Communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday said that Elon Musk’s Starlink will have to comply with all conditions to get the licence to provide satellite broadband services in the country.
“They (Starlink) have to comply with all the conditionalities. We have to look at it from a security perspective, from making sure that all security concerns are addressed,” Scindia told reporters.
“So when they do that, then we’ll be more than happy to give the permission,” Scindia said.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is in the process of finalising its recommendations for the satcom spectrum pricing and other terms. Currently, satellite Internet providers such as Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio-SES have got the licence to provide satellite internet broadband services.
“There is a specific format. You (Starlink) need to check all the boxes. When you’ve checked all the boxes, you’ll get the licence,” Scindia added.
On November 7, FE reported that Starlink has agreed in-principle to meet the conditions but has to officially submit it to the department of telecommunications (DoT), according to sources.
The security guidelines mandate the company to store all data in the country. Further, cooperation and compliance on data interception by intelligence agencies is also a pre-condition before getting the licence.
When asked if the government will support MTNL in paying bank debts, Scindia said, “bank debts will have to be settled between the banks and the organisation (MTNL)”.
At the ministry level, there has been no discussion with the banks on MTNL dues, Scindia said, adding that the government will back the company on the sovereign guarantee debts.
“As far as the business (of MTNL) is concerned that will be transferred to BSNL and most of that has already been transferred…Monetisation of whatever assets that MTNL has, that is following due process,” Scindia said.
Currently, MTNL’s total debt stands at Rs 32,100 crore, including Rs 8,026 crore owed to various banks and financial institutions. In recent times, MTNL defaulted on various loan payments, with its account being marked as non-performing asset (NPA) by multiple banks.
During the July-September, MTNL added Rs 1,094 crore worth slippages to Bank of India as well. On Tuesday, MTNL said it has defaulted on a total payment of Rs 5,726.3 crore, comprising a principal amount of Rs 5,492 crore raised from various banks and an interest of Rs 234.28 crore.
On the bank guarantee waiver of telecom companies especially Vodafone Idea related to spectrum purchase before 2022, Scindia said any step the government will take on relief, will be from sectoral perspective and not company specific.
According to Scindia, the telecom sector has received a tremendous boost from the government over the last 2-2.5 years.
On cyber security, Scindia said that more than 250 million fraudulent mobile connections have been disconnected with the help of Sanchar Saathi.
Further, 229,000 mobile handsets have been blocked for involvement in cybercrime/financial frauds, he added.