Spectrum is for telecommunication what jet fuel is for aviation. Spectrum is a range of electromagnetic frequencies or airwaves that telecom companies use for establishing a connection between a cell tower and a mobile phone. The bandwidth of this spectrum is directly proportional to the speed of a wireless data network (since more data can be transmitted simultaneously through a broader data pipeline). In contrast, the frequency is inversely proportional to the coverage (since lower frequencies penetrate better through physical barriers and thus have wider coverage).
The spectrum holding data sheet embedded in this article represents the current spectrum holdings of all active telecom operators across all frequency bands across all 22 telecom circles along with their liberalisation status and expiry dates. All figures represented are in MHz. The value mentioned in the bracket beside the frequency at the base of each sheet is the band number where ‘B’ stands for 4G LTE band whereas ‘n’ stands for the corresponding 5G NR band.
The spectrum shown under BSNL and Aircel in white is reserved for the respective operators but has not yet been officially allotted to them.
Spectrum Liberalisation:
Spectrum was administratively allocated to operators in each of the 22 licensed service areas or circles prior to 2010, this spectrum is called non-liberalised and can only be used for 2G services whereas all airwaves allotted post-2010 have been through a Spectrum Auction where operators have paid the market discovered price and this spectrum is called liberalised and can be used for any technology platform 2G/3G/4G/5G. Alternatively, operators may choose to liberalise their administratively allotted spectrum by paying the market-discovered price to DoT on a pro-rata basis for the remaining validity of the spectrum.
Paired and Unpaired spectrum:
Spectrum may be paired or unpaired, bands 1/3/5/8/28 are all paired where one set of frequencies is used for uplink whereas another distinct set of frequencies is used for downlink known as Frequency-division duplexing (FDD), whereas bands 40/41/78/258 are unpaired where both uplink and downlink happens in the same set of frequencies separated by the time of uplink and downlink known as Time-division duplexing (TDD).
List of Indian FDD Bands:
| 4G LTE band | 5G NR band | Uplink frequency range (MHz) | Downlink frequency range (MHz) | Bandwidth for telecom (MHz) | Block size (MHz) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B1 | n1 | 1939-1979 | 2129-2169 | 40×2 | 5×2 |
| B3 | n3 | 1710-1780 | 1805-1875 | 70×2 | 0.2×2 |
| B5 | n5 | 824-844 | 869-889 | 20×2 | 1.25×2 |
| B8 | n8 | 890-915 | 935-960 | 25×2 | 0.2×2 |
| B28 | n28 | 723-733/ 738-748 | 778-788/ 793-803 | 20×2 | 5×2 |
List of Indian TDD Bands:
| 4G LTE band | 5G NR band | Frequency range (MHz) | Bandwidth for telecom (MHz) | Block size (MHz) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B40 | n40 | 2300-2380 | 80 | 10 |
| B41 | n41 | 2535-2555/ 2615-2655 | 60 | 10 |
| – | n78 | 3300-3670 | 370 | 10 |
| – | n258 | 24250-27500 | 3250 | 50 |
Spectrum caps:
A spectrum cap dictates how much spectrum a particular operator can hold in a circle for a specific band. There is a 40% cap for Sub-GHz spectrum in the 700/850/900 MHz bands combined, a 40% cap for Mid-Band spectrum in the 1800/2100/2300/2500 MHz bands combined, a 40% cap for the C-Band spectrum of 3300-3670 MHz and a 40% cap for the mm-Wave spectrum bands of 24.25-27.5 GHz. The current spectrum caps are denoted in the spectrum chart.
Overall spectrum holdings of operators (in MHz):
| Operator/Holding | Jio | Airtel | Vi | BSNL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sub-GHz | 890 | 373.2 | 298.8 | 496 |
| Mid Band | 1470.8 | 1964.9 | 1531.6 | 590 |
| C-Band | 2440 | 2200 | 850 | 0 |
| mm-Wave Band | 22000 | 17600 | 5350 | 0 |
| Total | 26,800.8 | 22,138.1 | 8,030.4 | 1,086 |
Spectrum sharing/trading/leasing guidelines:
- Telecom operators holding CMTS/UASL/UL licenses can enter into a Spectrum-Sharing agreement with each other so long as both parties hold liberalised spectrum in the same band in the same circle. Sharing of spectrum is possible only on a Pan LSA level in block sizes defined by DoT and only after one year of the spectrum being acquired by an operator.
- Telecom operators holding CMTS/UASL/UL licenses can enter into a Spectrum-Trading agreement with each other so long as the spectrum being sold is liberalised. Trading of spectrum is possible only on a Pan LSA level in block sizes defined by DoT and only after two years of the spectrum being acquired by an operator.
- Telecom operators may enter into a Spectrum-Leasing agreement only with Enterprises holding a Captive Non-Public Network (CNPN) license and not with each other. The lease may be limited to any geographic area within the LSA and for any duration mutually agreed upon by both parties. A CNPN licensee can lease spectrum from multiple operators within an LSA.
Note: We update this chart in real-time to ensure it is always up to date with the latest changes in spectrum holding. Certain human errors might have crept in during the manual compilation of the data, any mistakes/ rectification can be brought to the Team’s notice through the comments section below.
1.) Is the 20mhz 2100 band lying with IAF active & operational by them? Is it possible that the 20mhz 2100 band spectrum of IAF is exchanged with Bsnl 10mhz 2100 band spectrum, as Bsnl will need more spectrum for its growth?
2.) Any idea on how is the ecosystem & real world performance of 2500 band for 5G when compared to 3500 band?
3.) Whats the total spectrum availability of 2500 band… including those not auctioned/lying with other govt orgs incd defence which van be released in furure for auctions.
1) Yes the spectrum is in use and is even visible as MCC MNC code 404 999 in various parts of the country where the defence forces have their bases. We can’t expect the ministry of defence (MoD) to give up all the spectrum that they hold since they also need it for their communication purposes.
2) 2500 MHz has been traditionally used for 4G LTE but if it were to be deployed for 5G then it would provide a better coverage than the 3.5 GHz band and the data carrying capacity would be almost at par when the same bandwidth of spectrum is considered.
3) The total bandwidth of the 2500 MHz band (B41-n41) is 194 MHz of which DoT has 60 MHz and the remaining is with Department of Space (DoS). Yes we can expect more spectrum to get freed up for commercial telecom usage, since the DoS recently freed up 20 MHz which increased DoT’s holding from 40 to 60 MHz in this band.
5G service is not available in my area. Has the implementation process of Jio’s 5G services slowed down? My area is located near the state highway (UP East). Jio tower is also there. But only 4G service. Any idea?
Arjun, dont expect any reply or response form Esmail. He doesnt care to respond to users queries… several unaddressed & pending queries prove the same. Dont know the reason though. I also wanted to ask questions, but did not ask knowing that it wont be answered.
Hey Girish, sorry for the delayed responses. I haven’t checked the comments section here in the past one month. There hasn’t been any new development in the spectrum holding of operators lately and I wasn’t expecting as many queries regarding the same.
But I will make it a point to check it regularly from now on and respond promptly. Please feel free to ask me your questions 🙂
Readers may also feel free to post their doubts on relevant discussion threads on our community forums, where other members may also respond to them in a timely manner.
Yes, Jio has completed its 5G rollout targets Pan India and new rollout has been put on the slow track for now, so as to reduce the capital expenditure.
Usually along state highways you can expect 4G coverage only, since there aren’t many use cases for 5G which is more beneficial in densely populated urban and semi urban clusters.