The Department of Space was quick to kickstart consultations with a draft Spacecom Policy and the Department of Telecommunications announced a significantly liberating amendment to the Commercial VSAT License Agreements. This was followed by the DoT\u2019s Telecom Engineering Centre making a set of brilliant strokes to revamp and modernize the technical rules for Communication & Broadcast Networks for the satellite sector, and more recently, the TRAI brought out epoch-making recommendations on \u201cLicensing Framework for Satellite based connectivity for low bit rate applications\u201d.

In commercial satellite communications and broadcasting, the way ahead for India is only upward and ever-rising since our satcom penetration and usage is far below comparable regimes. It is no surprise therefore that, following the above announcements, almost every day we see reports of activity by one big satellite player or the other, both existing and new. The names of Tata Nelco, Hughes, One Web of Bharti & UK govt., Elon Musk\u2019s Starlink and Kuiper of Amazon are resounding from all sides. At the same time, retrograde steps are rumored as regards satcom spectrum allocation that would be completely out of sync with global practices. This is very disturbing. Big time investors of repute are clearly waiting and watching before jumping in with large outlays.

Notwithstanding the recent progressive moves, it has to be admitted that Indian commercial satellite communications is today only where terrestrial mobile communications were twenty years ago, until the NTP99 Policy unleashed explosive growth in that sector.

Experts opine that similar policy action as taken for terrestrial telecommunications through NTP 1999 is what is the requirement today for satellite communications and broadcasting. While individual steps initiated are encouraging, serious investors and entrepreneurs need the comfort of a clear Satcom Policy that maps the way forward as complementary to, or a component of the forthcoming Spacecom Policy.

Some of the important recommendations for consideration in the new satcom policy are given below:

• The Satcom Policy should be aligned with the telegraph act, TRAI act and the NDCP 2018 since all these three govern all telecommunications in India. In fact, NDCP 2018 specifically covers satellite communications in three sub sections \u2013 1.3 (a), 1.3 (b) and 1.3 (c).<\/li>
• Ensure technology neutrality, level playing field and non-discriminatory treatment for all new satellite technologies and all types of satellites.<\/li>
• Satellite Spectrum:<\/strong> One of the major focus areas for an effective Satcom Policy for India would be to ensure that spectrum for satcom continues to be allocated in line with best global practices and taking into account the vital aspects that, by its very nature, it\u2019s a shared resource between different players. The world over, satcom spectrum is therefore allocated via administrative process for obvious practical and techno-economic reasons. India cannot afford to lag behind others by making exceptions which would potentially hamper the sector\u2019s rising prospects.<\/li>
• Satellite Broadband:<\/strong> The necessity of providing ubiquitous digital connectivity to the farthest corners of the country demand that all satellite licenses must include the broadband provision, to augment both penetration and proliferation of quality digital services to the masses. In fact, the need of rural citizens is far higher for quality broadband as compared to their urban brethren. It is difficult to meet this requirement through terrestrial media. Hence, in India, satellite services must not be limited to narrow band only and should necessarily cover broadband.<\/li>
• AGR Issues:<\/strong> The recent clarifications made by Government in the case of mobile telecommunications must be extended to cover satellite communications and broadcasting services also, to ensure reasonable financial conditions. In any case this is required on level playing field considerations also.<\/li>
• Provision the tenure of License Authorization for at least 20 years for the given orbital resources - both in broadcasting and broadband segments, to ensure Business Continuity.<\/li>
• Permit direct commercial deals between satellite operators and various licensed satellite service providers.
  <\/li>
• Stipulate a time-bound single window clearance mechanism for approvals\/authorization processes.
  <\/li>
• Approve pending applications and new applications for building and launching satellites out of India within a fixed time frame of, say 90 days, as long as they conform to the Indian regulatory requirements.
  <\/li>
• Rural Connectivity:<\/strong> Reduce levies such as Withholding Taxes, Antrix\/NSIL mark-up, spectrum usage charges, monitoring charges levied by NOCC (an arm of DoT) and GST for rural broadband.<\/li> <\/ul>
  
  
  As shown in the table above, in comparison to the USA, Europe and other advanced countries of the world which follow an Open Sky Policy, India has a much Restricted Policy for satellite communications in place. If we are to cater to the huge bandwidth\/capacity requirement to fulfil the rapidly and consistently growing data demand, we need to open the skies for foreign satellite operators to offer their existing capacity over India to complement the indigenous capacity available and for private parties to contribute in this vital field. We should also encourage foreign companies to put up satellites over India, which can then serve as a mid-path between the current regime of leasing capacity from foreign satellites, to that of foreign satellite providers setting shop and launching satellites over India using Indian orbital slots. Concurrently, we need to grow the domestic satcom ecosystem as well.
  
  So far, satcom in India has been used chiefly for providing connectivity to far reaching areas and narrowband connectivity to ATMs for facilitating financial inclusion. But the advent of the latest technological advancements - both in terms of Next-Gen Satellites (LEOs\/MEOs\/HEOs, etc.), as well as in the ground segment, present tremendous scope for satcom to cater to the latent demand of broadband services, especially for bandwidth guzzling next-gen applications.
  
  Speaking of next-gen, 5G would also need Satcom to provide ubiquitous satellite-powered services for content delivery networks (CDNs), edge-computing and edge-delivery of video services to end users, while enabling broadband delivery through direct-to-home, enterprises and government customers.
  
  Moreover, the induction of satcom into the 5G standard in future Release 17 and 18 by 3GPP, forecasts an era of convergence of both terrestrial and satellite technologies, to bring about a homogeneous mapping of coverage and capacity that is likely to cover the entire globe. This would be extremely significant for a country like India which is largely broadband starved in the rural, remote and outlying areas, as essentially, it would be able to provide high speed, high-capacity broadband services to each and every part of the country, thereby enabling and empowering our people.
  
  The Indian Satcom future is undeniably bright. There is indeed a powerful tide in our satellite seas and we need to take it at the flood with an appropriate Policy to achieve or excel the success achieved in mobile communications.
  
  ","blog_img":"retail_files\/blog_1634176268_temp.jpg","posted_date":"2021-10-14 07:21:09","modified_date":"2021-10-14 07:21:09","featured":"0","status":"Y","seo_title":"Indian satellite broadband & digital services fully poised for lift-off","seo_url":"indian-satellite-broadband-digital-services-fully-poised-for-lift-off","url":"\/\/www.iser-br.com\/tele-talk\/indian-satellite-broadband-digital-services-fully-poised-for-lift-off\/5123","url_seo":"indian-satellite-broadband-digital-services-fully-poised-for-lift-off"}">
  可以毫不夸张地说，在过去20年里，印度卫星部门从未像过去18个月所见证的那样有如此多的乐观和希望。20年5月，Hon ' ble财政部长历史性地宣布政府决心加强该部门的私有化和自由化，作为经济刺激计划的一部分，此后，这一巨大的力量就没有停止过。从那时起，各种政策和监管举措的流动强劲而稳定，投资者和玩家的兴奋感显著上升。
  
  太空部迅速启动了关于太空通信政策草案的磋商，电信部宣布了对商业VSAT许可协议的重大解放修正案。紧随其后的是点的电讯工程中心对卫星部门的通信和广播网络技术规则进行了一系列出色的修改和现代化，最近，TRAI提出了划时代的“低比特率应用的基于卫星连接的许可框架”的建议。
  
  在商业卫星通信和广播方面，印度的前进道路只有向上和不断上升卫星通信普及率和使用率远低于可比国家。因此，在上述宣布之后，我们几乎每天都能看到一个或另一个大型卫星播放器的活动报告，包括现有的和新的。塔塔尼尔科、休斯、巴蒂和英国政府的One Web、埃隆·马斯克的Starlink和亚马逊的柯伊伯的名字响彻四方。与此同时，有传言称，有关卫星通信频谱分配的倒退步骤将完全与全球实践不同步。这非常令人不安。知名的大投资者显然在等待和观望，然后才会投入大笔资金。
  
  尽管最近取得了进步，但必须承认，印度商业卫星通信今天只相当于20年前的地面移动通信，直到NTP99政策释放了该领域的爆炸性增长。
  
  专家们认为，通过NTP 1999对地面电信采取的类似政策行动是今天对卫星通信和广播的要求。虽然已经启动的个人步骤令人鼓舞，但认真的投资者和企业家需要一个明确的安慰卫星通信政策作为即将出台的太空通信政策的补充或组成部分。
  
  以下是一些重要的建议，可在新的卫星通讯政策中加以考虑:
  
  

  • 卫星通信政策应该与电报法、TRAI法和NDCP 2018保持一致，因为这三项都管理着印度的所有电信。事实上，《2018年国家传染病防控战略》具体涵盖了三个小节——1.3 (a)、1.3 (b)和1.3 (c)。
  • 确保所有新卫星技术和所有类型卫星的技术中立、公平竞争环境和非歧视待遇。
  • 卫星光谱:印度有效的卫星通信政策的一个主要重点领域是确保卫星通信频谱继续按照全球最佳做法进行分配，并考虑到重要方面，即就其本质而言，它是不同参与者之间的共享资源。因此，在世界范围内，由于明显的实际和技术经济原因，卫星通信频谱是通过行政程序分配的。印度不能通过破例来落后于其他国家，这可能会阻碍该行业的增长前景。
  • 卫星宽带:向国家最远的角落提供无处不在的数字连接的必要性要求所有卫星许可证必须包括宽带供应，以增加对大众的高质量数字服务的渗透和扩散。事实上，与城市居民相比，农村居民对优质宽带的需求要高得多。通过地面媒体很难满足这一要求。因此，在印度，卫星服务不应仅限于窄带，而应必然覆盖宽带。
  • AGR的问题:政府最近对移动电信所作的澄清必须扩大到也包括卫星通信和广播服务，以确保合理的财政条件。在任何情况下，这也是公平竞争环境的考虑所必需的。
  • 为给定的轨道资源(包括广播和宽带部分)提供至少20年的许可证授权期限，以确保业务连续性。
  • 允许卫星运营商与各持牌卫星服务提供商之间进行直接商业交易。
    
  • 为审批/授权程序订定有时限的单一窗口清关机制。
    
  • 只要符合印度的监管要求，在固定的时间框架内(比如90天)批准在印度建造和发射卫星的未决申请和新申请。
    
  • 农村连接:减少税收，如预扣税，Antrix/NSIL加价，频谱使用费，NOCC (DoT的一个部门)征收的监控费用和农村宽带的GST。

  
  
  
  如上表所示，与美国、欧洲和其他遵循开放天空政策的发达国家相比，印度对卫星通信的政策非常有限。如果我们要满足巨大的带宽/容量需求，以满足快速和持续增长的数据需求，我们需要开放天空，让外国卫星运营商提供他们在印度的现有容量，以补充现有的本地容量，并让私营企业在这一重要领域做出贡献。我们还应该鼓励外国公司在印度上空发射卫星，这可以作为当前从外国卫星租赁能力制度和外国卫星供应商在印度上空设置和使用印度轨道位置发射卫星之间的中间路径。同时，我们也需要发展国内卫星通信生态系统。
  
  到目前为止,印度卫星通信主要用于为偏远地区提供连接，以及为自动取款机提供窄带连接，以促进普惠金融。但是，最新的技术进步的出现——无论是在次世代卫星(leo / meo / heo等)方面，还是在地面部分，都为卫星通信提供了巨大的空间，以满足宽带业务的潜在需求，特别是对于带宽消耗巨大的次世代应用。
  
  说到下一代，5G还需要Satcom为内容交付网络(cdn)、边缘计算和向最终用户提供视频服务的边缘交付提供无处不在的卫星供电服务，同时通过直接到家庭、企业和政府客户实现宽带交付。
  
  此外，3GPP在未来的第17版和第18版中将卫星通信引入5G标准，预测了地面和卫星技术融合的时代，从而带来可能覆盖整个全球的覆盖范围和容量的同质映射。这对于印度这样一个农村、偏远和边远地区宽带严重匮乏的国家来说是非常重要的，因为从本质上讲，它将能够为该国的每一个地区提供高速、大容量的宽带服务，从而使我们的人民能够和赋权。
  
  不可否认，印度卫星通信的未来是光明的。在我们的卫星海洋中确实有一股强大的浪潮，我们需要采取适当的政策来实现或超越移动通信所取得的成功。
  
  

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