Elon Musk Welcomes India’s Move To Allocate Satcom Spectrum Administratively

SpaceX and Starlink founder and CEO Elon Musk has “appreciated” the Indian government’s move to allot satellite communication (satcom) spectrum administratively. 

In a post on X, Musk said, “Much appreciated! We will do our best to serve the people of India with Starlink”.

He was commenting on a post about union telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia saying that spectrum for satcom services will not be auctioned but will “come at a cost”. Scindia added that the pricing of the spectrum and the formula of allocation will be decided by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

The move is a shot in the arm for Musk-owned Starlink, which has been in line to acquire a licence to offer satcom services in the country but was fearing hefty spectrum prices. 

With this, the telecom minister effectively snubbed the demands from the two biggest telecom operators, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, to auction spectrum for offering calling and internet services. 

Just a day ago, Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Mittal asked the Centre to ensure that the satcom space is governed by the same rules as that of the telecom sector, adding that satellite firms that are looking to serve urban premium markets should also obtain telecom licences. 

Meanwhile, Reliance Jio recently shot off a letter to TRAI and pitched for the need to allocate satcom spectrum via auction to create a level-playing field for legacy operators, who have to buy expensive airwaves to set up their operations. 

The telecom operator also called on TRAI to revise its recently floated consultation paper on satellite spectrum, saying that the paper overlooked the critical aspect of a level-playing field between satellite and terrestrial networks. 

This comes weeks after the telecom regulator issued a consultation paper, seeking to explore the methodology and pricing for assigning spectrum to satcom companies. 

The Centre is in favour of administrative allocation of such licences, as the move would be in line with what the majority of the nations have done so far. 

Besides, the Telecom Act, 2023, passed in December 2023, also put the allocation of satcom spectrum in “Schedule 1”, meaning that such licences will be allocated administratively.

At the heart of all this is the Indian satcom space, which has seen global giants such as Amazon’s Kuiper, Musk’s Starlink and Apple partner Globalstar lining up to apply for licences. 

On the home turf, some of India’s largest conglomerates including Mukesh Amabni-led Reliance Jio’s Orbit Connect India and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb are vying for a piece of the space. 

Last week, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) provisionally allocated satellite spectrum to Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio’s Orbit Connect India for six months to test-run their satellite service. 

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