No auctions for satcom companies, but will drive ‘level-playing field’ with incumbent telcos: Government

NEW DELHI: Amidst intense lobbying by incumbent telecom operators — led by Reliance Jio and Airtel — against administrative allocation of spectrum to multi-national satcom providers like Elon Musk’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper, govt on Wednesday said it will ensure a “level-playing field” between the two technologies.
“Spectrum assigned administratively are also chargeable and hence contribute to revenue. The Department of Telecom has sought recommendations of Trai on terms and conditions of spectrum assignment including spectrum pricing in respect of licensees intending to provide satellite-based communication services while accounting for level playing field with terrestrial access services,” Minister of State for Telecom Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar said in Lok Sabha.
Sekhar also said that security-related restrictions and checks are in place to ensure that satcom services are not used by non-state actors or hostile nations against India. “DoT grants authorisations under Unified License (UL) for providing satellite-based commercial communication services. Satellite-based communication licenses are granted to any applicant, subject to acceptance and in compliance of the applicable licensing terms and conditions, including security conditions of India.”
Terrestrial network providers have been demanding that govt provide spectrum to satcom players only through auctions, a route which is mandated for them. This when the govt had decided to do away with auctions for satellite players with the new telecom law providing for administrative allocation, but at a pre-announced pricing.
Starlink’s application has been pending with govt for over two years, and the key concerns are around security-related issues. Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said last month that the govt is “more than happy” to see Starlink enter India, but after complying with the mandated procedures and conditions, including addressing “security concerns” raised by the authorities.
“They have to comply with all the conditions. So, you have to look at it from a security perspective, from making sure that all the security concerns are addressed. So, when they do that, then we’ll be more than happy to give it (approval),” the Minister — who has also emphasised that satcom companies don’t need to go through spectrum auctions — had said.
On whether govt has any specific concerns regarding the application filed by the American company, he said, “Let me repeat. There is a specific format. You need to check all the boxes, right? When you’ve checked all the boxes, you’ll get the license. There’s no if, but, why, when, and right.”