The government is working to finalize rules for unlicensed use of lower-powered signals in the 6GHz band as proposed in the draft regulations released in May, according to multiple officials and industry experts Mint spoke with. This spectrum will pave the way for next-generation Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 technologies.
“The earlier draft notification, where low power was suggested, will go first. Some clarity is awaited from the Telecom Act and basis that the band will be opened up as legal hurdles will be cleared,” an official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity as details are not public yet. The demand by some companies to increase signal strength is a different subject and will be dealt with separately, the official said.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd and Big Tech giants want a higher-powered signal allowed in the 6GHz band. However, citing concerns that stronger outdoor signals might interfere with other important networks like satellites and broadcasting, the government set up a committee a few months back to study the matter, delaying the full rollout of licence-free use of the 5,925-6,425MHz band. The communications minister had earlier indicated that it would be opened for use by 15 August.
Queries emailed to Reliance Jio and the department of telecommunications (DoT) remained unanswered till the press time.
Currently, home Wi-Fi routers operate in the 2.4GHz or 5GHz bands. A higher-powered signal can travel farther, pass through walls and other obstacles and maintain a stable connection over a wider area. Countries such as the US and Canada have permitted outdoor use of devices in the 6GHz band using automatic frequency coordination, which ensures outdoor Wi-Fi doesn’t interfere with radio frequencies of weather radars, satellite systems, or military equipment. With similar concerns to India’s, Europe, too, has opened the band at the lower end.
Licence-free use of a portion of the 6GHz spectrum is crucial for providing high-speed Wi-Fi and supporting next-generation gadgets. It allows the use of spectrum or specific radio frequency bands for public use without the need for an individual or a company to pay regulatory fees, unlike the spectrum auctioned or assigned to telecom service providers.
Indian users have so far not been able to use Sony’s PlayStation 5 Pro or new AR/VR devices from Apple or Meta, given that the country still lacks stronger Wi-Fi to operate these gadgets seamlessly. It is not that the technology is not ready, but regulatory hurdles and debate on how strong the signals should be have stalled the progress.
In the draft rules released on 16 May, the government proposed a lower signal strength for outdoor Wi-Fi than indoor. It kept the power emission levels at 5 decibel-milliwatts (dBm) per MHz for indoor Wi-Fi devices, with a maximum total power of the antenna at 30 dBm. For outdoor devices, the Department of Communications called for using -5 dBm, with a maximum power emission level at 14 dBm. The higher the dBm, the stronger the signal.
The Broadband India Forum (BIF), which represents Tech giants like Google and Meta, wants the government to allow use within the suggested limits.
“You are kindly requested to immediately delink the indoor from the outdoor use cases and notify the indoor use cases based on the discussed and agreed power levels for which there is a consensus amongst all stakeholders,” said T.V. Ramachandran, president of BIF, in a letter to communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on 17 September.
“This will enable the country to utilize the lower 6GHz spectrum band for the overall benefit of the economy, growth of GDP (gross domestic product) and the country and will pave the way for the nationwide roll-out of Next Gen/Modern Wi-Fi and associated consumer-centric services.”
Why Jio seeks a stronger signal
However, Reliance Jio has specifically asked the government to allow higher-powered Wi-Fi signals outdoors so that it can use the spectrum to improve its home broadband services in a cost-effective way, an industry executive said.
For Jio, stronger signals in the unlicensed band radio (UBR) will help provide home broadband services through outdoor Wi-Fi. While it provides home broadband services through the fibre-optic network as well as fixed wireless access (FWA), Jio is the only operator currently using an outdoor Wi-Fi network in the existing 5GHz band. The company now wants to explore the 6GHz band.
“Cost-wise, also, it (UBR) is more economical. Last-mile fibre is more expensive. So, in all those regards, it is going to be much more sustainable,” Anshuman Thakur, senior vice president at Jio Platforms, had said during an earnings call in July.
“Discussions are happening on the best way forward. Any increase in power levels had to be cleared by other respective ministries and departments that could be vulnerable to interference,” said another official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. One of the things under consideration is the automatic frequency coordination technology, which can mitigate interference, the person said.
Communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on 24 June said the rules for licence-free use of the 6GHz band will be out before 15 August.
“We have now delicensed and awarded the lower portion of the 6GHz spectrum, which is not a luxury today; it is a necessity,” Scindia had said at an industry event. “And that will give our industry multi-gigabit speeds, ultra-low latency, low-cost digital highways that will spawn multiple businesses and opportunities.”
Jio is not alone
The lack of consensus has delayed the launch of the 6GHz band, preventing some technology companies from launching new gadgets, including Sony’s PlayStation 5 Pro.
Last November, the company said in a statement, “PS5 Pro will not be available in some countries (which currently includes India) where the 6 GHz wireless band used in IEEE 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7) has not yet been allowed.”
Industry executives said smart glasses launched may also not be able to perform effectively without 6GHz Wi-Fi.
Associations such as the Wi-Fi Alliance, which represents companies including Apple, Meta, Sony, and Qualcomm, and the ITU-APT Foundation of India (IAFI) called for increasing the minimum Wi-Fi power limit. IAFI, which has Hughes, Eutelsat OneWeb, Amazon, Dhruva Space, and Airtel as members, however, did not want the government to delay the issuance of the final notification owing to such proposals.
Bharat B. Bhatia, president of IAFI, had told the DoT in June, “While the proposed PSD (Power Spectral density) levels are consistent with FCC (US’ Federal Communications Commission) regulations, increasing the same by +6dB will align the regulations with most countries and not just FCC.”
