New Delhi: Allocation of spectrum to the satellite industry<\/a> is at the centre stage once again with satellite and technology companies opposing the Department of Telecommunications<\/a>’ (DoT) plan to auction airwaves to them.
Telecom operators Reliance Jio<\/a> and Vodafone Idea are backing DoT, while Bharti Enterprise-backed satcom firm OneWeb<\/a> has joined the rest of the industry to demand administrative allocation of satellite spectrum<\/a>.
Satellite spectrum has no territorial limits, is a shared resource, and is international in character with International Telecommunication Union<\/a> (ITU<\/a>) managing and coordinating its usage, and hence it can’t be auctioned, industry body Indian Space Association<\/a> (ISpA) said on Wednesday.
But officials at DoT told ET that administration and allocation of spectrum is its statutory right, and the department can decide what should be the mechanism – administrative or auction.
“The ITU is involved in management for satellite spectrum. But whatever quantum has been specified for India, its allocation mechanism is to be decided by the government,” said one official aware of the details.
DoT has asked for recommendations from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) for modalities around auctioning satellite spectrum.
But the sectoral watchdog has listed out three options including administrative allocation and auctions for allocating those airwaves, and sought stakeholder views.
ISpA said the terms of reference laid down by DoT to Trai presuppose that the method of assignment of spectrum needs to be auction.
“This, we submit, brings a bias to the whole consultation process. We request Trai, with the authority bestowed on it by the government, to have a larger, wider, and comprehensive outlook, keeping in mind global practices of spectrum assignment as well as the technical challenges of auctioning,” it said.
The association, which counts Bharti Airtel, OneWeb, Nelco, L&T, Hughes Communications, and MapmyIndia among its members, said it will soon submit its view to the regulator, seeking administrative allocation of space spectrum.
Other industry bodies including SIA-India and Broadband India Forum<\/a> (BIF), too, have sought administrative assignment for space airwaves.
The industry said being a shared resource, satellite spectrum cannot be exclusively assigned and hence it cannot be auctioned.
“The basic prerequisite of a resource that is to be auctioned is that it should be available for sale as discrete, unique products. Satellite spectrum does not satisfy this elementary criterion,” ISpA said.
But since DoT is backing an auction on an exclusive basis, Trai may explore the feasibility and procedure of sharing auctioned spectrum among multiple service licensees, officials aware of the matter said.
The regulator may even provide recommendations around sharing of auctioned frequency bands between satellite networks and terrestrial networks and on what should be the criteria of sharing and appropriate interference mitigation techniques for sharing and coexistence, they said.
The satcom industry as warned that exclusive assignment of space spectrum will limit the number of operators who can use the spectrum, prevent startups from entering the space, and fragment the use of spectrum, reducing its overall usage and value.
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