Telecom operators Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea are opposing the demand of satellite firms as also Bharti Airtel to allocate spectrum for satellite earth station gateway on administrative basis. The two telecom firms have been insisting that any kind of spectrum allocation should be done only through auction and not administratively.
The divide between the two telcos and rest of satellite players came to the fore again during an open house discussion by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on the consultation paper on licensing framework for establishing satellite earth station gateway. Barring the two firms, most of the stakeholders have suggested that spectrum for satellite earth stations should be allocated administratively.
Those supporting administrative allocation include Oneweb, Tata Communications, Indian Space Association (IsPA), Broadband India Forum (BIF) Telesat, Intelsat, Hughes, Bharti Airtel and BSNL among others. The reason cited by satellite players is that spectrum for satellite services is shared and not exclusively granted to one company. Firms like Bharti and Intelsat said that spectrum should be given to firms on a case-to-case basis but it should not be auctioned. BSNL has proposed an online administrative process for allocation of spectrum.
Before firming up its recommendations, Trai has asked all the participants to submit additional comments on the matter in coming five days, so that the comments can be taken into account.
Satellite communications is extremely useful for providing broadband services in remote, hilly, and inaccessible regions. It is also the only medium through which communication can be established in disaster zones when normal communication gets affected. In satellite communications, services are provided through low-earth orbit (Leo) satellites, through which a box is suspended in remote and hilly regions which creates WiFi spots through which broadband services are provided.
In November 2020, Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Enterprises got into this business through a UK-based firm OneWeb. The company plans to construct a global satellite constellation that will provide enhanced broadband and other services to countries around the world.
Reliance Jio, however, feels that any spectrum band capable to be used for mobile/competing services should be assigned strictly through auction and both terrestrial and satellite operators should be allowed to participate in that auction and then these operators should be free to choose whether they want to use it for terrestrial or satellite-based network.
Similarly, Vodafone Idea has said that to ensure optimum utilisation of precious and scarce natural resource, spectrum to be used for satellite-based services should be put to auction route only before allocations. “Any other administrative allocations would cause huge loss to national exchequer,” Vodafone Idea has said.