The Spectrum — The country sells air, and means it
Front
The Spectrum
The country sells air, and means it
The range of radio frequencies every phone and broadcast has to share.
Back
Your phone talks to a tower using radio waves. Only so many frequencies exist, and two devices using the same one in the same place jam each other. So the government slices the range into bands and auctions the right to use them. Indian spectrum auctions have raised lakhs of crores for something nobody can see or touch.
- Higher frequencies carry more data but travel shorter distances and stop at walls. That trade-off is why 5G needs far more towers than 4G did.
- Wi-Fi runs on unlicensed bands anyone may use. That is why your router needs no permission, and also why it crawls in a crowded building.
DoT National Frequency Allocation Plan
Keep exploring
Because you read The Spectrum.
The Address
Six digits that sort a billion letters
The system that turns a description of a place into a delivery.
The Railway
A timetable is a safety system
The rail network, and the schedule that keeps trains off each other.
The Last Mile
The shortest leg costs the most
The final stretch to your door, and why it dominates the bill.