TRAI plans licensing for Starlink/OneWeb
October 12, 2021
By Chris Forrester
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) says it will shortly publish a “comprehensive” consultation paper on the licensing framework for satellite operators such as Elon Musk’s Starlink and Bharti’s OneWeb.
The document will cover the setting up of Satellite Earth Station gateways, which are needed to route transmissions to and from the orbiting satellites.
TRAI’s chairman PD Vaghela, making the announcement at the launch of the Indian Space Association (ISpA), said: “Trai will shortly release a consultation paper on the licensing framework for setting up satellite earth station gateways, and believes multi-stakeholders should be allowed to set up such earth stations, and not merely service licensees, to attract even bigger investments into the space sector and boost satellite capacities”.
Vaghela added TRAI’s intention was in favour of an Open Sky Policy in the space sector.