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20METRO RAIL NEWS -AUGUST 2025 www.metrorailnews.in The Roadblock in Implementing Future Railway Mobile Communication Systems (FRMCS) in IndiaSpectrum Allocation and Regulatory Hurdles: The 700 MHz frequency band is recognised as optimal for the deployment of LTE-R and 5G-based railway communication systems due to its wide coverage and strong signal penetration characteristics.Indian Railways has been allotted 5 MHz (paired) Spectrum in the 700 MHz band (703-748 MHz Uplink & 758-803 MHz Downlink, also specified as Band 28 in 3GPP/ETSI standards) for implementing LTE services. However, it is not fully sufficient for supporting high-bandwidth applications such as realtime video surveillance, train control, and future 5G-based mission-critical communication systems. For facilitating network redundancy, parallel operation during migration, and long-term capacity, Indian Railways requires additional spectrum, ideally another 5 MHz within the same band. The allocation of further spectrum has become a subject of contention between the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). While Indian Railways has requested additional spectrum to modernise and secure its telecommunication infrastructure, DoT has conveyed to TRAI that further allocation will only be considered once the existing 5 MHz spectrum is fully deployed and utilised.Pricing Dispute Over Railway Spectrum Allocation: A critical point of contention between the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is the pricing model for assigning additional spectrum to Indian Railways. DoT advocates for using the Auction Determined Price (ADP), which reflects market prices discovered during the 5G spectrum auctions, while TRAI suggests using a formula-based approach that would be comparatively less costly.During the 5G auctions, the ADP for the 700 MHz band was set at %u20b93,927 crore per MHz for commercial use. If this rate is applied, acquiring an additional 5 MHz would impose a substantial financial burden on Indian Railways. Moreover, Indian Railways has not yet paid any charges for the 5 MHz of spectrum already allotted in the 700 MHz band, further complicating the issue. As per the DoT, this model will be implemented on the already allotted spectrum. Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities: 5G%u2019s high speed, low latency, and increased device connectivity can also be exploited for complex cyberattacks thats why a comprehensive cybersecurity model is necessary to protect signalling information, avoid unauthorised access, and secure railway networks based on IoT. As Indian Railways transitions to communication systems like LTE-R and 5G-R, the integration of railway-specific applications such as Automatic Train Protection systems (Kavach), Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC), and digital ticketing systems should be complemented with security measures. As Indian Railways and metro systems move towards 5G-enabled communication infrastructure, they become vulnerable to more sophisticated cyber threats. Some of the common attacks include:%u2022Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks: The higher bandwidth of 5G can be exploited to launch highvolume DDoS attacks, which can overwhelm network infrastructure and disrupt mission-critical services.%u2022Exploitation of Core Network Vulnerabilities: The adoption of technologies like Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) improves flexibility but also increases the attack surface.%u2022Signalling Spoofing: This could be the most dangerous attack among others, as hackers can manipulate signalling protocols to inject false commands into the system. In rail operations, such spoofing can lead to false instructions for train movement, which could potentially cause train collisions.Migration from Legacy Systems: The transition from GSM-R to FRMCS (Future Railway Mobile Communication System), which is based on 5G, will include a prolonged period of dual operation. This coexistence necessitates that railways formalise a detailed migration plan for each stage of the transition.COVER STORY