Jio Urges TRAI To Revise Consultation Paper On Satcom Spectrum Allocation

Telecom operator Reliance Jio has reportedly urged the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to rescind the recently floated consultation paper on spectrum allocation for satellite communication (satcom). 

As per PTI, the telecom operator, in a letter, called on the regulator to issue a revised paper on satcom spectrum allocation, alleging that the existing paper “overlooks the critical point of ensuring” level-playing field between satellite and terrestrial services. 

“We are surprised that the consultation paper has completely overlooked the critical issue of ensuring level-playing field between satellite-based and terrestrial access services. This omission has resulted in the lack of any questions addressing the need to create a level-playing field between these services,” said the letter dated October 4.

Addressed to TRAI chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti, the letter by Reliance Jio also noted that due to the omission of the point related to ensuring level-playing field would undermine the fairness of inputs from stakeholders and the government’s intent to promote balanced competition.

The latest development comes a week after TRAI floated a consultation process to explore the pricing and methodology for assigning spectrum to satcom companies. 

The paper is expected to pave the way for companies such as Bharti Group-backed Eutelsat OneWeb, Jio Satellite Communications, Elon Musk-owned Starlink and Amazon Kuiper to offer satcom services in the country. 

Notably, Jio and Vodafone Idea (Vi) have opposed administrative allocation of spectrum to satellite companies, without auction.

Meanwhile, in the letter, Jio further reportedly claimed that the consultation paper does not adequately address competitive fairness and could make subsequently formulated recommendations vulnerable to legal challenges. 

The telecom giant also reportedly alleged that the paper veered more towards administrative assignment, which undermined The Telecommunications Act, 2023. Citing the Act, Jio said that the telecom regulations emphasised auction as the default method for assigning spectrum for commercial services.

“We respectfully urge TRAI to reconsider and revise the consultation paper, incorporating specific questions that address the level-playing field issues between satellite and terrestrial networks. Both auction and administrative assignment methods should remain open for stakeholders input, with due consideration given to competitive fairness,” Jio reportedly added.

Meanwhile, the consultation paper is still in the public domain. The regulator has invited comments on 21 points including methodology for determining spectrum charges, frequency bands for the satellite communications services, duration of assignment, and provision for surrendering spectrum, among other.

The paper will be open for comments till October 18, while TRAI has set October 25 as the deadline for counter-comments. 

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