Consultation paper on spectrum allocation for satcom soon: TRAI chief

New Delhi: Telecom regulator will begin, in a month, the consultation process for deciding the terms, conditions and other modalities for administrative allocation of spectrum for satellite-based telecom services.

India's satellite communications sector is "flourishing" and has the potential to propel the country to new heights, TRAI Chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti said at 'India SatCom 2024' organised by Broadband India Forum (BIF).

"Regarding the spectrum requirement of space-based communications, the Telecom Act has provision for assignment of spectrum through administrative process for certain satellite-based communications services. Government has sent a reference seeking recommendations of TRAI on terms and conditions for spectrum assignment to certain satellite-based telecom services," Lahoti said.

TRAI will soon come out with a consultation paper on the matter.

"We have received a reference from the government...it should take about a month's time to issue the consultation paper... you can expect it around the first week of September," he later said on the sidelines of the event.

The consultation paper will deal with pricing and other issues, he added.

Satellite communications, in today's era, is bound to play a key role in helping accelerate broadband penetration and provide ubiquitous access to the remotest parts of the country.

"Satellite systems, along with terrestrial network, can also play a vital role to manage connectivity to vehicles, vessels, aircraft and many IoT devices in remote and far flung areas. It can also plays a critical role in disaster relief, when terrestrial networks many-a-times get damaged," Lahoti said addressing the event.

New opportunities are emerging in satellite communications with high throughput satellites and software defined satellites.

"Technology innovation in field of small satellites and nano satellites, and satellite internet of things will drive next-generation of satellite capabilities. Such innovations are expected to enable connectivity across industries and empower 5G and upcoming 6G capabilities," he said.

The recent reforms that have been undertaken will facilitate the satellite industry to play its role in the digital communication ecosystem, Lahoti noted.

"Based on a reference from the government, TRAI has recently published a consultation paper on regulatory framework for service authorisation to be granted under the New Telecom Act 2023. There are various sections of the Act related to satellite-based telecom services that may have bearing on the terms and conditions of the service authorisation under the new Act," he said.

Trai is also considering the possibility of reducing the number of authorisations and simplifying the terms and conditions to improve the ease of business, he informed.

Rahul Vats, Director, Eutelsat OneWeb India, who is also the Co-Chair of BIF's Satcom Committee, said that the company has done successful trials in remote locations, and demonstrated strong speeds.

"As Oneweb, we have two gateways which are now powered on, one in Mehsana and one in Tuticorin...We are completely ready to roll out. We have actually done some trials with demo spectrum which we got from the WPC and we done trials in Ladakh, we have gone to Arunachal, we have gone to ONGC rigs, we have gone to SBI locations in remote parts of the country and we have been able to give more than 200 mbps speed," he said.

Vats added: "That is the potential we are talking about when you look at the technology you have at hand."

The company, he said, is now technically ready to serve communications needs in case a disaster strikes.