India's mobile industry is urging the Department of Telecom (DoT) to free up spectrum in the L-band to help the sector meet surging demand for 3G and 4G data services.
Industry body COAI, which represents India's GSM industry, has called for spectrum in the range of 1427-MHz to 1518-MHz to be allocated for commercial use, the Economic Timesreported, citing a letter sent from COAI to telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
The spectrum block has been allocated to the military, but the band is largely unused and underutilized, the letter states. Allowing its use for mobile broadband services would “provide an excellent opportunity to deliver high-quality broadband, especially in the rural areas.”
The L-band only requires half the spectrum to provide high-speed 3G and 4G data services than popular telecom bands including 900-MHz, 1800-MHz and 2100-MHz.
For this reason the ITU is expected to declare it an official 3G and 4G spectrum band at its next World Radio Conference in November.
COAI has asserted that opening the band for mobile data services would also provide a boost to the local handset manufacturing industry by helping vendors produce low-cost 3G/4G smartphones.
The DoT is believed to be planning a major 2G, 3G and 4G spectrum auction next year involving spectrum in seven bands from 700-MHz to 2500-MHz. If the department heeds COAIs calls, L-band spectrum could potentially be added to that list.