Sony's PS5 Pro to give India a miss

Sony on Thursday said its Playstation 5 Pro gaming console will not be available in India because of compatibility issues with the available spectrum bands.

"PS5 Pro will not be available in some countries (which presently includes India) where 6GHz wireless band used in IEEE 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7) has not yet been allowed," the Japanese company said in an official statement.

Playstation 5 Pro uses Wi-Fi 7, a wireless standard that uses the 6GHz band for connecting to the internet. In India, the 6GHz band is being used by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) for satellite purposes. It has not been opened for commercial services because of a tussle between telecom service providers and tech companies over who should get it.

While telecom operators are pushing for it to be reserved for mobile internet services, big tech companies like Amazon, Google and Meta, along with router makers, are pushing for its delicensing for use in Wi-Fi services. In India, Wi-Fi services are offered in the 2.5GHz and the 5GHz bands.