India aligns with China, Russia, Japan to oppose use of 26 Ghz band for 5G services

India is learnt to have aligned with China, Russia and Japan to oppose use of 26Ghz spectrum band for 5G operations, but industry bodies have expressed their reservations about the decision.

China and Russia have opposed 5G operation in 26 Ghz band to defend their military operations, while India has aligned with them as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) wants this spectrum band for satellite services.

At the ongoing World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) 2019, China, Russia and Japan were in support of using alternative bands for 5G services with around 3000 Mhz of frequencies, while India is yet to decide on alternative bands having large chunk of airwaves to support the next generation telecom services, according to industry bodies.

According to industry body Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), China is working to deploy 5G in 3.3-7.125 Ghz range. Signal transmitted in low frequency bands provide higher coverage compared to the transmission in a higher frequency bands. This also leads to proportionate reduction in cost of telecom network.