Macro/Finance Group, NIPFP

Broadband internet access in India is mainly mobile-based. This constrains the quality of access in terms of consistency, reliability and speed. Mobile broadband networks in dense urban environments are increasingly getting congested due to shortage of backhaul spectrum and challenges of laying fiber for backhaul. V-band and E-band spectrum can help partially overcome these problems. In this paper, we identify the main types of use cases for this spectrum, and estimate the potential scale of these uses in an optimised scenario. We also map these uses to the types of economic benefits that may flow from them. We recommend approaches to releasing the spectrum that enable widespread usage, and maximise the benefit to the society. We caution against approaches that front-load government revenue, but may impede usage, especially for innovative and risky applications.

Links

• Paper

Press

• The economics of releasing the V-band and E-band spectrum in India by Sudipto Banerjee, Mayank Mishra and Suyash Rai on Ajay Shah's blog, 29^th May 2018.