India's union telecom minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia has cleared his opinion on whether the satellite spectrum should be allocated administratively or through an auction. In a post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Scindia said, "Given that satellite spectrum is highly under-utilised, failing to assign it would result in two key disadvantages: potential loss of government revenue, and missed opportunities to advance technologically, which could help bridge the digital divide."
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The more delays there are for assigning the satellite spectrum, the more time it will take the government to be able to make revenues through it. The communications industry in India has divided views on this. Telcos want a spectrum auction for satellite companies too, while the satellite companies want administrative allocation.
Scindia had previously said that no country in the world assigns satellite spectrum through an auction. It is because the satellite spectrum is shared amongst companies, and not exclusively owned like the telcos do. So auctioning the spectrum makes no sense if there's no exclusive right over it. The satellite spectrum in the Ku band (around 14 GHz) and the Ka-band (27.1 GHz to 31 GHz) is shareable and it is not feasible to put in the auction.
The Telecommunications Act 2023 also says that satellite companies in India can acquire spectrum through an administrative allocation process. But it won't be offered for free to the satellite companies. It will be charged in the manner TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) recommends to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
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At present, it is only Orbit Connect India (a 51:49 joint venture between Jio Platforms Limited and SES), and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb have the GMPCS (Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite) license and other necessary permits to offer services. These companies are waiting for the spectrum to be assigned so that they can also go ahead and start offering commercial services in the country. These companies have already got access to trial spectrum and have been testing services for a long time.
