Jio and  Bharti  face competition from  Starlink and  Amazon 

Although  the Telecommunications Bill, 2023 has paved  the  way for administrative allocation of satellite spectrum, Reliance  Jio,  which  is fighting  the  airwaves auction,  will not be at  a  disadvantage.  It’s  just that  the company will now have to  compete  strongly  with  tech  giants  like Starlink,  Amazon,  etc.  Allocating  spectrum through auctions  is likely to  have  only  limited  competition  for telcos, as big tech companies are unlikely to participate. 

 Unlike telecommunications, due  to the  different nature of  services,  each service provider  must  have its own  spectrum, satellite spectrum is a shared resource and no  player  has  super  ownership based  on  strategy Bidding.  

  TV Ramachandran, president, India Broadband Forum said,  “With the  bill  paving  the  way for administrative spectrum allocation, there will  now  be  natural competition in the  sector,  which will ensure  access to services”.  According to Ramachandran, auctions  are essentially impossible  in  the satellite space  and  if  spectrum bands  are auctioned,  it  will prevent  new players from entering the segment. 

  Satellite services are also different from  telecommunications in that satellite services focus  on  high-speed Internet services, mostly  in low-lying areas where it is difficult to provide  telecommunications  services.  In  a  way, this  also reduces the  size of the  industry’s target market. Sources said this is  also a factor  considered in the  administrative allocation of satellite spectrum in the  country.  

  Jio’s  argument  for auction  during  Trai’s consultation  was based on  the principle of one service, one rule.  Citing legal opinions, Jio  also said since the spectrum  would  be used by companies for their  personal benefit,  any  method  other  than  auction would  violate  Article 14 of the constitution.  

 However, it is understood that the administrative allocation of spectrum to satellite companies will  involve  point-to-point  communications between the satellite and the ground  station gateway and  while  satellite operators tend to provide  provide  access  services,  like  telecommunications companies,  they will have to  participate. at the auction.  

 “For any company to provide meaningful satellite communications services,  it  is  necessary to first have  a  comprehensive satellite constellation,  as  this  is  needed  to provide  seamless  connectivity  for  consumers,  businesses,  and  other use  cases.” from  Hughes Communications India.  

 According to Chatterjee, OneWeb is expected to  become a leader in  the  satellite communications  market as the company not only has  the necessary  approvals  but also has  a large team  to  deliver the  services. OneWeb,  recently named  Eutelsat  OneWeb, consists of  more than 630 satellites  distributed across  12  synchronous  orbital planes  at an altitude of  1,200  km,  in low Earth orbit (LEO).  Recently,  Sunil Bharti Mittal,  Chairman,  Bharti  Enterprises,  had said  that  OneWeb  will  be  ready  by  the end of November.  

 In comparison, Jio  also introduced India’s first gigabit satellite Internet service, JioSpaceFiber,  in  October,  which can  be used to provide high-speed Internet services  in  hard-to-reach areas. vicinity of  the country. The company has connected four remote locations with  

JioSpaceFiber:  Gir in Gujarat, Korba in Chattisgarh, Nabarangpur in  Odisha  and Jorhat in Assam, using  tested spectrum.  

 Jio has a joint venture with SES to provide high-performance  satellite  broadband services across India. The companies will provide  Internet access via satellites in  medium Earth orbit  (MEO). Knowledgeable experts have  said that Jio  may  lag behind in  capturing  market share in  the  satellite space,  purely due  to  the lower  number of MEO satellites. SES  has  currently  only  launched  6 MEO satellites. However,  experts say, to provide universal coverage  and  avoid interference, satellite  volume  needs  to be increased in  space. 

 Since MEO satellites orbit  10,000  to  20,000  km  above  Earth, they provide  greater ground coverage than LEO  and  have  an  average  lifetime  of  9 to 10  years, which is better than LEO. However, LEO satellites have lower latency. Companies  like  OneWeb, Starlink,  etc. uses  LEO satellites to provide services. 

  “Unpredictability will  no longer exist  in the market  with administrative allocation. Now, the competition will be  conducted  on the basis of  a  concrete business plan, use cases and technological innovation,” said AK Bhatt,  Director General  of  the  Indian Space Association (ISpA).  

 According to a joint report by ISpA and Deloitte, the market potential  for satellite  broadband connectivity  in  rural  areas  is expected to  reach  $263 million  in  the next five years.  

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