Licence exempt the v band at least a part

Licence exempt the v band at least a part

Should the V band of radio waves, spanning the wavelengths 56 GHz to 71 GHz, be exempt from licence for expanding highspeed broadband coverage or auctioned off for telecom companies to perform backhaul operations? Telcos and internet service providers have locked horns over the matter. What will advance popular digital access should be the essential benchmark for evaluating options.

A reasonable compromise would be to split the V band into two parts, assign 7 GHz for licence-exempthigh-speed broadband access at gigabit speed, and assign the remaining 7 GHz for data backhaul. Or the E band can be used for backhaul, leaving the V band entirely for gigabit Wi-Fi.

The greater the pace of digital transformation of life and work, the larger the throughput of data, and the larger the needed carrying capacity. The best way to transport large quantities of data is via optical fibre. However, in India, optical fibre is less widespread than it ought to be, and obtaining the right of way to lay cable has proven to be very difficult. That is why telcos are keen to perform backhaul through wireless means. Besides the V band, the E band, comprising 70 and 80 GHz range, can be used for both backhaul and for distributed broadband access under the IEEE 802.11 protocols for Wi-Fi. Prof V Sridhar of the International Institute of Information Technology suggests bifurcating the V band and using one half for gigabit-speed Wi-Fi, called WiGig, and the rest for backhaul.

Instead of burdening telcos with the cost of acquiring this spectrum, it should be possible to assign it to a couple of specialist backhaul firms, from whom telcos could buy throughput services, with dynamic pricing, an exchange enabling the price discovery. Some innovation is possible.