The central government has proposed a licensing approach to assigning spectrum for satellite internet services and exempt companies from having to bid for it, Reuters has reported.
The proposal was included in a new draft bill for the telecommunications sector, which seeks to replace the 138-year old Indian Telegraph Act that currently governs the sector. The bill was tabled for approval in parliament on Monday.
While Elon Musk’s Starlink and its global peers like Amazon’s Project Kuiper, and the British government-backed OneWeb would rejoice in the move, it is a setback to Reliance Jio.
As per the report, the foreign firms have been demanding a licensing approach, concerned that an auction by Indian government unlike elsewhere will raise the likelihood of other nations following suit, increasing costs and investments.
Reliance Jio had told the government that an auction is the right approach, similar to 5G spectrum distribution. Foreign satellite service providers could offer voice and data services and compete with traditional telecom players, and so there must be an auction to achieve a level playing field, Reliance had said.
“By bypassing traditional auctions, this pragmatic method is poised to expedite the deployment of satellite services more efficiently,” the report has quoted Anil Prakash, Director General at SIA-India, as saying.
