Jio, Bharti-backed OneWeb get breather as India extends deadline for provisional spectrum use
Satellite internet providers, including OneWeb and Jio, received a six-month extension to meet compliances for trial spectrum usage. Why this comes as a relief for the operators?
The government has extended the trial spectrum usage period for satellite internet providers such as Bharti Enterprises-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite by another six months, until November, offering them crucial breathing space to comply with India’s stringent security requirements, two officials aware of the matter said.
The extension comes as a relief for the operators that were yet to comply with the government's recently introduced security guidelines, a pre-requisite for launching commercial services in India, one of them said.
The official added that the service launch can be delayed if the companies are unable to meet the required standards.
The extension aims to give companies time to meet mandatory national security compliance requirements while the government finalises satellite spectrum pricing and other conditions for commercial rollout, the official said, adding that national security safeguards are essential before services can go live.
The provisional spectrum was opened to the companies in October by the department of telecommunications (DoT) via a notification at a one-time fee of ₹1.1 lakh for a six-month period. The spectrum was issued for testing services as well as to attain security compliances, and wasn’t meant for commercial services.
“The companies have not been able to fully meet all the security assurance requirements. Therefore, they have been given the extension," the second official said, adding that OneWeb was the first to seek spectrum usage extension as it has met almost 80% of the security requirements of DoT and is in the process of meeting the remaining requirements.
On 16 May, Mint reported that Eutelsat OneWeb has sought more time to meet all of India’s stringent security norms and the government might extend the timeline for use of the provisional spectrum. Jio too had asked the Centre later for extension of the trial spectrum, the second official added.
Queries emailed to OneWeb India, Jio and DoT early Friday did not elicit any response till press time.
“There is no spectrum allocation policy, which has come out yet. So, DoT had to extend the timeline for provisional spectrum for the companies as new use cases of the technology are also coming up," an industry executive said
- The government has granted a six-month extension for satellite internet firms like Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite to continue using provisional spectrum for testing and security compliance.
- Operators have not fully met the stringent security requirements mandated by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
- The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has criticised Trai’s pricing recommendations as unfair, non-transparent, and lacking economic justification.
- The Broadband India Forum (BIF), representing satellite and tech players, defended the recommendations, arguing that satellite and telecom services are technologically and economically distinct.
OneWeb was the first satellite communications (satcom) firm to get the global mobile personal communication by satellite (GMPCS) licence from the DoT in April 2022, allowing it to offer satellite-based services in India.
Jio Platforms, an arm of RIL, which plans to roll out its consumer satellite broadband service under the ‘JioSpaceFiber' brand, has a joint venture with satellite operator SES.
Unlike OneWeb, which uses a constellation of 630 low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites, Jio’s service is based on six medium-earth orbit (MEO) satellites. The differing technologies mean the complexity of security compliance also varies for each operator.
Security compliances
“India has stringent security regulations, and since this is the first time operators are going through the entire process - including trials, audits and demonstrations, it will take some time to achieve full compliance. Early movers like OneWeb and Jio-SES seem to have a headstart here," said Shivaji Chatterjee, chief executive and managing director of Hughes Communications India, which distributes GEO and LEO satellite services in the country. GEO is geostationary earth orbit satellites, while LEO is low earth orbit.
"It’s not that the operators' systems are not ready to demonstrate security compliance. Some of the requirements are complex to demonstrate, and being a first time, varying interpretations by audit agencies and operators have led to longer approval times," he added.
On 5 May, DoT issued guidelines to tighten security as satellite communication companies such as Starlink, Amazon’s Kuiper, Globalstar, OneWeb and Jio move closer to starting satellite internet services in the country.
Starlink received its licence from DoT on 6 June to begin satellite broadband services in India. After the spectrum allocation, the company will need to test and demonstrate compliance with the security conditions, like its peers.
Companies seeking a global mobile personal communication by satellite (GMPCS) licence in India would require security clearance for specific gateway or hub locations in the country, per the department of telecommunications’ guidelines.
Among the 29 requirements, the government has also mandated data localisation, lawful interception, and local manufacturing requirements for satcom companies.
A key challenge with compliance is the mandate to set up network control and monitoring centres within India, giving India control over satellite telemetry–on-ground management and monitoring of satellites based on transmitted data, one of the officials said.
Indian authorities require that telemetry and control of satellites serving Indian users be done within the country to ensure national security and data sovereignty.
Also Read: Eye in the sky: India to set up satellites to spy on satellites
Spectrum allocation draft
Currently, DoT is also in the process of finalising the spectrum allocation via non-auction route and other modalities to pave the way for operators to start satellite internet services in the country.
On 9 May, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had recommended administrative allocation of spectrum, as opposed to auctions, for satellite internet services. It said satcom companies will have to pay annual spectrum charges of either 4% of their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) or ₹3,500 per MHz, whichever is higher.
Additionally, Trai has recommended an additional annual charge of ₹500 per subscriber for such service providers in urban areas.
Satcom operators will also have to pay the government an annual licence fee of 8% of AGR, per the current authorization terms of the DoT.
Telecom operators, represented by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), alleged that the pricing for satellite spectrum recommended by the telecom regulator is unjustifiably low, non-transparent, and does not lead to a level playing field.
It said the recommendation of spectrum usage charges—set at 4% of adjusted gross revenue—without any entry fee or upfront payment is inconsistent with the approach followed so far in case of administrative spectrum allocations, and is without any rationale, empirical analysis, international benchmarking or economic justification.
However, the Broadband India Forum (BIF), which represents Big Tech and satellite companies, wrote to the Centre on 18 June that there was no question of a level playing field, given the vast differences in technologies, services, infrastructure costs, and spectrum assignment methods. It urged the Centre not to review Trai's recommendations.
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