6 GHz Band: A promising start, but not enough, warns Broadband India Forum

The Broadband India Forum (BIF) has welcomed the Government of India’s draft notification proposing the exemption of the 5925–6425 MHz frequency band from licensing, describing it as a long-overdue and vital first step in unlocking the transformative potential of the 6 GHz spectrum for the country’s digital and economic progress.

This development aligns India with more than 84 countries that have already delicensed all or part of the 6 GHz band. BIF hailed it as a step in the right direction, bringing the nation closer to the global mainstream on unlicensed spectrum policy.

"While a notable milestone, this is just the prologue to the full story,” said TV Ramachandran, President of BIF. “The true transformative power of the 6 GHz band can only be harnessed when we move beyond this initial, suboptimal 500 MHz allocation. To fully realise its benefits, at least an additional 160 MHz must be delicensed, bringing the total to a minimum of 660 MHz.”

Such an expansion, BIF asserts, would enable at least two users to simultaneously access 320 MHz-wide channels, facilitating high-speed applications and data usage. This flexibility is essential for deploying advanced Wi-Fi technologies such as Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7, which require broader, interference-free channels to operate optimally.

Drawing parallels with international examples, BIF cited Australia’s progressive approach. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) initially delicensed 500 MHz (5945–6425 MHz) before expanding access by a further 160 MHz after reviewing interference models. BIF has urged Indian authorities to follow a similarly ambitious trajectory.

“A fraction of the band cannot deliver the full-scale impact we seek,” Ramachandran emphasised. “An adequate chunk of delicensed 6 GHz spectrum is critical to power next-generation technologies that will form the backbone of India’s Digital Public Infrastructure. This includes enabling affordable, high-speed, low-latency connectivity for smart schools, hospitals, factories, cities, and rural areas, breathing life into the vision of Viksit Bharat.”

The forum also highlighted the potential environmental and economic benefits of delicensing the full 6 GHz band:

• A study by WIK Consult found that allocating the 6 GHz band to licensed mobile (IMT) use could lead to approximately 16% higher energy consumption, translating to 3.2 megatonnes of additional CO₂ emissions annually in the EU. Scaled to India’s context, full delicensing could prevent between 10–15 megatonnes of CO₂ emissions each year, supporting India’s 2070 net-zero goals and aiding energy-efficient broadband development at the city level.

• A 2024 India-specific study by Dr Raúl Katz for the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance estimated the cumulative economic value of full delicensing of the 6 GHz band at an extraordinary USD 4,030 billion (Rs 3,425 lakh crore) over the decade from 2024 to 2034.

TV Ramachandran concluded,“This is a good beginning,but we are still only scratching the surface. Given that developed nations enjoy nearly 20 times more unlicensed spectrum than India, we cannot afford a slow or incremental approach. Let us not settle for a tentative step when a giant leap is within reach. Much more remains to be done to fully unleash the potential of the 6 GHz band for India’s digital future.