DoT examining Amazon Kuiper satcom permit request, rejects Tata Group firm Nelco's application: MoS

The Department of Telecom is examining applications of Amazon Kuiper for satcom services while it has rejected requests received for the same from Tata Group firm Nelco and Hiranandani Group company Yotta Network, Parliament was informed on Thursday.

Minister of State for Communications Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha said in the last five years, Nelco Ltd, Yotta Network Services, OneWeb India Communications, JIO Satellite Communications, Starlink Satellite Communications, Amazon Kuiper Services India and Connect4sure Technologies have applied for satellite communication services.

"The applications of Nelco Ltd and Yotta Network Services Pvt Ltd have been rejected, whereas Connect4sure Technologies Pvt Ltd has withdrawn its application. The application of Amazon Kuiper Services India Pvt Ltd is under examination," Pemmasani said.


He said DoT has issued unified licence (UL) with authorisation for GMPCS (Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite) service to OneWeb India Communications Pvt Ltd, JIO Satellite Communications Ltd, and Starlink Satellite Communications Pvt Ltd.

The minister said satellite-based communication services can provide connectivity in rural, underserved and unserved areas, including remote, coastal, border and mountainous regions of the country, which otherwise are difficult to be covered through terrestrial media such as optical fiber, microwave, etc.