Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday said India would not allow a monopoly in the satellite communications sector, clarifying the government’s position on commercial licences after SpaceX and Starlink chief Elon Musk alleged that the company’s approvals were being blocked by vested interests.
Scindia said three operators, Reliance Jio, OneWeb and Starlink — had received licences, while Amazon was also interested in entering the sector and would have to complete the prescribed process.
“Let me be very clear. India does not allow a monopoly in any sector. And therefore, even as Satcom is concerned, there is not a single licensee that has been chosen,” Scindia said.
He said licences had been granted to all operators seeking to provide satellite communication services and that the government was not favouring any one company.
“There is a lot of conversation about a particular party. But there are three parties that have got licenses. There is Reliance Jio, there is OneWeb, and there is Starlink. And there is another party that is also interested in procuring a license. Now that process has to be followed by that party, that's Amazon,” he said.
Scindia added that India was close to finalising the pricing framework for satellite communication services. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had been discussing the pricing regime following the decision to assign spectrum administratively rather than through an auction.
“Initially whether spectrum will be assigned or auctioned, that decision was taken. Secondly, irrespective post that administrative assignment, what the pricing regime will be. And TRAI and DOT have been in conversations on that. We are close to taking the final decision with respect to that. And the third has to do with security requirements and requisites being followed,” he said.
The minister said each operator would have to independently fulfil the prescribed security requirements and milestones before beginning commercial operations.
“Revenue charges system is finalized once each one of these parties, party A, B, and C, all three individually based on their achievement of milestones with regard to security concerns and prerequisites have fulfilled the requirements, then obviously they can start operations. But that has to be a compliance that is done by each one of them individually,” he added.
Scindia’s remarks come after Musk alleged that powerful business interests were blocking Starlink despite the company having spent five years complying with Indian requirements.
The Ministry of Communications had earlier rejected allegations of unfair treatment, saying all three licensed operators were at broadly the same stage of the regulatory process. It said security assessments were under way for all three and that each could proceed to the next step of seeking spectrum assignment after completing the required procedures.
The operators’ next steps will depend on the finalisation of the pricing framework and their individual fulfilment of security requirements before they can seek spectrum assignment and move towards launching services.
(With inputs from ANI)