Giving 28GHz waves for space applications won't hit 5G services: ISpA

The Indian Space Association (ISpA) has said deploying 28 GHz spectrum band for space applications would not impact next-generation (5G) telecom services by terrestrial network providers, and that satellite broadband is poised to spur fast-paced economic activity in the country.

"We are emphasising that in 24-27.5Ghz band, there is adequate capacity for four major mobile incumbents in India, they will each get a 800 megahertz (MHz) for 5G which is adequate capacity, and hence retaining 27.5 to 28.5 with space will not in any way inhibit the propagation of 5G," AK Bhatt, ISpA’s director-general, told ET, adding that space usage would drive economic benefits.

The allocation of the 28 GHz band remains a contentious issue between satellite service companies and terrestrial network operators such as Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea — since they both have high stakes owing to the premium band linked to economic dividends.

The ISpA represents Bharti-backed OneWeb, Tata's Nelco, Ananth Technologies and MapmyIndia.

In November last, UK-based Plum Consulting said the next-generation high-throughput satellite (HTS) systems are capable of delivering gigabit connectivity and the 28 GHz band would be a key enabler.

For emerging Asian markets such as India, satellite deployments in the Ka-band can help add significant economic benefits, the firm said. The provision of high-speed broadband connectivity via satellite to unserved regions in the Asia Pacific region can contribute up to $121.5 billion in GDP growth per annum by 2030, it estimated.

The Cellular Operators Association of India, however, maintained that the 28 GHz (Ka band) should be reserved for commercial 5G services, which is also being recognised by the 5G high-level forum led by Stanford professor AJ Paulraj.

In 2018, the forum recommended as many as 11 bands for 5G services and said four of these — 700 Mhz band, 3.5 Ghz, 24 Ghz and 28 Ghz band — should be made available for the next generation of telecom service.


The space group, having a divergent view, argues that the 28 Ghz has been used by satellite-driven broadband communications, and is allocated to the space sector worldwide.

In a response to the telecom regulator, it said given the contention in the band and its high value for satellite services, nationwide allocation of the 27.5-28.5GHz band to 5G is not a sensible way forward, as it would unnecessarily sterilise valuable spectrum in areas where 5G will never be deployed using these frequencies.

Nearly 40 stakeholders have responded to Trai's recent consultation paper on identifying frequency bands for next-generation services.

The satellite body said the spacecom policy is in a "very advanced stage" of consultation within the government and that a wide range of proposals put forth by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Center (IN-SPACe) are under active consideration.

"We are quite optimistic that by the middle of this year, activities on the ground would start happening because the big players in low earth observation satellites would start making their constellations operational," Bhatt said.

Of late, India has seen a heightened activity in the satellite sector led by OneWeb with a total in-orbit constellation of 394 satellites to deliver high-speed, low-latency connectivity.

Last month, Tata Group's Nelco and Telesat together sought an experimental licence from the Department of Telecommunications, and are planning to launch satellite communication (satcom) services by mid-2024.