No auction of satellite spectrum, says Telecom Minister

Government has made it clear that India will allot the spectrum for satellite internet via an administrative process instead of an auction, as laid down in the Telecommunications Act, 2023. Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that the cost of spectrum and the formula of allocation will be decided by telecom regulator TRAI.

During a press briefing at India Mobile Congress 2024, Scindia said, “For satcom, spectrum will be allocated administratively… that does not mean that spectrum does not come without a cost. What that cost is and what the formula of that costing is going to be… will be decided by the TRAI.”

He said, “Satellite spectrum across the world is allocated administratively. So, India is not doing anything different from the rest of the world. Conversely, if you do decide to auction it, then you will be doing something which is different from the rest of the world… Satellite spectrum is shared spectrum. If spectrum is shared, then how can you price it individually,” he added.

His remarks followed requests from India’s leading telecom companies, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, to use auctions for allocating spectrum for satellite services, similar to the current approach in the telecom sector. This development is viewed as a setback for Reliance Jio, which has advocated for spectrum auctions, while benefiting competitors like Elon Musk's Starlink and Amazon's Kuiper.

The back-and-forth in the industry has created a high-stakes rivalry among wealthy competitors, placing Reliance Jio in direct competition with players like Elon Musk's Starlink.

Recently, Reliance Jio reached out to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), contesting the proposal to allocate satellite spectrum administratively and urging for an auction process. In response, Musk remarked, “That would be unprecedented, as this spectrum has historically been classified by the ITU as shared spectrum for satellites.”

On Tuesday, Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Enterprises, which holds a majority stake in the satellite communications firm OneWeb, stated that companies aiming to provide satellite services in urban regions and to retail customers should purchase spectrum and will be subject to the same regulations.