David Vs Goliath: Reliance Jio Continues To Eye Auction Route For Satcom Spectrum, Starlink Hits Back

Reliance Jio has not budged from its stand of going the auction route for allocation of satellite communication spectrum, but the rest of the industry seems to have made peace with the government's decision to allocate this spectrum administratively.

In an open house discussion organised by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Friday, Reliance Jio said that allocating satcom spectrum administratively will be discriminatory and requested the government to consider the possibility of amending the Telecommunications Act, 2023, to make the auction route possible.

“Only justification for not auctioning the spectrum is that it is assigned in shared mode. However, if it is assigned exclusively, then auctions can be conducted. This is something that the TRAI must look at," said Reliance Jio’s Ravi Gandhi.

On the other hand, Starlink India remarked that the satellite spectrum is a shared spectrum, and vying for an exclusive auction is not right. “These systems are global, and its services move across countries," said Parnil Urdhwareshe of Starlink India.

Urdhwareshe said that satellite spectrum is allocated administratively all across the world.

Other industry bodies such as the Broadband India Forum, Satcom Industry Association, and Indian Space Association, along with companies such as Amazon’s Kupier and Bharti Airtel-backed OneWeb, resonated with Starlink’s contention that satcom spectrum should only be allocated administratively.

Last month, India’s communications minister, Jyoitraditya Scindia, categorically rejected the idea of holding auctions for spectrum in the satellite communication space and said that it would be allocated administratively.

Satellite spectrum is a shared spectrum, and if it is shared, how can it be priced differently, Scindia had said.

The minister, however, made it clear that even though the allocations would take place administratively, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India would not be giving them away for free and appropriate costs would be incurred by the operators.