NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) could come out with the pricing and quantum of newer spectrum bands including millimeter wavelength (mmWave) range for the fifth-generation or 5G wireless technology rollout if the government seeks its view, a top official told ETT.
"Government can ask for recommendations on new bands including millimeter wavelength (mmWave) band, and the telecom department can send us a reference," Trai chairman Ram Sewak Sharma said, adding that the authority was in a view of opening up of all kinds of bands for newer technology.
In August 2018, the regulator has recommended airwaves in the 3300-3600Mhz band for the use of 5G applications and acknowledged that many other frequencies were being investigated for 5G, including the mmWave spectrum in the 28 GHz, 37 GHz, 39 GHz bands in the US.
The mmWave band ranging from 30 Gigahertz (Ghz) to 300 Ghz, has seen heightened traction in the US market, with top telecom carriers— AT&T and Verizon launching commercial 5G services.
The Narendra Modi-led government has already established a high-level 5G Forum under the Indo-American engineer and Stanford University professor AJ Paulraj which has already recommended newer bands to aid 5G rollout.
It has suggested mmWave band for the 5G technology and said that 140 Mhz spectrum for backhaul usage should be allowed in addition to opening up of new bands for indoor access in line with practices worldwide.

The mmWave airwaves are being leveraged for streaming high-resolution video applications and multimedia content and services indoors— and could be of use cases in industry verticals such as entertainment, education, and healthcare.

The committee, in August 2018, has also asked the government to allocate 405 Mhz of sub 4GHz spectrum immediately while it said that another 137 Mhz would be under consideration.

Sharma added that the regulator has though already suggested Gigahertz range that included E and V bands which were a part of mmWave frequency.

The bands— E (71-76 GHz and 81-86 Ghz) and V (57-64 GHz) are widely used as backhaul, which means connecting the core of a telecom network to nodes and then onto towers, to transmit data.

Source: gadgetsnow.com