In a submission to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), CASBAA pointed out that satellite C-band frequencies support television services to 149 million Indian homes, as well as VSAT networks and other critical communications services. Said CASBAA: “the wide use currently being made of this spectrum for the benefit of the Indian population is a convincing reason for the Indian government to oppose “harmonized” designation of the C-band frequencies for IMT.”
The submission rebutted “fallacies and misinformation” provided to the TRAI in a submission by the mobile industry, some parts of which were “manifestly untrue.” The mobile industry is seeking to have the ITU’s next World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) divert C-band frequencies for mobile use. This strategy, said the CASBAA submission, seeks to lower mobile investment costs by acquiring additional spectrum which is providing television and other services to Indian consumers. “The cheapest option that allows this wealthy industry to avoid investing money into their networks is to ask for more spectrum. Taking spectrum used by other industries such as satellite costs mobile operators nothing but has a massive knock-on cost to society in terms of services lost.”
Download the CASBAA Submission Here
Download the ITU’s Latest Report on Non-compatibility (Appendix One) Here
Download a Consultant’s Analysis of World-Wide Availability of Spectrum for Mobile IMT Services (Appendix Two) Here
Download a Comparison of Indian Spectrum Projections (Appendix Three)Here
Download a Review of the “Speculator” Model Used by a Mobile-Industry-Led ITU Study Group (Appendix Four) Here