India's Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has formally announced its National Frequency Allocation Plan 2025 (NFAP-2025). It took effect from 30 December 2025 but is already attracting negative comments from operators.
The DoT says that the aim of this policy document, which governs the management and allocation of radio frequency spectrum in India, is to align India with global spectrum standards.
The NFAP-2025 will provide the allocation of radio frequency spectrum to various radio communication services in the frequency range 8.3kHz to 3000GHz. It serves as an essential reference for spectrum managers, wireless operators and telecommunications equipment manufacturers.
Expanded frequency allocations will support 5G, 5G Advanced, future 6G, satellite broadband, and V2X technologies. However, it is the identification of the upper 6GHz band - 6425-7125MHz - for what the ITU, the United Nations specialised agency for digital technologies, calls International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) that appears to trouble operators.
It is true that the new spectrum will significantly enhance mid-band spectrum availability for 5G, 5G Advanced, and 6G. However, as the Economic Times news service reports, the operator association COAI has reiterated its long-standing demand that the 500MHz in the band from 5925-6425MHz should also be identified for IMT. In other words, it believes the entire 6GHz band - or, more accurately, the 1200MHz between 5925MHz and 7125 MHz - should be allocated to IMT.
This is despite the fact that in May 2025, the DoT notified draft rules to delicense 500MHz of airwaves in the lower 6GHz band for low-power indoor Wi-Fi systems, with Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 equipment makers the likely beneficiaries.
Dr SP Kochhar, Director General, COAI, has been widely quoted as saying that to meet data growth and deliver affordable, high-quality 5G and future 6G services, each operator requires at least 400MHz of contiguous mid-band spectrum.
He adds that next-generation technologies will further rely on large, contiguous spectrum blocks "to support ultra-high throughput, low latency, immersive applications, AI-driven services, smart manufacturing, and intelligent mobility".