A forthcoming inter-ministerial panel meeting will address the fees and allocation frameworks for satellite spectrum. It is anticipated that the digital communications commission will ratify a fee structure of five percent of adjusted gross revenu...
New Delhi: An inter-ministerial panel is likely to decide soon on the usage fee for satellite spectrum as well as other modalities like tenure of airwaves allocation to firms like Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite. People aware of the details told ET that the digital communications commission (DCC) is expected to meet soon and approve spectrum charges at 5% of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) with an incentive to serve certain rural and remote areas. "The satcom firms will get 1 percentage point reduction in spectrum charges for serving these notified areas," said a person privy to the details.
The DCC, the highest decision-making body of the department of telecommunications (DoT), is meeting nearly eight months after Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) submitted its replies in December on certain queries raised by the DoT on satcom spectrum. The regulator had given its original recommendations on the subject in May last year, which was discussed by the DCC in September after which some clarifications were sought from Trai.
DCC may approve usage fee at 5% of adjusted revenue with an incentive for serving remote areasThe DoT has rejected Trai's proposal to charge 4% AGR as usage fee along with a ₹500 additional charge per customer per annum for satcom services in urban areas. The DoT feels it would be difficult to implement the Trai proposal due to the problem of distinction between rural and urban areas.
The DoT has also rejected the Trai proposal of offering subsidies of certain targeted subscribers in rural and remote areas to get fixed satellite terminals. The regulator had proposed to provide a subsidy from the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) fund. However, the DoT said there was no provision in DBN for such a kind of subsidy.
The DoT, however, has accepted the proposal of giving satcom spectrum for a period of five years to firms with an option of two-year extension.
Now only geostationary orbit (GSO)-based fixed satellite networks like Hughes and Nelco are permitted to offer services in India, and they pay spectrum charges in the range of 3-4% of AGR. The government will finalise pricing and other modalities for non-GSO players like Elon Musk-owned Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb, Jio Satellite and Amazon Leo to enter the broadband market from the space market.
