PTI New Delhi

The Union Cabinet has approved the refarming of 687 Mhz spectrum for mobile services and more will be done based on the study by a committee of secretaries put in place by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Friday. Speaking at an event of industry body COAI, the minister said mobile services need 2,000 Mhz of spectrum by 2030 and the cabinet decision takes the total quantum of radiowaves to 1,587 Mhz.

"Yesterday's Cabinet approved the refarming of 687 Mhz. This means this takes us from 900 Mhz to 1,587 Mhz. (Of which) 320 (MHz) will be released immediately, some by the end of next year and some by the end of 2028-29, which makes us ready for 2030," Scindia said at Digicom Summit 2025. The government, through refarming, earmarks or arranges spectrum of services based on the demand and where the radiowaves can be used efficiently. 

The telecom industry has been demanding to make available 2000 megahertz of radiowaves available for mobile services in mid-bands, which are frequencies in the range of 1000 Mhz to 6000 Mhz. Scindia said the government will ensure that the requirement of the industry is met and there are no hurdles in the digital telecom landscape of the country.

"That still leaves a gap of roughly 300 (Mhz). So, the ask is not over. The second round of this, the Committee of Secretaries, is working on it. The report will come by mid of this year. We will take that step to ensure that there are no bottlenecks for our digital telecom landscape to grow in India," Scindia said.