Published 17:46 IST, November 8th 2024
Starlink debunks arguments on predatory pricing of next-gen systems at TRAI open house
Starlink asserted that it maintains absolute transparency on pricing as the satellite internet service provider dismissed arguments aired by certain players.
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Arguments debunking by Starlink: Starlink on Friday asserted that it maintains absolute transparency on pricing as Elon Musk-backed satellite internet service provider vehemently dismissed arguments aired by certain players about "predatory pricing of next-generation systems" in a high-volt open house discussion conducted by TRAI.
With battlelines between terrestrial players and satellite aspirants clearly drawn, TRAI's marathon open house discussion that stretched for several hours saw telcos Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel banding toger and speaking in unison about need for level-playing-field as India works out rms for satcom spectrum.
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Jio, which has me a case for auction of satellite spectrum, on Friday said it is "t afraid of competition" but that 'same services same rules' must apply.
"We are working in a hyper-competitive market. We are t afraid of competition. It is or way around. Actually, entities who are wanting to be in this via satellite, in telecommunication via satellite, are afraid of competition, and that's why y want all this kind of protection," Ravi Gandhi of Reliance Jio said.
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During open house discussion, Parnil Urdhwareshe, Director, Starlink Satellite Communications asserted that Indian users want satellite broband services and that se "intelligent consumers" have right to choose an operator who will provide m with an affordable, high-quality service.
Starlink prices for any country are reily available on its website, and that it is proud of making satellite broband affordable for users who have so far been unserved, he pointed out.
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"...I wanted to very quickly touch on unfortunate and entirely false allegation of possible predatory pricing by next-generation systems. Debunking this is thankfully very easy. We encour TRAI and all interested participants to simply look at Starlink's operations in any of 113 markets we are live in today...we maintain absolute transparency on Starlink pricing and performance around world," he said.
Urdhwareshe ded: "Starlink prices for any country are reily available on our website for anyone to cross check overwhelming public evidence against se allegations. That said, we are proud of making satellite broband affordable for users who have so far been unserved, and where certain or satellite operators are committed to doing same."
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He argued that users choose satellite broband when y lack or options for reasons of cover, reliability or affordability and all such users have an equal right to crossing over digital divide.
"In our experience, over 113 markets as of today, users always choose satellite broband when y lack or options for reasons of cover or reliability or affordability. And we think all of se users have an equal right to crossing digital divide. So a false distinction between ir lack of connectivity versus tritional use cases is fundamentally against any goals of universal access, which is really point of services such as Starlink," Urdhwareshe said.
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All satellite operators should be able to serve any user who requires ir services across India rar than distinctions being created based on ir preferred markets, he argued.
X, Urdhwareshe said, has a demonstrated history of serving both underserved areas and underserved users.
"Users choose Starlink because ir current options are unavailable, unreliable or too expensive. w some commentators are explicitly arguing that those users should continue to be stuck with services that eir don't exist or are too unreliable or are too expensive... justification for satellite broband services is that Indian users want m, and y are intelligent consumers who have right to choose an operator that will actually provide m with an affordable, high-quality service," he said.
It is pertinent to mention here that Musk's Starlink and global peers like Amazon 's Project Kuiper back an ministrative allocation of satcom spectrum.
While Ambani's Reliance Jio has been vocal about 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, Sunil Mittal last month at an industry event where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also present articulated need to use bidding for such allocation.
Jio and Mittal's Bharti Airtel - India's largest and second-largest operators respectively - feel that giving away satellite broband airwaves at a pre-decided price by government will create an uneven playing field since y h to compete in an auction to get spectrum for ir terrestrial wireless phone networks.
Communications Minister Jyotiritya Scindia has me it clear that spectrum for satellite broband will be allocated and t auctioned. satellite broband spectrum will however be t given free and sector regulator TRAI will fix a price for resource, Minister has said.
17:46 IST, November 8th 2024