Spectrum Sharing: New Rules for Telcos Proposed

New Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) The Department of Telecommunications has proposed one-way spectrum sharing among telecom operators that will enable service providers to monetise and optimally deploy unused radio waves, according to a draft notification.

Earlier, operators were allowed to use spectrum in the same frequency band on a shared basis after approval from the government.

As per the illustration given in the latest draft rule, a service provider holding frequencies in a different band can share them with other operators having spectrum in a separate band but within the same category and telecom circle.

Industry experts said the move will help operators like Vodafone Idea and BSNL to unlock their unused spectrum and monetise the asset. It will also help operators like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel to optimise their 5G services across circles.

According to Parag Kar, an industry expert, the implementation of the new rule can help telcos like Vodafone Idea to enter into roaming agreements with other operators to provide 5G services to its customers where it does not hold enough spectrum.

Under the new rules, the DoT has proposed removing the limitation of sharing spectrum within the same band to category-level sharing, thereby providing telecom operators with options to optimally deploy unused spectrum of partner service providers for high-bandwidth services.

"Sharing of right to use access spectrum may be permitted in a service area...in respect of authorised entities holding same category of authorisation in the same service area ...within each spectrum band category," the draft Telecommunications (Sharing, Trading, and Leasing of Spectrum) Rules, 2025, released on December 1, said.

The draft has proposed four categories of spectrum: category-1 will be for sub-1 GHz bands, which are radio waves below 1000 megahertz frequencies, category-2 and category-3 will be mid bands and category-4 for high bands.

The present spectrum sharing rule allows sharing within the same frequency bands, like a telecom operator holding a spectrum in 900 Mhz band can share frequencies with other players holding frequency in the same range.

In the case of a captive 5G network, the proposed rules have no category restriction.

The DoT has also proposed to charge 0.5 per cent of the cost of spectrum that will be shared on a pro-rata basis instead of a fix cost of Rs 50,000 earlier.