Antrix hasn’t given away spectrum: Ex-Isro chief

BANGALORE: Former Isro Chief Madhavan Nair clears the air on certain issues about the deals signed between Antrix, the commercial arm of Isro, and Devas. He told STOI: “No S-band spectrum has been given away to anyone. The satellites and transponders themselves are not ready. So, where is the question of giving away spectrum? Isro or Antrix do not have the technical right to (lease) spectrum to any agency. Spectrum is the property of the government of India. When it comes to leasing, it has to be first allocated and that can be done only by the department of telecom. Isro and Antrix are not custodians of spectrum and cannot technically and by law give away spectrum.”

He goes on: “Isro and Antrix have nothing to do with allocation of spectrum. The agency which wants the spectrum will have to get a licence and OK from DoT. If DoT decides not to hand over spectrum to Antrix, it cannot offer spectrum to anybody. Even if Antrix has an agreement with any agency that it would lease spectrum to it, the permit and licence and permission to operationalize that agreement or to lease it out has to come from DoT. The pact may be there, but if DoT says no, there is nothing that Antrix /Isro can do. So, there was no question of handing over spectrum by Isro/Antrix to anyone. We could not technically do so, we have not done so. The government hasn’t lost anything.”