The broadcasters’ forum has reportedly objected to the government’s proposal to move Indian broadcasting to a different frequency band, stating that over 100 TV channels would be impacted
The Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF) has reportedly written to the Department of Telecom (DoT), emphasising that it cannot divide the C-band spectrum in 3700-4200 MHz range between terrestrial 5G carriers and satellite services.
IBDF secretary general Siddharth Jain, in a letter addressed to DoT Secretary (telecom) K Rajaraman, opposed the government’s proposal to move Indian broadcasting from the current frequency band of 3700-4200 MHz to 4000-4200 MHz.
IBDF posited that the move would cause the low-noise blocks (LNBs) of all receivers to get overloaded. Weak satellite signals will weaken further when 5G transmissions start within the current C-Band of 3,700-4,200 MHz.
Many channels in the 3700-3800 MHz band, including the ones using GSAT satellites such as GSAT-30, will become defunct if the broadcasters are moved out of the spectrum to the 4000-4200 MHz band, it stated.
In the letter to DoT, the broadcasters added that the government’s proposal to offer telecom operators 300 MHz in the 3700-4200 band will negatively impact over 100 TV channels using the band. IBDF also reportedly noted that the planned migration of over 60 channels to safe bands above 3800MHz has fallen through.
