Jio Satellite Communications is the solely satellite communication firm that has favoured public sale for the allocation of spectrum whereas different gamers in the section, together with telecom operator Bharti Airtel, have opposed it.
Elon Musk-owned SpaceX too has prompt an public sale mannequin however it’s not for the public sale of spectrum however bids in the type of a proportion of annual income as spectrum worth charge in lieu of upfront forex bids.
Jio Satellite Communications Limited (JSCL) in its counter-comment submission to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) toed the line of its sister concern Reliance Jio Infocomm to counsel public sale as the greatest and legit method to allocate radiowaves frequencies.
“We submit that JSCL supports an auction-based process for spectrum assignment for space-based communication services. The auction-based assignment provides equal opportunity to all service providers and brings requisite regulatory certainty and predictability by being a legally sound assignment mechanism,” JSCL stated.
Trai made the feedback public on Friday after the deadline ended on June 22.
The satcom firm stated that it’s going to use frequencies in Ka and Ku spectrum bands and could be all in favour of buying the proper to use the frequencies in these bands by upcoming auctions.
JSCL stated that regulatory certainty and predictability shield the investments and are instrumental in bringing in extra investments in the sector.
“On the other hand, administrative assignment is uncertain, anti-new-entrant, and unpredictable due to its ‘First come, first serve’ nature and legal untenability due to the Supreme Court judgement in the 2G case,” the firm stated.
Among telecom operators, Vodafone Idea prompt allocating spectrum for space-based communication by public sale solely.
However, Airtel, OneWeb, Tata Group’s Nelco, Indian Space Association (ISpA), Satcom Industry Association and different gamers have countered the argument of allocating spectrum by public sale.
Airtel stated that in the Presidential Reference to present sure clarifications about the 2G judgement, the bigger bench of the Apex Court has held that alienation of pure assets is a coverage choice and there’s no directive below the 2G judgement that pure assets can solely be allotted by auctions.
ISpA stated whereas public sale is a typical method used to allocate scarce assets, comparable to terrestrial spectrum however in the case of satellite spectrum, public sale is neither a typical method nor even a most well-liked one, and as a substitute it’s the administrative allocation that may be a widespread method in case of satellite spectrum.
The business physique stated that the satellite spectrum by nature is shared not like terrestrial spectrum which is unique.
“Further, in case of auction, the winning bidder will still have to share the spectrum with other users. Hence, there is no motivation for the bidder to be the highest bidder, as they will not be able to use all of the spectrum that they purchase. It makes the entire proposition of auctioning satellite spectrum an unnecessary exercise, “ISpA stated.
Highlighting the significance of satellite communications, SIA-India stated the telecom service suppliers (TSPs) have miserably failed to meet the nationwide broadband objectives for the majority of the Indian inhabitants dwelling in the rural and distant corners of the nation for the final two to three a long time.
It stated that regardless of having enough assets and authorities assist together with USOF and plenty of different incentives, the TSPs couldn’t penetrate these far-flung areas, as their “sole motive was only profit maximization in the lucrative market”.
“The satellite operators, with their inherent capabilities, are willingly extending their support to achieve the national broadband mission,” SIA-India stated.
SpaceX stated that it continues to oppose an exclusionary public sale design particularly one designed for terrestrial project, however stands alone in its drive to discover a decision that helps expedite the rollout of space-based communications for Indians.
“SpaceX suggested an auction where bidders commit a percentage of annual revenue as a spectrum value fee” in lieu of upfront currency bids,” SpaceX stated.
Amazon’s satcom arm Kupier Systems stated that the auctioning spectrum for satellite-based providers will impose a man-made restriction on present and efficient spectrum sharing mechanisms, lead to an avoidable fragmentation of the out there spectrum, and restrict the variety of operators.
“If satellite operators are not able to use large, contiguous blocks of spectrum, this will result in reduced incentive to invest in new satellite technologies and, consequently, limit innovation,” Kupier Systems stated.
