Telecom regulator TRAI has recommended making additional spectrum available for auction to help telecom operators ease network congestion, Chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti said on Friday. He said the move would support debottlenecking of networks amid rapidly rising data consumption.
Lahoti said India is actively preparing for 6G and that the validity of the 600 MHz band, crucial for the rollout of faster internet, has been extended. TRAI has also recommended inter-band spectrum sharing and leasing of excess spectrum to improve efficiency in spectrum utilisation.
The regulator has proposed enabling active infrastructure sharing among service providers, including mandatory sharing of government-funded infrastructure and voluntary sharing of privately funded infrastructure. TRAI has also issued guidelines for captive non-public networks, allowing enterprises to deploy private 5G networks. However, Lahoti noted that this segment has yet to emerge as a major success story and said stakeholders need to work together to tap its full potential.
He said mobile networks alone may not be sufficient to meet the surge in data demand, especially with the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence. In this context, fixed broadband is expected to play a larger role. Lahoti pointed out that 2025–26 saw an unprecedented addition of 17 million users in fixed broadband services.
According to him, a hybrid approach combining fibre and fixed wireless access (FWA) will help address connectivity needs. However, indoor connectivity remains a key challenge, with consumers frequently complaining about poor signal quality inside buildings.
Lahoti said it is imperative for buildings to incorporate indoor digital infrastructure at the design stage. TRAI's recommendations on integrating indoor connectivity into building design have been accepted by the government.
The TRAI chairman also said the regulator has made suggestions to boost machine-to-machine (M2M) communication as part of efforts to strengthen India's digital infrastructure ecosystem.
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