Jio again presses for parity in satcom spectrum pricing

Reliance Jio has once again urged the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to price the satellite spectrum at par with the price, which is paid by telecom operators in an auction mode.

The company has said that the value of the spectrum should be based on its full economic potential, whether assigned through auction or administratively, irrespective of the band.

Trai is currently working to finalise its recommendations on the spectrum pricing.

Jio’s stance is different from that of satcom operators such as Starlink, Kuiper, and Broadband India Forum, which have justified that satellite spectrum is a shared resource and therefore cannot be auctioned.

Further, the satcom companies have urged Trai to keep the spectrum charge below 1% of their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) with no upfront cost so that affordable services be provided through satellite broadband.

Countering this view, Jio has maintained that these players want a backdoor entry, thereby denying the government and people their rightful dues for using spectrum.

According to Jio, Starlink has around 75-80 satellites, as depicted in the live coverage map which can service Indian territory. This would form around 1.2% of the 6,560 satellites operating in the constellation.

The telecom operator said once the services are launched in India, the total satellite coverage being dedicated to India will increase to more than 2%.

The same would result in significant capacities of 29.1 billion GBs of bandwidth capacities by Starlink and Kuiper, compared to 23 billion GB of the three private telecom operators combined, Jio told Trai.