The Indian Railways has approached the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) seeking an additional 5 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band to bolster its safety and security systems, as disclosed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) in a consultation paper.
Trai's consultation paper on the subject revealed that the value of 5 MHz spectrum in the 700 MHz band, based on the reserve price, is estimated to be around Rs 19,635 crore.
According to Trai, the Ministry of Railways has urged the DoT to reserve 15 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band for this purpose. Initially, the ministry proposes the allocation of 10 MHz, free of cost, emphasizing that the intent behind the proposal is solely to enhance security and passenger amenities, without any commercial motive.
The spectrum allocation is crucial for the railways to fulfill the bandwidth requirements of various applications, including anti-collision technology such as Kavach, video streaming, IoT services, and passenger information display systems, among others.
In 2021, the government approved the allotment of 5 MHz spectrum in the 700 MHz frequency band to the Indian Railways for public safety and security services at stations and on trains. Subsequently, the DoT provisionally assigned 5 MHz of paired spectrum in the 700 MHz band to the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), with the LTE network rollout currently underway.
In its consultation paper, Trai has invited comments on whether additional spectrum should be assigned to the Indian Railways, and whether a uniform spectrum charging methodology is warranted for the railways, among other aspects.
