DoT to soon roll out rules to allocate satellite spectrum

New Delhi: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is close to finalising satellite spectrum allocation rules with a draft likely to be shared soon for stakeholder comments, officials said. Spectrum is likely to be shared on a first-come-first-served basis.

The rules are being framed as part of the Telecommunications Act, under which satellite spectrum will be allocated administratively.

“The licensing and satellite divisions of the DoT are close to finalising the allocation rules. The draft will be soon put out and final rules are expected to be notified in a couple of months,” one of the officials privy to the details told ET, asking not to be named.


While earlier also, satellite spectrum used to be given administratively to VSAT, or Very Small Aperture Terminal, operators, etc as part of the license, the modalities have to be defined afresh, as now onwards, there would be an authorisation regime wherein rules will be notified separately.

“Since satellite spectrum is a shared resource, first-come, first-serve policy won’t be a problem as the same spectrum can be utilised by late entrants. But the key issue will be around interference and how best it can be minimised,” said a second official.

The finalisation of rules follows recommendations from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on pricing of satellite spectrum. The telecom department's highest decision-making body - Digital Communications Commission (DCC) - will now consider the regulator's suggestions and take it to the Cabinet for approval.

The regulator has recommended that satcom companies pay 4% of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) as the price for satellite spectrum, which will be assigned for five years. While satcom spectrum allocation rules being framed won’t need Cabinet approval, the pricing of such airwaves will need to be vetted.

DoT is targeting prompt completion of the entire process to ensure early commencement of services. It has already notified updated security conditions for satcom firms.

Companies like Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio-SES combine - the only ones to have all the necessary clearances - have been waiting for the past few years for spectrum, for starting commercial services. Both have complied with all security conditions.

Elon Musk-owned Starlink, which got a letter of intent (LoI) this month for a satcom permit, has to demonstrate security compliances to the government. The company will soon be given a test spectrum to do that.

TRAI, while giving its recommendations on satcom spectrum pricing, has categorically rejected telcos’ demand for a level-playing field. It said the demand was factually not correct as the two technologies are totally different, and satellites can only be complementary and not competing with terrestrial networks.

The recommendations followed eight months of consultations—a period marked by a battle between India’s telcos and satcom firms over the methodology and pricing of satellite spectrum. This was followed by a surprise rapprochement in the last few months, culminating in telcos Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel inking marketing pacts with Starlink.

India used to allocate terrestrial spectrum for access services on a first-come, first-served basis before 2010, for an upfront payment. But the process was scrapped after a Supreme Court ruling in 2012 which held that natural resources like airwaves must be auctioned.

Telcos had cited this ruling to push for an auction also of satcom spectrum, while satellite operators backed administrative allocation, or without auctions.

The Centre had consistently held the view that satcom spectrum shouldn’t be auctioned, as it's a shared resource.

At stake is India’s growing space economy, which is reckoned to have a potential to touch $44 billion by 2033, boosting its global share to 8% from 2% currently, as per space regulator IN-SPACe.