Tech Giants and Broadband Firms Protest Bharat 6G’s 6GHz Band Plans

A draft report from the Bharat 6G Alliance has sparked backlash from technology companies and broadband service providers. The report suggests that the 6GHz band should be allocated for telecom operators due to its large continuous bandwidth, which could enhance coverage and capacity in urban and suburban areas.

The report, which hasn’t been made public yet, claims that the 6GHz to 8.4GHz spectrum is a “Golden Band” for the success of 6G in India. It also calls for a detailed examination of the current spectrum allocations to identify any gaps or inefficiencies that could be optimized.

In addition to the 6GHz band, the report mentions the extended C band (3700-4200 MHz) as another potential spectrum for 6G, suggesting that further research is needed to see if existing satellite broadcasts can coexist or transition from this band.

However, broadband companies and major tech firms like Google and Meta, represented by the Broadband India Forum (BIF), have opposed the idea of licensing the contested 6GHz spectrum (5925-7025 MHz) exclusively for telecom providers. The BIF argues that their repeated calls to prioritize this band for modern WiFi technologies like WiFi 6E and 7 have been ignored. They point out that the lower 6GHz band is not commonly used in international mobile telecommunications (IMT).