Trai and DoT at odds over giving larger spectrum share to Indian Railways

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) are at odds over giving Indian Railways a larger share of the 700 MHz spectrum. Notably, the Indian Railways’ in-house radio-based train collision avoidance system (TCAS), also referred to as Kavach, requires this spectrum for safety and security reasons. DoT informed Trai earlier that any further 5 MHz allotment in the 700 MHz band would only be considered following Indian Railways’ use of the 5 MHz that had already been allotted.

On December 20, 2024, Trai had previously suggested that Indian Railways be given an extra 5 MHz for these safety-related uses.

In a response dated July 4, Trai objected to DoT’s stance and said, “It is imperative that an additional 5 MHz of paired spectrum in the 700 MHz band is assigned to the Indian Railways forthwith so that they can plan, design and implement an optimised communication network for meeting the bandwidth requirements of their safety and security applications in a timely manner.”

The appropriate price for Indian Railways to pay for the spectrum is another area of disagreement.

Instead of employing its previous formula-based approach, which would be less expensive for Indian Railways, DoT wishes to use the auction-determined price (ADP).

DoT stated, “In order to harmonise all such administrative assignment of spectrum in the IMT bands, the department is of the view that it may be appropriate to adopt the spectrum charging methodology of upfront payment of the ADP mechanism for all administrative assignment of spectrum in the IMT bands, henceforth on prospective basis.”