Speaking at the 4th Indian Spectrum Management Conference, DSA President Martha Suarez urged the Indian Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to allocate the entire 6 GHz band for unlicensed Wifi use, estimating a potential economic value of US$4,030 billion between now and 2034.
Subscribe today for free
This impact includes $3,544 billion in GDP contributions, $329 billion in consumer surplus, and $158 billion in producer surplus.
“The findings provided by the Telecom Advisory Services demonstrate that a full allocation for Wifi is the best option for boosting the Indian economy and driving the country’s digital transformation,” Suarez noted.
“Furthermore, Wifi can coexist with the satellite services that currently operate in the 6 GHz band in India.”
Several allocation scenarios have been proposed to the DoT, including sharing the band between Wifi and International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT). However, the DSA argues that a full Wifi allocation could deliver up to $858 billion more in economic impact compared to other split-band scenarios.
Limiting Wifi allocation to just 500 MHz, they warn, would restrict indoor Wifi speeds by 50%, impacting over half of IoT devices and limiting 82% of augmented and virtual reality devices in indoor settings.
Bharat Bhatia, President of the Itu-Apt Foundation of India, called on India’s Communications Minister to prioritise licensing the lower 6 GHz band to support initiatives like Digital India and Make in India.
Adding to the case for Wifi, Dr. Raul Katz, president of the Telecom Advisory Services said: “Assuming the World Radio Conference allocates the upper 6 GHz band to IMT in 2027, device deployment for wideband mobile networks would take another two years, whereas Wifi could be deployed immediately with no additional requirements.”
The full report, Assessment of the Economic Value of the 6 GHz Spectrum Band in India, is available on the DSA website.
RELATED STORIES
