The government has dealt a heavy blow to telecom giants over satellite communications. Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday rejected the demand of service providers to auction satcom spectrum. He clarified that radio waves for satellite communications services will be awarded without an auction, but they will have to be paid for. Earlier in the day, Bharti Airtel founder and chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, along with Reliance Jio, demanded allocation of spectrum for satellite communications services in the same manner as it is allocated to telecom companies.
TRAI to decide pricing formula
The Telecommunications Act 2023, passed in December last year, includes it very clearly in Schedule I, meaning that satellite communications spectrum will be allocated administratively. Scindia stated that this does not mean that the spectrum will be available free of cost. He said at the Indian Mobile Congress that what that cost will be and what the formula for that cost will be, will not be decided by you or me, but will be decided by TRAI. He was responding to a question on the demand of telecom operators to allocate spectrum to satellite communications companies through auction. Scindia said we have a regulatory authority for telecommunications and the Constitution has given the regulatory authority the power to decide what the administrative price will be. I’m sure they will set better prices.
India will lead the world in 6G
Earlier, Jyotiraditya Scindia said that India is committed to leading the world in the field of 6G. He described the country’s telecommunications sector as ambitious and fast growing. Speaking at the inauguration of the India Mobile Congress and World Telecom Standardization (WTSA) 2024, Scindia said this is our belief and our commitment… India followed the world in 4G, we moved ahead with the world in 5G, but we are in 6G. Will lead the world. Scindia said 5G services were launched faster in India. In a span of just 21 months, it was expanded to 98 percent of the districts and 90 percent of the villages.
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India will be at the forefront
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi aspires not only to adopt 6G technology but also to make the country a leader in this direction. The Minister said that it is notable that the Indian Mobile Congress and the International 6G Symposium showcase the local and global progress in 6G… Scindia said that the recent changes made in the Telecom Act, 2023 were designed on the basis that India will modernize telecom infrastructure. of India, to shed light on hitherto unexplored areas, such as high potential areas of satellite communications, to address the challenges of the digital age, the most important of which is cybersecurity.
