Consultation process to consider all inputs, take calibrated view: TRAI Chief on satcom spectrum

As battle lines are being drawn over the modalities of allocating satcom spectrum, TRAI Chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti on Wednesday said the consultation process is currently on and that the telecom regulator will consider all inputs before taking a considered view.

The regulator's comments came as Starlink CEO Elon Musk and Indian tycoons are locked in a standoff over satellite spectrum.

Jio recently sought a revision of a consultation paper on recommending norms for "terms and conditions for the assignment of spectrum for certain satellite-based commercial Communications services".

"We have received a reference from the Telecom Department and we have initiated a consultation process in response to the reference that has been received from DoT and it covers issues that have been referred to TRAI by the DoT... the consultation process is on, we will consider all inputs and views that are received during consultation process and we will come out with our considered recommendations," TRAI Chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti told reporters on the sidelines of IMC.

Asked about the demand by Reliance Jio that the TRAI consultation paper be revised to ensure a level playing field between terrestrial and satellite players, the TRAI chairman said, "Different stakeholders raise different demands on the consultation process, and we consider all these viewpoints and inputs and take a considered view.

The world's richest man Elon Musk has taken on Indian billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Bharti Mittal over the allocation of spectrum used in wireless communication using satellites, calling their demand for the auction of such airwaves "unprecedented".

While Ambani's Reliance Jio has been vocal about the need to allocate such spectrum through an auction to give a level-playing field to legacy operators who buy airwaves and set up infrastructure like telecom towers, Mittal on Tuesday articulated the need for satellite companies harboring any urban ambitions to buy spectrum as telecom companies do.

Musk-led Starlink is demanding administrative allotment of licences in line with the global trend, as it looks to tap into the world's fastest-growing mobile telephony and internet market. This has found some backing in Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who said on Tuesday that such airwaves will be given out through administrative allocation and not auctioned.

Scindia said the Telecom Act of 2023 passed in December has put the matter in 'Schedule 1', which means that for satcom spectrum will be allocated administratively.

"... Spectrum does not come without a cost. What that cost is and what the formula of that cost is going to be, will not be decided by you or me... it will be decided by Trai... and there is a paper that has already been circulated by Trai, and we have a regulatory authority for telecom, and that regulatory authority has been empowered by the constitution to decide what that administrative pricing is going to be," he had said.

The minister had said that he is very confident that Trai will come up with the best pricing that should be adopted, provided that it is being given administratively.

"Satellite spectrum across the world is allocated administratively. So, India is not doing anything different from the rest of the world. Conversely, if you do decide to auction it then you would be doing something, which is different from the rest of the world," the minister said.

Pointing out that satellite spectrum is shared airwaves, Scindia said, "If the spectrum is shared then how can you price it individually".

Musk first termed the demand made by Jio last week for shunning sector regulator Trai's consultation paper on satellite broadband being allocated and not auctioned as "unprecedented", and then asked if it was "too much trouble" to allow Starlink to provide internet services in India.