A tussle over spectrum drags India emergency response plan

At the heart of the dispute is the 700 MHz spectrum band, coveted for its ability to provide wide, reliable coverage. The home ministry's Directorate of Coordination Police Wireless (DCPW) is seeking the spectrum for police and disaster-response use, while the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) says the band is already reserved and cannot be assigned at this stage, according to two officials in the know.

This comes at a time when India is looking to upgrade its communication networks for public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) with enhanced broadband capabilities. An upgrade to the communication network, used by public safety agencies such as police departments, fire departments, emergency medical professionals and paramilitary forces is needed as the existing infrastructure is largely fragmented, narrow-band or based on aging analog systems primarily limited to voice communication.

These legacy networks often operate in silos and lack interoperability that prevents different public safety agencies—such as police, fire and medical teams—from coordinating seamlessly or sharing mission-critical information during a crisis.

Modern emergency response now requires high-bandwidth capabilities to support real-time video analytics, high-quality images, mapping and location services, as well as advanced tools such as drones, artificial intelligence (AI) and internet of things (IoT), which current systems cannot handle.

The home ministry believes that 700 MHz 5G spectrum is key for public safety networks because of a matured device ecosystem, lower deployment cost, and the band’s ability to travel longer distances and penetrate buildings with its signals better than the higher-frequency bands.

“There is no spectrum left in the 700 MHz band. MHA or DCPW has to approach telecom service providers for priority service, or they can plan public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) upgrade in the 800 MHz band," said one of the government officials cited above.

In the recently released National Frequency Allocation Plan (NFAP 2025), the department of telecommunications (DoT) allocated portions of the 800 MHz band for broadband PPDR. The same is in addition to the earlier assigned spectrum in the 400 MHz band. NFAP is the official master document for radio-frequency management in India.

“There have been multiple communications between DoT and DCPW on the 700 MHz band for the PPDR project. The MHA body needs 10 MHz spectrum. In an internal committee report, it made a representation that a portion of the spectrum should be better utilized for PPDR and should not go to the Railways at the expense of national security," said the other official.

Queries emailed to the home ministry, DoT and the railways ministry did not elicit any response until press time.

To be sure, the value of 10 MHz spectrum is worth ₹40,000 crore, based on the 5G spectrum auction price of 2022. In 2024, the Union cabinet approved allocation of additional 5 MHz for Railways for the Kavach technology. Additional 5 MHz spectrum, earlier provisionally assigned in the 700 MHz band, was also approved for National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) for the train control system for Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor.

“Discussions were held (between DOt and the home ministry) to explore sharing of spectrum in the 700 MHz band between the Railways and for PPDR," said the second official cited above.

The 700 Mhz band has already been allocated for use by different government ministries/departments/agencies. These include: 10 MHz for the defence ministry, 10 MHz for Indian Railways, 5 MHz for National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), and 10 MHz for BSNL. In 2022 auctions, Reliance Jio acquired 10 MHz spectrum worth ₹40,000 crore.

With the entire 45 MHz of spectrum worth over ₹1.7 trillion in the 700 MHz band already allocated, the same has not been put up for sale in the upcoming auctions.

“The World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 recommended both the 700 MHz and 800 MHz bands for broadband public protection and disaster relief networks. There is no major difference between both the bands. However, the challenge in 800 MHz would be to vacate the band from existing users, which will take time," said Bharat Bhatia, president of ITU-APT Foundation of India, which works with industry and government on telecom policy.

According to Bhatia, the allocation of frequency is not a challenge but execution of the PPDR project will be a huge task for the government as it involves coordination between telecom operators, the state police, various public safety agencies, etc.

Setting up public safety and disaster response networks is a time-intensive affair. The US took about 10 years to develop FirstNet, which is their broadband network for first responders and critical applications, said Bhatia.

Globally, 700 MHz and 800 MHz are emerging as the most widely-used bands for public safety networks. For example, in the US, the nationwide public safety broadband network FirstNet operates on 700 MHz. The US developed the network with AT&T. South Korea has also developed the network in the 700 MHz band with two operators. European countries such as France, Germany, and Switzerland have also earmarked 700 MHz for broadband PPDR networks, while Australia primarily uses 800 MHz for similar purposes but is considering the 700 MHz band as well. In Asia, South Korea and Thailand have allocated portions of the 700 MHz and 800 MHz bands to support LTE-based public safety communications.

Analysts say the country’s public safety project will also be a huge revenue opportunity for telecom operators. In the July-September earnings call, Reliance Jio said it is working with government agencies on public protection and disaster recovery.

“Similarly, other operators have also expressed interests for PPDR. The government is also in the process of hiring a project management and technical consultants specifically to assist with proof of concept trials across 10 states," the second official said, adding that in May last year, three consultants – EY, Telecommunication Consultants India Ltd (TCIL), and ITI Ltd were shortlisted, but a fresh bid will be invited for more participation.

India’s PPDR project is moving at a slow pace. It was in 2018 that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had recommended the establishment of a pan-India integrated Broadband PPDR (BB-PPDR) network based on modern 4G/5G technology to replace aging narrowband and analog systems.

The regulator had also called for a nationwide allocation of dedicated, no-cost spectrum in the 800 MHz band to ensure the network could meet rigorous public safety requirements.