India pushes 6G 'Golden Band' strategy before WRC-27
NITI Aayog and the ITU-APT Foundation of India held a consultation on the 6G Golden Band, focusing on the 6425-8400 MHz range as key upper mid-band spectrum. Participants included representatives from government, DoT/WPC, TRAI, ISRO, Reliance Jio, Qualcomm, GSMA, and academia. The effort aims to build an early national consensus before WRC-27 in Shanghai so India can help shape global 6G spectrum rules.
A Sept. 23 consultation in New Delhi, jointly held by NITI Aayog and IAFI, brought together regulators, ministries, operators, vendors, and academics. They examined how frequencies from 6.425 to 8.4 GHz might serve future 6G, especially because wide continuous blocks could enable channels of 200–400 MHz.
India aims to build domestic consensus before WRC-27, scheduled for Oct. 2027 in Shanghai. Officials noted India leads WP5D work on 7.125–8.4 GHz and has over 400 million 5G users; roughly 95% of data traffic runs over wireless networks.
If India helps shape 6G spectrum rules, future mobile users, operators, satellite and fixed services may feel effects. More mid-band capacity could support faster, more reliable wireless broadband and new applications, but coexistence and refarming decisions could affect incumbent users and costs. The outcome may influence rural connectivity, device ecosystems, and how quickly advanced services reach consumers.