Satcom Battle: How Dream To Dominate The Sky Has Pitted Ambani Against Musk, Others
- by inc42
- Jun 28, 2023
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SUMMARY
Jio has single-handedly opened a front against OneWeb, SpaceX Starlink and Amazon Kuiper, seeking auction-based approach to satcom spectrum allocation
SpaceX’s Starlink fears a redux of 2021 when it was forced to abandon its India dream after government termed its local operations illegal
While the previous dogfight over cheap internet ended up being a race to the bottom, the satcom space now seems all set for a mega tug-of-war between some of the richest men in the world
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However, the bone of contention seems to be how the Centre intends to distribute satellite broadband spectrum to applicants. Players such as OneWeb, Starlink and Amazon are lobbying the government to follow the global trend and opt for administrative assignment, meaning the Centre should simply assign licence to players.
Taking on the coterie appears to be Reliance Jio, which has put its weight behind auctioning spectrum. Besides, another telecom operator Vodafone-Idea has also pitched for an auction-based approach.
The fracas came to the fore earlier this month after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released all comments received in response to a consultation paper floated on spectrum assignment for space-based communication. Of the 64 submissions made to TRAI, nearly 73%, or 47, backed a non-auction route for the spectrum allocation.
Jio: The Odd One Out
In its submission before the telecom body, Jio pitched ‘free and fair auctions’ as the ‘most’ transparent method for maximising public good and serving the greatest number of people via spectrum auction.
The telecom operator also claimed that the auction process would allow service providers to determine their preferred technology (terrestrial or satellite) as against spectrum assignment by the Centre.
Amid all this, reports also surfaced that Jio would continue ‘nudging’ the union government to go for an auction and not give in to the demands of foreign players.
The telco also fears that satcom players could simply deploy the spectrum for internet calls and messaging, dealing a major blow to its operations in many far-flung areas. Adding to the problem seems to be concerns around heavy capex and 5G spectrum acquisition costs, which could go down the drain if satcom spectrum is allocated without auction.
The Reliance Industries-owned telco also cited a 2012 Supreme Court judgement to pitch its case for the auction of natural resources such as satcom spectrum.
Curiously, Bharti Group has been batting against auction, as it has always touted its services as focussed on B2B enterprises and not the general populace. On the other hand, Starlink has always brandished its offerings as targeting users in far-flung areas where high-speed internet services are still not prevalent.
In addition, Starlink is also reportedly lobbying the government to simply assign licence to interested players, claiming that satcom spectrum is a natural resource that ought to be shared by companies. In its submission to TRAI, the Elon Musk-backed company said that the an auction would impose geographical restrictions and raise costs.
Amazon, too, is batting for auction-free spectrum allocation and has termed any attempts at resorting to bidding as ‘artificially’ limiting competition to only a few players.
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