28GHz spectrum allotments for 5G have failed in Korea, US, Japan, Thailand: Satcos to TRAI

Global satcom biggies, including Amazon, OneWeb, Starlink, Telesat and Hughes have strongly discouraged the regulator from backing the allotment of 28 GHz spectrum for 5G services, asserting that allocation of such airwaves for next-gen mobile broadband services have failed in South Korea, Japan, Thailand and the US.

They added that any flexible or `mixed’ use of 28 GHz spectrum for terrestrial (read: 5G) and space-based systems would create imbalances, cause network interference and spoil the quality of broadband from space services in India.

Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea (Vi), though, have countered this, saying that reserving 28 GHz airwaves exclusively for satellite services would lead to inefficient usage and blockage of a national resource. Access to these coveted airwaves, they said, is also critical to reduce 5G deployment costs in India.

Satellite players and telcos were responding to a recent consultation paper floated by Trai, seeking views on the mode of satellite spectrum allotment.

The likes of Amazon’s Project Kuiper, OneWeb, Starlink and Telesat amongst others, are eyeing the nascent satellite broadband market in India. EY estimates India’s space economy to grow to about $13 billion by 2025 from an annual revenue opportunity of about $1 billion now.

“South Korea, which took the lead in allocating 28 GHz band for IMT (read: 5G) services, has publicly admitted that these spectrum assignments have failed, and in the US (too), terrestrial mobile operators such as T-Mobile and Verizon have not been able to successfully use this millimetre wave band,” Amazon said in its Trai submission. It added that mobile operators in Japan too were unable to use the 28 GHz band allocated for 5G while Thailand had decided to allocate the airwaves only for satellite service use.

Bharti-backed OneWeb said it would use the full 28 GHz band for its gateways in India, and any presence of 5G or other services within the vicinity of its gateway locations could create potential interference and impact its upcoming satellite broadband service in India and the whole South Asian region.

“Trai should advise DoT to refrain from licensing the 27.5-28.5 GHz band for 5G, and instead conduct a thorough assessment of genuine requirements and development of the mobile ecosystem within this frequency range,” it said.

Elon Musk’s Starlink said introducing 5G into the 28 GHz band would make it tough to deploy gateway sites by reducing available bandwidth and the ability to deploy satcoms ground infrastructure. It added that if Trai adopted a flexible use framework, including 5G in the 28 GHz band, then 5G deployments must be secondary to satellite gateways since these airwaves are essential to provide high-speed, low-latency satellite broadband to end-users.

The 28 GHz spectrum – with a band range from 27.5 GHz to 29.5 GHz – is now used exclusively by satellite players, but it’s also an efficient band for 5G services.

Small wonder, Jio and Vi want Trai to auction the 28 GHz band and back flexible or mixed use of these airwaves, in that, the assignee of these frequencies must be free to use them for various technologies, including terrestrial, backhaul and satellite services, subject to having valid licence authorisations.

“The successful bidder should be allowed to sub-lease part of the assigned spectrum to any other service provider for use in terrestrial or satellite-based networks, ensuring optimal resource utilization, and the government also receiving the full market value through auctions for terrestrial/mixed use,” Jio said.

Vi said access to sufficient spectrum, including 28 GHz, was key to minimising 5G deployment costs, especially as current 5G network capacity worldwide, based on low and mid-band spectrum, won’t be sufficient to meet the demands of 5G services by 2030.

Telecom operator, Airtel — also backed by Bharti Group — though, has a contrarian view on allocating 28 GHz for 5G services. It has contended that since as much as 28% of mmWave spectrum (in the 26 GHz) went unsold in last year’s 5G auction and is lying idle, the demand for mmWave bands for 5G isn’t much.

“As of April 2023, 1.5 lakh 5G base stations have been deployed throughout India but without the launch of a single site in mmWave bands, which indicates demand for mmWave bands for 5G is not much and further spectrum (read: 28 GHz) may not be required,” Airtel said.