India eyes active role in designing global policies on 6G, satcom

PM to inaugurate International Telecom Union's first India office, release 6G vision document today

With the global focus on its telecom and digital industry, India is pushing for a greater say in the ongoing policymaking at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), including for a new global vision for 6G and international rules for satellite communications. 

Officials said G20 has been used as a platform to drive India’s vision, and ensure it does not miss out on talks shaping up the next set of global policies on technology.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the first Area Office & Innovation Centre of ITU in India on Wednesday. Sources said he may announce a 6G vision document at the event. A parallel Communication Ministers’ Conclave of the neighbouring and G20 nations would also take place.

ITU is the United Nations’ specialised agency for information and communications technology (ICT). India has firmly set its sight on ITU, recently winning a key segment of elections at ITU’s Radio Regulations Board (RRB), the top body administering frequency allocation to nations and resolving disputes.

Revathi Mannepalli, India’s candidate for member, won the elections with support from 139 of 180 countries that voted. Officials said the Ministry of External Affairs had asked each and every Indian mission abroad to campaign on her behalf. The RRB board members meet up to four times a year in Geneva and approve the rules of procedure, used in applying the provisions of radio regulations and registering frequency assignments made by the member states.

“The new area office coming up in India will bring India closer to the action on global telecom policymaking. This comes at a time when all eyes in the global digital and telecom sectors are on India for its 5G rollout,” an official said.

6G focus

The entire range of 6G cellular technology, its uses, and enabling technology and standards are being considered by ITU. It is deliberating on a 6G road-map for 2030, following which the third-generation partner project (3GPP) would work on creating standards.

Under the prime minister’s direction, India is targeting the rollout of a 6G network by the end of the decade, officials said. Given how 6G is expected to serve as a convergence platform for satcom and terrestrial networks, the department of telecommunication has said that the country is aiming to take part in the setting of 6G standards and also technical innovations.

In November 2021, the government formed a 22-member innovation group headed by Telecom Secretary K Rajaraman to create a vision for the 6G road-map in India. Opening up 6G airwaves is part of India’s efforts to attain a key toehold in the global supply chain for emerging technology, such as satellite and terrestrial communication gear and components.

Eye in the sky

ITU also oversees the allocation of radio frequencies required to meet the continuously evolving needs of the satellite industry and manages a cooperative satellite frequency registration process.

A satellite or orbit spectrum is a segment of a radio spectrum that becomes available when satellites are placed into orbit. This spectrum is a limited resource for every country, used by companies to implement satellite broadcasting, communications, and weather predictions.

But what makes it important for New Delhi is its ability to provide broadband communications to large areas (including entire regions or even continents) at minimal extra marginal cost. Satellites also support communication services in remote and rural areas and are generally resilient to terrestrial natural disasters, such as earthquakes or tsunamis.

Earlier this month, ITU said just 36 per cent of the 1.25 billion people in the world's 46 poorest nations can plug into the internet. In comparison, more than 90 per cent have access in the European Union. The launch of thousands of low-earth orbit satellites could bring speedy change.

"As a result, India is keen on harnessing the sector to meet its need for communication. It is important to be part of the global discourse as an active player," a senior official said.

The updated draft telecom Bill seeks to lay down the guidelines for satellite spectrum — which the government may explicitly differentiate from terrestrial spectrum but may not regulate it, Business Standard had reported earlier.

The DoT had extended the definition of “telecommunication services” to satellite-based communication services in the draft Bill, which gives the government exclusive rights to use, allocate, and assign spectrum for it.

 Meanwhile, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has asked the telecom department not to regulate it as part of the revised Bill.

 Industry players have also stressed that spectrum allocation through the auction mechanism would lead to a situation where usage could be restricted to a single player, affecting the Digital India road-map of providing broadband to the masses.