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In its recommendations to the Department of Telecommunications (DOT), TRAI said that operators offering satellite -based broadband internet services in urban areas will have to pay an additional Rs 500 per customer annually.
New Delhi: Rejecting the request of American industrialist Allen Musk’s company Starlink, TRAI has ordered that it should pay 4 percent of its total revenue as spectrum fee. While Starlink had urged it to keep it less than 1 percent and not levy any other fee. AGR is the amount that telecom companies share the government as revenue, including revenue received from both telecommunications and non-functioning sources. Telecom regulator TRAI on Friday recommended that satellite communication companies like Starlink should pay 4 percent of their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) as spectrum fee. This rate is more than the demand being made by these firms.
Operators will have to pay additional Rs 500 per customer annually
In its recommendations to the Department of Telecommunications (DOT), TRAI said that operators offering satellite -based broadband internet services in urban areas will have to pay an additional Rs 500 per customer annually. Whereas no additional fees will be applied for services in rural areas. Kuper Systems, a subsidiary of Starlink and Amazon Inc. of American industrialist Elon Musk, had urged to keep the spectrum fee less than 1 percent of the AGR during consultation with TRAI and not impose any other fee. The pricing of the ostery spectrum is pricing for both the non-eminent satellite class and geopolitical satellite classroom and mobile satellite service.
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SpaceX tied up with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel in India
TRAI said that 4 percent of the AGR spectrum fee will be under the minimum annual spectrum fee of Rs 3,500 per MHz. Starlink received a letter of intent to start its services earlier this week. Now it has to be licensed before starting services in India. Elon Musk -led aerospace company SpaceX has already tied up with rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel to bring Starlink broadband internet services in India. Both Indian companies will provide starlink equipment through their network and will also support the installation and activation of the customer on the equipment.
Alan Musk’s Starlink will get license soon
Airtel -backed YouTelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite Communication have already received the Global Mobile Communication by Satellite (GMPCs) service license required to provide Saatcom services in India, while Allen Musk -led Starlink is going to be licensed soon. In October last year, the government favored Musk on the issue of allocation of air waves. India’s largest wireless service provider company Jio and second -ranked company in the world’s most populous country Airtel, where the use of data is increasing rapidly, both feared that their customer base would be reduced due to low entry costs.
Starlink SpaceX operated by the world’s largest low-end-arbit (Leo) planetarium
Based on the recommendations of TRAI, the Department of Telecommunications will now go to the Cabinet for the pricing of satellite spectrum and can apply for any SACSCOMING desiring to serve in India after getting the approval once. Starlink is the world’s largest low-end-arbit (Leo) planetarium operated by SpaceX. Bharti is already partnership with the second largest Leo Planetarium, YouTelsat OneWeb. Similarly, Jio is a joint venture with SES of platforms, a major global satellite-based material connectivity solution provider. Jio Space Technology Limited, where Jio holds 51 per cent and SES 49 per cent, will use multi-orbit space network that is a combination of Geostationary (GEO) and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite. Starlink currently operates more than 6 thousand Leo satellites, while Amazon’s Kuper Project is planning to deploy 3,236 satellites in early 2025.
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