Behind the Wi-Fi we use at home are invisible radio waves that carry internet signals. The latest of these is the 6GHz spectrum, which was recently opened for licence-free Wi-Fi in India. The next policy question before the government is whether to allow high-power Wi-Fi in this band.
Telecom operators said doing so would help bring faster home broadband to millions of households without the need to lay fibre cables in areas where it is difficult or expensive. Mint explains what is at stake
What is the high-power Wi-Fi issue?
In January, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) opened the lower portion of the 6GHz band for licence-free, low-power indoor and very low-power outdoor use to support next-generation Wi-Fi devices and faster home broadband. Telecom operator Reliance Jio, however, wanted to use high-power signals outdoors to improve its home broadband services using unlicensed band radio (UBR) technology.
However, concerns were raised that higher-power transmissions could interfere with satellite operations used by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), police wireless communications, licensed microwave backhaul links, adjacent spectrum bands earmarked for auctions, and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) services. To examine these issues, DoT constituted an 11-member committee last year.
What did the government committee find?
The committee recommended allowing higher power at 36 dBm or 4 watts outdoor Wi-Fi devices in the lower 6GHz band up from 14 dBm or 0.025 watts currently.. After conducting tests, it said high power would not cause harmful interference to satellites or other existing services. Mint has seen a copy of the report.
The committee recommended allowing such high-power Wi-Fi initially for around 15 million home broadband connections, which means about 4.2 million devices on rooftops and outdoors can come.
The margin is available for even 55 million connections and 16.5 million devices. The committee suggested that the DoT can monitor interferences yearly, set limits on the number of devices, and introduce safeguards. However, it did not support allowing the much higher-power 53 dBm or 200 watts Wi-Fi links at this stage, saying they require further study and may not meet international standards.
What does high-power Wi-Fi mean for telcos and users?
Telcos, especially Jio and Airtel, want to use high-power Wi-Fi in unlicensed bands to make it faster to expand home broadband at a lower cost. The operators see it as a way to expand wireless broadband coverage including in areas where laying fibre is difficult or expensive. Some users served by telcos could also see better speeds but congestion can come in for ordinary Wi-Fi users in the 6GHz band, once the spectrum gets heavily utilized.
India has about 300 million households, of which about 55 million are currently connected to fixed broadband using fibre, 5G fixed wireless, Wi-Fi, etc. It is expected that in the next 5-10 years, 40-45% of the remaining households or over 100 million will be connected with fixed broadband.
The number of households served by 6GHz Wi-Fi-based fixed broadband is projected to be in the range of 12.5-16.5 million, as per the committee report.
Are Isro and the home affairs ministry satisfied?
Isro has disagreed with the panel's recommendation and submitted a dissent note, backed by the Directorate of Coordination Police Wireless under home affairs ministry and information and broadcasting ministry.
Isro’s worry is that if millions of high-power Wi-Fi devices come on rooftops and outdoors without a limit, the same could affect critical satellite signals and its operations. Therefore, it recommended not to permit high-power 36 dBm Wi-Fi outdoors. The agency also has sought to restrict the number of terminals or devices to a total of 5.6 lakh.
“Isro does not agree with the estimated number of 15 million as it assumes that 50% of the entire Indian households will not use 6 GHz services. This number, which forms a critical factor, is not backed up with facts from nationally available data,” it said in the report.
What is DoT evaluating?
While the Telecom Department is studying the recommendations from the interference angle with satellites and other government agencies, it is also evaluating if high-power Wi-Fi could lead to a potential revenue loss for the government. This includes evaluating whether high power could reduce demand for licensed microwave links, which are point-to-point radio links used by telecom operators to connect mobile towers and carry network traffic.
The same requires spectrum assignment and associated charges. DoT is also assessing whether such use could affect the future demand for spectrum in the upper 6GHz band and 3300 MHz band, thereby impacting spectrum-related revenue streams. The department is also evaluating whether this could increase the cost of satellite services in the country by increasing the compliance cost or requiring higher technical specifications to mitigate interference.