Indian telcos and their satellite partners will have to wait some time to access new satellite spectrum over the nation. A new Telecommunications Bill is now under debate and this is not likely to be finally decided and approved until a planned budget session in February 2024.

The various authorities will then need time to create their matching administrative rules and regulations depending on Parliament’s decisions.

The Telecommunications Regulator of India (TRAI) will be the lead regulator, although it has not been finally decided whether a simple allocation of spectrum will be made or an auction of bandwidth.

While Reliance Jio has already called for auctioning of the spectrum rather than allocating it administratively, rival OneWeb had “strongly recommended” the government take the administrative allocation route and charge a fee for bandwidth “in order to promote investment and make sure competitive prices are available to the market at the end”.

Starlink is quoted locally as saying that it favours a nominal fee-based charge for spectrum.

The new Bill intends to replace the Indian Telegraph Act (1885), the Wireless Telegraphy Act (1933), and the Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Possession) Act (1950), which the government sees as colonial-era archaic laws that are in need of structural reforms, given the context of the telecom sector that has changed significantly in the recent few years.

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Categories: Blogs, Inside Satellite, Policy, Spectrum

Tags: india, OneWeb, spectrum, starlink, TRAI