Why in News?

• The Union Cabinet approved the allotment of 5Mhz spectrum in the premium 700 MHz band to the railways for captive use in areas of public safety and security services.

What is spectrum in scientific terms?

• It is the set of colours into which a beam of light can be separated, or a range of waves, such as light waves or radio waves

What is spectrum in this contect?

• Signals are required to connect devices like as cell phones and landline telephones from one end to the other. These messages are transmitted across airwaves (radio waves), and they must be sent at specific frequencies to avoid interference. Interference can impede reception entirely, cause merely a momentary loss of signal, or degrade the sound or visual quality provided by one’s equipment.
• The Union government owns all publicly available assets within the country’s geographical boundaries, including airwaves.
• The need to offer more room for signals emerges from time to time as the number of mobile, landline telephone, and internet users grows.
• The national government, through the Department of Telecom (Ministry of Communications), auctions these assets from time to time in order to sell them to corporations ready to build the necessary infrastructure to transmit these waves from one end to the other.
• These waves are referred to as spectrum, and they are separated into bands with varied frequencies.
• The quantum of spectrum in each band too is measured in MHz.
  • The hertz (Hz) is the derived unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, the first person to provide conclusive proof of the existence of electromagnetic waves. Hertz are commonly expressed in kilohertz (kHz), megahertz (MHz), gigahertz (GHz) etc
  • Some of the most common uses of the units are in the description of sine waves and musical tones, particularly those used in radio and audio-related applications. It is also used to describe the clock speeds at which computers and other electronics are driven.

How will the spectrum allocation help the Railways

• With this spectrum, the railways will introduce LTE-based Mobile Train Radio Communication (MTRC) on its routes. In telecommunications, Long-Term Evolution is a standard for wireless broadband communication for mobile devices and data terminals
• This will help prevent train accidents and reduce delays by enabling real-time interaction between the Loco Pilot, Station Master and the Control Centre.
• The purpose of the LTE for Indian Railways is to provide secure and reliable voice, video and data communication services for operational, safety and security applications.
• It will be used for modern signalling and train protection systems and ensure seamless communication between loco pilots and guards
• This will also enable the railways to undertake Internet of Things (IoT) based remote asset monitoring, particularly of coaches, wagons and locos, and monitor live video feed of CCTV cameras in the coaches to ensure efficient, safer and faster train operations.
• Helps the indigenously built Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) to bring a shift in Railways’ operations and maintenance regime. It will help in improving the safety and increasing the line capacity to accommodate more trains using the existing infrastructure. The modern rail network will result in reduced transportation cost and higher efficiency

What is spectrum auction?

• A spectrum auction is a process whereby a government uses an auction system to sell the rights to transmit signals over specific bands of the electromagnetic spectrum and to assign scarce spectrum resources.
• In India, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) conducts auctions of licenses for electromagnetic spectrum. DoT is a department of the Ministry of Communications

Reference:

1. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cabinet-approves-allocation-of-5mhz-spectrum-for-railways/article34769380.ece