Qualcomm says device ecosystem good to support services in 600-Mhz spectrum band

PTI New Delhi: The mobilephone ecosystem is pretty good to support enhanced telecom services in 600 megahertz spectrum band, a senior official of Chip Company Qualcomm Technologies said. The smartphone ecosystem will become more premium by the time India decides to make these radio waves available for use, said Durga Malladi, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Technology Planning & Edge Solutions, Qualcomm Technologies. "It's pretty good, actually. Our transceivers already go all the way down to 600 megahertz. So for us, we don't have a problem there, and we are like open to business in any part of the world," Malladi said during a discussion on the support available in Qualcomm chipsets for 600 Mhz band.

Qualcomm chipsets are majorly used in premium smartphones. According to market research and analysis firm Counterpoint Research, Qualcomm led the chipset segment globally with 38% in terms of revenue share in the second quarter of 2024. During 2022 spectrum auction, the Indian government had put airwaves up to 40 megahertz frequency in the spectrum band of 600 Mhz but failed to find any bidders mainly due to lack of device ecosystem to support the services in that band. The government did not include 600 Mhz band in the subsequent spectrum auction that was held in June 2024.

Malladi said that the 600 megahertz band is a prime time real estate in the US and is used for the nationwide coverage by T-Mobile a telecom service provider in that country. "Historically, 600 megahertz has not been used in many countries. In the US, it is used quite a lot. Decisions are pending across the world, but for us, we are ready for business because we designed the transceivers to accommodate that," he said.