Key Points
India's telecom wars reached from sky to space last year when India's two dominant telecom players, Bharati Airtel and Reliance Jio, found themselves on a new battlefront the satellite communication or satcom, a futuristic technology that promises to revolutionise India's telecom sector...
Companies such as Reliance Jios JV with Luxembourg-based SES; Starlink; Amazon; Bharti-backed OneWeb; and the Tata-Telesat combine are working on creating a constellation of satellites to deliver broadband-from-space services in India...
India's current telecom market has just two big players, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, but satcom will attract more big players..
A new sticking point has emerged between India's two telecom rivals after the auction-versus-allocation debate got settled. Reliance Jio has written to the telecom department saying it should not allow satellite spectrum allocated administratively to be used for commercial services like fixed wireless access (FWA), as its a 5G use case and should be offered only through auctioned spectrum...
Jio has also said that in case the Department of Telecommunications decides to allow FWA for satcom players, the extra amount paid by companies for buying spectrum in an auction should be refunded, officials aware of the matter told ET, citing Reliance Jios letter to the DoT...
You might be interested in
From Musk to Mittal, Ambani to Amazon: Why such a big race for satcom?
19, Dec, 23Internet communication in India has a new battleground called satcom, different from regular networks. Indian and foreign firms compete for satellite spectrum to access the internet. Disagreements on spectrum allocation methods divide the industry: some prefer government allocation, others auctions. The competition is intense due to more players, including foreign giants like Elon Musk's Starlink and Amazon, unlike the limited private telecom market with Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea.
Bharti Airtel rejects Jio view on commercial usage of allocated satcom spectrum
03, Apr, 24Vodafone Idea (Vi) plans to raise funds via a preferential share issue on April 6, following shareholders' approval of a proposal to raise ₹20,000 crore through equity and equity-linked instruments. The company expects to complete the equity fund raise by the end of June, with promoters expected to infuse around ₹2,000 crore.
Govt may let satcom companies provide wireless service
29, Sep, 23The move to grant mobility services authorisation to Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite Services (GMPCS) licence holders will potentially pave the way for companies such as Elon Musk-owned Starlink - which has applied for the licence - to compete with mobile service providers, experts said. An inter-ministerial panel involving the ministries of defence and home affairs, departments of telecommunications and space, and the cabinet secretariat will decide on the matter after security clearance, officials aware of the details told ET.
Satellite spectrum: Tech firms united, telcos divided on allocation
02, Jun, 23Countering such views, Jio and Vodafone have said that there should be same rules for assignment of spectrum for satellite and terrestrial networks as they compete with each other.
DoT working on norms for satcom spectrum allocation
13, Feb, 24Terms and conditions in the licence will make it clear that spectrum taken administratively can't be used to serve retail mobile consumers, an official said. The DoT is expected to shortly write to Trai to provide the details on what terms and conditions should be incorporated in the licence.
New telecom bill set to approve administrative allocation for satellite broadband services
18, Dec, 23This method of spectrum allocation, bypassing auctions, is expected to accelerate the launch of their services.
Jio Satcom, OneWeb get internet services licence
11, Nov, 23Jio Satellite Communications and OneWeb will need access to spectrum to provide services directly on the consumer terminal on which the decision is still pending. Satellite companies have been demanding allocation of spectrum without auction, while Jio and Vodafone Idea have been pushing for spectrum allocation only through auction.