Satellite communication not a threat to telcos, says Bharti Airtel managing director Gopal Vittal

Satellite communication, commonly called satcom, is not a threat to telecom operators as the services will be complimentary and the pricing will always be at a premium to mobile, Bharti Airtel managing director Gopal Vittal said. He added that the new telecom bill has brought much needed clarity on the issue, and addressed 4-5 other key areas for the industry like easing compliances, providing a roadmap for spectrum allocation and streamlining right of way (RoW) issues etc.

"We don't see it as a threat, we see it as an opportunity, because from our perspective, we are going to be distributing satellite services to a remote location, like somebody needs it on a ship or on an airline. It's a totally different use case," Vittal told ET.

He was reacting to the Telecommunications Bill 2023 provision to give spectrum administratively, or without auctions, for satellite services, a stance which was backed by Airtel but was opposed by its rivals Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea.


He said satellite services will be totally complementary and not compete with terrestrial networks.

"I don't know 15 years from now what will happen to technologies...The most efficient technology will always be fibre, it's more efficient than a wireless technology. Then wireless technologies are getting more and more efficient. And then the satellite technologies, which will get more and more efficient, but nowhere compete with these (fibre and wireless technologies)," he added.
Talking about the new bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Vittal said: "The headline is simplification and ease of doing business".

One key area addressed by the bill is licensing. Currently, there are different kinds of licences, like a mobility licence, ISP (internet service provider) licence, ILD (international long distance) licence and NLD (national long distance) licence. Each licence runs into 200- 300 pages, and there's a whole cumbersome process around it. "It has been changed to authorisation, which is literally a two-page document," Vittal said.

The other key area addressed is spectrum.

"A business needs clarity and certainty of policymaking and the bill provides for frequency planning. If we know as a company that six years from now, this particular frequency will be available for access, we can plan our spectrum strategy well in advance," he said.

The bill has spelt out modalities for spectrum harmonisation. As per Vittal, spectrum is most efficient when it's together or harmonised. “Historically, the process of harmonisation was done on a best effort basis. DoT would call for meetings and it would take months but now it's part of the new bill.”

The bill has also allowed surrender, trading and leasing of spectrum.

Other thing which will have a big impact on quality of service is right of way (RoW). “Because telecom is now an essential service and it's part of the new proposed bill, now you have a legal right to actually get RoW despite the myriad sort of rules and objections from municipal corporations and various state governments,” he said.

Secondly, nobody can now cut fibre.

On the issue of penalties, the bill has proposed a graded system. It has also specified that both backhaul as well as micro-wave spectrum is to be allocated through administrative route.