Since 2004, the U.S. has replaced its auction rules with a streamlined administrative process for all satellite spectrums. Virtually all such experiments in the world have been abandoned and the practice of auctioning satellite spectrum has been replacedwith a globally adopted administrative process.

SIA-India would like to clarify that the examples of countries presented in a recent media article, besidesbeing the absolute exception in the global context, do not, in any way, lead to the conclusions on \u201cglobal trends\u201d, \u201crapidly gaining ground globally\u201d or \u201cincreasingly favored across the world\u201d.Suchmisleading statements that intentionally or unintentionally espouse disinformation can impact foundational decisions by the regulator and policy makers.

On the contrary, a deep dive into this issue with the referenced nations presents a totally different picture. The few countries that have attempted to auction the NATIONAL orbital resources, to which, of course, some spectrum will be associated, have failed and abandoned the practice and replaced it with an administrative allocation process. With good reason, it may be reiterated!

Exclusive terrestrial mobile services spectrum has to be managed by a single mobile operator in a given geographic area and, therefore, cannot be shared amongst the operators; while in the case of satellites, the same spectrum is non-exclusive in nature as it can be used by multiple satellite operators to serve the same geographic area.

In other words, assignment by auction for satellite spectrum that can be shared between operators, such as the C\/Ku\/Ka bands, would lead to unnecessary segmentation and can be deemed a very inefficient use of spectrum. For this reason, there are no precedents of spectrum assignment by auction to satellite services in these bands in any country.

Auction of frequency slots for Satellite spectrum usage are explained on the basis of the process being experimented in some of the countries like Saudi Arabia, Mexico etc. What is masked in this explanation is that the auction of spectrum being experimented is for the Orbital slots on geostationary arc along with the associated frequency spectrum.

The auctions mentioned in Mexico, Thailand and Brazil are not for \u201csatellite spectrum\u201d, but for domestic filing\/GSO orbital slots. However, other satellite operators are still allowed, pending the relevant license\/authorization and satellite network coordination, to use the spectrum, as the spectrum, as such, is not being auctioned.

Furthermore, even the very few examples of auctions for domestic filing\/GSO orbital slots have revealed to be mostly unsuccessful. For example, the last time Mexico did an auction for orbital slots allotted to Mexico was in 2014 that failed and it has not attempted this experiment again. A simple web search would bring up news related to this failed attempt.

Brazil abandoned satellite auctions completely in 2020 and replaced satellite auctions vide Law No. 9,472 of July 16, 1997, with administrative process that can be referred to at \u00a7 172, as amended by Law No. 13,879 of October 3, 2019. The consultation of this amendment specifically mentions \u201cIt is also important to highlight that an international benchmark study was carried out, seeking to assess how other administrations deal with the matter. Of the countries analyzed (8 in total), only Mexico adopts a bidding procedure for conferring rights, similar to the Brazilian case.Therefore, there is a mismatch between Brazilian procedures and those adopted by several countries with relevant satellite markets.\u201d

Of course getting this info would need more than a simple web search, but one needs to be diligent about such an important issue instead of making claims that are exactly opposite to the reality.Thailand tried to auction orbital slots in 2021 for the first time, but it was cancelled (only one bidder). Instead, Thailand will be assigning the slots administratively. Being a recent development, the details are available from multiple news sources across the internet.

In line with international best practices, auctioning of the Satellite spectrum is definitely not a desirable solution in the Indian context. An auction for satellite spectrum would artificially limit the number of satellite operators sharing the spectrum and exclude them from the market, as different from terrestrial mobile operators, multiple satellite operators can reuse the same frequency range. The need of the hour is an Open Sky Policy wherein the Satellite operators having capacity over India are permitted to provide full spectrum bandwidth to the Indian public in a competitive manner so that satellite capacity pricing is made available at an affordable level to all.

In any event, the international trend is clear, and it is against auctions. Very few countries have ever thought that auctions are an appropriate method even for assigning domestic satellite slots. The few who have, have either abandoned the practice (e.g. US, Brazil) or discovered the difficulties of such auctions (e.g. Thailand, Mexico).

To make the 5G auction a success and set up its base price, SIA-India requests TRAI that the non-issue of the auction of satellite spectrum be dismissed for what it is, a distraction to the core issue of identification of spectrum for 5G\/IMT and other complementary services including Satellite broadband services.","blog_img":"","posted_date":"2022-01-26 08:23:03","modified_date":"2022-01-26 08:23:03","featured":"0","status":"Y","seo_title":"Busting the myth of satellite spectrum auctions","seo_url":"busting-the-myth-of-satellite-spectrum-auctions","url":"\/\/www.iser-br.com\/tele-talk\/busting-the-myth-of-satellite-spectrum-auctions\/5208","url_seo":"busting-the-myth-of-satellite-spectrum-auctions"}">