The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has recommended that 5Mhz spectrum in the premium 700 MHz band may be allotted to Indian Railways, albeit only for captive use in areas such as passenger information display system, live feed of video surveillance and IoT based asset monitoring services.
In order to install an Ultra-high-speed LTE-based communication corridor for train-ground and train-train communication, the Indian Railways had asked the DoT to reserve 15 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band. Following this, the DoT sought the regulator’s recommendation on administrative allotment of spectrum to Indian Railways.
“Spectrum may be assigned to Indian Railways on administrative basis for captive use only and not to offer any commercial services such as WiFi onboard,” TRAI said. The regulator has suggested that spectrum charges be levied on formula basis as prescribed by the Telecom Department for royalty charges and licence fee for captive use.
