Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio’s agreements with SpaceX do not mean a free pass for Starlink’s satellite communications (Satcom) services in India. According to Minister of Telecommunications Jyotiraditya Scindia,the government has a very clear proforma which everyone needs to abide by, and the licence will be given only after these processes are complete, not only to Starlink, but any company that wants to set foot in Satcom services.
Apart from Starlink, other global companies such as Amazon’s Project Kuiper (agaon a US company) and Canada’s Telesat are also looking to enter India’s satellite space.
“There is a very clear proforma (application process)… that’s a very clear proforma, which everyone needs to abide by and as soon as that is done, the licence will be given out. And, as far as spectrum is concerned, the TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) is exercising their mind on the pricing of the spectrum… that will be administratively assigned as per the Telecom Act,” Scindia told businessline in an interview.
On Vodafone
On the fate of the debt-ridden Vodafone-Idea, the Telecom Minister said there must be “healthy competition” in the telecom market.
“We (government) have a 23 per cent stake in Vodafone, and based on whatever the rules of the game are, every company has to comply with those rules going forward. It is a private sector company… The Government of India believes that there must be a healthy competition in the telecom market and there are a very few markets in the world that have four players. India is one such vibrant market, we have four players,” he said.
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