New Delhi: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is facing a dilemma over whether to allow high-power use of the 6 GHz WiFi band, a move that could significantly boost high-speed wireless home broadband services. The decision may now be delayed due to concerns that stronger outdoor WiFi signals could interfere with the existing satellite operations, two officials and industry executives said.
India had opened the lower portion of the 6 GHz band for licence-free, low-power indoor and very low-power outdoor use last year to support next-generation WiFi devices and faster home broadband. The latest debate is over whether to also allow high-power outdoor use—a proposal backed by telecom operators such as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel that see it as a way to expand wireless broadband coverage including in areas where laying fibre is difficult or expensive.
The concerns were raised by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), which has told the telecom department that allowing high-power WiFi devices to transmit high-power signals over radio frequencies outdoors could interfere with its satellite operations, the people cited above said.
Reliance Jio has been pushing the government to allow for high power signal use for devices outdoors as using the band with high power can improve its home broadband services using unlicensed band radio (UBR)—'unlicensed' as it uses free radio waves or open spectrum, such as the 5 GHz band, without paying any fee or auction price.
In November last year, Bharti Airtel also said it was in the process of experimenting and doing trials on UBR to check for expansion into areas, where the density of presence of fiber is low. The company is also aligned with Jio’s proposal for using the band in high-power, an industry executive in the know said. Airtel is, however, largely using fiber to expand its home broadband services.
The government has sought technical inputs before taking a call.
“A government-appointed committee, chaired by professors from IIT Madras, including telecom operators and Isro, has submitted its report to DoT,” said an official in the know, adding that it is being examined.
The department will allow high-power use only if it does not cause interference with existing users and there is a way out, said another official.
Higher power means the signal is stronger, allowing it to travel farther, pass through walls and other obstacles more effectively, and maintain a stable connection over a wider area.
Tech gadget push
Earlier this year, India joined the list of 96 countries that allow licence-free use of the lower portion of the high-speed 6GHz spectrum. The band is crucial for providing high-speed WiFi and supporting gadgets such as Sony PlayStation 5 Pro, Apple’s augmented and virtual reality devices and Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses.
Some technology companies were unable to launch these gadgets in India because the 6GHz band of the WiFi spectrum was unavailable, according to industry executives. So far, home WiFi routers operated in the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. Analysts said upgrading the band to 6GHz can enhance home broadband speeds and performance with the new WiFi 6E and 7 technologies.
Jio, which was earlier against licence-free use of the band and wanted it for auction, later changed its stance and sought high-power use of the same spectrum for its home broadband services.
“The IIT Madras committee report has concluded that there is a sufficient margin available to safely manage any potential aggregate interference that higher-power WiFi devices might cause to existing incumbent services, such as satellite uplinks,” an executive at a telecom operator said on the condition of anonymity.
The executive added that the aggregate interference level can also be managed by restricting the total number of standard power devices.
Telecom operators have also proposed that a light-touch device registration portal can be set up to allow government to periodically review device numbers and pause registrations if satellite interference is detected, said the second official cited above.
Queries emailed to DoT, Isro, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and IIT Madras did not elicit any response until press time.
“Standard-power operation should ideally be permitted,” said Sanjay Sehgal, chief executive and managing director of TP-Link India, a maker of WiFi routers. "Standard-power operation would be particularly valuable for government-led rural connectivity initiatives and large-scale smart city deployments requiring wider coverage and higher reliability," he added.
Counter-point
While the WiFi industry is aligned with the proposal to allow high power, independent analyst for telecom Parag Kar said delicensed spectrum is fundamentally designed for low-power, shared and uncoordinated usage.
“Licensed spectrum can support higher power because the control lies with the service provider that can plan the network, manage interference and optimize the band for maximum efficiency," Kar said. "Unlicensed or delicensed spectrum is different; it is meant for low-power use by multiple users and devices without central coordination.”
Kar said allowing high-power commercial use in licence-free bands could compromise the very purpose of such spectrum. “If telecom operators or commercial broadband providers start using delicensed spectrum at high power, they can dominate the band and make it less useful for ordinary WiFi users, homes, enterprises and smaller users," he said. "High-power commercial broadband or UBR-type services should ideally use licensed spectrum, where interference management and accountability are clear.”
Globally, to protect interference with incumbent licensed users, the automated frequency coordination (AFC) system has emerged as a preferred regulatory mechanism for enabling high-power outdoor operation in the 6 GHz band. The system determines which frequencies and power levels a high-power outdoor WiFi device can use without interfering with licensed users.