Reliance Jio reportedly called on India’s government to widen the use of E-band spectrum to include access services along with backhaul, arguing economic benefits for last mile broadband deployments over fibre.

The Economic Times (ET) reported Jio applied to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to use the administratively assigned E-band spectrum for access along with backhaul.

It reportedly argued a change would now be fully aligned with technological development and international 3GPP standards, ET wrote.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is scheduled to release a consultation paper on how to allocate spectrum in the band, which was assigned to operators in 2022 to speed the rollout of 5G services.

Jio reportedly stated the spectrum could be used to deliver high-speed broadband in urban areas where fibre deployments are costly and difficult.

The operator recently revealed it ended August with 50 million 5G users, with 96 per cent of towns covered.