Reliance Jio proposes exclusive communication network for police and Railways

Reliance Jio has proposed to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India that if the remaining 700 MHz spectrum band is reserved for telecom services, it can set up an exclusive communication network for first responders including police and Railways. Reliance Jio’s submission gains significance in the context that a significant portion of spectrum in the 700MHz band, approximately 10 MHz was exclusively set aside for the Indian Railways.

Reliance remarked, “We reiterate that while we agree that Railways requirements to provide mission critical passenger safety services and applications and video analytics for passenger security are valid and legitimate requirements, we strongly believe that the same can be met through non-IMT band spectrum instead of 700 MHz band which is one of the most important bands for coverage of IMT network. Notwithstanding the above, in case it is decided that only the spectrum in 700 MHz band should be used for delivering high capacity, high efficiency and best performance along with highest security, the authority should consider recommending a common service provider (CSP) for meeting requirements of Railways and other bodies.

This will be in line with other leading / secure public infrastructure built globally. The CSP can ensure that Railways and any first respondent including police, fire etc. can leverage the common infrastructure to deliver a seamless first response to any calamity or event.”

Jio claimed like as is the case with FirstNet in the United States, this service provider will deliver an exclusive communication network for use of Railways and other first responders for Integrated emergency communication and response system (“IECRS”) using the spectrum in 700 MHz band already assigned to Indian Railways and entities like NCRTC. This will ensure the objective of efficient utilisation without any fragmentation of the IMT spectrum.

Reliance, which purchased 10MHz of 700 MHz spectrum in the 2021 5G auction – is banking on this spectrum band to deliver a 5G network that is far superior to its competitors. It is the sole operator that possesses additional sub-GHz spectrum in the 700MHz band - which it can use to offer standalone 5G services.