Public auction of Radio Frequencies in India
8. January 2020In India many radio frequencies are still restricted by the government, but more frequency bands are being made available for commercial usage. Among the newly available offerings are 30 MHz on the 700 MHz Band which will be auctioned off publicly. 5 MHz of the 35MHz on that spectrum shall be reserved for Indian railways with the goal to improve safety and security to passengers. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has suggested administrative measures to be taken to ensure that these frequencies are not used commercially.
1.6 MHz spectrum is already assigned to Indian Railways in the 900 MHz band may also be taken back upon migration to an LTE based network to be auctioned off later. In 2018 the TRAI has already suggested to free up of 275 MHz in the 3300-3600 MHz frequency range, used for 5G communications, to be auctioned.
By world-wide standards, very little progress in the way of opening up commercially available radio frequencies has been made. Serious public discussion started around 2012 with India’s National Telecom Policy with only a handful of frequencies such as the Citizen’s Band in the 27 MHz range and the WiFi bands in the 2.4 and 5.8 GHz ranges have been made freely usable. Even commonly used frequencies such as the 433 MHz band for RFID systems still require applying for a license with the Department of Telecommunications’ Wireless Planning & Coordination Commission (WPC).
Due to these restrictions, many industries have troubles developing their products for lack of usable frequencies. This problem has been pointed out to the regulators by many companies, including global Automotive powerhouses such as Daimler, who cannot easily provide services such as radar used for onboard navigation due to Indian restrictions. While many governmental bodies in India are coming up with suggestions on how to promote “Ease of Doing Business”, little progress has been made in the actual regulations.
Many wireless devices require the WPC registration in India.
If you are interested to know if the frequencies used in your product require approval in India, don’t hesitate to contact us by email or phone. We will help you meet all your certification needs.
