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Tag: Jyotiraditya Scindia

  • Starlink & Amazon Strike First Satellite Broadband Deals in India Ahead of Spectrum Showdown

    According to a media report, US satellite companies Starlink and Amazon Kuiper have inked their first commercial agreements with VSAT providers in India.

    This step marks a significant step towards the establishment of government and business satellite broadband services before satellite spectrum is formally allotted.

    Through these collaborations, the low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite broadband companies hope to make money from their products in the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) markets. At the same time, they are getting ready to cater to the retail consumer market, whose price structures are still being decided.

    According to the media source, Amazon and Starlink have been attempting to establish collaborations in India. With an emphasis on the B2B and B2G markets, they have already found a few VSAT partners in India and are actively seeking more. They aim to make the best use of their India potential. Hughes Communications, Nelco, and Inmarsat are a few of the major VSAT providers in India.

    Eutelsat OneWeb will use a sell-through strategy through Indian partners, and both Starlink and Amazon Kuiper want to compete directly with it in both the enterprise and retail sectors.

    Hybrid Model go to Market for India

    According to a media report, Kuiper and Starlink are pursuing a hybrid go-to-market strategy in India. In addition to providing services directly, they are forming alliances to market through other partners.

    For example, Starlink has previously established a sell-through model collaboration with Reliance Jio and Airtel. According to the report, Starlink would soon start providing connections to customers directly through its website.

    In the same way, Kuiper will not depend on a single master distributor or handle everything on their own. This strategy was chosen because India is a adverse and new market.

    Bank branches, ATMs, remote petrol stations, warehouses, retail chains, cellular backhaul, maritime and in-flight connectivity, and defence infrastructure are among the common applications for VSAT service providers, all of which stand to gain from higher-bandwidth LEO-based upgrades.

    In terms of regulatory advancement, these changes put Starlink on par with Jio Satellite and Eutelsat OneWeb. Last month, it was granted a Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS) licence, making it the third business in India permitted to provide commercial satcom services.

    Although Starlink currently has a GMPCS permit, it has not yet received its IN-SPACe approval. According to a media report, Starlink has received a draft agreement from the Indian space regulator that is anticipated to be signed shortly.

    Additionally, Starlink will receive trial spectrum from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in exchange for completing security compliance demonstrations.

    Jyotiraditya Scindia, the minister of communications, met with senior executives from SpaceX, the parent firm of Starlink, a few days ago to explore joint venture possibilities for using satellite technology to fuel India’s digital infrastructure.

    Amazon Kuiper is now pending IN-SPACe and GMPCS certifications. The business has finished all necessary operational and security audits, and the next meeting of the interministerial standing committee is probably when its application will be examined.

  • Satcom Spectrum will be Distributed in an Administrative Manner: Scindia

    On October 15, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of Communications of India, made clear the government’s position on the satellite spectrum issue. According to him, spectrum would be distributed administratively rather than through auction, and service providers would be responsible for a fee.

    In response to a query at a media briefing at India Mobile Congress, Scindia stated that satellite spectrum will be distributed administratively as per the very clear allocation stated in Schedule 1 of the Telecom Act 2023, which was passed in December of last year.

    However, Scindia made it clear that radiowaves, even if allocated for satellite-based communications services without an auction, will still incur costs. However, this does not imply that spectrum is free. Trai will determine that cost and its methodology, he reiterated.

    “The constitution gives our regulating body for telecommunications the authority to decide what the administrative pricing will be. Scindia continued, “I have no doubts that they will determine the appropriate plan of action as long as they handle the pricing administratively.”

    This essentially means that the request to auction off satellite airwaves by Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and other service providers remains unfulfilled. Scindia made these remarks just hours after Reliance Jio and Sunil Bharti Mittal, the founder and chairman of Bharti Airtel, joined forces to demand the distribution of satellite service spectrum in a manner similar to that of telecom companies.

    Airtel and Jio Worries

    To ensure level competition, both telecom companies have pursued a transparent and equitable auction procedure for satellite services. Jio has demanded that the way that Indian satellite communication firms are allotted spectrum be changed. Jio expressed concerns about fair competition with established cellular providers and asked for a reexamination of the current proposal in a letter dated October 10 to Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.

    In direct competition with land-based mobile networks, Elon Musk‘s Starlink, Amazon’s Kupier, OneWeb Eutelsat, funded by Bharti Group, and the SES-Jio joint venture have all indicated interest in offering their services in India.

    Jio underlined that, like traditional telecom operators, satellite businesses like Starlink and Amazon’s Kuiper should purchase spectrum through an open auction procedure and pay license rates that are comparable to those of current telecom providers. At the India Mobile Congress, Sunil Mittal, the chairman of Bharti Airtel, reiterated this idea by saying that satellite companies providing services in cities have to take part in spectrum auctions. In addition, Airtel restated its position and released a letter it sent in March to the telecom department.

    Musk Describes the Sale as “Unprecedented”

    Musk responded on October 14 to Reliance Jio’s alleged action urging the government to hold a transparent auction of satellite airwaves. According to Musk, that would be exceptional because the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) has long defined this wavelength as a shared spectrum for satellites. Similar remarks were made by Scindia, who stated that satellite spectrum is administratively distributed worldwide.

    “India is acting in the same manner as the rest of the globe. On the other hand, if you choose to auction, you are acting in a way that sets you apart from the rest of the world,” he opined.

    BSNL to Launch 5G Services by June 2025: Scindia
    BSNL will roll out 4G by May 2024 and transition to 5G by June 2025, according to Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. India aims to lead in 6G technology globally.
    StartupTalkyNitin Konde