Ready to Support 700 MHz Band: MediaTek

NEW DELHI: Mobile chipset maker MediaTek debunked the argument of India's telcos about the unavailability of a device ecosystem on the 700 MHz band, saying it's ready to tune LTE smartphones based on the 700 MHz band radio waves for India which would accelerate fourth-generation (4G) adoption in the country.

“We are ready to support the 700 MHz spectrum band. The devices can already support all those (700 MHz) frequencies because they are deployed in other countries. Though they may not be exactly the same but it is really not an issue for the device ecosystem,“ MediaTek general manager for corporate sales Finbarr Moynihan told ET.

Moynihan said that it was really more an issue of licensing and then deploying the necessary infrastructure for the band.“There's quite a long way to go in terms of data speeds, capacities and network efficiency that could be reached with the 700 MHz band,“ the MediaTek executive said.

The comments came at a time when a section of industry experts called for the sale of airwaves in the 700 MHz to be delayed, citing the device ecosystem `under preparedness' for the cost-efficient band.

Airwaves in the 700 MHz band are used to offer high-speed 4G services, facilitating larger coverage with lesser number of base stations.