Is India almost ready to board the 6 GHz bandwagon?

As we reported last week, there have been suggestions in India that the government is planning to identify the upper 6 GHz (6425—7025 MHz) band for IMTInternational Mobile Telecommunications (I….

This is part of a bigger plan to release 1,000 MHz of spectrum by 2030 to fill what the administration calls a “deficit” in the amount of spectrum available for mobile connectivity.

One report quoted a source as saying that the 6425—6725 MHz band could be made available immediately. The upper part of the band (6725—7025 MHz), currently being used by the Indian Space Research Organisation, should be available for IMT by 2030.

If India were to identify part of the upper 6 GHz band for IMT it would be very significant as the country is the second largest mobile market in the world behind China, which also supports IMT in the band.

China identified 6425—7125 MHz for IMT in July 2023 in a revised version of the country’s radio frequency allocation table.

According to PolicyTracker‘s recently updated 6 GHz benchmark, no single policy is dominant in Asia yet (see table below). However, it does look as if releasing the entire band for unlicensed use is the least popular option so far.

Allocating the upper 6 GHz band for IMT would be “a first step towards building a strong 6G ecosystem in India,” Ismael Moreno Gomez of Analysys Mason told us.

Our 6 GHz benchmark includes an analysis of 6 GHz band policies in the rest of Asia and other parts of the world. It is now available to PolicyTracker Research Service subscribers.