Your Wi-Fi connection at home should become stronger, faster soon
What's the story
The Indian government has proposed new rules to delicense the lower part of the 6GHz spectrum band. The draft rules intend to boost the growth of low-power and very low-power wireless equipment in India, especially benefiting Wi-Fi broadband providers. This will facilitate high-speed internet access in indoor environments by reducing congestion and improving overall network performance.
Regulatory changes
No authorization needed for low-power wireless devices
The proposed rules will do away with the requirement of prior authorization or frequency assignment for establishing, maintaining, or using wireless devices in the 5,925-6,425MHz band. However, the usage must be on a non-interference, non-protection, and shared basis while adhering to defined technical parameters. The draft rules outline many operational restrictions for the use of wireless equipment in this band.
Usage limitations
Operational restrictions and global perspective
The proposed regulations ban all usage on oil platforms and indoor use on land vehicles (cars, trains), boats, and aircraft. However, indoor use is permitted when the aircraft is flying above 10,000ft. The rules also ban communicating with/controlling drones and unmanned aerial systems using this frequency band. Globally, many regulators have already delicensed the lower portion of the 6GHz band to allow unlicensed Wi-Fi use.
Advancement
Potential impact on high-growth sectors
Experts believe this move will affect several high-growth sectors, including artificial intelligence, digital healthcare, robotics, gaming, and immersive technologies such as AR and VR. The delicensing of the lower portion of the 6GHz band is likely to speed up the adoption of next-generation wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7.
Opposition
Indian telcos oppose full delicensing of 6GHz band
Indian telecom operators, represented by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) which includes Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, have opposed the complete delicensing of the 6GHz band. They claim that auctioning this mid-band spectrum is critical to addressing spectrum scarcity. The London-based GSM Association (GSMA) has urged the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to include the upper portion of the 6GHz band in upcoming spectrum auctions.