Why Reliance Jio is upset over India's satellite broadband plan
- by Mint
- Oct 16, 2024
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Speaking at the India Mobile Congress on Tuesday morning, Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said satellite companies seeking to serve urban customers should operate under the same regulatory framework as telecom operators, while those not competing with telecom operators can take spectrum administratively.
“Telecom companies around the globe will take the satellite services into the remotest parts of the nations, through the Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF) programme and directly through themselves, and those satellite companies who have ambitions to come into urban area serving elite retail customers need to take the telecom licences like everybody else, be bound with the same conditions," Mittal said. Telcos pool 5% of their annual gross revenues into the USOF, a fund meant to be used for providing connectivity to unconnected or poorly connected areas.
Mittal added that such satellite companies need to buy the spectrum as the telecom companies buy, they need to pay the licence fee as the telecom companies do, and also secure the networks, like telecom companies do. “This is a simple solution, which can be done on a global scale, and India can again show the way in this particular regard," Mittal said.
Airtel has not backed Jio’s plea to revise the consultation paper or its demand of outright auction of spectrum used for satellite broadband.
Some industry executives said that this was a change in stance for the telco that has always preferred allocation of airwaves administratively or without auctions for any entity that wants to offer satellite broadband services in India.
However, in a statement on Tuesday afternoon Airtel said that “there was no question of moving its stance", noting that it had shared its position with the government six months ago as well.
“Satellite operators who want to provide services to urban areas and retail customers indeed need to go through the regular licensing process of any country, and in this case, India, to obtain a license; buy the spectrum; undertake all the obligations, including rollout and security; pay their license fees and taxes and they would be welcomed by the telecom fraternity," the carrier said.
Therefore, mobile operators and satcom operators, who have worked in harmony for decades, can continue to do so to serve those who are still struggling to find internet connectivity, it added.
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