Reducing C-band spectrum will hurt business, broadcasters tell MIB

Currently, the C-band spectrum in the 3700-4200 MHz range is allotted to broadcasting services.

The MIB had last week sought information from broadcasters and teleport operators on whether their current and future assignments can be accommodated within 4000-4200 MHz.

The industry opined that reducing the C-band spectrum will have ramifications for the business of the sector as they will need to make investments in additional teleports because the current network will not be sufficient for accommodating existing and additional TV channels in 4000-4200 MHz.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) plans to open the 3700-4200 MHz spectrum band for telecom operators to use for providing 5G/6G services.

In their submission to the MIB, the broadcasters and teleport operators have said reducing the bandwidth on C-Band to 200 MHz spectrum (4000-4200 MHz) will lead to a 60% reduction in the capacity for the sector, which translates to 40 transponders. Furthermore, the stakeholders stated that the industry will have to migrate to higher frequencies.The industry stakeholders also submitted that migrating TV channels using C-band spectrum in the range of 3700–4200 MHZ to 4000–4200 MHz range is not feasible. They also contended that the 4000–4200 MHz spectrum can only support 10 transponders. Therefore, 40 transponders would need another five satellites hypothetically in the 4000-4200 MHz band.The stakeholders have also claimed that adding more capacity will take at least 10 years and that no satellite operator will build capacity for the smaller size of the C-band spectrum.

Broadband India Forum president T V Ramachandran said the broadcasters and teleport operators are the longstanding legitimate incumbents of this spectrum and have been using it for public broadcasting and entertainment while meeting all their licence obligations and duties.

“A massive 60% reduction in capacity is involved in this band change, which would significantly deteriorate the quality of service to consumers and lead to an increase in cost per channel,” he stated.

The DoT’s decision to make C-band spectrum available for telecom services, according to a top executive at a major TV broadcasting business, is being made to appease the telecom lobby without realizing that it will completely destroy the broadcasting industry.
“There is a serious question mark over the future of broadcasting in India, in particular news channels and smaller broadcasters. This will also pave the way for the creation of a vertically integrated entity spread across the telecom and broadcasting sectors, for which at the moment there is a policy and regulatory void to prevent the emergence of such a monopoly,” the executive added.Furthermore, the broadcasters said, reducing or limiting the C-band spectrum will create congestion as the demand for the 4000-4200 MHz bandwidth will go up.

They suggested that the government use millimeter waves for 5G or any other vacant frequency bands as that would not disturb the broadcast industry.

Recently, the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF) had also requested the government against auctioning spectrum in the C-band (3700 to 4200 MHz) since the same has been allocated for broadcasting services, and opening this band for 5G/6G services will disrupt the TV broadcasting sector due to the likely interference of terrestrial transmissions with the satellite signals.