Jio Satcom, OneWeb get internet services licence

Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel escalate rivalry as Bharti-backed OneWeb India, a part of Eutelsat Group, secures IN-SPACe approval for satellite broadband services. The milestone, following OneWeb's merger with Eutelsat, marks the first nod in India. IN-SPACe's approval is crucial for satellite service providers, enhancing competition in India's telecom sector.

India Business News: ​In what may come in as a big relief to space telecommunications service providers such as Elon Musk's Starlink, Bharti's OneWeb, Amazon's Project Kui

Terms 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.

This method of spectrum allocation, bypassing auctions, is expected to accelerate the launch of their services.

Broadband India Forum (BIF) had sought Rohatgis views on whether the law requires that the only way to allocate satellite spectrum is auction. He replied, “No.” BIF also asked whether allocation of satellite spectrum for space-based communication services through a non-auction, administrative route, be permissible in law. Rohatgi said, “Yes.” ET has seen a copy of the 18-page legal opinion.

India's telecom industry is divided over the allocation of satellite spectrum for satellite communication services. Companies like Reliance Jio, Starlink, Amazon, OneWeb, and Tata-Telesat are working on delivering broadband services through satellite constellations.

Airtel and Jio stand sharply divided on various issues related to satcom and have battled each other over complexities that surround satcom. The rivalry between the two biggies, with other satcom players also divided sharply, continues. A few days ago, they locked horns over the usage and price of satcom.

Internet 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.

Four senior industry and ministry officials told Mint that the Seattle-headquartered firm is in the process of applying for a satellite communications service operator’s licence for its Project Kuiper service

Countering 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.