Days ahead of the release of the 5G auction guidelines, the satellite industry has opposed the sale of spectrum in the 27.5-28.5Ghz bands as they use the bands at present and sharing them with the mobile players will affect their operations.

Globally, auction has been banned in the spectrum used by them with allocations made through an administrative process.

The Satcom Industry Association India (SIA-India) said sharing any portion of the 27.5- 28.5 Ghz band will prevent both services from reaching their full potential because of the geographical separation distances required to ensure compatibility. The interference will impair the quality of both the services, the SIA-India said.

Satellite based communication is very different from terrestrial communications, both are distinct technologies and governed by separate rules and regulations.

Out of the 193 countries under the International Telecommunication Union, very few nations have ever attempted to auction satellite spectrum.

The SIA-India in its submission to the telecom regulator has urged it to limit the inclusion of mmWave spectrum in the 5G auction as 27.5-31 GHz and 17.7-21.2 GHz bands have been preserved for satellite-based broadband services by the ITU.

Satellite players which include Tata group’s Nelco, Viasat, industry bodies ISPA and SIA have opposed the proposals of telcos especially that of Reliance Jio submitted to the Trai in response to the consultation paper on spectrum price and its auction for 5G services.

Jio has asked Trai to enlarge the spectrum allocation in the mid-frequency band and demanded that the entire C-Band (3300-4200 MHz) should be auctioned.