'Unjustifiably low' satcom spectrum price, says COAI

Time of India

02-06-2025

India's top telcos have slammed the satcom recommendations from the telecom regulator, terming the spectrum price as 'unjustifiably low' and said that the proposals are based on "incorrect assumptions" and are "non-transparent".In their first reaction to the recommendations given by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) last month, all three bitter rival operators have closed ranks and said that if implemented in the current form, the regulator's satcom suggestions would create a non-level playing field and impact the sustainability of terrestrial services.
In a strongly worded joint letter through the
Cellular Operators Association of India
(
COAI
) to various government authorities, seen by ET, the carriers highlighted data and said the planned capacity of Elon Musk-owned Starlink and Jeff Bezos led-Amazon Kuiper are set to surpass the current capacity of Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea.
"These recommendations are non-transparent based on non-justifiable assumption rather than factual data," the telcos said in the letter, marked to Trai, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Finance Ministry, Commerce ministry, Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) and Niti Aayog etc.
The operators have said the proposed
spectrum charges
are even lower than the administrative fees currently levied on GSO-based VSAT services-which do not compete with terrestrial networks.
"It appears that Trai has underestimated the potential capacities of satellite network while possibly overstating those of terrestrial networks that have resulted in a flawed foundation for the entire exercise," the letter said, adding this fundamental flaw in the capacity assumptions exercise undermines the DoT's clear mandate to ensure competitive parity between satellite and terrestrial services. Trai had recommended the administrative allocation of satcom spectrum for a fee pegged at 4% of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) to be assigned for five years. There won't be any upfront fee for getting spectrum.
Trai chairman AK Lahoti had categorically rejected the level-playing field argument by telcos, stating that the two technologies were different and that satellites could only be complementary.
"It's not factually correct that satcom services are competing with terrestrial services because there is a huge difference between the capacity of the terrestrial network and the satellite network," he had said while releasing the recommendations.
The telcos, however, feel the entire exercise was flawed as it was based on incorrect assumptions.
"Despite a clear mandate from DoT, Trai's consultation process and final recommendations do not appear to address the core issue of competitive parity which shows a misalignment between the intent of DoT references and Trai's approach during the consultation process," the telcos said.
The additional proposal by Trai to subsidise user terminals or satellite operators through the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) fund further tilts the level playing field against the terrestrial operator, especially given that a majority of the DBN levy is contributed by telcos.