercial 5G services in late 2020 or early 2021.―Total Telecom