Reliance Jio, Airtel, and Vi Unite to Ask Government for Full 6GHz Reliance-Jio-Airtel-and-Vodafone-Idea .jpg

India’s leading telecom operators: Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, along with industry body COAI, have urged the government to auction the entire 6GHz frequency band (1,200MHz) exclusively for mobile networks, as per the news reports. 

The companies argue that splitting it with Wi-Fi could undermine India’s ambition of leading the world in 6G deployment and indigenous technology development.

Telcos Demand Full 6GHz Allocation for 6G Leadership

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had earlier proposed partitioning the band, with 700MHz reserved for telecom operators and 500MHz delicensed for Wi-Fi use.

Operators countered this in their response to the TRAI consultation paper, stating that 6GHz is the “anchor mid-band” for wide 5G and future 6G coverage, and requires a large, contiguous allocation.

According to industry submissions, each operator needs at least 400MHz of spectrum to deliver strong 6G performance. Under the DoT proposal, four operators would end up with only 175MHz each, which telcos argue is insufficient given India’s high population density and mobile-first digital usage.

Reliance Jio highlighted that India houses 481 people per sq km, nearly 12 times that of the US (40) and more than three times China (150). This creates an intense “demand-density” pressure on networks, requiring larger contiguous spectrum blocks than other markets.

Longer Spectrum Tenure Sought to Justify Investment

Telcos have also asked the government to extend spectrum validity from 20 years to 40 years, both for future auctions and existing holdings. Bharti Airtel said longer tenure improves regulatory visibility and supports long-term capital planning for digital infrastructure.

As per the news reports, India’s low fixed-broadband penetration of only 15 broadband connections per 100 households, compared with 95 in China and 93 in the US, means that spectrum must compensate for the lack of fibre connectivity. China is expected to reach 600 million fibre-connected households by 2030, while India may reach just 100 million.

Telcos have also requested that the 6GHz band be auctioned only when all blocks are available, instead of phasing it over several years as satellite users vacate the band.

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Conclusion

Telecom operators view the 6GHz spectrum as crucial for India’s 6G ambitions and digital infrastructure. The government’s final decision will shape future investment, competition and the pace of next-generation network rollouts.

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