Government has complete the spectrum ‘harmonisation’ process, paving the way for players’ holdings to be streamline within a particular band for greater efficiency, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
The spectrum harmonisation process, critical for 5G services, brings together a radio wave holdings within a band into one contiguous block with the consensus of all telecom service providers.
Ashwini Vaishnaw told PTI that the government is on course for the timely allocation of radiowaves bought by players by 12th August 2022.
This process of approvals from the Committee of Secretaries has also complete.
“In one single day, we have complete the spectrum harmonisation process, which happens after every auction,” Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
The harmonisation of the spectrum leads to greater efficiencies for players, as chunks of radio-wave holdings in one band are brought together or consolidate with the consensus of all players.
Ashwini Vaishnaw Said :
“The promise we made that we will allocate spectrum by August 12…we are on time,”.
A telecom department official, explaining the concept of spectrum harmonisation, drew a parallel with distribute land holdings with gaps being brought together into contiguous holding.
India’s biggest ever auction of telecom spectrum that conclude on 1st August 2022 receive a record Rs 1.5 lakh crore of bids, with Mukesh Ambani’s Jio cornering nearly half of all the airwaves sold with an Rs 88,078 crore bid.
Gautam Adani’s group, whose entry in the auction was bill by some as another flash point in the rivalry with Ambani, paid Rs 212 crore for 400 MHz, or less than 1% of all spectrum sold, in a band that is not use for offering public telephony services.
Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Bharti Airtel made a successful bid of Rs 43,084 crore, while Vodafone Idea Ltd bought spectrum for Rs 18,799 crore.
Of the 72,098 MHz of spectrum offer across 10 bands, 51,236 MHz, or 71%, was sold.
After every auction, the separate holdings of an individual player in a band are brought together through the harmonisation process.
All the players have to be in agreement for such shifting and consolidation to take place, a process that normally takes months.
Ashwini Vaishnaw Said :
“It is a difficult process but we have complete the harmonisation process in one single day. The team has worked very meticulously,”.
Reliance Jio Infocomm has obtain 24,740 MHz spectrum in 700, 800, 1800, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz.
Adani Data Networks Ltd obtain a 400 MHz spectrum in the 26 GHz band, suitable for captive networks.
Bharti Airtel has obtain 19,867.8 MHz in 900, 1800, 2100, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz bands.
Vodafone Idea Ltd bought 6,228 MHz spectrum in 1800, 2100, 2500, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz.
Spectrum refers to the radio frequencies allocate to the mobile industry and other sectors for communication over the airwaves.
This includes FM or AM radio broadcasts and even other wireless forms of communication like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
Mobile phones also use this radiowaves to transmit voice calls and data.
These frequencies come in different bands, supporting specific technologies, as well as governing the speed of transmission.
The quantum of spectrum in each band is measure in MHz.
5G offers speeds about 10 times faster than 4G, lag-free connectivity, and can enable billions of connect devices to share data in real-time.
In addition to powering ultra-low latency connections, which allow downloading full-length high-quality video or movie to a mobile device in a matter of seconds, the fifth Generation or 5G would enable solutions such as e-health, connect vehicles, more-immersive augmente reality and metaverse experiences, life-saving use cases, and advance mobile cloud gaming, among many others.
