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.
Hello Esmail Sir,
I wanted to ask something
1) Airtel hv 5mhz + 5 mhz ( got in new auction) in band 8 for up east circle. But still 5mhz is only working, even in other states airtel already deployed new acquired bandwith.
2) vi hv 6.2 mhz ( band 8) for up east circle. But only 3.2 mhz is deployed…
What may be reason for this? Are these operators are not interested in deploying additional bandwith for this circle?
1) I’m guessing you are referring to 5 MHz being deployed for 4G LTE. If that’s the case then it could be that Airtel is planning on using the other 5 MHz block for SA 5G since it doesn’t have any other sub GHz spectrum unlike Jio to use for indoor VoNR.
2) Vi has 6.8 MHz in in band 8 in UP East not 6.2 MHz. The 3.2 MHz that you are referring to I’m guessing is for 2G service? The remaining spectrum should ideally be used for 4G.
Hello Esmail Sir, big fan of yours.
Can you kindly share when Bsnl 4g will be deployed & completed in Mumbai. Has the Bsnl 4g implementation started in Mumbai?
In Pune, from where Im, Bsnl has fully deployed 4g. But when I travel to Mumbai, every weekend for personal purpose, there is no Bsnl or Mtnl 4g at all nor 2g also. Only 3g, that too 3g network is not there in half of Mumbai, even in prime areas.
BSNL 4G will be launched on 2100 MHz and 700 MHz spectrum Pan India and later augmented using 2500 MHz spectrum.
As for Mumbai and Delhi circles, these belong to MTNL and the operations are being managed by BSNL on behalf of MTNL.
MTNL only has 5 MHz of spectrum in these 2 circles in the 2100 MHz band which is being used for 3G and it doesn’t hold any 2G or 4G spectrum.
Going forward all new spectrum allocation in Mumbai and Delhi will be to BSNL instead of MTNL.
Currently BSNL has been allotted 5 MHz of spectrum in Mumbai and Delhi in 2100 MHz band and 10 MHz in Delhi in 1800 MHz bands with a validity up to 3rd July 2025. Which is why I believe that the 4G rollout by BSNL in these circles may happen around 3rd-4th of July.