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 | 706 |
| Mid Band | 1470.8 | 1964.9 | 1531.6 | 860 |
| C-Band | 2440 | 2200 | 850 | 350 |
| mm-Wave Band | 22000 | 18000 | 5350 | 0 |
| Total | 26,800.8 | 22,538.1 | 8,030.4 | 1,916 |
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. Spectrum sharing is possible only on a Pan LSA level in block sizes defined by DoT and only after one year of an operator acquiring the spectrum.
- 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 an operator acquiring the spectrum.
- 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.
Esmail Sahab, for example if a telco has 20mhz of 2100 band spectrum plus 40mhz of 2500 band spectrum for 4G, is it possible for the telco to make 2100 the only and base band that its customer can latch on to, with 2500 band used only for 4G Carrier Aggregation. Or band latching is 100% dependant and decided by the smartphone only, with telcos having no control.
In Carrier Aggregation (CA), the “anchor band” (also known as the Primary Cell or PCell) is determined by the network, not the device. The PCell is the primary connection established between the device and the network. It’s the cell where the device has established its Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection. The network selects the PCell based on factors like signal strength, load, and the device’s capabilities. Once the PCell is established, the network can then configure the device to utilize additional carriers (Secondary Cells or SCells) for increased data rates, but the PCell remains the main connection.
Esmail, can you kindly clarify the following. Will be very grateful. Thanks in advance. As per the latest spectrum chart:
1.) Why is 900 band spectrum for Mumbai & Delhi not alloted (only reserved) to BSNL, while 700 band spectrum has been alloted to them? Whats is the reason for the same and by when is 900 band spectrum for Mumbai & Delhi expected to be alloted to BSNL?
2.) Why is 2100 band spectrum alloted to BSNL in Mumbai, but not in Delhi? Whats is the reason for the same and by when is 2100 band spectrum for Delhi expected to be alloted to BSNL?
3.) Again, why only 10mhz of 2500 band spectrum is alloted to BSNL in Maharashtra and Gujurat, and not the full 20Mhz, which all other circles of BSNL across India have got? Will MH & GJ ever get full 20mhz, and if so when is remaining 10mhz expected to alloted.
1) As of now MTNL has only 2100 MHz spectrum in Mumbai and Delhi which is being used for 3G service, both voice and data. The 900 MHz spectrum expired in 2019 but was not renewed by DoT looking at the financial condition of MTNL and uncertainty of it’s future. BSNL has been allotted spectrum in the 4G bands for these circles but not yet for 2G spectrum since MTNL is still functional here. Probably once MTNL 3G spectrum expires, BSNL will be allotted 900 MHz spectrum to launch 2G service in these circles as well, completely replacing MTNL for both voice and data.
2) Ideally BSNL should have been allotted 5 MHz in Delhi circle as well just like Mumbai since there was sufficient spectrum available. Only Rajasthan circle didn’t have available spectrum in this band, forcing DoT to allot it in the 850 MHz band for Rajasthan. But for some unknown reason DoT chose to allot 10 MHz in the 1800 MHz band instead of 5 MHz in 2100 MHz band in Delhi circle.
3) When the 2500 MHz band was reserved for BSNL in these 8 circles, that time 20 MHz was available in 6 circles but in Maharashtra and Gujarat circle since Vi was holding 30 MHz instead of 20, there was only 10 MHz available for BSNL out of the total 40 MHz available with DoT at the time. But later DoS vacated another 20 MHz block adjacent to Vi’s holding, so DoT refarmed the existing spectrum holding to make Vi’s 30 MHz contiguous in these 2 circles, freeing up additional 10 MHz in Maharashtra and Gujarat for BSNL. But since this was not reserved in the order passed by the union cabinet it couldn’t be allotted this time. But in the future most likely it will get allotted.